Silvermoon Wolf King

The arrow he fired was noticeably slower than his previous finger strike. Though the Gold-Eating Rat King's cultivation was nearing ten thousand years, its innate fear of Ultimate Fire made it instinctively try to dodge. However, Meng Hongchen's venom had slowed its movements, leaving it unable to escape the attack's range in time—

"Boom—!"

The instant the flames erupted, the entire forest lit up as bright as day. Violent golden-red waves of fire swept outward from the Gold-Eating Rat King, and the scorching wind rushed at them. Even Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, standing far away, instinctively raised their hands to shield their faces.

The lingering poisonous mist left by Meng Hongchen vanished without a trace under the extreme heat. The flames contracted into a pillar of fire that shot into the sky, then exploded into a small mushroom cloud.

The smoke and dust gradually dispersed. The rat swarm had long since been reduced to nothing, while the Gold-Eating Rat King, with cultivation nearing ten thousand years, was now merely a charred mass of remains. Its savage appearance in life was barely discernible. A purple soul ring slowly rose above the wreckage.

"Holy shit..."

Xiao Hongchen rarely cursed. He stared at the soul ring, then looked at Ye Chenxing.

That power... has already surpassed a fifth-grade Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon shell, hasn't it?

Seeing Ye Chenxing's calm expression, Xiao Hongchen swallowed hard.

Once school started, should he still fight him? Maybe they should switch to a scholarly contest? Making Soul Tools was pretty good. What was so interesting about all this fighting and killing?

Before he could come to a conclusion, Meng Hongchen had already hurried forward and dismissed her Martial Soul Possession. Her white hair returned to wine-red, her eyes faded back to icy blue, and her face was full of concern. "Chenxing, are you really all right? My poison—"

"I'm fine." Ye Chenxing waved a hand and said casually, "Don't worry. Did you forget? I have Ultimate Fire. I'm naturally highly resistant to poison attributes, not to mention your Icefire Venom."

He paused, then suddenly curled his lips into a smile. Looking at the Hongchen siblings, he made a rare joke. "By that logic, it seems I completely counter both of you."

He had expected Meng Hongchen to be discouraged. Her response, however, caught Ye Chenxing somewhat by surprise.

"That's wonderful!" Genuine delight bloomed across Meng Hongchen's face. "Then we can fight side by side! I've always been afraid to spread large-scale poisonous mist near my teammates because I might drag them into it. You aren't afraid of my poison, so I won't have to hold back anymore! We're definitely perfect teammates!"

As she spoke, she suddenly released her Martial Soul again. Her long hair turned white, her eyes turned red, and with hair and eyes remarkably similar in color to Ye Chenxing's, she leaned close to him. Tilting her head, she asked with a bright smile:

"Well? Don't I look more like your older sister than Ye Xue does now?"

Ye Chenxing did not know whether to laugh or cry. He raised a hand and lightly tapped her forehead. "Why are you thinking about Ye Xue every day? Did she ever do anything to you?"

"It's because..." Meng Hongchen covered her forehead and was about to argue when Ye Chenxing's expression suddenly changed.

His smile vanished. His gaze passed over her and fixed tightly on the depths of the forest behind her.

"Trouble."

The moment he spoke, a massive golden figure burst from the woods. Its limbs were as thick as pillars, its fangs protruded from its jaws, and a pair of scarlet wolf eyes stared fixedly at the three of them.

Xiao Hongchen's pupils contracted. For a wolf, this Golden Wolf King was actually larger than the two Thousand-Year Golden Tigers they had encountered the day before.

Simply standing there, the pressure radiating from its body seemed to make the surrounding air thicken. Its almost tangible aura was heavy, violent, and carried the sharp edge unique to the gold attribute—there was no question about it. This was a genuine ten-thousand-year soul beast.

"It's a ten-thousand-year Golden Wolf King!" Xiao Hongchen cried out.

No matter how proud and arrogant he usually was, he would not dare underestimate a genuine ten-thousand-year soul beast in the slightest.

If this had been ten thousand years ago, a Soul King or anyone below one encountering a ten-thousand-year soul beast would have had virtually no chance of victory.

But things were different now. With the aid of Soul Tools, it was not impossible for him to fight one. Besides, his sister and Ye Chenxing were by his side. If the three of them worked together, they might have a chance. He could not help feeling eager to try. Turning back to seek Ye Chenxing's opinion, he found that Ye Chenxing was not looking at the Golden Wolf King at all. His gaze remained locked on the depths of the forest behind it.

Then, a slender silver figure silently emerged from behind the Golden Wolf King.

Silvermoon Wolf King!

Both were ten-thousand-year soul beasts. This was their first encounter with ten-thousand-year soul beasts, yet two had appeared at once.

So the Gold-Eating Rat swarm had not come to attack them of its own accord. It had been driven from its territory by these two wolf kings.

Xiao Hongchen's expression changed instantly. One ten-thousand-year soul beast was worth trying against. Two were an entirely different matter. Still, he did not want to show weakness, much less reveal fear in front of these two, so he forced himself to ask, "Chenxing, what do we do now?"

In his eyes, the ever-rational Ye Chenxing would surely choose to retreat or directly call Jing Hongchen for help.

"That one."

"Huh?"

"My second soul ring."

Ye Chenxing did not choose to retreat as Xiao Hongchen had imagined.

The Silvermoon Wolf King had cultivation just over ten thousand years.

If this had been the lineup Huo Yuhao encountered in the original story—a Silvermoon Wolf King, three Golden Wolf King guards, and a pack of lesser wolves—then Ye Chenxing would definitely have called Jing Hongchen without a second thought. But from the look of things, these two had clearly come as a pair. Wolves were faithful to wolves, one male and one female.

Against a lineup like this, he felt it was worth trying.

Xiao Hongchen's face completely changed. "Are you insane?! Those are two ten-thousand-year soul beasts! Not thousand-year ones! Meng, talk some sense into him—"

He turned to pull his sister into persuading Ye Chenxing, only to find that Meng Hongchen had already released her Martial Soul. Her wine-red hair had become snow-white, her eyes turned crimson, and she had entered a combat state. The rest of Xiao Hongchen's words caught in his throat.

He gritted his teeth, drew his weapon, and cursed under his breath.

Let's do it!

Grandfather is here anyway.

Xiao Hongchen retreated first and released his Martial Soul. The shadow of a three-legged golden toad appeared behind him. Without any hesitation, he immediately opened the distance.

He knew that with his current strength, he would likely find it difficult to inflict any effective damage on these two ten-thousand-year soul beasts under normal circumstances. Therefore, he chose to pull back at once, preparing to charge up an attack capable of deciding the battle while observing Ye Chenxing's movements.

Without any unnecessary words, the three of them displayed astonishing coordination in their first real battle together.

Meng Hongchen's first two soul rings lit up at the same time, and blue-white poisonous currents rapidly spread in every direction.

Meanwhile, Ye Chenxing did not choose to charge up as he had when killing the Gold-Eating Rat King. He stomped the ground and charged directly toward the ten-thousand-year Silvermoon Wolf King!

He actually wanted to fight a ten-thousand-year soul beast at close range!

This was simply the act of a madman. Ye Chenxing's physique might be freakishly strong, enough to rival a Soul King, but even an ordinary Soul King would only choose to keep their distance and slowly wear down a ten-thousand-year soul beast.

The physical strength of a ten-thousand-year soul beast was far beyond anything a thousand-year soul beast could compare to.

A human-like flicker of surprise passed through the Golden Wolf King's scarlet eyes. These three weak humans had not turned and fled at the sight of it.

The mist released by the white-haired woman made it deeply uneasy. Yet what enraged it was that the weakest among them actually dared to charge at its mate.

As a ten-thousand-year soul beast, its intelligence was already considerable. In an instant, it made its judgment: the Silvermoon Wolf King could handle that weak human. Its task was to first tear apart the two troublesome people in the rear.

The massive golden figure leaped into the air and lunged directly at Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen behind him. At the same time, Meng Hongchen's third soul ring lit up. A mirror-like disc of ice roughly five meters in diameter silently condensed beneath her feet, smooth as glass and clearly reflecting her figure.

The Golden Wolf King reached them in an instant, its claws carrying a foul wind as they slashed down. If that strike landed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But at that very moment, something bizarre happened—two Meng Hongchens appeared on the ice disc at once. A flash of white light passed, and the "Meng Hongchen" in front was pierced by the claws, only to disperse like smoke. The real Meng Hongchen had already appeared elsewhere behind the Golden Wolf King.

Ice Reflection. This was Meng Hongchen's third soul skill, allowing her to freely change positions atop her mirror ice disc through the refraction of light and shadows.

Though the Golden Wolf King possessed considerable intelligence, even an experienced Soul King might not see through this move immediately, much less a soul beast. After missing its first strike, it immediately changed direction and lunged again, only to hit another phantom.

Unable to use its strength, the Golden Wolf King let out an agitated growl.

On the other side, Ye Chenxing had already closed in on the Silvermoon Wolf King and summoned his Sun Martial Soul.

The Silvermoon Wolf King was more slender than its mate. Its silver fur shimmered beneath the sunlight with a moonlit luster. Its icy blue eyes stared fixedly at the sun behind the rushing young human. The deterrence of Ultimate Fire prevented it from being careless. Under the fear born from deep within its bloodline due to this attribute suppression, it immediately wanted to use the elemental control it excelled at for a long-range bombardment.

A layer of light containing seven colors—blue, red, yellow, green, gold, black, and purple—suddenly erupted from its head. Seven elemental attacks had already locked onto Ye Chenxing.

But Ye Chenxing was faster than it expected. This was the soul skill Qian Renxue had given him: Angel Assault.

Even without manifesting wings, it allowed Ye Chenxing to cross the distance instantly and rush straight before the Silvermoon Wolf King. The extreme heat distorted the surrounding air violently, slowing the reaction of the already attribute-suppressed Silvermoon Wolf King by half a beat. And that half beat was enough.

Ye Chenxing's first soul ring lit up for the first time.

Deprivation of Fate, activate!

An indescribable force descended upon the Silvermoon Wolf King. It was not a mental attack, much less a physical attack. It was the power of rules, stripping away all its defenses. Terror of the unknown appeared on the Silvermoon Wolf King's face.

It could only sense that something beyond its understanding was happening to its body, but its beastly instincts told it that it would die next.

Driven by instinct, it made its choice. It abandoned its attack and transformed all the elemental power it had just gathered into barriers. Layers of silver halos lit up before it, seven elements intertwining into a seemingly impregnable shield.

The corners of Ye Chenxing's lips rose slightly. The other party's action was exactly what he wanted. His left hand formed a claw, and dark golden light suddenly burst from between his fingers. An aura more violent and primal than the Sun Martial Soul spread from his body—it was the aura of the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone from the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's left palm.

The Silvermoon Wolf King instinctively sensed danger, but it was already too late to make any adjustment. Borrowing the remaining momentum of Angel Assault, Ye Chenxing swung his left claw. Five dark golden claw streaks tore through the air and savagely struck the layered elemental defense.

The might of the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone rendered the Silvermoon Wolf King's hastily constructed defenses as fragile as sheets of thin paper before the Dark Gold Terror Claw.

Ye Chenxing only felt his Dark Gold Terror Claw halt seven consecutive times. Only after seven thunderous explosions did its force finally run out as it struck the Silvermoon Wolf King.

During those seven explosions, the shield successively transformed into rippling water, soaring flames, a sturdy barrier, a rushing wind vortex, a light shield, a wall of darkness, and a web of lightning. Seven different elements had forcibly consumed more than ninety percent of the Dark Gold Terror Claw's terrifying attack power.

As a result, although Ye Chenxing's strike landed on the Silvermoon Wolf King's flank and tore open a wound deep enough to expose bone, spraying blood and dyeing a patch of its silver fur red, it failed to kill it outright.

Had it not used seven elemental defenses in its panic, it would likely have died on the spot from the combination of Deprivation of Fate and the Dark Gold Terror Claw. Now, it was merely gravely injured.

The Silvermoon Wolf King released a pained, mournful cry that echoed throughout the forest. The Golden Wolf King, which had been toyed with by Meng Hongchen, abruptly turned around. Seeing its mate covered in blood, its scarlet eyes instantly went mad. Without hesitation, it abandoned the prey before it, changed direction, and lunged toward Ye Chenxing like a golden cannonball.

Ye Chenxing was not in good condition either. He had first killed the Gold-Eating Rat King with an Ultimate Fire arrow, then consecutively used Angel Assault, Deprivation of Fate, and the Hundred Thousand Year Dark Gold Terror Claw within a very short time. His Soul Power was greatly depleted, and his stamina was close to exhaustion.

It was too late to turn and evade, while taking the attack head-on would be suicide. Yet surprisingly, he showed no fear despite being trapped in a desperate situation. He remained calm and shouted:

"Close your eyes!"

Naturally, he was not shouting that at the Golden Wolf King. Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen did not hesitate for even a moment and instantly closed their eyes together.

They had not known Ye Chenxing for long, but after fighting alongside him over the past two days, the strength and combat intelligence he had displayed had earned their complete trust.

Ye Chenxing quickly raised both arms, lifting his hands to either side of his forehead. All ten fingers spread wide, as though he had opened two fans beside his face.

"To be honest, I've wanted to try using this move ever since I was a kid."

As the Golden Wolf King drew closer, the Sun Martial Soul slowly rose behind Ye Chenxing's head. But unlike before, it no longer gave the impression of scorching destruction. Instead, it radiated sacred light.

"So—lar—Flaaash—!!!"