Chapter 171: Ironback Grey Wolf
Beyond the thirty-li mark in the outer area, there were basically only secondary profound beasts. Yun Che pressed deeper, and after going past thirty li, his vision began to show one or several true profound beasts at a time. The ground also became uneven, with various dead trees and low hills growing denser.
As the rumors said, the profound beasts here were all extremely ferocious. The moment they saw a human, they would charge forward to attack as if they had encountered an irreconcilable enemy. Most of those he encountered initially were low-level true profound beasts, which were not his target. Along the way, he avoided them when possible, and when he couldn't, he killed them. Continuing forward without any danger or incident, he passed through a small dark wood of withered trees when, ahead, voices and fighting sounds suddenly reached him, accompanied by the furious roars of a profound beast.
"Junior Brother Ding, block its retreat quickly! Don't let it get away!"
"It's almost spent! Don't let up!"
"Junior Sister Mu, fall back! It's about to go berserk, and it might hurt you!"
Yun Che walked out of the dark wood. Not far ahead, four people were besieging a profound beast. The beast was large, covered in scales all over its body, with a sharp, single horn on its head. Judging by its aura, it should be a high-level true profound beast.
The four people attacking it were all young, three men and one woman. The oldest-looking one was about twenty-three years old, with a profound force cultivation of True Xuan Realm Level Nine. The other two men also appeared to be in their early twenties, both at True Xuan Realm Level Five. The young woman addressed as "Junior Sister Mu" was about the same age as Yun Che, only seventeen or eighteen, and had the weakest cultivation, having just entered the True Xuan Realm.
From their forms of address, they seemed to be from the same sect. Given their ages and cultivation levels, their sect must be fairly strong, at least renowned in their region; otherwise, they wouldn't dare to venture this deep with just four people.
Because the young woman was the weakest, she was kept on the outskirts by the other three, only occasionally joining the attack when it was completely safe. The besieged unicorn beast had thick skin and tough flesh, protected by scales, but it still couldn't withstand the combined attacks of four True Xuan Realm profound practitioners, especially when one of them was at Level Nine. Its body was already covered in bloody wounds, and its counterattacks grew weaker and weaker. Finally, it gave up fighting back entirely, struggling desperately to escape.
"Hmph, trying to flee? Watch my Wind and Cloud Sword!"
The oldest young man bellowed, leaping into the air. His long sword swept up a fierce sword momentum, knocking the fleeing unicorn beast to the ground, its four legs pointing skyward. After landing, he shot forward like an arrow from a bowstring, thrusting his sword viciously straight through the unicorn beast's throat.
The unicorn beast let out a mournful howl, convulsed for a moment, and then lay still.
"Wow! Senior Brother Sun, you're amazing! Such a powerful profound beast, and you took it down in just a few moves." The young woman called "Junior Sister Mu" was named Mu Xiaoling. Staring at the fallen unicorn beast, her eyes sparkled with admiration.
The man who had stabbed the unicorn beast was named Sun Zhou, the oldest and highest in cultivation among the four. Hearing Mu Xiaoling's words, he laughed heartily and said, "Junior Sister flatters me. It's not that I'm strong, but that this beast was too weak. Junior Sister's talent is far better than mine. When you reach my age, you'll surely kill this unicorn beast much faster than I did."
He sounded modest, but a smug glint flashed in his eyes. He ordered the other two, "Junior Brother Ding and Junior Brother Han, take out its profound pill."
Junior Brother Ding and Junior Brother Han immediately stepped forward together, cut open the unicorn beast's body, and quickly and skillfully extracted the profound pill.
"Good. With this profound pill, we only need thirteen more true profound beast profound pills to complete our mission this time. I believe we will definitely be the first team to finish the mission. Master will surely praise us greatly." Taking the profound pill, Sun Zhou said smugly.
The two junior brothers immediately stepped forward to flatter him: "It's all thanks to Senior Brother Sun's bravery. Otherwise, we wouldn't have finished the mission even in three more days. We're so lucky to be grouped with Senior Brother Sun."
Senior Brother Sun nodded, his face brimming with pride. "Not at all, not at all. This is the result of our joint efforts. You two junior brothers are still young; your future achievements will certainly not be less than mine... Oh?"
At that moment, Sun Zhou noticed Yun Che walking out of the dark wood and heading their way. Seeing a figure coming alone, he became immediately wary... because anyone who dared come here alone was either an expert or an idiot. But after seeing Yun Che's age and detecting his profound force level, he sneered disdainfully and muttered, "Another reckless fool who doesn't know when to die."
Just as he finished his quiet mockery, Junior Brother Ding beside him suddenly let out a low exclamation, pointing at Yun Che excitedly. "Senior Brother Sun, quick... look at his left hand! Purple... a purple space ring!"
Following his shout, Sun Zhou's gaze fell on Yun Che's left hand, fixed on the purple gleam between his fingers, unable to look away for a long time, deep greed surfacing in his eyes.
"A purple space ring? Is it better than our space rings?" Mu Xiaoling lifted her yellow space ring and asked somewhat puzzledly.
"Of course it's better, far better!" Junior Brother Han whispered excitedly, "Our space rings only have a few cubic meters of storage space. A purple space ring is said to have hundreds of cubic meters of storage space and costs over five million yellow profound coins! It's not even comparable to our yellow rings. I've only seen a handful of purple space rings in my whole life. This kid must be a disciple of some major family. There's no telling how many good things are in his purple ring."
"Senior Brother, what do you think... should we..." Junior Brother Han said, making a cutting gesture with his hand.
Sun Zhou had already entertained that thought the moment he saw the purple ring. This person wearing a purple ring was not only at True Xuan Realm Level Four but also alone—a perfect lamb to the slaughter. If this were outside, he wouldn't dare make a move, because someone who could afford a purple ring must have a significant background. But here in the Death Wasteland, countless people died every year fighting over resources. Killing him here carried almost no risk.
Just as Sun Zhou was about to nod, Mu Xiaoling stepped in angrily. "Junior Brother Han, how can you have such thoughts! We come from a famous, righteous sect; we're here to train, not to become murderous, villainous bandits! If you dare do such a thing, I'll definitely tell Master! If Master finds out, he'll punish you severely, maybe even expel you from the sect!"
Sun Zhou's expression changed, and he immediately put on a serious face, nodding. "Junior Sister is right. Junior Brother Han, how can you have such despicable thoughts! I won't stand for it, and neither will Junior Sister. If you really try anything against him, I'll be the first to stop you."
"See? Senior Brother Sun is the most righteous one," Mu Xiaoling said admiringly.
Junior Brother Han shrank back and said sheepishly, "Senior Brother and Junior Sister, don't be angry. I... I was just joking, just kidding."
Receiving Mu Xiaoling's praise, Sun Zhou straightened his back even more and snorted, "We come from the Profound Sword Sect, the number one sect north of the river. Upholding the sect's reputation is our foremost principle. Out here, we must not only avoid bullying the weak or harboring evil intentions, but also actively help those in need. This little brother is only at True Xuan Realm Level Four, yet he's come here alone—it's far too dangerous. At times like this, we should step up and offer our help."
As he spoke, Yun Che had already walked near them. Sun Zhou stepped forward, wearing a look of righteousness, and said, "Little brother, this must be your first time in the Death Wasteland, right? It's too dangerous to be here alone. How about joining us? We're all young, easy to get along with, and we can look out for each other."
Yun Che glanced at him, saw the hidden greed deep in his eyes, sneered inwardly, and curtly spat out two words: "No need." Then he continued forward without looking back.
"Tch! Senior Brother Sun kindly offered to help for the sake of his life, and this kid doesn't even appreciate it. Just wait to die!" Seeing Yun Che refuse, Junior Brother Ding said disdainfully.
Sun Zhou said nothing, his facial muscles twitching slightly. He stared at Yun Che's back, unwilling to give up. With Mu Xiaoling around, he had to abandon the idea of directly killing Yun Che for his ring. He had planned to lure him in, then find a chance to separate him from the group, kill him, and make it look like a beast attack. The purple ring would be his. But unexpectedly, the kid had flat-out refused even though Sun Zhou had deliberately revealed his True Xuan Realm Level Nine strength while speaking.
"True Xuan Realm Level Four? He looks about my age, and his profound force is already that high!" Mu Xiaoling exclaimed in surprise upon recalling what Sun Zhou had just said. "And he uses such an expensive space ring—he must be from a very large sect or family, right?"
Sun Zhou turned around and said disdainfully, "Probably. But I despise disciples from those big families and sects the most. Their profound force is all propped up by various pills, completely lacking a solid foundation. Not like us, who train step by step. Even though his profound force is at True Xuan Realm Level Four, if it came to a fight, he might not even be able to beat Junior Sister."
"Oooow~ Wooooo~"
Just as Sun Zhou was speaking, a long wolf howl suddenly came from the dark wood behind them. Immediately, a huge blue shadow burst out from the wood, rushing straight at the group of four.
The blue shadow was over three meters tall, with crimson eyes, claws like steel hooks, and its back was a thick gray. It radiated an extremely frenzied aura. The four of them had just raised their weapons to fight when they saw the full figure of the blue shadow, and their faces filled with extreme terror.
"Iron... Ironback Grey Wolf!"
"This... isn't this the true profound beast area? How could a spirit profound beast appear here... Senior Brother, what... what do we do?"
"What are you standing around for? Run!" Sun Zhou roared, grabbing Mu Xiaoling and fleeing at top speed. An Ironback Grey Wolf was a low-level spirit profound beast—far beyond what the four of them could handle. Its wolf claws and teeth, sharper than refined steel, could easily tear through their profound force defenses and bodies.
At Sun Zhou's shout, Junior Brothers Ding and Han snapped out of their daze, shrieked, and fled for their lives.
But their speed was no match for the Ironback Grey Wolf. In the blink of an eye, it caught up to Junior Brother Ding and Junior Brother Han. With a roar, the massive wolf pounced on both of them simultaneously, its claws coming down and piercing through their bodies like tofu.
The two let out screams of utmost terror, then their eyes rolled back and they lost consciousness—whether from fatal wounds or sheer fright was unclear.
"Ah!! Senior Brother Ding! Senior Brother Han!" Their screams made Mu Xiaoling shriek in terror. Her voice caused the Ironback Grey Wolf's blood-red eyes to lock onto her and Sun Zhou. With a low growl, it shot forward like a bolt of blue lightning, closing the distance in an instant.
"Se... Senior Brother! What do we do... what do we do..." Mu Xiaoling ran with all her might, but the threat of death behind her grew ever closer.
Sun Zhou looked back and saw the Ironback Grey Wolf was less than ten steps away. Cold sweat broke out on him. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, "Junior Sister, hold it off first! I'll call for help immediately!"
With that, he violently pushed Mu Xiaoling backward—straight toward the Ironback Grey Wolf—while he himself fled desperately forward.
"Senior Brother... you!" Mu Xiaoling could never have dreamed that Sun Zhou would sacrifice her to save himself. She fell to the ground and closed her eyes in despair.
Bang!
Owoooo!!
The sensation of being pounced on and torn apart by the Ironback Grey Wolf never came. After the moment of despair, she heard a loud crash and a pained howl. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a young figure in splendid clothes standing in front of her, a large iron sword slanted across his back.
And the Ironback Grey Wolf was more than ten meters away, rolling awkwardly on the ground.
It's him... looking at this back, she remembered it was that young man who had just walked away.
Sun Zhou, still fleeing, looked back and saw this scene. He sneered, "This kid is just asking for death... but it gives me time to escape! Looks like fate doesn't want me to die."
The knocked-back Ironback Grey Wolf quickly scrambled back to its feet. Its blood-red eyes locked onto Yun Che, and its body erupted with even more frenzied malice than before. With another roar, it leaped through the air from nearly twenty meters away, carrying a suffocating pressure.
Yun Che's brows tightened. As the wolf closed in, he suddenly jumped up, rising above the Ironback Grey Wolf. He drew the heavy sword from his back and swung it downward...
Crack!
The Ironback Grey Wolf was called "Ironback" because its back was as hard as an iron plate—the strongest point of its defense. But under the impact of Yun Che's heavy sword, its steel-like spine snapped instantly with a crisp, almost ear-splitting sound.
[Barring any surprises, this chapter is another 3999 words!]