After leaving Imperial Dragon Pass, the two traveled south without much conversation.
Thanks to his Spiritual Power, Huo Yuhao also noticed that Long Xingyu was somewhat impatient with him. Whenever Long Xingyu turned his back to him, his face went through a whole range of expressions.
The discovery put Huo Yuhao on guard. Does Long Xingyu have some kind of mental illness?
He hadn't done anything, so why was Long Xingyu reacting to him like that?
For a while, Huo Yuhao grew increasingly cautious, doing his best not to provoke Long Xingyu.
As for Long Xingyu, he was somewhat surprised that Huo Yuhao could ride steadily on his first try and hadn't uttered a word of complaint.
It was precisely because Huo Yuhao hadn't wasted any of his time from the start that his attitude toward him improved a little.
But the purpose of his trip wasn't to go to the Holy City. It was to find his wife.
So he had to save time whenever he could.
As a result, apart from stopping to rest after traveling until late at night each day, Long Xingyu never let Huo Yuhao stop.
They even ate dry rations on horseback for most of their meals.
Huo Yuhao still said nothing about it.
Two days later, the two had ridden more than six hundred li. Only after leaving the ice field and entering the forest did they slow down.
Just then, Long Xingyu suddenly pulled on the reins and swept his gaze toward the dense forest on the left. Looking at Huo Yuhao, he said:
"Huo Yuhao, two hundred paces to your right, there's a level-four Forest Wolf magical beast. Go kill it."
"Yes, Uncle Long!"
Huo Yuhao jumped off his horse, took an iron sword from his storage ring, and walked toward the dense forest.
He had already spread out his Spiritual Power and locked onto the target.
In fact, he had discovered that there wasn't just one level-four magical beast in the direction Long Xingyu had indicated, but three. The other two were also level four, equivalent to human Third Tier professionals.
Since Long Xingyu had said there was only one, he thought Long Xingyu wanted to test his ability to adapt.
After all, if he truly believed there was only one level-four magical beast and two more appeared afterward, it would place considerable demands on his ability to respond on the spot.
Behind Huo Yuhao, Long Xingyu leaned against a tree trunk with his arms folded, watching Huo Yuhao's back disappear into the undergrowth.
His expression was very serious, as though he were making some kind of decision.
After Huo Yuhao entered the dense forest, he lightened his steps and slowed his breathing.
At the same time, his Spiritual Power locked onto the positions of the three Forest Wolves.
The first was directly ahead, the second a little farther away on the left, and the third was closest on the right but at the sharpest angle.
The three wolves were spread out in a triangle, a simple hunting formation.
Huo Yuhao stopped behind a thick pine tree, adjusted his breathing, and tightened his grip on his iron sword.
He didn't intend to use magic against these low-level magical beasts. It wouldn't do much to improve his practical combat ability and would instead make him reliant on it.
Ice-blue Spiritual Energy surged from Huo Yuhao's meridians and spread along the sword, forming a thin, sharp layer of icy light over the blade.
Feeling the faint tremor coming from the sword, he adjusted his grip.
Then he darted out from behind the tree.
The first Forest Wolf was directly ahead, ten paces away. It was sniffing the ground with its head lowered and hadn't reacted yet.
Huo Yuhao gave it no time to react.
He pushed off the ground and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, slashing diagonally with his iron sword from lower right to upper left.
Ice-blue sword light traced an arc through the air, cutting precisely into the side of the Forest Wolf's neck.
As the blade cut into flesh, Huo Yuhao felt a trace of resistance.
A level-four magical beast's hide was much tougher than an ordinary beast's, but the icy light formed by ice-attribute Spiritual Energy on the blade was extraordinarily sharp. The blade followed the opening it cut and sliced all the way through.
The Forest Wolf's neck was cut halfway through, and blood spurted out. It fell onto the dead leaves without even letting out a howl.
The wolf on the right pounced the instant its companion fell.
But Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Power had anticipated its path. He sidestepped half a pace to the left and crouched slightly.
The wolf's claws grazed past his right shoulder, stirring up a gust of foul wind.
Huo Yuhao's sword didn't stop. Using his crouched position, he swept the blade upward, and ice-blue light burst across it.
The rising slash struck the Forest Wolf's belly, opening a long gash in its soft flesh. Its innards spilled out with a rush of blood.
The Forest Wolf let out a miserable howl, fell to the ground, and twitched twice before going still.
The wolf on the left finally realized something was wrong and turned to flee.
Huo Yuhao didn't give chase. His Spiritual Power locked onto the third wolf's escape route, and he pulled a piece of stone from his waist with his left hand, infused it with ice-attribute Spiritual Energy, and hurled it ahead of the wolf.
The stone froze in midair and burst apart when it struck the ground ahead of the wolf. Ice-blue Spiritual Energy formed a short-lived wall of ice.
The ice wall blocked the Forest Wolf's path. It turned to change direction, but Huo Yuhao had already caught up.
He thrust his sword, and ice-blue sword light pierced the back of the wolf's neck and emerged from its throat. The Forest Wolf staggered forward two steps and collapsed.
All three level-four Forest Wolves had been dealt with.
Huo Yuhao drew back his sword and flicked the blood from the blade. He was breathing a little harder than usual, but his sword hand was steady.
He checked the three wolves' bodies to make sure they were all dead, then walked out of the dense forest.
Long Xingyu was still leaning against the tree trunk with his arms folded.
He looked somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Huo Yuhao to handle it so well; that kind of performance in actual combat didn't look like that of someone with no combat experience.
Throughout the fight, Huo Yuhao had struck decisively, moved precisely, and timed everything just right.
The icy light on the blade had not only increased its cutting power but also left ice-attribute Spiritual Energy in the wounds, preventing the magical beasts from healing themselves.
A seven-and-a-half-year-old child facing magical beasts for the first time had not only shown no fear, but hadn't even given them a chance to strike back.
"Not bad. Let's continue," Long Xingyu said, with only two words.
He swung himself onto his horse, and after Huo Yuhao mounted the other steed, they continued south.
When they made camp that evening, Long Xingyu sat by the campfire in silence for a long time before looking at Huo Yuhao and saying:
"Huo Yuhao, starting tomorrow, you'll travel on your own."
Huo Yuhao looked up at him, somewhat surprised but happy inside.
Although he had come out to gain experience, there was no need to hurry so much. By alternating between work and rest, he could gain combat experience faster, rather than traveling all day, every day, without even getting proper rest.
"From here, head south and follow the route on the map. It should take a little over a month to reach the Holy City."
When Huo Yuhao raised no questions, Long Xingyu handed him the map and continued, "If you run into magical beasts or members of the Demon Clan on the road, deal with them yourself."
Huo Yuhao took the map, unfolded it, and glanced at it.
The route was clearly marked, with supply points, safe areas, and dangerous areas all visible at a glance.
"All right, Uncle Long."
Huo Yuhao nodded without asking why Long Xingyu was doing this.
Long Xingyu glanced at him. When Huo Yuhao asked no questions, he looked a little surprised, but offered no explanation.
Early on the fourth morning, Huo Yuhao set out alone.
Whenever he encountered a magical beast, he would deal with it and take the better cuts of meat from its body, preserving them in ice as provisions for the road.
Once he was traveling alone, he actually went a little slower.
When he got hungry, he would light a campfire and roast meat to eat, looking perfectly at ease.
Two more days passed like this. One evening, after Huo Yuhao had dealt with two magical beasts and was about to light a fire, eat, and rest, his Spiritual Power unexpectedly discovered that Long Xingyu, who had been following him all along, was gone.