Crisis

Shortly after, they finally left in search of demon beast groups, finding one within the hour. It was a group of Snow Wind Apes, numbering ten thousand with 5 being Black Gold rank. It seemed to be a remnant of the previous demon beast horde.

Hong Yue Xian and company observed them for a short while, before he glanced at the girls and told them to merge with their demon spirits and attack. Each of the them immediately transformed into an orange furred human with fox ears and tail bathed in flames, a black furred human with panther ears and whiskers enveloped by shadows, and a human surrounded by pink petals and vines.

Hong Yue Xian also transformed into a huge crimson furred wolfman with a long tail and wolf ears. As soon as the merging was complete, all four of them charged at the demon beasts. Each of them targeted a Black Gold rank, with Huyan Lanruo taking on two.

The moment they saw her approach, they growled and pounced at her, when she finally used her charming ability. Immediately one of the two demon beasts turned around and charged at its companion, starting a fierce battle. The other Gold rank and Silver rank demon beasts avoided the battle duo, and kept on attacking Huyan Lanruo, only to have several of them to be charmed and protect her instead.

Hong Yue Xian used his speed to avoid the attacks of lower rank beasts, while using his claws to tear them apart. Soon he was able to open a path to the Black Gold rank and charged at him. Both met in the middle, however, just before they clashed, Hong Yue Xian used Iron Claw to block the demon beast's attack with one hand and penetrate its chest with the other, crushing its heart.

The moment he saw the demon beast perish, he swiftly retreated but was still surrounded and attacked on all sides. Hong Yue Xian used the Wind Steps to boost his speed while dodging and blocking attacks from the front and sides, while using the Tail Blade to cut any demon beast sneaking to his back. After 10 minutes of gruesome slaughter, there were no more beasts left, with some lucky survivors escaping.

Finished with his battle he turned to look at the girls' and saw Huyan Lanruo still in the similar position, though she was being pressured by the crowd of demon beasts. Relieved with her not having too much difficulty, he glanced at the other two.

Shen Xiu was like a blazing torch surrounded by the demon beasts. She would constantly shoot fireballs at the weaker demon beasts, jump around and use the Fire Claw on the Black Gold rank in front of her, while spinning and lashing it with her Flame Tail, wounding it seriously. Finally, she managed to kill the Black Gold rank by tearing out its throat, but she was soon surrounded by demon beasts once more. She was exhausted and barely able to maintain her merging with the demon spirit, though she was capable of killing them by herself eventually.

Yang Xin on the other hand was like a fleeting shadow. She used her Nether Evasion to avoid the attacks of a Black Gold rank demon beast. Every time it would swipe at her, it would hit a shadow, while Yang Xin would narrowly dodge it by a step. She used this ability to get a few wounds on the demon beast but her attacking power was not great so she could only wear it out slowly. Yang Xin would circle around the demon beast, trying not to get surrounded by other demon beasts, and if the situation looked grim, she would use Nether Escape. Her whole body was covered in sweat and she was really tired.

Suddenly, Hong Yue Xian sensed Legend rank demon beasts approaching swiftly from the direction closest to Shen Xiu. He knew trouble came, as she was in no condition to fight a Legend rank. He rushed towards her and used the Wind Steps to move faster, as he saw a huge pack of Snow Wind Wolves appearing out of the forest. There were thousands upon thousands of them, led by 5 Legend rank and dozens of Black Gold rank Snow Wind Wolves.

Shen Xiu was still surrounded by the Snow Wind Apes, unable to extricate herself, when suddenly three giant wolves pounced on her. Before the closest one could reach her, Hong Yue Xian appeared in front of her and used the Iron Claw to send it flying, however, as it was a Legend rank, the wound was not deep.

While Hong Yue Xian was fast enough to stop the first wolf for the time being, he was not fast enough to dodge the second. Hong Yue Xian saw the wolf opening its jaw and used his left arm to fend it off. The wolf bit it and tried to tear if off, but Hong Yue Xian's body was stronger and tougher than most.

Blood spilled from the deep wound on his arm causing him to wince in pain, while dulling his anxiousness as he used the Nether Evasion to avoid the third wolf's attempt to bite his neck. The wolf was bewildered by his miss but the next moment it was hit on the forehead by Hong Yue Xian's Iron Claw, breaking its skull and crushing its brain.

Feeling the pain on his arm still, he swung it backwards together with the wolf, while his tail turned into a blade and slashed the wolf on its belly. The pain forced the wolf to howl and release his arm, before shortly being spurred by it to pounce on him again. However, what awaited it was an ice spike stabbing out of the ground and piercing its belly. The wound before weakened the wolf's defences and allowed the spike to penetrate its heart, killing the demon beast.

With that nuisance gone Hong Yue Xian waved his hand again and a tall huge earthen wall appeared blocking the two slower Legend rank wolves. He could feel his left arm gradually becoming frozen, the effect of the Ice Fang ability, but as it was not the time, he grabbed the frightened and concerned Shen Xiu and used the Wind Steps again to rush towards Huyan Lanruo.

"Xin'er! Use Nether Escape to Ruo'er's side." Shouted Hong Yue Xian as he moved as fast as he could. Yang Xin saw the wolves attacking and understood the severity of the situation. Hearing his words, she immediately followed them and appeared close to Huyan Lanruo.

Hong Yue Xian was also close by and similarly used Nether Escape to cover the rest of the distance. He did not waste time on words and had Huyan Lanruo climb on his back as he grabbed Yang Xin with his free hand, before using another ability Wind Walk to triple his flying speed for a short while.

As they flew away they could hear the howls of wolves in pursuit. Hong Yue Xian took out a pouch from his storage ring and gave it to Huyan Lanruo. "Spread it on top of us, quick." Huyan Lanruo immediately opened the pouch and covered all of them in a special powder that can mask smells. With the eye contact broken and smell erased, the wolves lost their track and gave up the chase.