Fang Qianyuan felt as though he had become a gray wolf, immersed in his pack's savage fighting.
The searing wolf blood, torn flesh, and spilling demonic qi set his blood surging and his battle spirit rising. Before he knew it, he was on the verge of losing himself in it.
The tangled decisions of attack and defense consumed so much of his attention that it was difficult to spare any for anything else.
Yet Fang Qianyuan seemed to possess an innate gift for combat. Though he was equally immersed in the fighting, a thread of clarity still remained in his mind.
As he mercilessly killed every wild wolf he encountered, he also watched the situation, deliberately helping his senior brothers and sister.
Through his efforts, the wild wolves gradually dwindled, and the threat they posed to his side's gray wolves became negligible. After all, the gray wolves possessed third transformation strength, while the wild wolves were only at the first transformation.
Just then, a muffled grunt came from Wei Wu nearby. While fighting the ratman chief, he had carelessly let a dwarf demon beside him stab his right shoulder with a bone spear.
Blood immediately poured from his wound.
"Junior Brother Wei!" Ding Long cried out. He hurriedly abandoned his own opponent and moved to shield Wei Wu.
The dwarf demon chief and the ratman chief advanced relentlessly, their eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
Although his superior cultivation still allowed Ding Long to hold on, more and more of their underlings gathered around him. The situation was visibly beginning to turn against him.
"Senior Brother Wei, tend to your wound first. I'll hold them off for you!" At that critical moment, Fang Qianyuan launched a Wolf Rush Strike, darting to the ratman chief's side.
The ratman chief had intended to hack down Ding Long, who stood in its way, with its stone axe. Seeing Fang Qianyuan rushing toward it, however, it swung the axe at him instead.
Fang Qianyuan was ready. He twisted aside to evade the attack, then drove his feet against the ground, forcibly braking and changing direction in a way an ordinary person could never manage. He shifted position in a flash, trailing a string of afterimages as he reached the ratman chief's back.
"That's... that's Shadow Step!" Ding Long caught sight of it from the corner of his eye. He swallowed the warning he had been about to shout, and irrepressible astonishment took its place.
Wei Wu had witnessed the same scene, and surprise appeared on his face as well.
Shadow Step was not a Borrowing Art, but a form of footwork from the martial arts.
Spirit Tamers of suitable types could incorporate it into their way of transformation as a combat technique.
However, this footwork placed considerable demands on explosive strength, coordination, balance, and other physical abilities. Usually, only Transformation Dao Spirit Tamers who had reached the fourth transformation of Human Rank or higher could execute it. If lower-ranked disciples forced themselves to try, they would either trace a tiger from a cat and produce a mangled imitation, or sprain themselves and fall, suffering harm instead.
When executed successfully, however, it allowed the user to dart about at extreme speed within a small area, even leaving afterimages behind.
Ding Long and Wei Wu did not know that Fang Qianyuan had yet to fully master this footwork. He had merely watched the instructor Ma Wenhua demonstrate it once, roughly committed it to memory, and practiced it a little afterward.
Ordinary Spirit Tamers achieved its effects by mastering the proper method. Fang Qianyuan, however, relied on extraordinary innate gifts that far surpassed those of ordinary people.
His body already possessed a physique equal to, or even stronger than, that of a fourth transformation Spirit Tamer. Explosive strength, coordination, balance, and the like were even less of a concern.
Even when he occasionally made a mistake, his powerful muscles and bones and terrifying recovery allowed him to correct it instantly, taking the backlash head-on!
It was just like how Fang Qianyuan had previously failed to fully master the proper rhythm for repeatedly executing Wolf Rush Strike. Relying on his unusually powerful physique, he could still continue without his expression changing or his heart racing, even lasting longer than those who had mastered the rhythm but possessed weaker bodies.
Once he had performed it enough times, practice would make perfect. He would naturally find the right track and then master the proper technique.
This was the tremendous advantage that extraordinary innate gifts brought.
The ratman chief had never imagined that the human before it would suddenly vanish. By the time it reacted, it had already taken a heavy blow.
Fang Qianyuan curled his fingers into claws and viciously tore into its back, ripping away a broad strip of skin.
"Squeak!" Shocked and enraged, the ratman chief spun around and swung its stone axe at him.
"Watch-" Ding Long's and Wei Wu's hearts lurched, and they were just about to shout, only for their expressions to turn as though they had seen a ghost.
The instant the ratman chief turned, Fang Qianyuan moved with it.
Following the direction of its turn, he abruptly changed direction again and darted around it. Trailing another string of afterimages, he stayed close to the ratman chief's body and reached its back once more!
Its wounded back lay completely exposed before Fang Qianyuan. He struck with his claws again, tearing through its muscles and sinews.
The ratman chief grew even more shocked and furious.
Its physique was immensely tough. Attacks that would have ripped open an ordinary creature's belly were merely commonplace injuries to it. Yet it could not withstand Fang Qianyuan's repeated strikes, and the wound rapidly tore wider and worsened.
Ding Long and Wei Wu finally recovered their senses. While holding off the dwarf demons and the other demonic underlings, they watched Fang Qianyuan again.
They saw him repeatedly execute Shadow Step, clinging to the ratman chief like its own shadow. He had it spinning in circles, yet it still could do nothing to him.
At last, Fang Qianyuan condensed his qi into a hardened force. An invisible blade of spirit essence pierced through the ratman chief's wound and drove straight into its heart.
Filled with endless resentment and bewilderment, the ratman chief pitched forward onto the ground.
"Well done! Junior Brother Fang, beautifully done!"
Ding Long and Wei Wu cheered in unison. Their shouts even drew the attention of Wei Wen and Ning Yuerong.
Seeing the ratman chief collapse before Fang Qianyuan, both looked astonished. However, the battle was still raging, and they had no time to ask questions. They quickly turned back.
"There's still this dwarf demon!"
After killing the ratman chief, Fang Qianyuan had no time to rest. He repeated the same method, darting continuously within a small area and executing Shadow Step again and again. Sparing no strength, he condensed his spirit essence and thrust viciously.
This time, he adjusted his method of attack.
Although condensing blades of spirit essence consumed more energy, they had greater reach, greater speed, and reliable power.
Blooms of blood soon blossomed across the dwarf demon chief's back, as though a sharp spear were stabbing it in rapid succession.
Its battle qi was more than twice as powerful as Fang Qianyuan's spirit essence, but its inability to mobilize it effectively left it utterly suppressed by him instead.
After enduring several strikes with its formidable physique, the dwarf demon chief likewise had its heart pierced from behind and died at Fang Qianyuan's hands.
By then, Fang Qianyuan had executed nearly twenty consecutive Shadow Steps while attacking with all his strength. Almost every strike pushed limits that ordinary disciples could not withstand.
He stopped abruptly, and his vision finally went black. He felt utterly drained, as though someone had hollowed out his entire body, and was on the verge of collapsing.
Fortunately, Ding Long and Wei Wu hurriedly caught him and sheltered him behind them.
"I... I'm fine!" Fang Qianyuan exhaled a long breath of stale air and recovered a little.
He steadied himself and did his best to regulate his breathing. Yet his chest and lungs still felt as though they were burning, and he could not stop himself from gasping, his heart pounding violently.
Suddenly, a strange power emerged from nowhere within his abdomen. To his astonishment, Fang Qianyuan discovered that his physique seemed to have grown noticeably stronger. His depleted stamina and spirit essence also began to recover gradually, like a pool filling with water.
"It's the power of that precious pill!"