The very instant the pack of Iron Fang Wolves came into view, the entire party froze as if petrified, breathing softly to avoid leaking even a shred of their presence.
Five mature Iron Fang Wolves prowled stealthily through the tangled undergrowth of the clearing, each of them boasting a massive physique that easily rivalled the size of a fully grown terrestrial tiger.
Their dense, coarse grey fur acted as a flawless natural camouflage, blending seamlessly into the gloomy, shadow-drenched environment of the inner valley.
Standing arrogantly atop the weathered black boulder at the centre of the clearing was the pack leader—a majestic, terrifying specimen solidly established at the Fifth Layer of the Qi Refinement realm.
Its fierce, golden eyes swept across the immediate vicinity with cold, calculating precision.
It was highly alert, deeply cautious, and radiating an undeniable aura of lethargy-shattering danger.
Old Zhao, drawing upon his decades of survival experience, quietly analysed the spatial distribution and behavioural patterns of the pack for several long breaths before transmitting his orders in a hushed, gravelly voice.
“We must execute a coordinated assassination strike on the leader first.
If we do not eliminate the alpha immediately, its high-intelligence command will trap us in an absolute war of attrition.”
Hearing this tactical assessment, nobody raised an objection.
The logic was completely sound.
The Liu twins nodded their heads in immediate agreement, their hands gripping their respective talismans with white-knuckled intensity.
Chen Hu silently drew his steel sabre, tightening his grip until the veins on his forearms bulged, while Shen Jietian listened intently, his mind mapping out the potential trajectories of the impending battlefield.
Old Zhao pointed a calloused finger toward the silver-furred leader.
“Once the alpha is successfully neutralized, the pack will lose its primary coordination array, reducing them to desperate, chaotic beasts.”
Shifting his gaze toward the identical brothers, he continued, “Liu Feng, Liu Yun, you two will initiate the engagement to attract its direct attention.
Force the beast to fixate its aggression on you.”
A confident, predatory grin split Liu Feng’s face.
“Leave it to us, Master Zhao.
We know exactly how to bait a beast.”
“Remember, do not attempt to exchange blows with it directly,” Old Zhao warned, his eyes narrowing into sharp slits.
“Your cultivation bases are only at the Fourth Layer; a direct physical clash with a Fifth Layer predator will shatter your ribs.
Keep it constantly occupied.
Use agile footwork, dance along its blind spots, and force it to fully commit to a heavy, overextended lunging attack.”
The twins nodded in synchronization, their expressions turning deadly serious as they braced their legs.
Old Zhao then turned his stern visage toward Shen Jietian and Chen Hu.
“As for you two, your sole assignment is to establish a defensive line and completely bottleneck the remaining four subordinates.
Do not allow a single one of them to flank us or reinforce their leader.”
Chen Hu’s brow furrowed into a tight knot, a flash of apprehension flitting through his eyes.
“Master Zhao, there are five of them in total in that clearing.”
“There are only four for you to worry about,” Old Zhao corrected coldly, his aura flaring slightly as he adjusted his posture.
“The Fifth Layer alpha belongs exclusively to me.”
Hearing this reassuring declaration, Chen Hu’s tensed expression relaxed slightly—but only slightly.
Even without the fearsome leader.
Four fully matured Iron Fang Wolves presented an incredibly lethal threat, especially for two low-tier cultivators one who was still miserably stuck at the Third Layer of Qi Refinement and other at Fourth Layer.
Old Zhao’s gaze hardened as he swept his eyes across the party.
“We must conclude this skirmish with absolute speed.
The longer this battle drags on, the greater the probability that the violent spiritual fluctuations and the scent of fresh blood will attract the attention of far more terrifying apex monsters lurking deeper within the valley.”
Everyone present understood the gravity of his words.
This was the unyielding law of the untamed wilderness: a prolonged conflict was nothing short of an open invitation for a mutual destruction scenario.
Old Zhao slowly raised his right hand, the muscles in his arm tensing as he prepared the signal.
The air in the thicket seemed to turn completely ice-cold as everyone braced their respective cultivation bases, channelling their meagre spiritual energy into their weapons and talismans.
Then with a sudden, violent motion, he brought his hand down.
The ambush officially commenced.
The Liu twins erupted from the brush first, their movements explosive as they channelled energy into their fingers.
Two low-grade attack talismans instantly burst into brilliant, crackling flames in their hands.
Whoosh!
Two condensed, roaring fireballs tore through the thick fog, tracing a lethal arc directly toward the massive black stone.
The wolf leader’s reaction speed was nothing short of astonishing.
The moment the spiritual fluctuations rippled through the air, a furious, deafening roar erupted from its throat.
Boom!
The first fireball exploded violently against the face of the black stone, showering the area in soot and sparks.
The second fireball, however, expertly tracked the beast’s evasion path, striking it squarely on its muscular shoulder.
The heavy impact caused the massive alpha to stagger backward, its silver fur blackened by the heat.
While the low-grade spell hadn’t inflicted any severe, bone-deep injuries, it succeeded in thoroughly igniting the beast’s primal fury.
This was exactly what the party had planned for.
With a feral howl of rage, the wolf leader leapt downward from the high stone.
Its powerful hind legs propelled its massive body across a distance of more than ten meters in a single, breathtaking bound, its razor-sharp claws extended to shred its agitators.
The twins immediately scattered in opposite directions, utilizing their agility to the absolute limit as the enraged alpha pursued them relentlessly, completely blinding itself to the rest of the clearing.
Just as the alpha committed its momentum, a sharp, blinding glint of steel flashed from the edge of the forest.
Old Zhao moved.
His operational speed as a Fifth Layer cultivator was truly astonishing to Shen Jietian’s eyes; utilizing a specialized movement technique, the old man appeared directly behind the wolf leader almost instantaneously.
Bang!
A specialized low-grade wind-riding talisman exploded beneath Old Zhao’s boots, gathering a visible gale of turbulent currents around his body to accelerate his downward swing.
His heavy iron sword descended with the force of a falling boulder.
Slash!
A fountain of dark, hot blood sprayed across the mossy earth as Old Zhao’s blade carved a deep, jagged wound along the wolf leader’s exposed flank.
The beast let out a high-pitched, agonized howl of pain, its golden eyes turning bloodshot as it whipped its head around to confront this new, far more dangerous assailant.
Meanwhile, the remaining four subordinate wolves finally reacted to the sudden devastation of their nesting ground.
Four pairs of ferals, glowing eyes instantly locked onto Old Zhao’s back.
Recognizing that their leader was in mortal danger, the pack coordination protocol overrode all else, and they coiled their muscles to charge inward and tear the old man to pieces.
“Stop them at all costs!” Old Zhao roared, his voice straining under the spiritual pressure of the alpha’s retaliation.
Shen Jietian’s body reacted purely on survival instinct before his rational mind could even formulate a conscious thought.
Reaching into his sleeve, he instantly activated the low-grade Blazing Fireball Talisman that Liu Feng had generously lent him.
Channelling a burst of his Third Layer spiritual energy into the paper script, a streak of condensed crimson light shot forward like a falling star.
Boom!
The fiery explosion detonated directly in front of the leading subordinate wolf, the concussive blast and searing heat forcing its heavy body backward into the dirt.
Simultaneously, Chen Hu charged forward with a guttural battle cry, his heavy steel sabre slicing down to strike another wolf’s shoulder.
The beast yelped in pain, blood welling from the gash as it was forced to retreat several paces.
For a brief, deceptive moment, the pack’s synchronized advance was completely stalled by the ferocity of the counter-ambush.
But that brief reprieve lasted for only a heartbeat.
Realizing their path was blocked, all four subordinate wolves bared their iron-like fangs, their growls vibrating the low brush as they launched a coordinated, simultaneous assault from multiple vectors.
Shen Jietian’s expression changed drastically.
Too many!
Far too many!
Before he could reset his stance, a massive grey blur lunged directly at his face, its salivating jaws snapping shut with a sickening click precisely where his neck had been positioned a mere fraction of a second prior.
Utilizing a desperate, ungraceful iron-lazy-donkey roll, Shen Jietian threw himself across the hard ground.
Even so, the beast’s razor-sharp claws sliced effortlessly through his coarse sleeve, grazing his skin.
A sheet of cold sweat instantly drenched his back.
One mistake, his mind screamed as he scrambled back to his feet.
Just one single microsecond of delayed reaction, and I will end up as nothing more than beast faeces in this valley.
A short distance away, Chen Hu was having an equally desperate struggle.
Although his heavy sabre technique managed to forcefully parry one wolf’s frontal snap, a second subordinate immediately capitalized on his overextended posture, lunging maliciously from his blind spot.
The wolves fought with a frightening, instinctual level of tactical coordination that left very little room for counterattacks.
“Jietian!
Watch your damn left!” Chen Hu shouted hoarsely, his own hands full as he dodged a sweeping claw.
Shen Jietian barely had enough time to process the warning before a massive grey shape rushed into his peripheral vision like a charging bull.
Driven entirely by his deep-seated desire to survive, he raised his rusty iron sword instinctively, bracing the spine of the blade with his left palm.
Clang!
The wolf’s dense, iron-reinforced fangs crashed violently against the weathered steel blade, producing a harsh, metallic screech.
The sheer physical impact of the strike travelled up the weapon, nearly numbing Shen Jietian’s entire arm and causing his meridians to vibrate uncomfortably.
He stumbled backward several paces, his boots churning up the wet moss as he desperately tried to regain his balance.
The predatory beast pressed forward relentlessly, refusing to grant him even a single breath of respite.
It’s cold, intelligent eyes stared unblinkingly at his throat, its movements incredibly patient as it danced just outside his strike zone, waiting for the inevitable fatal opening that a tired Third Layer cultivator would expose.
Then, a furious, world-shaking howl of absolute agony echoed from the centre of the clearing.
It was the wolf leader.
Shen Jietian risked a microsecond glance toward the main battlefield, his eyes widening slightly at the scene.
The confrontation there had turned unimaginably brutal.
The Liu twins were pale, their spiritual energies visibly depleted as they continuously harassed the giant alpha with a barrage of minor talismans and agility techniques.
Every single time the massive wolf attempted to crush the twins, Old Zhao would exploit the shift in momentum, striking like a viper from another angle.
Wound after deep wound had accumulated across the alpha’s silver body, its movements growing sluggish from severe blood loss.
But the high-intensity clash was clearly taking an immense toll on Old Zhao as well; the old man’s breathing had become incredibly heavy, his face covered in a mixture of sweat and grime, and the glowing talismans at his waist were almost completely exhausted.
Shen Jietian’s analytical mind instantly realized the truth of their situation: this fight had to end within the next dozen breaths.
If Old Zhao’s spiritual energy ran completely dry before the alpha was slain, their entire battle formation would instantly collapse into a one-sided massacre.
As if completely understanding the desperate plight of their alpha, the remaining four subordinate wolves suddenly became significantly more aggressive.
They completely discarded their previous patient, defensive hunting style, no longer caring about sustaining minor injuries as they desperately tried to break through Shen Jietian and Chen Hu’s line to reinforce their dying king.
Twice, Shen Jietian nearly failed to parry a lethal throat-snap, his rusty blade narrowly deflecting the claws.
Three times, Chen Hu was forced into a humiliating retreat, his breathing ragged as his sabre arm trembled from exhaustion.
The crushing psychological and physical pressure mounted with every passing second.
Then, the critical turning point of the entire battle finally manifested.
The wounded wolf leader, driven to madness by its injuries, made a fatal miscalculation.
It launched a massive, full-strength pounce toward Liu Yun.
Recognizing the danger, the younger twin deliberately slowed his evasion path by half a step, acting as a mortal bait.
The alpha fully committed its momentum to the kill, exposing its soft underbelly mid-air.
Old Zhao seized the golden opportunity without a single shred of hesitation.
A rare, silver-tier restriction talisman suddenly exploded in his hand, releasing a burst of blinding parrying light.
For a fraction of an instant, the sudden spiritual pressure caused the airborne wolf leader to freeze rigidly in place.
Utilizing that single frozen moment, Old Zhao appeared directly above the beast like an executioner.
He gripped his heavy sword with both hands, channelling every single drop of his remaining Fifth Layer spiritual energy into the blade.
The steel glowed with a fierce, unstable light as it descended with absolute, bone-shattering strength.
Slash!
The sharp blade cut flawlessly through thick fur, dense flesh, calcified bone, and the entire structure of the neck.
A massive spray of dark blood erupted as the wolf leader’s severed head flew through the air, crashing heavily onto the damp ground before rolling into the brush.
An absolute, breathless silence immediately followed the decapitation.
For a single heartbeat, the entire forest seemed to completely stop moving.
Then, an overwhelming wave of sheer panic erupted among the remaining four subordinate wolves.
The psychic backlash of their leader’s sudden demise shattered their pack coordination array in an instant.
Without the alpha’s intelligence guiding them, their tactical discipline evaporated, replaced by the chaotic, survival-oriented terror of wild animals.
“What are you two useless dogs staring at?!” Old Zhao roared hoarsely, leaning heavily on his sword as he spit out a mouthful of turbid blood.
“They are panicked!
Kill them now!”
The rest of the battle ended with remarkable speed.
Without their leader’s strategic direction to exploit the cultivators’ weaknesses, the wolves lost their greatest battlefield advantage.
One panicked beast, attempting to flee past Chen Hu, was cleanly intercepted and had its chest cavity split open by a heavy downward strike of his steel sabre.
Another fell in a matter of moments to the twins’ combined, furious talisman barrage.
Old Zhao, refusing to let any wealth escape, personally forced his trembling body forward to intercept and execute the final two fleeing subordinates, his blade cutting them down where they ran.
By the time the final echoes of the conflict died down, the sun had fully set beneath the horizon, plunging Moonleaf Valley into a deep, ominous twilight.
The surrounding ground was heavily painted in dark, steaming pools of spiritual blood, and the five massive wolf corpses lay scattered across the trampled clearing.
Everyone was breathing heavily, their chests heaving as they collapsed onto nearby roots to recover their depleted spiritual energy.
But despite their profound physical exhaustion, their faces were incredibly bright, burning with an intense, unbridled excitement.
They had actually won.
Chen Hu broke the silence first, throwing his head back and laughing loudly, his voice echoing through the canopy.
“We did it!
Hahaha!
We’re rich!”
The Liu twins didn’t even bother to rest their aching legs, immediately rushing forward toward the scattered carcasses with hunting knives in hand.
“The silver hide of the alpha alone is worth a small fortune to the city merchants!” Liu Feng shouted excitedly.
“And the fangs!
Look at the density of these fangs!”
“The claws and the tail hair are pristine as well,” Liu Yun added, his hands already working to skin the nearest subordinate.
“This single harvest is worth more than three months of regular gathering!”
Old Zhao sat heavily against the trunk of a massive ancient tree, his face pale from overexertion, but even he could not hide the deep, satisfied smile spreading across his wrinkled features.
For a group of impoverished loose cultivators, this level of harvest was nothing short of extraordinary.
It was a life-altering jackpot.
Shen Jietian stood silently at the edge of the clearing, looking down at the dead wolves as his frantic heartbeat gradually slowed down to its normal rhythm.
He looked at his blood-stained hands, and then at the intact carcasses.
They had actually managed to pull it off.
The elusive Low-Grade Qi-Breaking Pill.
A pristine, unchipped, high-conduction steel sword.
A stable supply of premium cultivation resources for the next half a year.
All of those distant, unattainable dreams had suddenly materialized right before his eyes, feeling closer than they ever had in his entire life.
For the first time in seven agonizing years of struggle, a ray of genuine, unadulterated hope blossomed deep within his heart.
Then—
A terrifying howl suddenly echoed through the dark, mist-shrouded valley.
It was a single, solitary howl.
It was incredibly long, unfathomably deep, and carried a heavy, ancient spiritual pressure that caused the ambient spiritual energy in the air to violently tremble.
In an instant, every single smile in the clearing vanished into thin air.
The entire forest fell into a deathly, unnatural silence.
Shen Jietian felt an ice-cold, paralyzing chill crawl slowly down his spine, his survival instincts screaming a single word: Run.
End of Chapter 3
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