Time flew by, and three full months had quietly passed since his epiphany on the brink of death.
Over those three months, Shiheng, Linlai, Lefu, and the others had devoted themselves wholeheartedly to rest and recovery. The injuries they had suffered in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts had long since healed completely, and their bodies had grown stronger through daily training.
Shiheng himself had undergone an even more earth-shattering transformation.
After countless attempts and explorations, he had finally mastered the power that had erupted within him in that desperate moment. He had developed a unique method for voluntarily controlling his adrenaline secretion and the functioning of his entire body, allowing him to activate Berserkification at will.
Through emotional factors such as his inner fixations and fighting spirit, he could forcibly unleash his body's latent potential, dramatically increasing his combat strength for a short time.
Since his epiphany, his strength in his normal state had steadily improved, and he had successfully advanced to a fourth-level warrior. Once he activated Berserkification, his combat strength would soar wildly, unleashing terrifying power comparable to that of a late fifth-level warrior. More remarkably, this heaven-defying ability had brought him no obvious adverse aftereffects. Even after his berserk state subsided, his body would not become extremely weak.
However, this power was not yet entirely stable.
Over those three months, he had conducted several thousand Berserkification trials. His combat strength sometimes dropped to the early fifth level and occasionally soared to the early sixth level in defiance of all expectations, but most of the time, it remained stable at the late fifth level.
While Shiheng continued to hone his strength, an urgent military order reached the camp.
His squad received a new mission-to head to a designated location and meet a force of reinforcements from the Feng Lai Kingdom.
Shiheng and his companions dared not delay. They set out immediately and hurried toward the rendezvous point. Yet the moment they arrived, the sight before them made their expressions darken.
The Feng Lai Kingdom's force was caught in a harrowing battle for survival!
More than thirty agile Wind Wolves, pale green wind elements swirling around their bodies, attacked like a raging tide, trapping the force tightly in their midst. Wolf howls, clashing weapons, and the roar of wind mingled together in a scene of chaos and peril.
Even more troublesome, two fifth-level Wind Wolves lurked among the pack! Several times larger than ordinary Wind Wolves, they had razor-sharp claws and unleashed rampaging wind blades, suppressing the fighters like a nightmare and posing an absolute threat of death on the battlefield.
As for the Feng Lai Kingdom's force, only two fifth-level warriors were barely holding on, desperately resisting the Wind Wolves' fierce attacks. Both were already covered in wounds, their clothes soaked in blood, yet they still gritted their teeth and held their ground without retreating a single step, struggling to maintain a defensive line on the verge of collapse.
At that critical moment, Shiheng made an immediate decision and shouted, "Charge!"
He led his squad straight into the fray like warriors descending from heaven!
After several brushes with death, the squad members had developed a tacit understanding, maintaining tight formations and working together seamlessly. They plunged into the wolf pack and joined the Feng Lai force's two fifth-level warriors, fighting shoulder to shoulder against the savage Wind Wolves.
The battle instantly reached a fever pitch. Flashing blades interwove with wind blades, and battle cries rang through the mountain wilderness.
Just as everyone fought desperately and the situation began to stabilize, a sudden change occurred!
An enormous figure abruptly sprang from the depths of the pack. A terrifying pressure far beyond that of a Fifth-Level Magical Beast burst outward, and dense, eerie winds swirled around its body. Wherever it passed, the raging winds shredded every plant!
It was the Wind Wolf King!
This Wind Wolf King had already broken through to the sixth level, and its strength was utterly terrifying. Its appearance completely reversed the course of the battle!
Facing such a powerful enemy, Shiheng showed no fear. He immediately joined forces with one of the Feng Lai force's fifth-level warriors and launched a fierce counterattack. Working in perfect coordination, the two attacked like a surging tide and slew one of the fifth-level Wind Wolves with overwhelming force!
Shiheng said, "I'll face the sixth-level wolf king alone and keep it occupied. Have the other fifth-level warrior support the remaining fifth-level warrior. Finish off that fifth-level Wind Wolf quickly, and then we'll surround and kill the wolf king together."
The fifth-level warrior nodded and, without any other movement, went to reinforce the other part of the battlefield.
After Shiheng had held it off for half a quarter of an hour, the sixth-level Wind Wolf King's claws came crashing toward him. Unable to dodge in time, he took a vicious hit!
Hideous wounds instantly covered his body. Agonizing pain swept through him, and blood gushed out. Yet with the fearless courage granted by Berserkification and a tenacity far beyond that of ordinary people, Shiheng gritted his teeth and held on, refusing to fall.
At that critical moment, the other two fifth-level warriors arrived in time to help. Over the past half-quarter of an hour, they had joined forces and swiftly killed the remaining fifth-level Wind Wolf.
Now that no other powerful enemies remained on the battlefield, everyone focused all their attention on the sixth-level Wind Wolf King and launched a final, desperate charge!
After a bloody struggle, under everyone's united assault, the terrifying sixth-level Wind Wolf King finally let out a piercing howl of anguish. Its massive body crashed to the ground, completely lifeless.
With the Wind Wolf King's death, the previously ferocious pack instantly lost its leader and fell apart. The wolves scattered in terror, fleeing into the mountain forests.
At last, the Feng Lai force was completely out of danger. The harrowing struggle for survival finally came to an end, and both sides successfully completed the rendezvous mission.
After a brief rest, the two men leading the Feng Lai force walked toward Shiheng and the others.
One of them, a tall, upright man with a composed bearing, came before Shiheng, bowed slightly, and offered a greeting. "I am Huohe Basike. Greetings, sir, and thank you for saving us today."
The burly man beside him also cupped his hands and introduced himself. "I am Xifaman. My respects, and thank you all for coming to our aid."
Hearing those two names, Shiheng was startled, and a storm instantly surged through his heart!
Huohe Basike! Xifaman!
These two were actually the protagonist's father and Xifaman, the future captain of the guards in the small town of Wu Mountain! Why were the names different? Mainly because Fanqie would not allow them.
Before Shiheng could recover from his shock, Huohe had already begun explaining the reason for this reinforcement mission.
Recently, the Radiant Church's forces had unexpectedly discovered an exceedingly rare and immensely powerful Level Nine Magical Beast cub deep within the vast Mountain Range of Magical Beasts!
The moment the news spread, it shook the entire Yulan Continent.
Upon learning of it, the Shadow Alliance (Dark Alliance) naturally refused to sit idly by. It immediately dispatched powerful fighters to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts to engage in a fierce struggle with the Radiant Church.
For a time, the six kingdoms and sixteen duchies under the Radiant Church all dispatched elite forces to reinforce the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, committing themselves fully to the struggle for this exceptionally rare Level Nine Magical Beast cub. Unwilling to be outdone, the Shadow Alliance also massed its troops, with swords drawn and bows bent.
The once-peaceful Mountain Range of Magical Beasts was suddenly swept by turmoil. Forces converged from every direction, and an unprecedentedly tense atmosphere of war enveloped the entire mountain range.
The Feng Lai Kingdom's force led by Huohe and Xifaman was precisely one such elite unit, ordered to head to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and join this momentous struggle.
Looking at Huohe and Xifaman before him, then thinking of the struggle over the magical beast cub that had swept across the continent, Shiheng understood that his own, more perilous and more magnificent journey had only just begun.
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