The night was hazy, the moonlight somewhat pale, and the whistling wind was somewhat piercing. The occasional wolf howls sounded even deeper and terrifying.
Shen Hanyu slowly walked forward step by step, twirling a spear flower with the Cold Heaven Spear in his hand before throwing it out with lightning speed. Two century-old wolf robbers, completely unprepared, were directly skewered like kebabs and nailed to death on an ancient tree.
Shen Hanyu's figure instantly vanished from the spot. The wolf robbers realized something was wrong, roared angrily, and all entered a combat state, their eyes turning blood-red.
Hiding in the shadows, Shen Hanyu looked at the wolf robbers on the road ahead and in the surrounding mountain forest. There was not the slightest trace of fear in his eyes. His gaze quickly shuttled through the group of wolf robbers, finally locking onto a target on a huge boulder.
That was a wolf robber that looked distinctly different from the others. Not only was its body a size larger than ordinary wolf robbers, but its claws were longer and sharper. The thick killing intent spread with its breathing, all proclaiming its status as the overlord.
"Found you."
Shen Hanyu sneered, and the Cold Heaven Spear shot up into the sky. He followed closely behind. Then, the first soul ring at his feet quickly lit up, and an indescribable icy aura appeared on the spear blade of the Cold Heaven Spear, turning into a cold spear beam that ruthlessly charged toward the wolf robber leader.
This was precisely Shen Hanyu's first soul skill, obtained from an eight-hundred-year Ice Bear, named Eternal Silence. It could not only attach to the Cold Heaven Spear to strengthen his own attributes for close combat, but could also be used for long-range attacks, a rather excellent soul skill.
The power of a soul skill itself was linked to the quality of the soul beast from which the soul ring was obtained. The Ice Bear, as one of the overlords of the extreme north, not only had extremely high defense but also ranked among the top in attack power in the extreme north. It was a well-deserved top-tier soul beast.
The Bear King Xiaobai in its clan even had a cultivation of over 190,000 years. As the adopted son of the Snow Empress, his strength was beyond doubt.
The cold and sharp spear beam pierced toward the wolf robber leader like a meteor. A human-like trace of fear appeared in the leader's gaze. It quickly grabbed a nearby nine-hundred-year cultivation wolf robber and threw it out, forcibly blocking that spear beam.
The corner of Shen Hanyu's mouth twitched, gaining a new understanding of the wolf robbers' cold ruthlessness.
But if that was the case, then the opponent not only had the advantage in numbers but also lacked any sense of martial virtue. In that case, he had absolutely no advantage at all.
A sense of crisis surged in his heart, and Shen Hanyu couldn't help but grip the Cold Heaven Spear in his hand tightly, his knuckles turning somewhat white from the force.
As the wolf robber leader let out an angry roar, dozens of wolf robbers charged toward Shen Hanyu like a tide, their momentum so great it was like a small team of heavy armored cavalry charging.
Shen Hanyu's spear struck like a dragon. Every thrust precisely resolved one wolf robber or injured one. For a time, blood splattered, and the scene was somewhat bloody.
The wolf robbers, smelling the blood, became even more frenzied, almost desperately surrounding and attacking Shen Hanyu. He cursed inwardly, and the Cold Heaven Spear in his hand bloomed with brilliant light, temporarily forcing back the several frenzied wolf robbers in front of him. With a backhand thrust, he ended the lives of two more century-old wolf robbers.
No matter how powerful Shen Hanyu was, he was ultimately just a Soul Ancestor in his forties. Facing such a group of wolf robbers, he still felt somewhat overwhelmed.
As a wolf robber's sharp claw slashed across, an extremely thin wound appeared on Shen Hanyu's handsome face, immediately flowing with bright red blood.
As two millennium wolf robbers combined their claws in an attack, Shen Hanyu's body was fiercely sent sliding back seven or eight meters before he stabilized himself. The power of the wolf robbers was evident.
The wolf robber leader let out another roar. This roar sounded somewhat prolonged, but soon, Shen Hanyu understood the opponent's intent.
Because responding wolf howls echoed from the distant mountain forest!
That sound came from a high-level soul beast, the famous wolf-type soul beast on the continent, the Gale Demon Wolf!
Shen Hanyu couldn't determine the number, but he only knew one thing: if he couldn't escape or deal with the wolf robber leader soon, he would absolutely have to leave his life here today!
Thinking of this, Shen Hanyu no longer held back. An icy aura bloomed once more on the Cold Heaven Spear. The four soul rings spun rapidly at his feet. The icy aura extended from the ground, finally turning the nearby area of several dozen meters into a world of ice and snow!
Shen Hanyu's figure quickly shuttled through the wolf robber group. The sharp spear blade had become a death god reaping lives. Wolf robbers with severed heads, bisected bodies, and split in half were everywhere. There was no mercy, only cold killing.
Seeing its subordinates constantly killed by a puny human, a trace of killing intent emerged in the wolf robber leader's green eyes. It then leaped down from the huge boulder, its sharp claws aimed straight at Shen Hanyu, who was wantonly slaughtering.
Shen Hanyu sensed the killing intent behind him and hurriedly shifted his position to the side. The millennium wolf robber that had just been in front of him had its skull cleaved open by the claws, letting out a wail before falling to the ground and losing its breath...
The wolf robber leader showed no emotion and continued its fierce attacks uninterrupted toward Shen Hanyu, its offensive so intense it was as if it was fighting for its life.
Shen Hanyu blocked with the Cold Heaven Spear in front of him, struggling to resist the opponent's attacks, but he was still knocked back nearly ten meters by the terrifying force, leaving clear skid marks on the ground.
Before Shen Hanyu could catch his breath, the wolf robber leader's next wave of attacks was already building up. Shen Hanyu had no time for anything else. The first soul ring at his feet lit up again, increasing both his attack and defense attributes by fifty percent each, which made things a bit better for him.
Seizing a gap in the wolf robber leader's attacks, a thick killing intent emerged in Shen Hanyu's eyes. The third soul ring at his feet quickly lit up.
"Third soul skill! Shocking Heaven!"
With Shen Hanyu's low shout, the Cold Heaven Spear was thrust out fiercely. A heavy aura spread from it, turning into endless killing intent.
This strike was Shen Hanyu's strongest attack so far, aside from special states. Its soul ring came from a 7,700-year Crimson Scaled Sea Beast King, a soul beast with a huge body that only focused on attack and ignored defense, an irritable soul beast with a belief of beating to death if it couldn't kill.
The terrifying strike landed on the wolf robber leader's crossed arms, instantly causing flesh to fly and blood to flow. When the aftermath of the strike passed, the wolf robber leader's left arm had been completely severed in half, and the remaining half of its right arm was barely hanging on by flesh, looking extremely miserable.
"Now!"
Shen Hanyu's eyes lit up. He then quickly leaped into the air. The fourth black soul ring at his feet lit up. An aura as vast as the ocean appeared on the Cold Heaven Spear and Shen Hanyu. The spear blade bloomed with blue light, condensing terrifying power before turning into a blue stream of light that thoroughly blasted the wolf robber leader into minced meat, completely losing its life force...
The remaining wolf robbers, seeing their leader killed, fled into the forest under the lead of the only surviving millennium wolf robber, thoroughly disappearing without a trace...
Shen Hanyu fell from the sky and couldn't help but half-kneel on the ground, panting heavily. Such consumption was still too great. Even though his soul power far exceeded that of ordinary Soul Ancestors in both quality and quantity, he couldn't withstand such expenditure.
Casually wiping the blood from his face, Shen Hanyu was just about to stand up when a bright light in the distance caught his eye.
"This is..."
Shen Hanyu quickly stepped forward and picked up the wolf robber leader's only relatively intact leg. With a surge of soul power, he shattered the flesh on it. A cyan-green leg bone emitting thick killing intent appeared in his hand. Shen Hanyu was stunned, then subconsciously uttered the name of this soul bone.
"Bloodthirsty Frenzy of the Gale Right Leg Bone!"
It was the same piece as the one Tang San obtained after killing the wolf robber leader in the original work, except that the age was slightly lower; everything else was almost identical. The producing soul beast was the same, and even the part was the same.
Shen Hanyu chuckled softly and said:
"This is fate. I just happened to forget to prepare a gift for my dear little sister. Now you've delivered yourself to my door. That little girl should like it... after all, it's prepared by her most dear big brother..."
He then slightly dispelled the bloody smell on the soul bone, took out an exquisite pearwood box from his storage device, placed the soul bone inside, and put it back into the soul guide.
Looking back, the carriage's figure had completely disappeared. Only a small cloth bag and a note pressed under a small stone remained where the carriage had stopped.
Shen Hanyu picked it up and saw written on it:
"Dear brother, I have an eighty-year-old mother above, an eight-month-old child below, and I'm raising two eighteen-year-old girls outside. Bro, I'm sorry. In the next life, I'll be a cow or horse to repay your great kindness. The bag contains a little token from bro. If you survive, please accept it. Big bro is praying for you in his heart!"
Shen Hanyu was dumbfounded and laughed. He didn't mind. For a soul master to persist in leaving a note in such a situation was already rare; he couldn't ask for more.
But when Shen Hanyu opened the cloth bag and saw the few copper soul coins and two large stones inside, a furious roar nearly echoed through the forest.
"You dog thief! Traitor! Scoundrel! You have no face! Ah—"
In the distant mountain forest, the coachman big bro's humming of an unknown tune echoed again. Under the cover of the night, it inexplicably carried a hint of unknown meaning...