After passing Long Haochen, Huo Yuhao raced through the forest, spreading out his Spiritual Power as he went.
Through his senses, he detected eight demon wolves rapidly approaching him from more than a hundred meters ahead.
Twenty or thirty meters in front of the eight demon wolves, a small, slender girl with purple hair was struggling to run.
A trace of blood hung at the corner of her mouth. Her hair was disheveled, her face pale, and her steps unsteady. Clearly, she was close to her limit.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao immediately picked up his pace.
After he passed through a patch of bushes, the view suddenly opened up.
Huo Yuhao's appearance took both sides by surprise.
The little purple-haired girl hadn't expected another human to appear here, much less one who seemed to be about her age.
But why were the fluctuations of his Spiritual Energy so much stronger than hers? The thought slowed her down.
Just then, Huo Yuhao ran past her without breaking stride, calling out a warning as he went:
"Little sister, hold on a little longer. Once you're past those bushes over there, find somewhere to hide."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao took the opportunity to pat the girl's shoulder with his left hand.
The girl felt a slight chill run through her body, and her spirits lifted considerably. Even the scratches the bushes had left on her stopped bleeding at once, and, most notably, the smell of blood on her vanished in an instant.
Feeling the change in herself, the girl stopped in her tracks, a flicker of shock passing through her large eyes.
She whipped around and instinctively tried to say something, only to forget that she couldn't speak. All she could do was silently watch Huo Yuhao charge at the Demon Clan.
The Wolf Demons, meanwhile, also stopped their pursuit and began sizing up the boy who had suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
By then, Huo Yuhao had already charged more than ten meters past the girl and was only about ten meters from the demons.
He gripped a standard-issue longsword in his right hand, his left hanging at his side with its five fingers slightly spread. Ice-blue Spiritual Energy surged rapidly through his meridians, ready to be released at any moment.
He had to face eight demons, one of the Fifth Tier and seven of the Fourth Tier. With his strength as a Grand Knight, he wouldn't have the slightest advantage in a head-on clash. He had to rely on tactics and outwit them.
Just then, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm suddenly spoke from within his Sea of Consciousness:
"Yuhao, there's a man in white hiding in a big tree to the southwest, watching what's happening here. He doesn't have much Spiritual Energy fluctuation, but he must be a powerful expert. That little girl really isn't ordinary!"
Huo Yuhao didn't reply. He had long suspected that the girl had a protector; the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's discovery had merely given him proof.
With a protector nearby, he would have to hold back somewhat in the fight.
He had originally intended to use a Spiritual attack to finish the Fifth-Tier Wolf Demon in a single move, but that would expose far too much. He didn't know whether the man was friend or foe, so he had to keep a few trump cards in reserve.
For now, he could only use his knight abilities and a few close-range offensive spells.
He didn't dare use those high-tier ice-attribute spells either.
Meanwhile, the Wolf Demon at the head of the pack glanced at Huo Yuhao, then grinned, baring a mouthful of sharp teeth as it jeered:
"I was wondering... what kind of... powerful expert had come. I didn't expect... just a... Fourth-Order Grand Knight. But a... Fourth-Order Grand Knight of this age... makes this trip worthwhile."
"Boys, kill... these two... human brats... for me!"
At its command, the Wolf Demons howled and pounced. Seven black figures closed in from different directions, coordinating with extraordinary precision.
Two flanked from the left, two from the right, and three charged straight ahead.
The Fifth-Tier Wolf Demon itself stepped back half a pace, its crimson eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao as it searched for an opening, ready to kill him in one blow.
Besides that, it had to guard against any trump cards the knight might have, or the possibility of other humans hiding nearby. It had to watch out for all of these.
Huo Yuhao didn't retreat in the face of the Wolf Demons' charge.
His Spiritual Power locked onto the positions and paths of all eight Wolf Demons at once, forming a precise map of the battlefield in his mind.
The attack paths of the seven Fourth-Tier Wolf Demons, the Fifth-Tier Wolf Demon's position, and the terrain around the clearing were all part of his calculations.
Though the Wolf Demons attacked first, he moved before them.
He pressed his left hand toward the ground, pouring ice-blue Spiritual Energy into the soil beneath his feet.
In an instant, a ring of ice-blue light burst from beneath him and spread along the ground, covering an area several zhang in radius.
The three Fourth-Tier Wolf Demons at the front slipped. Their claws couldn't find purchase on the ice, and they fell one after another, tumbling into a heap.
This was the Third-Tier ice magic he had learned: the Ice Seal Technique.
Released along the ground, this spell could freeze not only the ground but also enemies.
But faced with so many demons attacking at once, freezing the ground not only consumed less Internal Spiritual Power but also produced good results.
Immediately afterward, Huo Yuhao swept his longsword across with his right hand. An ice-blue sword ray traced an arc through the air as he unleashed the knight skill he had modified-the Ice Slash.
The Ice Slash flew from his sword, skimming over the ice and cutting into the charge path of the two Wolf Demons on the left flank.
The slippery ground kept the one on the left from dodging in time. The slash severed its front legs, and it crashed to the ground with a wail.
The one on the right leaped up, and Huo Yuhao flicked an ice needle from his left hand.
Although the Ice Needle Technique was a Second-Tier spell, he had compressed its Spiritual Energy to the limit through repeated practice and adjustments, making its penetrating power thirty percent stronger than the original.
The ice needle pierced the Wolf Demon's exposed abdomen. Its body stiffened in midair, and it fell onto the ice, sliding several zhang away.
The two Wolf Demons on the right flank circled around the ice and came at him from the side.
Huo Yuhao pushed off and sprang into the air, avoiding the claws of a fourth Wolf Demon pouncing at him head-on.
He turned in midair and brought his longsword down, sending an arc of ice-blue energy toward the gap between the two Wolf Demons on the right flank.
The slash burst apart when it struck the ground. Ice-attribute Spiritual Energy spread wildly across the ice, instantly forming four pillars of ice that froze the two Wolf Demons' limbs to the surface.
This was the Third-Tier spell he had learned, the Ice Prison Technique. But thanks to his modifications and the special nature of his Ice Spirit Physique, the version he cast was much more powerful than that of an ordinary ice-attribute mage.
The original Ice Prison Technique sealed the entire target in ice. It consumed a great deal of Spiritual Energy and froze its target slowly.
He froze only the limbs, halving the Spiritual Energy consumption and increasing the speed.
In the space of a few breaths, all seven Fourth-Tier Wolf Demons had been restrained.
Three struggled on the ice, two were immobilized with their limbs frozen by ice pillars, and the other two were injured, slipping on the ice and unable to get up.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao gripped his sword in both hands and poured Internal Spiritual Power into the blade in a frenzy. Then, pointing the tip down, he drove the longsword into the ground.
In an instant, hundreds of spikes made of ice appeared across the frozen surface, centered on him.
The trapped demon wolves had no time to react. The spikes pierced straight through their bodies, chilling them to the core and leaving them dead beyond a doubt.