Demonic Beasts

The expedition into the Northern wilderness continued. For some time, they did not encounter anything out of the ordinary, but this peace could not last forever.

"Grrr…"

The group suddenly tensed up. Everyone looked ahead and narrowed their eyes. Boln stroked his hand across a red ring on his left hand, causing it to flash with a red light. A spear appeared in his hands, which he quickly pointed at their first foe.

It was a wolf. Yaan stayed back and examined this wolf. The beast was far more intimidating than any wild animal he had seen before. Its body was coated with dark grey fur, but its eyes and claws were crimson, giving it a savage appearance.

The wolf growled at them whilst baring its teeth. Elia instinctively stepped back and grabbed ahold of Yaan's robe. He turned to her in surprise, but couldn't bring himself to say anything after catching sight of her fearful expression.

Yaan sighed, realising again that their experiences of the cultivation world had simply been too different. Elia had been treated well, not encountering any danger or suffering, whilst Yaan was continually forced by circumstance to fight for his own survival and progress.

Returning his gaze forwards, Yaan waited and watched on expectantly. He felt a bit of anticipation as he wondered how Boln would handle this encounter.

"Eh, what are you doing, Boln?" Kaila asked in confusion, seeing that he had actually pulled back casually.

Boln turned back towards Yaan and flashed a smile.

"Little Yaan, this is just a weak Rank 1 dire wolf, how about you show us your skills? Since you've never fought a beast since becoming a cultivator, this is a good opportunity for you. After all, who knows when we will next find a lone weak beast."

Yaan blinked in surprise. He pondered for a moment, before nodding in agreement. Boln was right, this was indeed a good opportunity. He gently pushed away Elia's hand from his robe, then made his way towards the beast calmly.

He made eye contact with the wolf, which started staring at him as soon as he made a move towards it. Yaan continued to stare directly into the wolf's eyes as he walked forwards, step by step...

Elia was left feeling stunned, not understanding how Yaan was able to remain so calm in the face of a monster like this!

'He…is he really going to fight it alone?' Elia thought, feeling some disbelief and worry.

Yaan saw the beast's killing intent, but also its fear. This wolf could tell that these humans were strong, so it ended up baring its fangs defensively. It relaxed slightly when the strongest of the humans stepped back, but its aggression was rekindled upon making eye contact with Yaan.

Dangerous! This child actually caused the wolf to feel a powerful sense of danger!

The closer Yaan walked towards the wolf, the more killing intent he revealed. With each step he took, it felt as if his entire demeanour was straying further and further from its usual state. Whilst he was entirely focussed on this battle, his intent to kill spread out openly and without restraint.

Kaila, Elia and Findi all felt shocked as they felt Yaan's aura develop into something overwhelmingly bloodthirsty, but Boln, who had already witnessed Yaan's aura before, only watched on in anticipation.

"Is this really the aura of a child…?" Kaila muttered. She felt slightly shaken that Yaan, this boy she had known for a couple of years now, was actually hiding such an intense killing intent!

Yaan was unaware of his group's gazes, he was fully focussed on the coming battle. He had grown accustomed to placing the entirety of his focus on his enemy, as he had always fought against lone prisoners, with no outside interferences. Rui made a mental note…she needed to remind him that he should always remain aware of his surroundings, even in situations such as this.

Yaan drew his sword right as he arrived before the wolf. He didn't stop walking, continuing forwards calmly. This unusual calmness sent powerful warning signals through the wolf's mind, causing it to hesitate and take a step back. Yaan took one more step and raised his sword above his head in a single smooth motion.

As the sense of danger shooting through the beast's mind reached its peak, it leapt forwards, opening its mouth and aiming for Yaan's throat. The image of such a large beast pouncing towards a child would send shivers down any mother's spine, but the outcome was not what they would expect to see.

To Yaan, this wolf was simply too slow. Its moments were plain and simple, he had already predicted that it would aim for his throat before it even left the ground.

He didn't step back, but instead swiftly slid forwards and to the left. His sword flashed as he injected his Innate Qi and filled the blade with an additional sharp power. The blade was already sharper than any ordinary sword, but this injection of Innate Qi created a powerful effect where the sword was coated in a layer of sharp red Qi.

Combined with Yaan's barbaric physical strength, the wolf simply stood no chance.

Chi!

The blade slashed through the wolf's throat cleanly, beheading it in a single, barely visible slash. This scene made Findi's jaw drop to the floor. He, like Yaan, was also at the Peak Qi Gathering Realm. Since he was able to enter the core sect even though his cultivation was only at the Qi Gathering Realm, he was obviously not ordinary, despite his appearance.

He had assumed that whilst they were both at the same realm, he would certainly be stronger than Yaan due to his age, his size and his experience. However, this single blow of Yaan's let him know that his judgement was completely wrong; Yaan was most definitely more powerful than him!

Thud!

The wolf's body hit the floor, its head rolling slightly to the side. Its blood gushed out and drenched the turquoise grass with a crimson red, making Elia's face turn a shade paler. She took a step back and swallowed, staring at the beheaded beast in shock.

"Hah…"

Yaan exhaled and the tension rapidly dispersed from his body.

"Haha, that was amazing Yaan! I knew that you would win, but didn't expect it to be so easy. Your constitution sure is something, I feel like your physical strength alone could match that wolf!" Boln praised Yaan whilst laughing cheerfully.

"Senior disciple is too kind, I still have much to learn." Yaan replied with a forced smile.

"Too humble, really!" Boln grinned.

Yaan sighed internally, he wasn't just being modest…

"You wasted far too much energy dealing with such a weak thing. Why would you use your full strength on a weak Rank 1 beast? You need to learn to exert your strength appropriately if you want to survive."

Yaan's eye twitched at the stark contrast between his group's praise and Rui's criticism.

The group retrieved the wolf's eyes as proof of their victory. They needed to bring back something identifiable like this if they wanted to earn their merit points back at the Hun Village station point.

The group continued on, everyone feeling in high spirits after witnessing Yaan's impressive display. It was obvious that not only did he possess unusual strength for someone at the Qi Gathering Realm, but his battle experience was nothing to scoff at either! This additional pillar of support was naturally welcomed by everyone in the group.

As they travelled deeper into the forest, Yaan realised something that made him feel startled.

"Wait, I can actually absorb Slaughter Aura from killing beasts?" He muttered.

"Huh, what did you say Yaan?" Boln asked, looking back at him and smiling again.

"Ah, nothing." Yaan realised that he mistakenly spoke aloud and quickly covered for himself. Luckily he had only muttered quietly and was hanging back a dozen feet behind Boln, so he wasn't overheard.

"Well of course you can, life is life after all. You probably misunderstood owing to the initial requirement of killing 100 of your own race." Rui explained as if this was obvious.

Yaan wanted to scream at her, 'then why have I been killing so many humans?!', but he managed to keep his cool.

Thinking about it, he understood her perspective. Rui just wanted him to grow stronger, and killing prisoners was the safest way for him to do so right now. Venturing into the wilderness and hunting beasts was accompanied by an additional layer of danger compared to slaughtering weakened prisoners.

Of course, eventually, Yaan needed to venture out into the world. He would never reach the height that Rui needed him to reach if he remained within that sect forever…

Yaan silently refined the Slaughter Aura from the Rank 1 beast and quickly replenished his Innate Qi. The Slaughter Aura released by the dire wolf was similar in strength to that of a Mid Qi Gathering Realm human cultivator, but he was easily able to deal with this without needing to stop. This level of Slaughter Aura was no longer too much for his mind to handle, as he had become adept at resisting the bloodthirsty desires brought on by the absorption of Slaughter Aura.

They didn't delve too far into the wilderness, staying within a couple of miles of Hun Village.

They encountered beasts more frequently as time went on. For now, they were simply testing each member's abilities whilst working on their teamwork. After all, a large-scale beast tide was something that could drag out for many months, they would be working together for quite some time.

Findi was able to deal with a Rank 1 boar with a little more effort than Yaan, whilst Boln and Kaila's abilities were obviously top tier. With Boln's Peak Innate Qi Realm cultivation, it wasn't even a problem when they came across a Rank 2 red wing eagle. Boln completely decimated the bird with three successive jabs of his spear, destroying its sharp feathers and ending its life swiftly.

Elia was the only member of their group who ran into some troubles. She had a Late Qi Gathering Realm cultivation and she trained in a type of sword arts, so logically, she should be capable of dealing with weaker Rank 1 beasts. Unfortunately, her battle experience was completely lacking.

"Don't panic Elia, remember your training!" Boln shouted out words of encouragement whilst keeping a close eye on the battle.

Elia was facing off against a Rank 1 dire wolf, the most common beast in this area of the woods. This wolf was even weaker than the beasts that Yaan and Findi had faced, it was just an Early Rank 1 beast.

Her hands trembled slightly as she faced the vicious looking beast. She tightened her grip and clenched her teeth, but her anxiety was still obvious to the wolf, giving it a burst of courage.

The wolf leapt forwards suddenly, aiming to tear out her neck. Clearly, this was a common tactic employed by canine beasts.

"Ah!" Elia cried out and stepped backwards, closing her eyes and stabbing out randomly with her sword.

Whoosh!

The expected impact never came. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Boln had stepped in, piercing through the beast's throat with his spear.

"I, I'm sorry…" She apologised in embarrassment, flushing red and looking down at the ground.

"Don't worry Elia, it's only because your combat experience is lacking. After spending some more time in the wilderness, you'll definitely improve quickly." Boln comforted her. He smiled and patted her head, doing his best to make her feel like she wasn't causing them any troubles. Yaan couldn't help but think that Boln was well-suited towards being a group leader.

Boln had more or less expected Elia's performance to be lacking. It was common that a pampered prodigal child would only become capable in combat after leaving the comfort of the sect and experiencing the real world for the first time.

Despite everyone's words of encouragement, Elia couldn't help but feel down as they continued onwards.

'No, I can always make up for it next time!' Her eyes brightened and she resolved herself. There was no time for self-pity. If she wanted to change people's opinions of her, then she just needed to do better in the future!

After a few hours flew by, the situation became increasingly dangerous. Lone beasts were now showing up in groups every few minutes. With her weak abilities, Elia was forced to watch whilst everyone else did battle and protected her. Seeing their teamwork improving with every battle, she began to feel left out.

From her first battle until dark, Elia didn't get to fight again. The group returned to Hun Village in good spirits that evening, though Elia felt a little bit depressed that she was never presented with the chance to redeem herself. Regardless, they all felt happy to have survived the first day of the beast tide. They even started to feel that overcoming this entire calamity might not be as difficult as they had imagined.

It wasn't long before this naive notion was torn to shreds.