The soft rustle of grass echoed through the clearing as Ling Tian and the wolf locked eyes. Yet each gaze carried a different meaning. The wolf's eyes brimmed with greed and excitement, while Ling Tian's were laced with tension. Though this wasn't his first time hunting a beast, it was his first attempt without poison.
Calm down… It's just another beast. Kill it, like the others, Ling Tian told himself, forcing his mind into stillness. Yet his trembling body betrayed his thoughts.
With each passing second, his heartbeat quickened, his breathing grew heavier, and even the hand gripping his sword began to tremble slightly.
By contrast, the wolf's breaths came quicker out of sheer excitement at having found new prey.
At that moment, the rustling of the grass ceased for a single heartbeat. That single heartbeat became the signal for the battle to begin.
The wolf lunged forward at full speed. Ling Tian instantly raised his aura to the Second Stage. He didn't advance; instead, he observed. This wolf had six legs. Its movements would be nothing like an ordinary wolf's.
In an instant, the wolf closed the distance. Just as Ling Tian expected it to leap for his throat, the beast instead circled him using four legs, lashing out at him with its two additional limbs.
Fortunately, Ling Tian had anticipated something strange. His surprise lasted only a fraction of a breath before he began parrying and dodging the strikes.
So far, so good… but I mustn't lose focus. This won't end here, Ling Tian thought as he evaded another swipe.
For several breaths, the deadly dance continued. The wolf, realizing that its current approach yielded no results, did something unexpected. Just as it feinted with its upper claws, it suddenly leapt and struck at Ling Tian with its front legs from below.
Ling Tian's eyes widened. He hadn't expected an attack from beneath. While blocking the upper claws, the beast's lower claws raked across his leg.
He cried out in pain. The wolf gave him no time to recover, repeating the same technique until Ling Tian's leg spurted blood like a burst waterskin.
Fear crept into Ling Tian's heart. His vision blurred as blood loss weakened him.
Up until now, he hadn't dared to use his Third Stage power; it consumed too much qi. In this perilous forest, running out of qi could mean death. Yet now his life truly hung by a thread.
Just as he was about to force himself into the Third Stage, Ling Tian suddenly noticed something—the wolf wasn't moving randomly. It was following a pattern.
He restrained himself and began to search for it.
After the beast clawed his leg once more, he began to count silently: "One… two… three… four…" On the fourth beat, the wolf leapt again.
Ling Tian didn't celebrate. He counted again. At four, the wolf leapt once more.
A spark of joy flickered in Ling Tian's eyes. He wanted to strike immediately—he was exhausted and in agony—but forced himself to wait. One strike. It had to be decisive.
After several cycles, his certainty solidified. When the wolf's claw grazed his leg again, he raised his sword to block and began his count.
On the fourth beat, the wolf leapt. But this time, Ling Tian took a single step back. So simple—yet enough to place him perfectly to sever the wolf's neck.
It ends here, Ling Tian thought, swinging his cold blade.
But to his shock, the wolf raised its foreclaws just beneath its neck, blocking the killing stroke. It twisted, pressing on the other foreclaw for support, then lunged with a deadly strike of its own—its power shockingly on par with a Second Stage cultivator.
Ling Tian's eyes widened. He no longer cared for anything else. He poured every last shred of qi into his body, a roar tearing from his throat.
"Damn you! Go to hell!"
Those were Ling Tian's final thoughts before the wolf's strike landed.
But the beast, too, was caught off guard. Ling Tian's blow severed the claw it had used to defend itself. By luck—or perhaps fate—the redirected blade struck its chest instead.
Both man and beast were hurled away by the clash. Ling Tian slammed into a tree, while the wolf rolled across the ground before skidding to a stop in the distance.
Blood spurted from Ling Tian's mouth.
Damn this wolf. It's been hiding its true strength from the start, he thought, pressing a trembling hand to his chest.
The heat of his own blood on his palm, the searing pain in his torso—it was maddening.
His scent now reeked of blood. Rage and fear mingled within him. Had he not unleashed his full power just now, he would already be dead.
At that thought, Ling Tian shuddered. Then he heard the wolf's ragged breathing.
His heart clenched. Damn it. This bastard's still alive.
He swallowed a First-Grade Healing Pill, grabbed his sword, and tried to stand.
Leaning on the blade like a crutch, legs trembling, his entire body screaming in agony, he forced himself upright and began to move forward—each step an ordeal of sharp pain. His blood-soaked clothes clung to his skin in a vile, sticky mess.
Yet he didn't stop. He refused.
He was sure he would die today. A mere human, gravely wounded, reeking of blood in a monster-infested forest—if more beasts came, he was finished. But he still advanced, for two reasons: the direction of the wolf was the direction of the exit, and he refused to let this creature escape after driving him to the brink of death.
The world was silent save for the rustling grass as Ling Tian staggered on—until the harsh cries of crows shattered the stillness.
He glanced up to see black shapes circling overhead.
Damn it. I must hurry, he thought, forcing his steps to quicken despite his faltering gait.
At last he reached the wolf. The beast was in a pitiful state, bleeding heavily, yet its eyes still burned with hatred and fury.
Ling Tian set his sword to its throat, voice cold with rage.
"What? Only you're allowed to hide your strength, you damned beast?"
His hands trembled as he raised the blade. "Go to hell!"
But before he struck, a thought flashed through his mind. He stared at the wolf, voice suddenly stripped of anger.
"You're hiding your strength. That means you're intelligent. Do you understand me?"
The wolf stared back for a long moment—then dipped its head in a nod.
Ling Tian's heart leapt. Shock and delight warred within him.
"Then accept me as your master. If you persist in your stubbornness, we'll both die here."
The wolf snarled and howled in defiance. Ling Tian had expected this.
"If you acknowledge me," he continued quickly, "I'll grant you a portion of my cultivation. You've seen my power. Even a portion will heal you almost completely."
The wolf hesitated, then at last nodded. A strange circular seal appeared on its brow, and it lowered its head with effort.
Ling Tian understood immediately. He pressed his bloodied palm to the wolf's forehead.
At once, something strange occurred. A warm white light enveloped the beast. Its wounds closed before his eyes, its grey fur turned spotless once more, and even the severed limb began to regenerate.
Slowly, the white glow faded.
Ling Tian stared, awestruck. He hadn't expected anything so miraculous.
He felt it then—a mysterious link between himself and the wolf, one that transcended space and time.
What a strange feeling… he thought.
Aloud, he said, "Now that I'm your master, you must know—if I die, you die with me."
The wolf howled in reply, but Ling Tian could feel the meaning behind the sound. Yes. I know.
He blinked in surprise but assumed it was the effect of their contract.
At that moment, his legs gave out. He began to fall—
—but the wolf darted forward, catching him on its back.
Ling Tian lay sprawled across the beast, his voice faint. "Take me out of the forest."
But the wolf howled again, warning of danger ahead. Ling Tian didn't know what it meant—until the beast let out another cry, assuring him it knew of a safe place.
"Then… take me there," Ling Tian murmured before losing consciousness.