Chapter 20: Slaughter

In the dense forest, Lu Jun swept through the enemy like cutting through vegetables, directly charging out of the encirclement, scattering the formation of the magic wolves.

With the pressure lifted, he stopped his random slashes, planted his sword into the ground, and took a deep breath. Though the magic weapon's weight didn't change for him, as an ordinary person, he couldn't swing the sword for too long.

When Lu Jun looked back, a scene of carnage lay behind him—one dead magic wolf had been cleaved in half, blood gushing out, while three others were severely injured, missing limbs or with numerous other injuries. The area resembled a slaughterhouse, with dismembered bodies lying in pools of blood, the smell of blood strong in the air.

Seeing this, even Lu Jun was shocked. Although the magic power consumption was large from expanding his sword three times, the resulting damage was considerable.

He recalled that to kill a servant-level demon with an entry-level magic spell, one would need to reach level three in magic, along with a top-tier spirit seed.

Howls of the remaining magic wolves broke his brief trance. Stimulated by the blood scent, their ferocity surged, their bodies covered in dark blood, becoming more aggressive.

One of the closest magic wolves leaped toward him like a bulldozer, moving with the speed and force of a van.

Whoosh!

Lu Jun stepped onto the wind track and easily dodged, weaving through the wolves and occasionally swinging his golden magic weapon to strike. His heavy golden sword had already returned to normal, still maintaining its formidable slashing power, leaving deep cuts that sometimes resulted in dismemberment.

After a few minutes of entanglement, Lu Jun occasionally made mistakes, and his sparkling blue wind armor began to dull. Fortunately, the water-based defense held up well, and he endured a few scratches without dying.

Eventually, only three magic wolves remained. Fearing for their lives, the demons tried to flee, but Lu Jun chased them down, finishing them off one by one. The ground was left covered in blood, with traces of their corpses.

After the battle, Lu Jun looked at the grim scene, still in disbelief. He had single-handedly killed seven magic wolves. His remaining magic power was mostly water-based stardust, with his gold-based magic completely exhausted.

His sister, Lu Mei, approached, visibly shocked. She had wanted to help during the fight, but after seeing Lu Jun's overwhelming strength in taking on seven enemies, she thought it was unnecessary and that it would be better to test her brother's combat abilities.

She was ready to use her wind-based intermediate magic, [Wind Disc], as backup, but never needed to act.

"You really pack a punch with that gold-based magic," Lu Mei remarked, clearly impressed. "I underestimated you. The two of us could rival a hunter team with our efficiency."

This was a typical beast vs. magic type of strategy. Gold-based magic was particularly effective against magic wolves, a simple, melee-focused enemy, but against a group of human mages with diverse magic skills, it would be more difficult to fight.

On the other hand, hunter teams were most vulnerable when they faced resilient, hard-to-kill demon groups without decisive offensive power, leaving them in a disorganized panic.

After the battle, Lu Jun felt confident. From the city hunts to the wilderness, his demeanor had become sharper, and his sword, stained with dark blood, was growing sharper as well. He was nearing the third level of gold-based magic.

Aside from this, Lu Jun looked at the bodies around him. Seven faint glowing points rose, gathering in the white tiger pendant around his neck. Unfortunately, they were all residual souls, worth about ten thousand.

The chance of obtaining an essence soul was about one percent.

Lu Jun didn't expect much from it. He had to kill more demons to collect hundreds of residual souls to form essence souls.

"Quick, let's collect the odd blood and bones. The blood scent will attract more demons."

Lu Mei called to her brother, and they began cutting up the bodies.

After some busy work, they collected resources worth about two hundred thousand, including the residual souls in the white tiger pendant. Without the souls, it was only worth tens of thousands.

Although this was a lot, it was a dangerous endeavor. Compared to mid-level resources worth millions, it was a far cry.

This was still two people dividing the spoils. If it had been a hunter team, it would have been a losing venture. They wouldn't charge in recklessly like Lu Jun. Instead, they would set up ambushes, lay traps, and kill demons with the least effort.

Looking at the darkening sky, Lu Jun sighed. "It's getting late. My gold magic power is exhausted. Let's head back."

Lu Mei nodded. Though she hadn't done much, as an intermediate mage, she still had some power left. She wasn't greedy and agreed, "Let's go back now."

The siblings carried their packs and started heading back. Before long, they saw two large mountains and the city of the Snow Mountain Outpost. The military mages were there, and they relaxed, their bodies loosening up as they entered the outpost.

At that moment, Zhan Kong happened to be patrolling. Seeing that the siblings had returned victorious, he was surprised. "Oh? You're still alive?"

Lu Jun rolled his eyes and replied, "What do you mean? You were hoping we'd be dead?"

"Not at all," Zhan Kong said, stroking his chin. Looking at the sixteen-year-old boy, he suddenly offered an invitation. "How about it? If you graduate from high school, forget about going to the academy and come work for me instead?"

"Give me two years, and I'll train you into a top-tier mage. At twenty, you could be in charge of a military district—easy."

Lu Jun could tell Zhan Kong wasn't boasting. Aside from his family's connections, Zhan Kong himself was highly valued by leaders with the highest cultivation and status in the Nine Regions.

So, Lu Jun thought about it and didn't immediately refuse. He said, "Let me think about it. I'm still far from graduating."

Zhan Kong smiled. "No problem, my door is always open for you."

In his heart, Zhan Kong was excited. At sixteen, Lu Jun was already going out to hunt demons—this was a level of bravery and experience even the elite students from top academies in the Imperial City or Demon City didn't have in their first year of university, let alone high school.

Mages weren't only judged by their cultivation. In battle, one could easily panic, and even a high-level mage could be killed by a low-level mage.

After bidding farewell to Zhan Kong, Lu Mei asked her brother, "Do you plan on going into the military?"

She hadn't spoken earlier, not wanting to interfere with the important conversation. Now she asked because she knew her brother had strong convictions.

"I'm more inclined to go to university. It's freer."

Lu Jun answered calmly. After a year of cultivation and tempering, his confidence had increased. With a clear plan for the future, he aimed for the highest realms of magic.

Then he paused and added softly, "And if I join the military, what will you do, sis?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Mei relaxed. After a moment, she smiled and replied, "Forget it. Without you holding me back, I'll be even freer."

The siblings parted ways once they returned to the city. Lu Mei headed to the Hunter's Alliance to deal with the demon resources, while Lu Jun went home to meditate and recover his magic power.