True Dragon Blood
Although Zhang Baichi spoke of a second round, there was not much left off the fight.
He was already quite exhausted, and with the addition of his Quasi-Sword Intent, there was no suspense left as to who would win.
Moreover, the Mutated Cloudwolf had already lost one of its front legs and was injured all around.
Still, the ferociousness in its eyes didn't waver as it slowly forced itself to get up. Zhang Baichi waited patiently, using this time to finally catch his breath.
Blood splattered to the ground with every movement of the Mutated Cloudwolf and it made for a truly sorry sight while wobbling from side to side.
It could barely stand, much less for fighting, but was growling incessantly at Zhang Baichi.
It howled and jumped at Zhang Baichi again, its maw wide open.
Zhang Baichi stepped to the side, dodging the attack with ease. The silver twinkles of Sword Qi that were surrounding his blade for some time now suddenly light up and the whole blade was coated in silver.
A dreadful sense of sharpness and danger assailed the Mutated Cloudwolf and the hair at its back stood up straight for the first time.
Even without being the target of the Quasi-Sword Intent, the young woman from the Willow Tree Pavilion felt a cold shiver run down her spine.
There was no room for the Mutated Cloudwolf to dodge as it was still trapped in its jump. Zhang Baichi's wrist flicked, and the sword drew a beautiful arc of silvery light in the air, cutting a three meters long wound open on the beasts side.
The wolf landed on the ground, its one front leg unable to fully support its weight and crashed to the ground.
Gut and blood spilled over the ground continuously and the wolf stared at Zhang Baichi with resentment yet didn't manage to get back up. This new injury was too much for it to endure.
Zhang Baichi let out a long breath and walked to the wolf's front. It growled and snarled at him, but couldn't stand back up, no matter how much it tried.
"Don't resent me, you stupid wolf. You're the one who messed with us humans. Just die in peace.", he muttered with cold eyes and took the wolf's head in one fell swoop.
Finally, this fight had ended.
The sword in Zhang Baichi hand vanished, returning to his Inventory. Zhang Baichi took deep breaths and glanced at the fight in the distance.
It seemed like the rest of the sect disciples would be able to handle the second Mutated Cloudwolf on their own. Moreover, from the looks of it, no one had died or sustained heavy injuries thus far.
'Not like I could help them even if I wanted, though.' He was truly exhausted this time. His Qi reserves, physical strength and mental strength were close to hitting rock bottom.
If this had dragged on for any longer, Zhang Baichi would have surely collapsed.
He walked a few steps away from the Demonbeast's corpse and sat down on the ground.
"Are you alright?", the young woman carefully asked from the side.
Zhang Baichi had asked her to help before the fight, yet she was unable to do anything.
Incidentally, this was something Zhang Baichi didn't know; All he knew was that she had not done anything, seemingly for no reason.
He glanced at her with an indifferent gaze at nodded towards the fight in the distance. "I'm fine. Go and help the others, if anything."
The young woman wanted to say more, but bit her lip in the end, holding herself back. She simply nodded and raced off to assist the members of the two sects still fighting in the distance.
"Finally, I'm alone…", Zhang Baichi heaved a sigh of relieve.
He was about to give a command to the system, when that same system interrupted him with a message on the interface.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for defeating an enemy five Layers above your own. For defeating an enemy a major realm above your own cultivation, the reward will be doubled.]
[Ding! Host has obtained 20 Points.]
'Huh… right, there was a function like that…', Zhang Baichi clicked the reward away and was about to ask another question, only to be interrupted again.
[Ding! Detected a Demonbeast with a bloodline containing a trace of True Dragon Blood.]
[Ding! Do you wish to sell the corpse?]
'…What?', Zhang Baichi frowned. He could sell a corpse?
[Ding! The 'Shop' function includes sections for both buying and selling materials, Techniques, Natural Treasures, and other things.]
Zhang Baichi hesitated. Since the system came forward to ask for the corpse, did that mean that it was really that valuable? After all, it wasn't the least bit interested in the Sword Techniques of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect that he knew before.
'How much can the corpse be sold for?', he asked after a few moments.
[Ding! The corpse of the Mutated Cloudwolf can be exchanged for 45 Points.]
His eyes widened. That was a lot more than he was expecting. Obviously, this True Dragon Blood must be some seriously good stuff.
'Hey system, how expensive is a vial full of True Dragon Blood in the Shop?', he asked, still scheming if it was worth to try to scam the system.
[Ding! A vial filled with True Dragon's Blood can be exchanged for 850.000 Points.]
Zhang Baichi's eyes bulged, and he nearly cursed out loud. 'Holy sh*t! It's that expensive and you'll only buy the corpse for 45 Points?! Who's trying to scam who, now!'
[Ding! The Mutated Cloudwolf's blood only contains a trace of True Dragon Blood. The total amount of True Dragon Blood amounts to less than a tenth of a drop.]
'Ugh, fine. Take the corpse, then. Leave the head, though. I need some trophy to show off at when we return to the sect.', Zhang Baichi admitted defeat and sighed.
[Ding! Deducting 3 Points for the missing head. Host has obtained 42 Points.]
In front of his eyes, the corpse of the Mutated Cloudwolf simply vanished and not a drop of blood or strand of hair remained.
There was no indicator for what had happened, no movement or anything. The corpse simply vanished into thin air, leaving only the cut-off head behind, yet even the head shed not one more drop of blood.
'The system has even taken the blood that remained in the head?', a shiver ran down Zhang Baichi's back. How exactly had the system done that? Was this the power of a Great Sage?
Zhang Baichi shook his head, ignoring the question and focusing on the task at hand. He touched the wolf's severed head and transferred it to the Inventory. Again, not even a strand of hair of blood remained.
'F*cking creepy. I better not make an enemy out of the system.', Zhang Baichi swore in his heart.
By now, the young woman from the Willow Tree Pavilion had joined the fight against the second Mutated Cloudwolf and the two sects' groups would at most take a couple of minutes to win their battle.
Zhang Baichi watched them from afar but didn't step up and instead sat on the ground and cultivated to recuperate his strength.
A while later, the other disciples returned, the Willow Tree Pavilion's group following behind the young woman and the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect's group following after Lu Zheng.
All of the had some lesser injuries on them, but their eyes were shining with a fierce light. For many of them, this was the first time they experienced a real battle and not only had they fought, but also won.
"Good job, everyone.", Zhang Baichi opened his eyes and smiled at the disciples from his group.
Lu Zheng and the other's nodded, while Yu Hao was looking around, vigilantly. "Brother Zhang, are you alright? Where's the other Demonbeast?"
"Dead. I finished up before you guys.", he replied with a calm face.
All eyes were focused on him. They all clearly knew that the first Mutated Cloudwolf they encountered was much stronger than the second one they just defeated.
But Zhang Baichi had killed the stronger one on his own?
The women from the Willow Tree Pavilion looked suspicious and glanced at the young woman at the front for confirmation.
To their surprise, the young woman simply nodded. She walked a bit closer to Zhang Baichi's ground and bowed her head. "Thank you, everyone, for helping us. If not for you, we would have lost even more of our sisters."
Zhang Baichi stood up and nodded at her. "No need to thank us. I believe we haven't introduced ourselves properly yet. I am Zhang Baichi, the personal disciple of Sect Master Jian Wubai of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect."
"Mh, we know of you and your honourable master.", the young woman pleasantly replied. "I am Xiao Xueling, the daughter of our Willow Tree Pavilion's Pavilion Master Xiao."
"Miss Xiao, I'm sure Pavilion Master Xiao has told you the same things about the broad Wisdom Sect as we've heard from our Sect Master.", Zhang Baichi spoke. "I think our two groups should travel together from here on."
Xiao Xueling quickly agreed and smiled at Zhang Baichi, but he just reciprocated with a nod. His impression of this young woman wasn't all that good. If not for the mission his Master gave him, he wouldn't even travel with them.