(43) First trial [3]

'Tsk, I have no choice but to suffer some damage and take out more eleven wolves, by fighting them head-on.' Mangrel saw the despairing situation of the other people around him, they were all pitifully defending and dodging around like cockroaches. 

This situation was predictable, they didn't have unlimited origin essence, and neither did they have a self-replenishing cultivation technique like Mangrel. Leading to their current predicament. 

The strongest among the young cultivators was in the mid-tier of rank zero. Not too strong or weak, just enough to put up some fight against the providence plant wolf. 

From the looks of things, the young cultivator fighting wouldn't be able to hold on for long. 

'If they disperse, they can probably survive while running around, but that would put me in a disadvantageous position. Being trapped in this room, I will have to confront more wolves...' 

As the saying goes, a swarm of bees can even kill a trapped lion. There was a very high chance of dying, when surrounded by these wolves, even for Mangrel. 

Tear!

Pulling one of the spiky roots out of the dead wolf's body, Mangrel dashed forward with a resolute face. The black flame claw in his hand turned back to transparent unknowingly.

The dark green root had a plain exterior at the beginning part, not bringing any adverse harm to Mangrel. 

Growl!

A providence plant wolf sensed Mangrel's presence, pouncing on him, exposing its sharp rows of teeth. 

Having been predicting its movement, Mangrel maneuvered his body to be two meters away from the wolf. 

Noticing Mangrel keeping a distance unreachable by its root, the wolf growled and decided to use its body. It couldn't catch up to him before as it was manipulating the roots, making it pause multiple times.

If not, the providence plant wolf chasing Mangrel would have caught him shortly. Their body was a lot stronger compared to human beings, they were beasts in the end.

The wolf's body tensed up and its stance changed to a slightly crouched one. 

This was not missed by Mangrel, he smiled slightly. Instead of moving away, he suddenly moved into the two-meter parameter of the wolf. 

This unexpected movement caused slight confusion to the wolf, which couldn't understand the meaning behind Mangrel's action with its inferior brain. Suddenly, it could see some movement on the prey's side, instantly its eyes went blind with a flash.

Mangrel had used the root as a whip, destroying the providence plant wolf's eyes.

The providence plant wolf had no time to react at all, retracting the roots to use its body — had backfired on it. 

Mangrel's action was good enough to fool even other people, what was this beast before him, with its intelligence?

Not letting go of the opportunity, Mangrel used the providence plant wolf's confusion and used the ghost claw to immediately extract its heart. 

Gnash!

Blood sprayed at him, but Mangrel didn't care and concentrated on finishing eating the heart first. 

Not taking a break, Mangrel glanced at the frontline of the young cultivator and as he expected, things were not looking optimistic for them. Their team formation was on the verge of breaking. 

Dozens of providence plant wolves assaulted them mercilessly, with bloodlust. The earth path cultivator, who acted as a tank, was in tatters too. Their faces were ugly, already showing signs of moving backward, one step at a time. 

Mangrel looked around, immediately finding a safe route to their group of ten or more young cultivators. 

'I won't give up this opportunity easily, it might just be three percent, but it's still very precious. Just like how droplets of water fill up a bucket eventually, I will accumulate potential slowly.' Mangrel had already made up his mind. 

Origin essence flowed into Mangrel's words: "Listen! Use an anti-origin essence vessel to damage the wolf's eyes. With blinded eyes, it would be a lot easier to take care of them!" His voice was filled with an unquestionable tone, forcing the already-cornered people to unconsciously follow his order. 

They had seen him kill a few providence plant wolves before too, this made them want to believe him. 

Humans look for hope in moments of despair, no matter how distant or distorted it might be, they will still believe it. That is the strength of wanting to live — survival instinct. 

Mangrel kept some distance and fought with the wolf that came at him. 

Mangrel: "Hey you! Use the spike smash spell that you used earlier, but don't shoot the spikes and let them protrude from the ground." 

The earth path cultivator who was pointed at was startled hearing this. He had used that spell a while ago, but it couldn't even make it past the providence plant wolf's hide. He was confused as to why Mangrel would suddenly give out such an order...

Earth cultivator's eyes widened, he understood immediately, causing him to take another glance at Mangrel, filled with surprise and admiration.

"Everyone, aim for their eyes using this!" The earth-path cultivator stamped his foot into the ground, creating a wave-like water ripple. As if having turned into water, the ground moved strangely, before multiple spikes portrayed out of the ground. 

The cultivator knew what the earth path cultivator was saying, seeing this scene. 

'He has a very strong spirit, probably at the mid-tier, he can cast that spell a few more times. He must have cultivated his spiritual energy from a very young age.' Mangrel had kept an eye on everyone's ability because of his cautious mind. 

Mangrel had wantonly shown the scene of him killing the providence plant wolf to everyone. He wanted them to see his feat and then follow his command, though he had accelerated his plan slightly. 

The other kid had unknown skills and strengths, that was the only loophole. But as it goes, an easily visible loophole like that is not a loophole, to begin with! They were easy to counter. 

At last, Mangrel's action paid off. 

This group of cultivators didn't even bother looking at his necklace to see his number, before following his order. It would have been a different story if it was in the beginning. 

All the cultivators began using the spikes, throwing them at the wolves. Many were missed while a few hit, they were able to only blind a few of them. 

"You, you, you, you and you, step back and let them throw the spikes. Give me two spikes and You, with brown hair, use the shadow veil you used before on this wolf at my signal." Mangrel pointed at the providence plant wolf he fought.

Mangrel had begun giving out orders naturally. If the leadership was given to him so readily, why should he hesitate? 

More than four minutes have passed since the start of the first trial. And the second door would fully open in a minute too.

The cultivator called out by Mangrel nodded his head with nervousness. He had a medium-built body and had little narrow eyes. With the belt fastened on his hip and leather clothes. 

"Others go and fight with leftover wolves," Mangrel said and leaped forward.