Although the spherical Water Barrier that had suddenly appeared blocked it, the One-Eyed Demon Wolf paused only briefly before charging straight through the defensive water sphere.
The water sphere burst as easily as a balloon.
Though it had bought little time, Mu Shengqi had already circled around the trap and stood a dozen meters away from it.
"Roar!"
Drool streamed from the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's mouth as it charged toward Mu Shengqi with a low growl.
The One-Eyed Demon Wolf's powerful body pounded across the grass, its steps sinking into the soil. Even after it noticed Mu Shengqi had not fled, its heavy footfalls continued to quicken.
Squelch!
One foot landed in Yu Keyan's trap, and the enormous One-Eyed Demon Wolf's leg plunged straight down.
In the blink of an eye, the One-Eyed Demon Wolf had sunk up to its thighs.
"Ice Vine: Cover!"
Zhang Jierui attacked first. A layer of white frost appeared within the soft trap, freezing its soil solid.
Not only that, the cold frost gradually spread from the ground over the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's body, greatly reducing its ability to move.
"Fire Burst: Burning!"
Lu Wu had also prepared in advance and immediately unleashed Fire Element magic at the One-Eyed Demon Wolf. It was struggling constantly; he had to kill it before it escaped the trap.
Crimson flames landed on the One-Eyed Demon Wolf, setting its fur ablaze.
"Awoooo!"
The One-Eyed Demon Wolf roared toward the sky. Its hind limbs were exceptionally powerful and muscular, but they were now trapped underground. Though strong, its forelimbs were somewhat short and could not support it enough to get it out of the trap.
Its tail strained constantly, but to no avail.
Even so, Lu Wu's Fire Burst could only damage the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's fur and skin. He had managed to kill one before because that One-Eyed Demon Wolf's abdomen had already been wounded, allowing his attack to damage its internal organs.
This time, however, perhaps partly because he had used little mana, he had indeed only damaged its fur and skin.
Flames burned across the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's abdomen. Though they inflicted damage, the wounds were only external.
The fur on the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's abdomen was charred, its flesh a mangled mess.
"Thunderbolt: Yaksha!"
Just as Lu Wu's flames were about to burn out, Yu Keyan finished preparing his spell.
The Intermediate Magic he was preparing took somewhat longer.
At some point, a fairly small dark cloud had gathered above the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's head. As Yu Keyan released his spell, a bolt of lightning descended from the cloud.
It struck the One-Eyed Demon Wolf squarely in the head!
Purple lightning exploded, blasting a large hole straight through the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's head. Its upper jaw was blown apart, half its face was nothing but mangled flesh, and its single eye dangled precariously.
What powerful lightning! Lu Wu was deeply shocked.
That single strike killed the One-Eyed Demon Wolf outright, blasting through even its hard skull.
Captain Yu Keyan was an Intermediate Mage in both the Lightning Element and the Earth Element, and he was extremely powerful.
"Come over, everyone. This One-Eyed Demon Wolf is dead," Yu Keyan said, beckoning to the others.
It seemed this was nothing more than an everyday occurrence to him.
"Captain, I didn't expect you to be a Lightning Element mage too. That power really is overwhelming," Mu Shengqi said with feeling. He himself was an Intermediate Mage, but killing in a single strike was still somewhat difficult.
"For an Intermediate Mage practicing highly offensive magic, failing to kill even a stationary servant-level demon would make them rather mediocre," Yu Keyan said with a smile.
Standing nearby, Lu Wu thought of Wang Chong when he heard Yu Keyan's words.
His Wind Disk tornado had immediately robbed the Heavenly Horned Toad Demon of its ability to fight, but had not killed it in one strike.
Still, Lu Wu certainly did not consider Wang Chong weak. After all, the Wind Element's killing power really was somewhat inferior to the overwhelming Lightning Element.
"Should we cut open the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's corpse and take its organs?" Lu Wu asked.
"Burn it directly." Yu Keyan shook his head. "We don't have time for that. The organs of a mere servant-level One-Eyed Demon Wolf are worth a few thousand at most."
"Exactly. Besides, we have nothing to store the organs in."
Lu Wu felt it was a pity. He walked over and touched the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's corpse, attempting to sacrifice it directly, but failed.
Yu Keyan pulled out a broken piece of a fang and put it in his pocket, then urged them on. "Let's go. There's still another Demon Beast over there."
If they had simply been hunting for organs, Yu Keyan naturally would not have passed them up.
But they had to survive in the wilderness, and carrying those things would only be a burden.
Knowing that cutting open this One-Eyed Demon Wolf would take him quite some time, Lu Wu could only follow helplessly as they went to find the weaker One-Eyed Demon Wolf.
As they approached, Lu Wu had thought it was an injured One-Eyed Demon Wolf, only to discover that it was a female wolf demon suffering from severe bleeding after giving birth.
"No wonder that One-Eyed Demon Wolf kept guarding her and wouldn't leave." Only then did Lu Wu notice that this One-Eyed Demon Wolf was already at death's door.
It seemed Mu Shengqi's earlier attack had brought this female demon straight to the brink of death.
After watching the female wolf demon breathe her last, Yu Keyan knocked off a small fragment of a tooth and put it away.
"Strange. Where did the cubs go?" Yang Wan asked outright.
Both One-Eyed Demon Wolves were here, yet their cubs were nowhere to be seen. Judging by the female One-Eyed Demon Wolf's condition, she should have just given birth.
Seeing the others' questioning looks, Yu Keyan replied, "Search around. If we find them, they'll fetch a good price. But if we can't find them within ten minutes, we need to find somewhere to rest. We'll be staying out in the wilderness for the next few days."
Demon Beast cubs were extremely expensive.
Especially cubs of such a naturally vicious Demon Beast that was so difficult to tame. Raising Demon Beast cubs was far easier than capturing Demon Beasts and taming them.
"Everyone, have a look around," Mu Shengqi told Lu Wu and the others. "They should be nearby."
Lu Wu nodded. They ought to get something out of this.
He could forget about the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's organs. Yu Keyan would not give him any time to cut it open.
Lu Wu surveyed their surroundings and began sensing carefully.
He had intended to investigate with his perception, but instead noticed a dense patch of vines on a cliff in a valley.
"The vines over there are a little too dense." Lu Wu pointed toward the area.
"Let's take a look," Mu Shengqi said.
They passed through the grass and headed toward the vines on the valley cliff.
The cliff was several meters above the ground. Though steep, Lu Wu and the others could climb up.
Once they drew closer, they found that there was indeed a cave behind the vines, with signs of One-Eyed Demon Wolves having lived inside.
The cave was very dry. Three One-Eyed Demon Wolf cubs huddled together, their eyes not yet open.
"Can we keep them alive if we take them with us?" Lu Wu asked a crucial question.
Demon Beasts generally had tenacious vitality, but these three were truly too young.
After all, as Captain Yu Keyan had said, the team would be surviving in the wilderness. If they took the cubs along, keeping them alive really would not be easy.
"Let's take them for now. If all three survive, plenty of people will flock to them like ducks," Yu Keyan said.
"All right."
"Captain, since there's a cave here, why don't we recover some mana here before setting out again?" Lu Wu suggested, looking at the light shining down from the top of the cave, which afforded fairly good visibility.
"Although none of us has used much mana, we could indeed take some time to recuperate to ensure everyone can hunt Demon Beasts efficiently," Mu Shengqi agreed.
The sun was already high outside, and it was extremely hot, making it unsuitable for traveling.
"All right. We'll rest for a few hours, then continue hunting Demon Beasts."
Hearing Yu Keyan agree, Lu Wu felt the short blade in his hand and walked toward the two One-Eyed Demon Wolf corpses.