As the day cooled into night, Yanga let out a sigh of relief. For his first encounter with death, it hadn't been all that bad. It could have been worse, but he was now eager to find a spot to sit and relax.
The blood bulls had kept him running all day, leaving him completely drained. The most frustrating part was that, after all that effort, he hadn't managed to take down a single one.
Though hunting blood bulls is a real challenge, they remain one of the most well-known and important food staples in Mhlanga village.
After leaving the grass fields of the blood bulls, Yanga noticed the trees were sparse and scattered at first, but as he moved on, they grew more numerous and closer together.
He pressed forward with intent, always searching for a tree to sleep under.
From what he had gathered, including advice from the villagers of Mhlanga village, the safest way to sleep in this forest was to dig a hole right beneath a tree. The tree's scent would help mask one's own, and snakes or other burrowing creatures rarely made their homes beneath a tree.
As Yanga walked on, the forest suddenly fell into an eerie, unnatural silence one that felt heavy and foreboding, as though every living thing was holding its breath in the presence of a predator.
He froze, and with a wave of his hand, an old black short sword materialized in his grip. Taking a fighting stance, Yanga braced himself for whatever might come.
Bang! Something slammed into him. Yanga didn't catch a clear look, but somehow managed to draw his sword just in time to block the blow. The hit packed so much force that it sent him flying several meters, tumbling before rolling back onto his feet.
His eyes darted around, searching for the attacker, and there it was, standing exactly where he had been moments earlier.
A wolf, about a meter and a half tall, stared straight at him. Its fur was a strange mix of brown and green, and its vivid green, glowing eyes radiated pure menace.
Yanga recognized it instantly the Howling Wind Wolf, one of the most dangerous predators in the Infinite Basin.
Its danger didn't lie in sheer strength, but in the fact that it was never alone. When encountered, these creatures were almost always part of massive groups.
One villager had told him, "The Howling Wind Wolves are social animals. They roam in packs, each numbering in the hundreds,s always led by an Emperor Wolf, whose cultivation matches that of a Spirit Gathering Cultivator."
Though Yanga couldn't see how many surrounded him now, the sight of this one was enough to tell him he was in serious trouble.
Yanga didn't need to glance back to know he was surrounded the sound of the wolves' footsteps was enough. But that wasn't his main concern at the moment.
In his six months at Mhlanga village, he had coaxed the elders into sharing stories on how to battle various monsters.
One had told him the best way to fight the Howling Wind Wolf was to break free from the circle they always form around their prey.
These wolves instinctively encircle before attacking. The priority was to figure out where the Alpha was, as choosing the wrong direction could be fatal.
Their hunting tactic involved the Alpha hanging back while the others closed in, sending one forward to test the prey's strength before they all moved in for the kill.
Right now, Yanga needed to identify the Alpha's position and throw everything he had into escaping the circle, making sure not to head straight for the Alpha's location.
Yanga stared at the Howling Wind Wolf before him, gripping his short sword tightly. This wasn't just any wolf it's a full grown Howling Wind Wolf, a higher form of wild beast, far above the blood bulls.
The one before him was a level 3 wildbeast, and since the young ones always stayed in their nests, it meant every wolf in this hunt was level 3, except the Alpha.
Judging by their strength, the Alpha had to be a level 4 beast. For someone as weak as Yanga, the odds of victory were almost zero. The only way to win was to take a risk and improve his power.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Yanga reopened them with a flash of determination and a strange smile. He'd been in life-and-death battles before, but something about this fight felt different there was a spark of excitement in him.
Suddenly, five drops of liquid Spirit QI appeared near his mouth, and he swallowed them in one go. The Spirit Qi surged through his body, and with all his strength, he charged straight at the wolf.
Caught off guard by Yanga's sudden rush, the wolf reacted too slowly. Before it could defend itself, Yanga's blade sliced cleanly, taking its head. Without pause, he sprinted deeper into the forest, moving faster and faster.
Liquid Spirit Qi is a rare and valuable treasure in this world, one that wars are fought over. Spirit Qi exists in three distinct forms: gaseous, solid, and liquid. The gaseous form is the most common, found everywhere and often used during cultivation by drawing it from the atmosphere.
However, its concentration varies by location and is usually the weakest in concentration. The solid form, known as Spirit Stones, is created by compressing the gaseous form until it becomes solid.
While richer in concentration, Spirit Stones contain many impurities, making them the least pure form of Spirit Qi.
The liquid form, Liquid Spirit Qi, is the purest of all. Though less concentrated than Spirit Stones, its unmatched purity makes it incredibly rare and highly sought after.
Unlike Spirit Stones, which waste much of their Spirit Qi due to inefficiency, allowing only 13% to 30% to be absorbed, Liquid Spirit Qi is 100% pure and can be fully refined. Its gentle nature and cleansing properties only add to its extraordinary value.
Thanks to the Seedling World, Yanga had a potentially endless supply of Liquid Spirit Qi. After six months of observation, he discovered it could produce one drop of Liquid Spirit Qi every ten days.
Though it was only a human-grade low-tier Liquid Spirit Qi, the lowest grade, it was still a treasure. After taking five drops at once, the Spirit Qi surged through him, exploding inside and almost instantly opening his eighth meridian.
He didn't dwell on it, just ran faster and faster. He knew he couldn't outrun them, but now wasn't the time to think about that.
BANG! Another blow sent Yanga flying. This time he couldn't block it. Fortunately, his protective clothes spared him from serious harm, though some ribs might have cracked.
As he flew through the air, he managed to grab at the climps of whatever hit him, realizing his worst fear had come true.
Somehow, the direction Yanga chose to run was where the Alpha happened to be. Yanga slammed into the ground, rolled, tucked his legs under him, and rose with a Bang the sound of his eighth meridian fully opening.
There was no more running; Alpha was closing in. Gripping his sword tightly, Yanga stepped forward to face it. Bang! He was hurled backward again. Folding himself on the ground, he gathered his feet beneath him and took off running once more.
In the past six months, Yanga focused on two things besides improving his cultivation: the void skipping movement art and the desolate sword art. Despite his efforts, he hadn't made much progress.
But as he got up and started running again, something suddenly clicked. All those months of relentless training, pushing himself to the limit, trying and failing to master the void skipping art now, with his life on the line, it all came together.
His speed doubled, and he began folding space.
With a touch of space-folding, each step Yanga took sparked a small flame of hope in his heart he had finally reached the initial mastery of the void-skipping art.
Pushing the thought aside, he ran faster and faster, surrounded by wolves closing in on all sides.
As he kept running, their tactics became clear they were trying to wear him down. Knowing that he couldn't hold on much longer, Yanga realized there was no choice but to face them head-on.
With that resolve, he suddenly made a U-turn and charged.
The Alpha, seeing Yanga turning and facing it, surged forward, lunging at Yanga. Yanga dove instead of meeting the attack directly, he slid low beneath the Alpha at the last possible instant.
With his sword, he struck at one of its hind legs with every ounce of strength he had. BOOM! The blade bit just enough to draw blood, leaving only a shallow cut on the Alpha's near-impenetrable hide.
Yanga didn't dwell on it; killing the Alpha would have to wait. His focus shifted to the other wolves. Forcing the Alpha into a mistake was the only way to bring it down.
As he ran towards the wolf behind the Alpha, there was another gang from his body the power of the ninth meridian opening burst within him, propelling him forward. With one swift swing, another wolf's head hit the ground.
At that moment, the Howling Wind Wolf finally began to take Yanga seriously. The real fight starts now