The Lightning Flame Wolf Pack

The Magical Beasts Mountain Range.

Haoyue gripped the miao saber in his hand, weaving through the dense forest like a ghost.

He had spent six whole months traveling through the depths of the Magical Beasts Mountain Range. He had entered from the border of the Fenlai Kingdom and fought his way through, encountering at least a hundred magical beasts. There had been plenty of high-level rank-seven beasts among them, but before a tanky mage and spell machine gun like him, every one of them had fallen to his blade.

It couldn't be helped. With the power of a rank-eight mage and instant-cast magic, fighting these rank-seven magical beasts was like a father beating his son.

Besides, he had the health boost from From Mind to Matter and the defensive boost from Mountain Dragon Soul.

When ordinary rank-seven magical beasts attacked him, they couldn't even break through his Saint-level Earthguard Armor.

Of course, the most outrageous thing was still the Overflow talent.

Double the energy consumption? No problem.

More damage? Just what he wanted.

Instant casting with no cooldown? That felt amazing!

Ocean Dragon Soul's five-percent energy recovery was enough to let him unleash unlimited firepower.

As long as he didn't cast too many high-level spells at once, his mana was practically inexhaustible.

"There's... something up ahead."

Haoyue stopped, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

He could already sense the dense fire-element aura permeating the air ahead, as well as the low growls.

The territory of a pack of magical beasts ranked seven or higher?

Interesting.

He approached without a sound and parted a clump of bushes. The view suddenly opened up before him.

A vast rocky clearing appeared ahead, and sprawled in its center were dozens of enormous wolves.

The giant wolves were covered in dark red fur, with a distinct silver stripe running down their backs. Most bizarre of all were their eyes-one was deep purple, representing lightning, and the other was orange-red, representing fire.

Lightning Flame Wolves.

Haoyue recognized the magical beasts.

They were rank-seven pack beasts with both lightning and fire attributes. Individually, they weren't all that strong, but once they formed a pack, their combat strength multiplied.

He gave the clearing a quick scan. There were at least thirty of them.

And at the far end of the pack lay a giant wolf twice the size of the other Lightning Flame Wolves. Its fur bore an interwoven pattern of deep purple and dark red, and its eyes shone with intelligence.

A mid-stage rank-eight Lightning Flame Wolf King.

Haoyue licked his lips, showing no intention of backing down.

Instead, a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes.

More than thirty rank-seven wolves and a mid-stage rank-eight wolf king were just enough for him to warm up.

"Roar-"

The pack seemed to sense the intrusion of an unfamiliar presence and immediately stirred.

The wolf king slowly rose to its feet, its vertical pupils fixed on Haoyue's position as a low warning growl rumbled in its throat.

"Have I been spotted...?"

Haoyue wasn't surprised.

A rank-eight magical beast's senses were no joke.

Since he couldn't stay hidden, he might as well take them head-on.

He took a deep breath and stepped out of the bushes.

"Saint-level Earthguard Armor."

A low incantation rang out, and a heavy layer of ocher armor instantly covered his body. At the same time, he drew his miao saber, its blade gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

At the sight of him, the Lightning Flame Wolf King raised its head and let out a long howl.

The next moment, the pack surged toward him like a tide!

"Bring it on!"

Haoyue laughed, pushed off with the tip of his foot, and shot into the pack like an arrow loosed from a bow.

The first Lightning Flame Wolf opened its gaping maw, sending a bolt of purple lightning shooting at him.

"Parlor tricks."

Haoyue didn't even dodge, letting the lightning strike him. A ripple passed over the surface of the Saint-level Earthguard Armor, easily dissipating the lightning's damage.

At the same time, he swung his saber.

"Pfft-"

His blade flashed, and the Lightning Flame Wolf's head flew straight into the air.

Without pausing, Haoyue turned and slashed again.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft-"

With each rise and fall of his blade, three Lightning Flame Wolves fell in succession. His saber work was crisp and efficient, without a single wasted movement, and every strike landed precisely on a vital point.

With the close-combat abilities of a rank-seven warrior and the spiritual power of a rank-eight mage, dealing with these rank-seven magical beasts was ridiculously easy.

But the pack's assault didn't weaken. Instead, it grew even more frenzied.

Lightning Flame Wolves pounced one after another. Some breathed fire, some unleashed lightning, and others attacked directly with claws and teeth.

Haoyue's Earth Element magic barely stopped.

Earth Spike!

Earth-Splitting Slash!

Earth Wall Technique!

Earth Element spells erupted all around him, driving back the charging Lightning Flame Wolves again and again.

But just as he was enjoying the slaughter, a purple pillar of lightning far more terrifying than ordinary lightning descended from the sky!

"Hiss-"

Haoyue's pupils contracted slightly, and he instinctively raised his miao saber to block.

"Boom!"

The tremendous impact drove him back three steps.

He looked up to see that the Lightning Flame Wolf King had risen to its feet at some point, traces of lightning still lingering around its mouth.

A strike from a mid-stage rank-eight magical beast really wasn't so easy to block.

Haoyue shook out his somewhat numb arm, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth instead. But why did it feel kind of good?

Interesting.

"Again!"

He let out a roar and charged back at the pack.

But the wolf king didn't attack again. Instead, it retreated behind the pack, calmly observing the battlefield with its vertical pupils.

Haoyue frowned slightly.

This wolf king... is cunning.

It seemed to have realized how difficult Haoyue was to deal with. Rather than confronting him head-on, it hid in the back and directed the pack's attack while constantly launching lightning and fire spells in long-range sneak attacks.

What a sneaky bastard.

Haoyue dealt with the pack's encirclement while keeping watch for the wolf king's sneak attacks.

Time passed, second by second.

Though he had the protection of Saint-level Earthguard Armor and powerful recovery abilities, there were simply too many Lightning Flame Wolves, and the mid-stage rank-eight wolf king launched a sneak attack every so often.

No defense could hold forever.

Gradually, wounds began to appear on his body.

A gash was torn in the Saint-level Earthguard Armor, exposing the skin beneath. A streak of flame grazed him, leaving a charred wound. A bolt of lightning struck his shoulder, numbing half his body.

Blood seeped from his wounds, staining his clothes red.

"Roar-"

At the sight, the wolf king could no longer hold back. It let out an excited howl and was the first to pounce at Haoyue.

It believed the human had reached his limit.

What it hadn't noticed, however, was-

A sharp glint flashed deep in Haoyue's eyes.

Got you.

Those wounds were real, but they meant nothing to him.

With the health boost from From Mind to Matter and the recovery ability of Ocean Dragon Soul, those frightening-looking wounds had actually healed beneath his clothes long ago.

He had pretended to be injured precisely to lure that sneaky bastard into the fight himself!

"You're the one I've been waiting for!"

The instant the wolf king pounced within reach, Haoyue moved.

"Earth Cage!"

"Billowing Water Prison!"

Two instant-cast spells activated at the same time!

The ground instantly split open, and four thick stone pillars rose from the earth, trapping the wolf king firmly in place. At the same time, an aqua-blue cage appeared out of thin air, enveloping its entire body.