Survival Match (Fourteen)

Both were native to the North Sea Kingdom, but Snow Wolves were merely descendants of Frost Snow Wolves, their bloodline inherently a grade below that of their ancestors.

Frozen Canyon took its name from these bizarre little icebergs of every shape and size. Anyone walking among them could easily get lost, so they had to be especially careful before heading in.

But that was no problem. Big Hen could guide them from the sky.

As they entered the canyon, a chill pierced them to the core. Jiang Hao couldn't help shivering, and his whole body instantly felt much more refreshed!

There was no accumulated snow here. A mysterious force isolated the entire canyon, keeping snow out and cold in. It was this chill that had preserved the countless little icebergs for millions of years, nurturing miraculous plants like the iceberg snow lotus.

"Hurry up, hurry up! Where are the Snow Rabbits? I've been hungry for four days! I could swallow a whole one in a single bite right now, believe it or not!"

Chubby's incessant muttering was both annoying and a little funny. Who wasn't hungry now? Not only had everyone grown noticeably thinner since before the match, but they were also listless and drained.

The seven of them wound their way through the little icebergs, yet couldn't find a single Snow Rabbit.

Curious, Jiang Hao reached out and touched a small ice sculpture beside him. Immediately, threads of warmth seeped through his palm into his body. It was actually warm.

"Holy shit, this is a Snow Rabbit!"

But this Snow Rabbit was far too big. It crouched beneath an iceberg like a young calf, its fur practically blending into the ice. At first glance, it looked as though someone had deliberately carved a fake rabbit to fool people.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Snow Rabbit that had been motionless a moment earlier suddenly bolted away right in front of them. Its speed rivaled light, and it vanished from sight in the blink of an eye!

Song Jie said, "Where is it? Chase it!"

Chubby said, "It ran ahead! It's so fast!"

Jiang Hao said, "Don't panic. I've already locked onto it. Three hundred meters ahead."

The moment he finished speaking-

A slender figure shot forward like a hunting cheetah. Behind her, Yang Qingliu refused to be outdone and followed close on her heels.

Gongsun Qianxun was the fastest runner among the seven. Jiang Hao had barely finished speaking before she released her beast pet and completed their fusion.

Watching the two catgirls sweep away like the wind, Jiang Hao sighed. "One has strength, the other has speed. Well, that leaves nothing for us to do. Let's wait for the results!"

The result was that, some ten minutes later, the two returned beaming, carrying the Snow Rabbit. Calling it fat hardly did it justice. Growing up on snow lotuses really made a difference.

Snow Rabbits were timid. The instant they were startled, they froze on the spot, just as this one had earlier. But their attack power was not to be underestimated. As the saying went, even a cornered rabbit would bite. Besides, with one this big, Gongsun Qianxun alone would have needed at least half an hour to bring it down.

Jiang Hao lavished them with praise. "Well done, ladies! As a reward, you each get a rabbit leg today. I guarantee your efforts will be well worth it."

"Pfft, who cares!"

Gongsun Qianxun clearly wasn't buying it.

With food available, everyone's spirits visibly lifted, and they went about their tasks with care. When the piping-hot, fragrant roast rabbit was placed before them, nobody cared how ugly their table manners looked. They all ate like reincarnated starving ghosts, grease dripping from their mouths.

Even after the seven of them devoured the entire Snow Rabbit in one sitting, they were only barely full.

With their hunger resolved, everyone's taut nerves relaxed. Jiang Hao's eyelids kept fighting each other, and without so much as a word, he crawled into his tent, covered his head, and went to sleep. The others did the same, leaving Yang Qingliu in a miserable position. With nobody keeping watch, she didn't dare sleep. She guarded everyone's tents until late at night, when she finally began struggling to stay awake.

Through her drowsiness, she sensed an icy gaze fixed on her. The vigilance honed over years away from home instantly drove away all her sleepiness, and she looked toward that cold stare.

A pair of green eyes gleamed in the darkness.

Goose bumps instantly rose all over Yang Qingliu. Her instincts told her that the owner of those eyes was dangerous.

But before she could react, more green eyes suddenly appeared all around her. One pair, two pairs-

"We're under attack! Everyone, get up!"

With that sharp cry, Yang Qingliu hurriedly released her beast pet.

"Awooo!"

A wolf's howl shattered the night.

"What happened? What happened?"

Chen Xiaolin scrambled out of his tent without even getting dressed. The next second, a foul-smelling gust struck his face, and a snow-white figure slammed him to the ground.

Sharp wolf fangs snapped straight toward his neck!

"Get off him!"

Behind him-

Song Jie, who had already completed his fusion, braced a pair of large blades between the wolf's jaws and Chen Xiaolin's neck.

Song Jie heaved upward, trying to pry the Snow Wolf off Chen Xiaolin. But the Snow Wolf was powerfully built and weighed several hundred pounds at least. How could a casual heave lift it away?

"Awooo!"

The Snow Wolf refused to let Chen Xiaolin go. Even with one of Song Jie's hand blades pressed against it, it still tried to bite through his neck.

By then, Chen Xiaolin had recovered from his stupor. Without a word, he released his beast pet and cast Heavenly Net at the Snow Wolf on top of him.

Once the dense webbing bound the Snow Wolf tight, he worked with Song Jie to shove it off in one go.

Chen Xiaolin scrambled to his feet, rolling and crawling, then felt a chill along his spine. He reached back and wiped it, only to find his hand covered in cold sweat!

"Holy shit, holy shit! That scared the life out of me!"

"What are you standing around for? It's about to break out of the net! Reinforce it!"

Song Jie's furious shout rang in his ears. Chen Xiaolin instinctively waved both hands, and dense strands of spider silk shot from all ten fingertips, tightly binding the struggling Snow Wolf once again.

Seeing this, Song Jie raised a hand blade and slashed viciously down at the Snow Wolf's neck.

Squelch!

Scalding blood splashed over both of them.

Chen Xiaolin suddenly realized something and hastily looked toward Yang Qingliu. She was already surrounded by three Snow Wolves, with bloody gashes in several places on her body.

"Qingliu, I'll help you!"

Meanwhile, Jiang Hao took down a Snow Wolf with a single Six-Shot Fireball, but when he looked around, Snow Wolves were everywhere. They had actually been surrounded!

Damn it, we were far too careless.

"Chubby, protect me!"

With that, Jiang Hao commanded Big Hen to cast Wind Orb. Within its effective range, Wind Orb could hit ten targets. As long as he cast it a few more times, he could kill ten Snow Wolves. But that also meant facing attacks from ten Snow Wolves. Without anyone protecting him, his end would surely be very, very miserable.

Only a few seconds had passed between the Snow Wolves appearing, Yang Qingliu sounding the alarm, and the wolves attacking. Yet they had already split up and surrounded the seven-person team.

Yang Qingliu, Chen Xiaolin, and Song Jie were on one side, Jiang Hao and Chubby on another, and Wen Ruxue and Gongsun Qianxun, who was protecting her, formed the last group.

This was an intelligent pack of Snow Wolves that knew how to divide and conquer. Fortunately, they weren't particularly strong, only somewhere between the fusion realm and the golden body realm. Otherwise, the team would already have met their end here.

This won't do.

"Chubby, let's move toward Ruxue and Qianxun. Our only way out is to bring everyone together. Go!"

The Snow Wolves seemed to recognize their intent and desperately blocked them. Soon, several bloody gashes appeared on Chubby's body. In this frozen wilderness, the cold seeped into him through his wounds, easily freezing and damaging muscle tissue. Chubby had to protect Jiang Hao while driving the invading chill from his body, and he quickly consumed more than half his beast pet's energy.

Wen Ruxue and Gongsun Qianxun were also moving toward him. There were fewer Snow Wolves around them, only three.

Gongsun Qianxun was still scrambling to keep up. As the saying went, two fists could hardly fend off four hands. Three Snow Wolves were already more than enough trouble, and she also had to keep Wen Ruxue from getting hurt.

Jiang Hao and Chubby tried to break through the blockade. After several failed attempts, Jiang Hao gritted his teeth and finally decided to use Lure.

"Everyone, gather around me!"

With those words, a transparent egg bounced toward the edge of the campsite. All targets within fifteen meters would be forced to gather together. That would allow the seven of them to regroup.

When all the attacking Snow Wolves were drawn away by Lure, Song Jie's group of three and Wen Ruxue's pair seized the opening and headed toward him.

At a glance, everyone had suffered injuries to some extent. Yang Qingliu had fared even worse: half her body was stained red with blood, showing just how badly she was hurt.

At the sight of her, Wen Ruxue's eyes instantly reddened, and she nearly forgot her own duties. Only after Chen Xiaolin reminded her did she hurriedly cast Healing Art on Yang Qingliu.

A few seconds passed-

The pack of Snow Wolves surrounded them again.

Jiang Hao roared, "Everyone, follow my lead! Wen Ruxue, Chen Xiaolin, stand in the middle with me! Chen Xiaolin, use Heavenly Net to shield us! Chubby, you're our main defense! Song Jie, Qianxun, Qingliu, keep watching for damage to Heavenly Net! I'm going to catch all these wolf bastards in one net!"

At Jiang Hao's command, everyone swiftly sprang into action.

Wen Ruxue cast Magnetic Field Rally, and Jiang Hao felt his entire body fill with fighting spirit!

Wind Orb attacked the pack.

Combined with Six-Shot Fireball, a single barrage took down six Snow Wolves.

But that was only the beginning. The pack numbered at least thirty or forty, and most of those he could take down in a single barrage were merely the weaker ones. They couldn't forget that a wolf pack had a Wolf King. They still hadn't spotted him, and the Wolf King lurking in the shadows was the biggest problem.

"Has anyone seen the Wolf King?"

"No. He disappeared after meeting my eyes once at the start. I think he's hiding somewhere nearby, waiting for his chance."

It was Yang Qingliu who answered him.

Although Chen Xiaolin's Heavenly Net was sturdy, it was nowhere near indestructible. Under the Snow Wolves' frenzied attacks, gaps soon appeared all over it.

While Chen Xiaolin's skill was on cooldown, Song Jie and the other two close-range fighters had no choice but to step up. Even so, a Snow Wolf still broke through the web and charged inside.

Without waiting for Jiang Hao's instructions, Chubby strode forward and blocked the Snow Wolf. "Wolf bastard, take a punch from your grandpa!"