Beast Slayer

Sweat flew off Ryker's face as he deflected another set of steel needles, doggedly chasing after their source.

Although his spiritual sense was dirt poor, his physical senses were at least adequate. With the help of the natural stone pillars scattered about and the fact that the wraith had lost the high ground, he had a bit of an easier time avoiding its attacks.

That didn't mean it was easy, however. The wraith, perhaps feeling pressured, upped the tempo of its attacks, and was constantly repositioning in order to elude Ryker's pursuit.

And although, up until now, he hadn't encountered many attacks that had been able to clearly threaten his life, the wraith's needles seemed to contain a piercing energy that cut through his usual defenses like tofu. A stray shot to a vital area could easily kill him.

Add on to that Ryker's own mental pressure from having to dodge attacks he couldn't see coming, and he was quickly getting drained both mentally and physically.

"... Damn, am I in trouble?" he muttered, grinning ruefully.

He was seriously considering running, at this point. The only reason he hadn't so far was because of Hu Long's incitement, and the fact that he couldn't tell if he'd be able to get away from this beast, even if he did run.

"Ryker! Now!"

Just as his energy was starting to flag, however, the clear sound of Hu Long's voice transmission rang in his ears, accompanied by a sudden streak of turbulent, red qi shooting towards a spot not too far ahead of him.

Like an electric shock, a dome of crackling qi spread from the point of impact, revealing the Steel-Backed Wraith with a blinding flash.

The wraith shook its head fiercely as it struggled in place, seemingly suppressed by the reddish qi. This struggle didn't even last a second; however, that was all the time Ryker needed.

Pushing his qi and mana to the limit, Ryker burst forward, swapping out the Sturdy Iron Cudgel for a longsword, completely black except for the gold-inlaid pattern along the length of the blade.

This was Gao Shun's sword, a semi-spiritual weapon that was a step up in quality from his usual Snow-Rimed Sword. Along with his Life Severing Sword Arts, he was betting it all on being able to end this in one strike.

He focused his sword qi along the edge of his sword, aiming for the wraith's neck with a heavy slash as he closed in. The black blade fell like the blade of a guillotine, surrounded by a dark, oppressive aura that was thirsting for blood...

But at the very last moment, Hu Long's suppressive technique shattered, the Steel-Backed Wraith pulling away with a howl to just barely avoid being beheaded as the longsword drew a thin line of blood across its neck.

"Shit!"

Ryker grit his teeth and forcibly switched up his footwork to lunge at the wraith once more, feeling a rupturing backlash in his legs as he reached out desperately.

If he were to let it get away at this point, he was sure he wouldn't get another opportunity like it!

He managed to get a hold onto the furry underside of its tail, but that only managed to stall it for a moment before the silky fur tore off with a loud rip.

However, in that same moment, another bolt of red qi came shooting towards them, hitting the wraith square in its side. Another suppressive shock ran through its body, causing it to let out an irritated yelp.

Hu Long was still in the Qi Gathering realm, and he barely had any time to charge before unleashing this last attack, so its effect could only be considered a nuisance to the wraith, at best.

Still, that was pretty good considering the opponent was comparable to those experts in the Soul Wandering realm, and that instant of shock was just enough for Ryker to leap forward and tackle the beast to the ground.

The two of them tumbled across the gravelly dirt, the Steel-Back Wraith thrashing wildly in Ryker's grip. Though it wasn't much larger than a regular wolf, its strength was still that of a Soul Wandering demon beast, causing Ryker to struggle to hold on as he readied his blade.

Luckily, the wraith had no room to swing its tail to release its needles, and the piercing effect they had didn't seem to be present before they were released. Conversely, that also meant Ryker had no room to maneuver his sword, so he settled for pressing the blade against the beast's neck and sawing it back and forth as they scuffled in the dirt.

Each jerking motion drew a spurt of blood and a pained yelp from the wraith, and it desperately flailed as Ryker's sawing bit deeper with each pass.

Although it was considered to have an overwhelming offensive power and stealth for its level, its defenses were unfortunately below average. In addition, its strength was not enough to shake Ryker's vice-like grip.

In the end, all it could do was writhe in pain, its struggling growing weaker and weaker until the light left its eyes.

Once the wraith's movements finally ceased, Ryker slowly pulled himself away from the bloody mess that was its corpse, hands shaking from both nerves and fatigue.

Though most of the blood covering his body wasn't his, he realized just how easily that fight could have gone wrong.

With heaving breath, he stood up, walking to stand over the wraith's corpse. He stood there for a good moment, before raising his blade and quickly bringing it down, severing the beast's head. Had to make sure, after all.

"Phew. Remind me to never do *that*, again," he said, to no one in particular. At least it was over. Blowing out a sigh of relief, he promptly fell back onto his butt, wiping the blood from his face.

"Ryker, careful!"

Before he could get too relaxed, however, Hu Long's shouting drew his attention, and he looked back at the wraith's bloody corpse with apprehension. It was over... wasn't it?

As if in answer to his question, a wisp of blue mist rose out from the deceased wraith, and it took the shape of a small wolf before shooting straight at him with a fierce growl.

Ryker quickly leapt back and took a swing at it, but his blade simply passed straight through.

"Huh?"

He fell backwards as the wolf continued its charge, gritting his teeth as he tried to force his legs to move, but the built up fatigue and the backlash he received from forcibly changing the footwork of the Life Severing Sword Art left them unresponsive.

However, right before the beast's jaws clamped down on his throat, a familiar red qi came falling down like a lightning bolt, striking the wolf apparition with a resounding crash and stopping it in its tracks.

A few tense moments passed, Ryker pointing his sword warily at the frozen apparition as he fought to catch his breath. Soon enough, though, the apparition slowly began to fade, a mournful howl escaping it before it disappeared.

Seeing that it was over for real, this time, he fell flat onto his back, chest heaving while he tried to circulate his qi and recover.

"Are you alright?"

A pale-looking Hu Long ran up to him, reaching out a hand. Ryker took it with a pained grunt, letting Hu Long help him up to his feet and support him.

"Yeah, just a bit of backlash. My legs aren't feeling too hot, right now," he said with a grin, looking back at the Steel-Back Wraith's corpse.

"Anyways, what the hell was that ghost thing?"

"It was the beast's embryonic Soul Manifestation," Hu Long explained, hurriedly leading Ryker back in the direction of the sect. He didn't forget to pick up the wraith's remains, of course, handing it to Ryker who promptly put it into his dimensional pocket.

"I'm just surprised it was able to get to this level at the Soul Wandering realm."

Seeing Ryker uncomprehending expression, he sighed, continuing his explanation as they walked.

"The Soul Manifestation is like a spiritual copy of yourself. Even if a cultivator loses their physical body, as long as their Soul Manifestation is intact, it will be like having a second chance at life."

"Sounds pretty convenient."

"Not as convenient as it sounds. You would need to cultivate it to a certain level to get that second chance, and even then you would still be without a physical body. You'd be forced to become a ghost cultivator until you either got to a level where you could manifest your own physical body, or found another one."

Hu Long shook his head, realizing again how far the path of cultivation reached.

"This beast's Soul Manifestation was only in the embryonic stage, so it probably figured it didn't have another shot. Usually, you would need to be in the Nascent Soul realm to even have a chance at creating a Soul Manifestation, after all."

Ryker just nodded like he understood, even though he didn't understand a thing. He figured he would just ask Mini C and Bestie when they got back to the sect.

"Sir Ryker! Junior Brother!"

As the two of them approached the forested area leading back to the sect, a girlish shout drew their attention to the treeline, where Cui Feng was running out to greet them along with some men and women in the Dabang Sect disciple's uniform.

"Are you two alright? Where's that demon beast?!" she exclaimed, fretting as she saw the blood covering the both of them.

Hu Long just scowled at the mention of 'junior brother', though it held the hint of a smile. This girl must have pulled a few favors to gather such a force in such little time; a quick glance told him that most of these disciples were in the Soul Wandering realm, themselves.

"We're fine. Most of this blood isn't ours. As for the demon beast..."

He gestured over at Ryker, who pulled out the wraith's head from his dimensional pocket with a big grin.

"It's been taken care of."

Cui Feng gasped, as did most of the Dabang sect disciples behind her.

"No way... these two haven't even reached the Golden Core realm, yet they took down a Soul Wandering level demon beast?" a soft-spoken woman muttered, her mouth slightly open in disbelief.

The shock lasted only for a moment, however, before a burly man with a fierce mustache stepped forward with fists held in salute, bowing respectfully as he spoke.

"Junior Brother, I'm willing to exchange a hundred high-grade spirit stones for the Steel-Backed Wraith's demonic core!"

Although material from a Soul Wandering demonic beast wasn't rare, it wasn't plentiful, either. The Steel-Back Wraith, in particular, was exceedingly hard to come by due to its reclusive nature. Its demonic core was in high demand among metal- and earth-attribute cultivators, but supply was pitifully low.

The other disciples looked at the burly man in surprise. Was this guy really trying to get a leg up on them, right now? Hurriedly, the rest of them came forward with their own offers, though it was hard to make them all out in the clamor.

The excitement of her senior brothers and sisters caused Cui Feng to giggle, and she nudged Hu Long in the side with her elbow.

"Junior Brother, it seems like you've gained a bit of popularity?" she said. Having observed Ryker these past few days, she naturally knew of the ostracization of Hu Long, who entered the sect with Ryker's help.

Although she didn't know what Elder Jiang was thinking in making things hard for this newcomer, she knew that he was a hard working person that kept himself steady even under the disdain of the other disciples. He was also quick to take action and get her to safety during this crisis, even going back to assist Ryker after telling her to go get help.

He deserved better than the treatment he was currently getting!

Hu Long simply rolled his eyes, looking at Ryker expectantly.

"Well, you're the one that slayed the beast. What do you think?"

Ryker could only tilt his head to the side thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

"A hundred high-grade spirit stones, huh... That's a lot!"

For reference, a hundred high-grade spirit stones was probably enough for him to buy every Roasted Fire Bird Skewer ever produced in the last thousand years.

Also, he really needed to update his frame of reference when it came to money...

"Well, I'll think about it. Let's get back, first, I'm starving..."

Odds were high that Caelus would have a use for it, so no point in considering any exchange, for now.

Seeing that Ryker had no intention of selling the core, at the moment, the other disciples' expressions cooled, though they didn't say anything more.

Hu Long shook his head, knowing exactly what they were thinking. Still he didn't make any comments, either.

If they were thinking this guy was easy to bully, they were in for quite a surprise!

The group made their way back to the Dabang Sect proper, each with their own thoughts. Ryker's thoughts, however, were mainly concerning dinner...