Four wolves, two each (Testing the waters-please keep reading!)

Ahead lay a forest clearing roughly the size of two basketball courts, its ground covered in waist-high wild grass, with a few moss-covered rocks scattered along the edges.

In the center of the clearing, a slender figure with a dark blue ponytail stood with her back to him, an ice-blue spear in her hand and its tip angled toward the ground. Seven or eight black-furred, wolf-like soul beasts surrounded her.

Those wolves were a full size larger than the gray-green wild wolves he had encountered earlier, their shoulders nearly reaching an adult's waist. Their fur was black as ink, gleaming dully in the sunlight, and the deep, heavy growls coming from their mouths carried an oppressive weight.

Ye Zhiqiu recognized them.

Ironback Wolves, pack-dwelling soul beasts whose individual strength ranged from roughly level fifteen to seventeen. What made them terrifying, however, was that they always appeared in packs.

Two Ironback Wolf corpses lay at Dong Qianqiu's feet, while five more surrounded her. A thin layer of frost coated her spear tip, and her breathing was slightly quickened. She had clearly been fighting for a while.

Dong Qianqiu stared fixedly at the largest wolf directly ahead of her—the king and leader of this pack of Ironback Wolves. Pitch-black from head to tail, its shoulders reached her chest, and saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth beneath its exposed fangs.

Its soul power fluctuations were already approaching level twenty.

Her heart had begun to sink, but she still gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the Ice Spear, her ponytail swaying slightly behind her shoulders.

The wolf king growled and lowered its forequarters, its claws gouging several deep furrows into the ground.

Almost the instant it moved, Dong Qianqiu moved too. Her Ice Spear swept across, scattering shards of ice as its tip traced a crescent of light straight toward the wolf king's throat.

The wolf king abruptly braked and dodged sideways. The spear tip skimmed past its ear, shearing off several strands of black fur.

The instant it landed, it twisted around and snapped at Dong Qianqiu's spear-wielding right hand.

Dong Qianqiu had to withdraw her spear and retreat to put some distance between them. Just then, however, the other four Ironback Wolves lunged from either side, their jaws gaping to reveal chilling white fangs.

Her eyes narrowed. She forced the wolf king back with a thrust, then pivoted and swept her Ice Spear across. Ice shards burst outward, repelling three attackers from her left and right, but the one behind her had already closed in.

Dong Qianqiu no longer had time to turn and defend herself.

Just as that wolf was about to strike, a streak of white light shot over from nearby at incredible speed, cutting precisely across the junction between its hind leg and torso.

The wolf let out an agonized howl, lost its balance in midair, and tumbled to the ground.

Dong Qianqiu whipped her head around and saw a figure vault down from a dirt slope, landing lightly with barely a sound.

Ye Zhiqiu.

"Your luck isn't much better, huh?" Ye Zhiqiu strode over and took up a position beside her. He had already summoned Absolute Blade in his right hand, its edge shimmering with a faint white sheen like flowing moonlight.

Dong Qianqiu looked at him and froze for a moment, her heart giving a sudden thump. Then she quickly collected herself and huffed. "What are you doing here?"

Had she just been rescued by a hero? That bastard Ye Zhiqiu wouldn't ask her to repay him by giving herself to him, would he? Should she agree...?

No, no!

"I heard the noise." As Ye Zhiqiu spoke, he scanned their surroundings. The remaining three Ironback Wolves had already repositioned themselves and were closing in in a fan formation. The wolf whose hind leg had been severed struggled a few times on the ground but failed to get back up.

The wolf king had also lowered its forequarters again, its gaze locked on this suddenly appearing new target.

Ye Zhiqiu smiled and continued, "Four left. Three for you, one for me. How does that sound?"

Dong Qianqiu rolled her eyes at him and huffed. "Why do you only get one?"

"Then two each?"

Dong Qianqiu said nothing, but she angled her spear tip to the left, indicating that she would handle that side.

Ye Zhiqiu understood and stepped half a pace to the right.

All four wolves lowered their forequarters, low growls rumbling from their mouths.

Then, almost at the same instant, they moved.

The fastest was naturally the wolf king. It was the largest and had the greatest explosive power, shooting forward almost the instant it lowered its body. It covered the dozen or so meters in less than two breaths, its fangs aimed straight at Ye Zhiqiu's throat.

It had chosen Ye Zhiqiu.

It had probably realized that the newcomer's earlier slash made him a troublesome opponent and wanted to pin him down and kill him first.

Ye Zhiqiu shifted his footing, taking half a step diagonally forward with his left foot and turning his body slightly. The wolf king's jaws brushed past his shoulder, bringing a gust of foul-smelling wind.

He turned his right hand over, sweeping Absolute Blade upward from below and slicing across the inside of the wolf king's foreleg.

The wolf king recoiled in pain. Its leg buckled as it landed, sending it into a half roll across the ground. It scrambled back up, red blood dripping down its left foreleg.

It stared at Ye Zhiqiu more viciously than before, a deeper growl rising from its throat.

Dong Qianqiu had also sprung into action.

Two ordinary wolves lunged at her simultaneously from the left and right, coordinating seamlessly, one snapping at her upper body while the other attacked low.

Dong Qianqiu pressed her spear tip down and swept the Ice Spear across, raising a cloud of icy mist. The wolf attacking low took a faceful of mist and instinctively shut its eyes. Its lunge veered a few inches off course, carrying it past her side.

The one attacking high had already reached her face. She raised her spear to block, bracing the shaft against the wolf's chest, then used its momentum to shove it diagonally behind her. The wolf flipped over from the force.

Before it could land, she had already turned her Ice Spear around and stabbed after it. The tip pierced flesh, and the wolf screamed before collapsing in convulsions.

Dong Qianqiu pulled out her spear and turned, her gaze already locked on the second wolf.

Ye Zhiqiu had not been idle either.

The wounded wolf king had grown noticeably more cautious. Instead of lunging again immediately, it circled Ye Zhiqiu, searching for an opening.

The remaining ordinary wolf prowled in another direction, matching the wolf king's movements and waiting for a chance to launch a sneak attack.

Ye Zhiqiu glanced at the ordinary wolf's position, then at the wolf king's movements, and made his judgment.

He did not wait for them to attack first.

He took a step forward and drove off the ground, his body almost skimming along it. His target was not the wolf king, but the ordinary wolf.

The ordinary wolf clearly had not expected this human to abruptly abandon his standoff with the wolf king and charge at it. Its reaction came half a beat too late.

Ye Zhiqiu was already upon it. Absolute Blade cut in from the side, slashing across the back of its neck.

The wolf did not even manage a cry. Its body stiffened in midair for a moment before crashing to the ground, its limbs twitching twice before going still.

Almost at the same moment, Dong Qianqiu withdrew her spear. Her tip had sliced open the second ordinary wolf's chest, and it collapsed, twitching on the ground before falling still.

They had finished off their respective targets at the same time. Only the still-bleeding wolf king remained in the clearing.

The wolf king stood at the edge of the clearing, blood still seeping from the wound on its left foreleg. Its breathing was much heavier than before.

Its gaze shifted between Ye Zhiqiu and Dong Qianqiu, as though it was wavering over whether to flee.

In the end, however, its dignity as a wolf king would not allow it to run away with its tail between its legs, especially now that its entire pack had been wiped out.

It let out a low, heavy growl, drove off with all four legs, and lunged at Ye Zhiqiu one final time.

This lunge was faster than before, carrying the desperate resolve of a creature staking everything.

Ye Zhiqiu turned sideways to evade the frontal bite of its fangs. Then Absolute Blade in his right hand cut in from the side, its edge passing unerringly across the wolf king's throat.

Its momentum carried it several more steps forward before its forelegs buckled and its heavy body crashed to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Its jaws hung slightly open, the vicious gleam in its eyes gradually fading. Its limbs twitched one last time, then went completely still.

The clearing fell quiet.

Wind passed through the treetops with a soft, whistling sound.

Ye Zhiqiu dismissed Absolute Blade and turned toward Dong Qianqiu, looking her up and down to make sure she was unhurt. Then his gaze settled on the layer of white frost coating her spear tip.

"That spear strike was pretty clean."

Dong Qianqiu also put away her Ice Spear and took a couple of light, panting breaths. "You weren't bad either, but that slash..."

"Which slash?"

"The one across the wolf king's leg. Did you deliberately avoid killing it?"

Ye Zhiqiu smiled. "You've got a sharp eye. First cripple its movement so it can't escape, then take my time finishing it off."

Dong Qianqiu huffed and said nothing more.

They stood in the clearing, four wolf corpses scattered around them and a faint smell of blood hanging in the air.

Dong Qianqiu looked at Ye Zhiqiu, hesitating to speak. In the end, she said quietly, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Ye Zhiqiu replied casually. Then he turned to look toward the forest and continued:

"Let's go. The smell of blood is too strong here. It'll attract more soul beasts."