Chapter 9: Slaughter of the Wolf Pack

  In the dark mountains at dawn, when the outside gate was just getting dark, the mountains were already pitch black, and only this mountain seam was brightly lit by a fire.

  On the bonfire, it was a halved demon pig, sizzling and crackling, golden oil dripping continuously into the fire, splashing up sparks.

  "Success!"

  Li Chen occasionally sprinkled seasonings from a small jar on the side evenly over it, emitting bursts of meat fragrance. A sharp knife cut deep gashes on its surface, allowing the meat to heat evenly.

  The crowd heard this and rushed up, each taking out the small, exquisite blades they carried with them, and devoured them with relish.

  "Come on, brother!"

  Pang Wenshan sat beside Li Chen, took a few big bites of meat, picked up a leather flask and gulped down a few mouthfuls, then handed it over.

  "Alcohol?"

  Li Chen's eyes lit up, and he took it without hesitation, tilting his head back to drink.

  The pungent liquor entered his mouth, the nose-piercing wine flavor stormed his mind, making Li Chen feel dizzy for a moment, and his eyes became moist.

  It was just a few years ago that Grandfather also drank like this with me, but in the blink of an eye three years have passed, the old man is no longer here, and I am no longer weak and sickly, but instead have become a strong and healthy martial artist.

  This can also be considered as fulfilling one of his elderly wishes.

  Now, because of the revealed strength, people who had never looked at him with a straight eye in the past also began to call him 'brother' and 'friend', whether sincerely or not. But life is full of changes, and one can't stay dormant forever.

  "Hey! Look at you, you're quite ruthless, why are you crying?"

  Pang Wenshan snatched the wine pouch and took a few sips, laughing and saying.

  "Haha, who's crying? It's just the wine fumes irritating my eyes!"

  Li Chen showed no weakness, and snatched the wine pouch again, tilting his head back to gulp it down fiercely, as if he wanted to swallow all the stifling air in his heart. His eyes, gazing at the night sky, seemed to flash with an unusual divine light.

  "Brother Pang, you're being too stingy, can't just let us drink alone?"

  Zhao Shanshan, who was facing them, saw that they were getting excited from drinking and stretched out her jade-like hand, with an expression that said "if you don't give it to me, I'll make a scene".

  "There is no way, it's not good for girls to drink, they easily get out of control after drinking!"

  Pang Wenshan looked unwilling, but seeing Chu Ziying also looking in this direction, he gritted his teeth and pulled out a wine pouch from his bag and threw it over.

  Zhaoshan's face was slightly flushed, she took over the wine pouch, a hint of melancholy flashed in her eyes, fortunately, the firelight illuminated it, so others couldn't see clearly, and they laughed and shared the wine.

  "These young whippersnappers!"

  Pang Wenshan looked at the wine pouch being snatched away by the crowd with a heartache, and with a wave of his large hand, he grabbed the wine pouch from Li Chen's hand and gulped it down fiercely as if venting his emotions.

  Little did he know, he was making a last-ditch effort, saving himself from bringing wine and drinks that would be drunk by others.

  With wine enough and food full, everyone sat cross-legged to rest, only Li Chen sat beside the fire heap watching the fire, as a servant, this was his duty.

  "Li Shi-di, in half a month's time, it will be the once-in-three-years Entrance Ceremony of the Sect. With your abilities, you can easily enter the Outer Gate, and at that time, you will truly become my junior brother!"

  Pang Wenshan dazedly shook his head and found a comfortable position to roll over.

  "Join the party?"

  Li Chen's eyes lit up, and he was about to ask more questions when he saw Pang Wenshan seemed to have fallen asleep. He couldn't help but shake his head slightly, took out two notebooks, and began to review the records by the firelight.

  A clumsy bird flies early, diligence makes up for clumsiness. This was a phrase often spoken by Old Li when he was alive.

  Li Chen had been dependent on him since childhood, listening to his words and following his plans, and he himself was familiar with them in his heart. This habit also made it possible for him to perform a set of martial arts moves smoothly even when he didn't have internal energy, and he was even stronger than most people.

  Across from the fire, one of the three women who seemed to be sleeping soundly, Li Yuexiang's ears sparkled and moved a few times before falling still again.

  "Huh?"

  The sky darkened, and by the fire pit, he continuously practiced his newly acquired martial skills. Flying Lei's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he suddenly turned around to look into the distance.

  In the pitch-black night sky under the dense forest, except for the crackling of the firewood here, there was no other light, but Li Chen's physical body was extremely keen, and his hearing was extremely sensitive, and he detected a hint of abnormality.

  "There's a monster!"

  Just as he was thinking about whether or not to go take a look, Chu Zi-yun and Pang Wen-shan, who were beside the bonfire, slowly stood up one after another.

  Crack!

  The sound of snapping trees and shrubs, piercing the air, grew louder and more frequent, causing the three people's pupils to suddenly constrict, and after exchanging a glance, they immediately called out to wake up everyone.

  "What's going on?"

  A group of sleepy disciples, after a day of rushing around, were already exhausted and hadn't even had time to meditate, and were now being woken up from their deep sleep, feeling a wave of deep fatigue wash over them.

  "Into the rift!"

  Li Chen's mind suddenly flashed an idea, he picked up Liu Ziqing who was still sleeping, and rushed towards the crack that was more than two meters wide.

  The rest of the people, although feeling unclear, after seeing the small green light shining continuously in the distance, shivered with a chill, and their sleepiness disappeared. Without hesitation, they rushed towards that gap.

  Ahh-ooo!

  Before the crowd entered the crack, the wolf's howl suddenly echoed through the mountain valley. In the depths of the night, an unspeakable chill was blowing out in waves, and a large group of cyan wolves, as big as a cowhide, rushed towards this place to surround them.

  "I'll take care of this, you all go in! It's a pack of demon wolves! Looking at their numbers, there are at least a hundred, and they must have a late-stage demon wolf leader!"

  Pang Wenshan stood with an ugly expression, holding a stick in both hands, and with a fierce wind, he instantly smashed the brains of several wolf demons that had rushed forward, killing them on the spot.

  The pungent sweet smell of blood filled the air, not only did it not scare away the pack of wolves, but instead stirred up their murderous nature, more and more wolf demons howled as they charged forward.

  It was either an inexperienced young man or a seasoned adventurer who would never choose to camp at the water source in the mountains, as it would only attract ferocious beasts that lie in wait at night to prey on weak and small demons that come to drink from the water source.

  "Unexpectedly, I didn't think there would be a pack of demonic wolves here!"

  Pang Wenshan fought and retreated, the inner breath in his meridians circulated without restraint. The iron rod swung around, knocking down countless wolf demons, but there were too many of them, and soon he was covered in wounds.

  Ding ding ding!

  A crisp sound flashed by, and the figure flew back. Chu Zi Yun flipped over and returned, Xuan Jin Ling's killing power was extremely strong. Even if it was a wolf demon known as "copper head iron bone", being hit once would only result in broken bones and tendons.

  As the wolf pack grew larger, ready to tear the two apart, a figure suddenly appeared and punched at the weak waist of the wolf demon with precision, hitting its mark every time. It was none other than Li Chen.

  The sound of cracking bones kept rising, those fallen wolf demons let out wave after wave of mournful howls, unexpectedly being devoured by their own companions, blood and flesh splashing everywhere, a bloody smell filling the air.

  Witnessing this miserable scene, these teenagers in their early teens felt a continuous churning in their chests and abdomens. Chu Ziyan was almost bitten by a wolf demon.

  "Chu Shifu's sister, Li Shifu's younger brother, let's go, let's go!"

  With a sweep of his staff, the flying wolf demon was defeated. Pang Wenshan's face turned somewhat pale; although he had killed with ease, both his internal energy and physical strength had been greatly depleted.

  "Haha, Brother Pang, let's get together tomorrow and have a drink!"

  Li Chen raised his head and laughed loudly, with his hair flying wildly in the wind. His eyes shone brightly, and his figure was indescribably bold and unrestrained. The pent-up emotions of over a decade seemed to have been released all at once with each punch.

  For years, the only kindness was to treat each other with sincerity and without hesitation, to regard each other as brothers and sisters, even if one were to die today, there would be no regret, this is the blood of a young man.

  The two of them exchanged a glance, back to back, and burst out laughing together.

  "I'll have one too!"

  Chu Zi Yun cried out in pain, only to find that her arm had been scratched. Her body swayed and she found herself leaning against the two of them. The golden silk ribbon in her hand was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a short, glittering golden dagger.

  "Good, let's drink together!"

  Two young men nodded, their hands moving constantly.

  Three teenagers stood amidst the wolf corpses, giving off a sense of "the wind is sad and the water is cold".

  Under their persistence, the rest of the crowd finally retreated into the crevice. Although a few wolf demons crossed over the three people, in that narrow gap, it was difficult to cause too much harm.

  Ahh-ooo!

  A howl echoed again from the pack of wolves, and instantly all the wolf packs retreated.

  The three of them felt a slight relief from the pressure, but their expressions didn't relax in the slightest, as if gathering themselves for the storm that was about to arrive.

  Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, three large-bodied green wolves suddenly darted out of the wolf pack, their bright green eyes gleaming with a strange and eerie light.

  "First-rate late-stage demonic beast!"

  Pang Wenshan took a cold breath, having already expected that there would be late-stage demonic beasts, but he hadn't thought that the first ones to appear would be three-headed. Judging from the situation, there was definitely still one more even stronger leader.

  Because, the leader of the demon beast clan will necessarily appear at the last moment.

  "It's all because of me!"

  Pang Wenshan's face turned pale, looking at the two of them with a gaze full of self-reproach and regret.

  "Haha, today is the most satisfying day of my life!"

  Li Chen smiled faintly, wincing in pain, although he had some regret for not fulfilling his wish. But seeing it for the first time, and even doing something for someone else's sake, made him feel a warmth flowing through his heart, even if it meant death.

  "I...I have a question?"

  Seeing three-headed wolf-like creatures circling around, seemingly looking for an opportunity to attack, Chu Zi Yun hesitated for a moment before using her elbow to nudge Li Chen.

  "What?"

  Li Chen was still puzzled, this little girl had just avenged herself in broad daylight, where did this problem come from?

  "You... you weren't born unable to condense internal energy, were you? How is this possible?"

  Chu Zi Yun gritted her teeth and spoke quickly.

  "Haha, I'm curious about this question too!"

  Pang Wenshan looked up and smiled.

  "You'll get it with practice!"

  Li Chen rolled his eyes and didn't tell the truth.

  He was treated as trash when he was alive, and after his death, he didn't want to be seen as a monster that could swallow the nucleus of a demon and not die.

  "You..."

  Hearing his somewhat rascal-like answer, Chu Zi-yun was immediately at a loss for words, her jade-like foot tapping lightly, her embarrassment and annoyance fully revealed.

  Ahh-ooo!

  Her sudden movement instantly dispersed the concentrated momentum of the three, and the three-headed demon wolf found an opportunity, revealing a fierce glow in its eyes as it pounced forward like lightning.