The green-scaled wolf roared, its thunderous cry rippling through the canopy and sending a rain of jade-coloured leaves spiralling towards the forest floor. Its emerald scales glistened as it lowered its body, the muscles beneath them tightening. Then, without hesitation, its hind legs drove against the earth, launching its massive frame into the air.
Halfway through its leap, its body dissolved into a mass of shifting, liquid green. Its outline blurred, its scales melting into streaks of light as it hurtled towards Lican, who was still suspended in the air.
Lican's expression remained unchanged.
He knew he couldn't match the beast's raw speed in a straightforward contest. Even with the Windstride Seal, the difference between their physical capabilities was too great to ignore. But speed wasn't the only way to win a fight.
He had something else.
"Runes!"
Lican brought his fingers together, executing a rapid sequence of hand seals. With each movement, a crimson inscription materialised above his fingers, hovering over his knuckles like miniature formations. The runes rotated in quick succession, their intricate markings glowing brighter as he channelled the blood energy he had gathered.
His other hand tightened around the jade pin.
Behind him, the crimson apparition emerged from the mist, its grotesque silhouette flickering before splitting into several identical, glowing illusions. Their empty eye sockets burned with an eerie red light as they stretched their arms towards the approaching beast.
Lican flicked his wrist and drove the jade pin downwards.
The air trembled.
A massive stream of blood energy surged towards the pin, gathering around its slender body. Crimson runes spiralled through the flowing mass, their light merging with the blood until the weapon was completely engulfed. The thin jade pin began to elongate, its outline swallowed by the gathering power as a monstrous, blood-red blade took shape.
Lican plummeted from the sky.
Gravity accelerated his descent, pulling him towards the beast with increasing force. His robes fluttered violently as the crimson mist around his legs twisted into spiralling currents. Meanwhile, the runes hovering above his fingers shifted their positions, channelling every ounce of blood energy he had gathered into a single point.
A red spike formed in his palm.
At first, it was no larger than an ordinary weapon, but the blood energy continued pouring into it. Its surface expanded, sprouting jagged protrusions that resembled the teeth of some ancient predator. Runes crawled across its surface, illuminating the crimson structure from within.
Then its shape changed again.
A towering, ten-foot-tall blood-red blade manifested around the spike, its surface forming a grotesque, grimacing face. The monstrous visage appeared to scream without opening its mouth, releasing a terrifying, high-frequency squeal that made the surrounding air vibrate.
All of this unfolded within mere seconds.
Lican's eyes remained fixed on the green-scaled wolf.
With a final, downward slash, he brought the colossal blade crashing towards the beast's skull, aiming to end the hunt with a single, catastrophic strike.
The wolf sensed the danger.
Its liquid-green body twisted violently in midair, attempting to divert its trajectory and evade the descending weapon. Its instincts screamed at it to escape, but before it could turn away, the crimson illusions behind Lican moved.
Blood-red hands burst from the mist.
One seized the beast's forelimb. Another clamped around its torso, while several more emerged to grip its hindquarters. Their fingers tightened around its scaled body, arresting its movement and dragging it back towards the path of the descending blade.
The wolf thrashed, its claws tearing through the air as it struggled against the unseen force holding it in place.
Too late.
Lican's eyes flashed.
The colossal spike struck.
BOOM!
The impact shook the forest.
CRACK!
The beast's massive skull burst apart beneath the tremendous force, its green scales shattering alongside bone and flesh. Blood erupted into the air, spraying across the surrounding trees and raining down over Lican as the blade tore through the creature's head.
Its body convulsed violently before the remaining momentum carried it downwards.
Lican crashed into the forest floor alongside the headless beast.
The earth buckled beneath them, throwing up dirt, broken roots, and shattered stones. The impact drove the breath from his lungs, and a groan escaped his throat as he lay amid the wreckage.
For several moments, he remained still.
Then, gritting his teeth, he pushed himself upright. His gaze shifted towards the enormous carcass lying beside him, its blood pooling across the fractured earth.
His expression failed to capture the shock he felt.
One hit?
He stared at the headless beast, struggling to comprehend what had just happened. The green-scaled wolf had been fast enough to disappear into the air, strong enough to shatter ancient pines, and dangerous enough to kill him had its first strike connected.
Yet he had killed it with a single attack.
Even if the beast had not reached Qi Condensation, such a result was still outrageous.
Lican lowered his gaze towards his wrist.
Wailing Bone rotated slowly around it, the crimson runes glimmering faintly across the pale beads. He remembered the blood-red hands that had seized the wolf in midair, preventing it from escaping the descending blade.
His fingers tightened around the bracelet.
It had acted without any direct command from him.
He lifted his wrist closer to his face, studying the beads with a mixture of wonder and suspicion. The bracelet had already demonstrated strange properties, but this was different. It had not merely strengthened his rune or altered its effects. It had seemingly understood what he needed and acted accordingly.
Does this thing have a mind of its own?
The thought lingered as he examined the crimson inscriptions.
Something felt wrong.
Throughout the entire fight, he had never completely lowered his guard. Even while attacking, a part of his consciousness had remained alert to the surrounding forest. Yet the sensation of being watched had not disappeared after the beast's death.
If anything, it had grown stronger.
Lican slowly raised his head.
He could still feel a presence lurking beyond the trees, something hidden among the ancient pines, observing him from the shadows.
His expression darkened.
He had been right.
He was not alone.
Then—
Howl.
A sorrowful howl echoed through the wilderness.
Lican's face paled.
Howl.
The sound came from farther away, carrying through the dense forest before another answered it.
Howl. Howl. Howl.
The cries multiplied, overlapping one another until the entire wilderness seemed to mourn. Their voices carried a terrible sorrow, but beneath it lay something far more dangerous: rage.
Lican stared into the forest, his fingers slowly curling around the jade pin.
The green-scaled wolf had not been alone.
Its companions had felt its death.
And judging by the growing chorus of howls, they were coming.
"Shit."