"Interesting human… I'll take your head as an offering to the Great King."
A trace of mockery flickered in Silvermoon's enormous eyes as it crouched atop the low hill, quietly watching its kin slaughter and be slaughtered in the mist. The half-moon mark on its brow gleamed brilliantly…
"Oh yeah, another one down!"
Song Qinghong put away his formation flag and clapped his hands in delight, the fat on his cheeks jiggling with the motion.
Staring at the massive corpse of the wolf demon before him, his face radiated satisfaction. This was already the third wolf demon he had slain. Across the entire Song clan, such a tally placed him among the top.
His tactic was simple: set up a formation in advance, then feign weakness to lure the enemy in. Once they entered, he would use the array's power to finish them off.
It was a trick that worked every time. Strike, relocate, repeat. He hadn't taken a single scratch yet, and that fact filled him with pride.
"Time to change spots again," he muttered quietly. The chubby youth erased all traces of his presence in the area, then sprinkled a fragrant powder to mask his scent before vanishing once more into the mist.
Moments later, he reappeared ten li away. After surveying the terrain, Song Qinghong drew out a formation flag and set up a high-grade first-rank array, the Flowing Sand Formation.
Among the younger generation, Song Qinghong's innate talent in formation arts wasn't the very highest, but his mastery was unmatched. At a young age, he could already lay down high-grade first-rank formations and had once stolen the spotlight at the clan's grand competition with his seamless, ghost-like formation work.
If not for his lower cultivation and limited combat experience, he might well have won a Foundation Establishment Pill.
Once the array was concealed, the little fatty rubbed his hands together and slipped into the mist to find his next unlucky prey.
It didn't take half an hour before Song Qinghong came stumbling out of the forest in apparent panic, his plump face full of fear.
Hot on his heels, trees fell one after another as a late-stage first-rank wolf demon barreled after him, roaring. Its fangs, sharp and gleaming, still carried bits of mangled flesh.
Just moments earlier, a Song clansman had been its meal.
The rich spiritual energy in a cultivator's flesh had driven it mad with hunger, and the sight of Song Qinghong's pale, plump body made it salivate.
"Awooo!"
The giant wolf howled to the sky and leapt forward, pouncing toward Song Qinghong.
A flicker of mockery passed through Qinghong's eyes. Lifting his hand, a small sword shot from his sleeve, expanding into a ribbon of azure light that streaked straight for the wolf's eyes.
Startled, the wolf twisted violently in midair. A flash of blood, the sword scraped across its softer underbelly, leaving a shallow cut.
Landing heavily, the wolf glanced down at the blood seeping from the wound, its eyes growing fierce. It had nearly been taken down!
It began to stalk forward, step by step, savoring the thought of the human's soon-to-be panicked expression.
But the little fatty only looked at it coldly, unflinching.
A pang of unease stabbed into the wolf's heart. It instantly tried to retreat, but Qinghong gave it no such chance. He activated the formation, and the ground within dozens of feet around the wolf turned into flowing sand. Its four limbs sank deep, trapping it in place.
"Awooo!"
Terror filled the giant wolf's eyes as it struggled desperately to break free.
"Hmph! Die, beast!"
Without delay, Qinghong recalled the small sword that had just attacked, letting it lengthen into a three-foot azure blade. He slashed again and again, sending arcs of sword qi cutting into the wolf.
After half an hour, the massive beast was covered in bloody wounds. Its eyes had been stabbed blind, and the flowing sand beneath it rendered it nothing more than a helpless sandbag.
With a final, unwilling whimper, it collapsed, half its body already swallowed by the sand.
Qinghong dismissed the formation.
His expression dark, he walked to the wolf's corpse, sword in hand, and slit open its belly. Without hesitation, he rummaged through the steaming entrails.
Moments later, he pulled out a partially digested, broken skeleton. From the scraps of clothing that remained, he could tell it had been a member of the Song clan.
Qinghong let out a quiet sigh.
"I'm sorry… I was a step too late."
They had never met, but they shared the same bloodline. He refused to let a clansman who had fought for the family end up without even bones to bury.
After gathering the remains, a sudden sense of imminent danger gripped him.
He raised his hand, and a shield of scaled armor materialized before him.
Boom!
A blinding white beam lanced in from the diagonal, slamming directly into the shield.
Crack!
Bang!
The moment the high-grade first-rank Scaled Armor Shield made contact with the beam of light, it shattered into fragments.
Fortunately, that instant of resistance was enough for Song Qinghong to react.
With a desperate roll, he barely avoided the attack, the beam skimming past and gouging a deep trench dozens of feet long into the ground.
Cold sweat poured down his back. If that had hit me… There wouldn't even be scraps left!
As his pounding heart slowed, he looked up only to see the dense mist roiling aside. Out stepped a massive wolf, over two zhang tall, its fur a pale gray-white.
A faint layer of demonic qi swirled around it, forming an invisible barrier that kept the surrounding mist at bay.
For human cultivators, one of the hallmarks of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage was Spirit Shield Protection, a naturally formed shield of spiritual power with immense defensive strength.
Second-rank demonic beasts were no different; their demon qi formed protective barriers that ordinary attacks could not pierce.
Song Qinghong's legs nearly went weak. He yanked a fistful of talismans from his robes and flung them all out without even looking, then turned and bolted.
He knew his limits against a second-rank beast; he wasn't even enough to fill the gap between its teeth. Retreat was the best, and only, choice.
The wolf hadn't expected the human to run so decisively. It swiped its claws through the air, shredding the talismans in an instant, then gave chase like a raging whirlwind.
Within the protection of the clan's grand formation and with plenty of powder to mask his scent, Song Qinghong was difficult prey to track.
The two darted and pursued for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, until at last the wolf caught a flaw in his movement. A surge of force from its charge slammed into him, sending him tumbling to the ground.
Looking up at the approaching beast, Song Qinghong let out a mournful sigh.
"Am I going to die here?
Will anyone even collect my body? I've never even held a woman's hand… Who knows if there's a chance in the afterlife? And all my savings, guess they'll just go to the clan since I don't even have an heir…"
He rambled on endlessly, muttering about trivial, absurd things, the kind of nonsense that would make others laugh if the situation weren't so dire.
Then, a weary voice sounded in his ear:
"If you don't move, I'm not taking responsibility if you get caught in the attack."
Qinghong's eyes flew open. There before him stood Song Chang'an, clad in a simple azure robe, a three-foot sword in hand, his face full of exasperation.
"Uncle An!"
The chubby youth's eyes instantly filled with tears. Right on time, my life is saved!
Seeing the boy sniffling and blubbering, Song Chang'an could only feel more helpless. The Song clan was a family of iron-boned warriors who had it produced this?
"Awooo!"
The wolf, infuriated by being ignored as the two humans talked, let out an earth-shaking howl.
The sound jolted the fatty into remembering the reality of his situation.
Forcing a sheepish grin, he said, "Uncle An, you handle this, I'll just… go on ahead."
Without another word, he bolted into the mist.
Chang'an shook his head. Better that he leaves, I won't have to split my attention protecting him.
His gaze locked on the massive wolf, and his aura sharpened like drawn steel.
The Silvermoon Wolf Clan had sent over a dozen second-rank wolves into the formation, triple the Song clan's number. While they could currently be lured into wandering by the grand array, eventually they would regroup.
When that happened, the clan would be in serious trouble.
He had to deal with this one quickly, then hunt down the rest for a piecemeal kill.
With that thought, he struck first.
The air filled with sword light, a net of blades closing from every angle.
The wolf's demonic qi surged as its body shuddered, unleashing a storm of wind blades.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted, clearing the mist within a hundred feet in every direction.
Clang!
Chang'an's sword qi blazed like a rainbow, carving deep gouges into the earth.
The wolf dared not meet the attacks head-on. For all its massive frame, it was as swift as the wind and managed to evade every strike, even finding the chance to counterattack.
Chang'an had only recently broken into the Foundation Establishment realm, and his combat experience was lacking. Fortunately, the clan's protective array suppressed the wolves' strength by thirty percent.
With his fierce swordsmanship, he battled the beast for nearly half an hour, slowly pressing it into a disadvantage.
"Awooo!"
The Silvermoon Wolf threw back its head and let out a sky-shaking howl.
Beneath its massive frame, a swirling vortex began to form, greedily drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy until it became a colossal storm dozens of meters across.
Its body was already crisscrossed with sword scars, its stamina rapidly fading; it had reached the point where it had no choice but to stake everything on one final desperate attack.
Song Chang'an, though equally drained, forced himself to remain fully alert. A beast's last counterattack before death was often its most terrifying. There was no time to drop his guard.
Planting his longsword before him, glowing white lines spread from the blade into the earth, weaving into a complex and mysterious array that surged with endless sword qi.
His natural talent for the sword was not particularly remarkable, not on the level of Song Qingxing, and even a little behind Song Qingxia.
But the reason he had risen above so many of the Song clan's cultivators to claim first place was the Sword Formation.
It was a technique he had come upon by chance while traveling outside. Once deployed, it created a hundred-zhang-wide domain filled with sword qi. Any enemy that stepped into it would be assailed from every direction, with no place to hide.
"Awooo"
The wolf's crimson eyes flared as it howled, then charged straight through its storm toward Song Chang'an. This was a strike from which only one of them would walk away.
Boom!
Shrrrip!
The moment the two forces collided, the storm the wolf had summoned lasted less than half a breath before the Sword Formation shredded it apart.
Countless blades of qi surged forward. Amid the wolf's agonized cries, its flesh was stripped away entirely, leaving only a stark white skeleton.
Song Chang'an leaned on his sword, breathing hard, his face pale. His first time killing a second-rank beast had cost him dearly.
But there was no time to rest; he tossed a few Restoration Pills into his mouth, gripped his sword again, and went in search of his next target.
The slaughter raged until evening, when the wolves finally retreated from Cangmang Peak, leaving over a hundred corpses behind.
In this first clash, they had lost three second-rank wolves and more than 130 first-rank wolves.
On the Song clan's side, with the formation's protection, only sixteen had fallen, with fewer than twenty wounded. Song Chang'an and Song Luhuai were lightly injured but still battle-ready.
The lopsided casualty count left Silvermoon seething. The thick mist might fool its underlings, but it had seen the entire battle clearly, and the performance of its "warriors" was far from satisfactory.
"Tonight, hunt for blood food. Tomorrow, we attack again!"
At its command, the wolf army split into over a dozen hunting parties to replenish themselves with fresh kills.
This was the chance the hidden Yu and Wang clans had been waiting for. They silently followed in the wolves' wake, striking from behind.
By morning, Silvermoon's count revealed the loss of another two second-rank wolves and nearly fifty first-rank wolves. Its fury boiled over.
Once it understood what had happened, the enraged wolf king dispatched five second-rank wolves and three hundred first-rank wolves to hold off the Yu and Wang clans, while it personally led the remaining forces toward Cangmang Peak.
After yesterday's battle, the Song clan disciples had grown noticeably. They had also adjusted their tactics; no more solitary hunting. Instead, they moved in groups, overwhelming foes with superior numbers.
It was slower, but casualties dropped sharply.
The moment Silvermoon stepped into the formation's range, it felt its power suppressed.
But its confidence in its strength was absolute. Even at seventy percent, it was more than enough.
Its fangs bared in a cold grin as it looked toward the mountaintop. After yesterday's observation, it had already grasped much of the array's workings.
All it needed was to kill the human holding the formation flag, and half the formation's power would collapse.
It surged forward like a gale.
Any cultivator who appeared in its sight was torn apart instantly, without slowing its pace.
Its advance was so fast that Song Xianyun barely had time to step in before being casually swatted into a cliffside by a single strike, his life or death uncertain.
Silvermoon didn't even spare him another glance. Its target was Song Xianming.
Seeing Xianyun struck down, Xianming's eyes went blood-red. With a sweep of his formation flag, he flashed forward to block Silvermoon's path.
The massive beast and the small human stood in stark contrast, but there was not a trace of fear on Xianming's face.
With a wave of his flag, the entire grand array rumbled to life.
He opened his mouth and roared,
"Steady the Rivers and Mountains Slay the Demon!"
Clang!
A sky-shaking sword cry split the clouds as a flying sword, its entire form wrapped in sword qi, shot up from the peak. The phantom of mountains and rivers appeared around it as it descended with unstoppable force toward the massive Silvermoon Wolf!
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