Chapter 112

"Hurry! All squeeze in!" Wang Shan was the last to dart in and squeeze into the rock crevice; outside, the wolves' howls were already close at hand.

This rock crevice is indeed narrow, only enough for one person to turn sideways through; anyone a bit fatter would get stuck. Li Hu is big-built, and when he came in he let out an "ouch" and bumped his shoulder.

"Brother Wang, can this place… work?" Li Hu panted heavily, still feeling uneasy as he glanced out of the crack; several wolf heads were thrusting in menacingly, their fangs bared.

Zhang Mei's face turned deathly pale, she tightly grabbed the corner of Li Hu's clothes, not daring to breathe.

"Temporarily safe." Wang Shan wiped the sweat from his forehead; his Body Refinement, Ninth Stage, Early Phase cultivation had also been considerably drained by that rush and block, "They're big-bodied, can't get in. But we can't be careless."

As his words fell, a impatient Swiftwind Wolf suddenly thrust its forepaw into the crevice, scratching wildly, sending gravel scattering.

"Still feeling feisty, huh?" Li Hu cursed, raising his spear to stab.

"Don't waste your strength." Wang Shan stopped him, pulling two Talismans from his bosom, "They bear Divine Sense Imprints; killing them would still expose us. First, block them."

He flicked his wrist and threw out a 【Second-Rank Firebolt Talisman】.

"Boom!"

A flash of fire, the Swiftwind Wolf blocking the crevice let out a shrill scream, hastily pulling back its paw, and the air filled with the smell of scorched fur.

Another wolf, unconvinced, tried to charge in again.

Wang Shan's eyes turned cold, and he unleashed another 【Second-Rank Ice Cone Talisman】.

"Whoosh—hiss!"

Several ice cones precisely struck that wolf's forehead and forelimbs; though not fatal, it made the wolf howl in pain and keep backing away.

The wolf pack outside seemed dazed by those two blows, their attack eased slightly, but they still prowled outside the crevice, growling low, clearly unwilling to give up.

"Brother Wang, each Talisman used is one less." Li Hu looked at the Talismans in Wang Shan's hand, feeling a pang of regret. These are all life-saving items.

Wang Shan said nothing, his brows furrowed. He knew Li Hu spoke the truth. Talismans in the System Mall aren't cheap; consuming them like this isn't a solution. Moreover, the System Prompt had said that regular kills cannot clear the tracking mark and would even feed back information.

"We must think of a way to completely sever Wan Tianjue's fixation, or… give him a 'surprise'." Wang Shan's thoughts raced.

Beast Taming Sect… runes… Divine Sense Imprint… disturbance…

Exactly!

He suddenly recalled that, in the Beast Taming Sect Inheritance he had learned from that jade slip earlier, there seemed to be mention of some runes specifically targeting demon beasts' souls. Although his cultivation is still shallow and he cannot perform profound Beast Taming secret arts, merely interfering might be worth a try?

"Wan Tianjue uses Divine Sense Imprints to control these beasts; can I, conversely, use runes to interfere with their souls, making them temporarily 'lose contact'?"

Once this idea arose, he could no longer hold back.

"Fortune favors the bold; if we don't try, how will we know?" Wang Shan made up his mind.

While staying alert to outside movements, he quietly mobilized the little Spiritual Power he had, condensing it at his fingertips according to the memory of the 【Soul-Disturbing Rune】 structure. This was his first attempt to actually use such a rune.

The process was harder than imagined. The Soul-Disturbing Rune's structure is quite complex, demanding high control of Spiritual Power.

"Hiss..." Several attempts saw the Spiritual Power at his fingertips dissipate due to instability.

"Brother Wang, are you… alright?" Seeing Wang Shan's forehead beading with sweat and his face slightly pale, Zhang Mei asked softly.

"I'm fine." Wang Shan shook his head and focused again.

Success!

A rune mark the size of a grain of rice, emitting a faint glow, finally formed on his fingertip. Though it looked unstable, it was a success.

He didn't dare delay; seizing the moment when a Swiftwind Wolf again thrust its head into the crevice, he flicked his finger!

"Whoosh!"

That 【Soul-Disturbing Rune】 mark silently sank into the Swiftwind Wolf's brow.

"Ow… huh?"

The originally ferocious Swiftwind Wolf stiffened abruptly, a flicker of confusion flashing in its blood-red eyes, then began spinning in place, even lowering its head to gnaw at its own forepaw, as if it had lost its target.

"It works!" Wang Shan felt a surge of joy.

Following the same method, he consecutively condensed three or four 【Soul-Disturbing Rune】 marks, seizing opportunities to implant them one by one into the bodies of several other Swiftwind Wolves trying to approach.

"Ow… uh?"

"Uh..."

"Roar…?"

The wolf pack outside the crevice instantly fell into chaos. Some wolves began howling at each other, others bumped around like headless flies, and even two wolves, standing too close, inexplicably started biting each other. The ferocity in their eyes faded, replaced by obvious confusion and unease.

The wolf king, whose abdomen Wang Shan had slashed, also seemed affected, pacing irritably; its growls lost their menace, tinged with confusion instead.

"What… what is going on?" Li Hu stared, mouth agape. "Brother Wang, what… what did you do to them?"

Zhang Mei also widened her eyes, full of disbelief. Just moments ago the wolf pack had been ferociously fierce; how could they suddenly seem possessed?

"Just a little trick." Wang Shan didn't elaborate further, knowing now wasn't the time. He kept his eyes on the wolf king; its abdominal wound was still bleeding, but as the pack leader, its demon soul seemed somewhat tougher, so the interference, while present, wasn't as obvious as on the other Swiftwind Wolves.

"Capture the bandit by catching their leader first!"

Wang Shan seized an opening; the wolf king, due to the chaos, momentarily overlooked the threat from this side of the crevice.

"Now!"

He fiercely drove the remaining Spiritual Power in his body, gathering it in his right palm, and the Body Refinement, Ninth Stage, Early Phase power erupted without reservation!

"Thunder Rush Palm!"

Wang Shan's figure shot out of the crevice like a leopard, his palm landing solidly on the wolf king's wounded abdomen!

"Boom!"

"Ooo—uh—!!!"

The wolf king let out an earth-shaking, shrill wail; its massive body, as if struck by a siege hammer, flew sideways, slammed heavily into a large tree, slid to the ground, twitched a few times, with blood gushing from its mouth, nose, and abdomen—clearly it wouldn't survive.

With the pack leader dead, the already chaotic wolf pack completely lost its backbone. The remaining few Swiftwind Wolves whimpered a few times, tails tucked, and fled in terror, vanishing into the dense forest in an instant.

"Huff… huff…" Wang Shan retreated back into the crevice, leaning against the stone wall and panting violently.

After consecutively using Talismans, condensing Soul-Disturbing Runes, and finally unleashing a full-force Thunder Rush Palm, his Spiritual Power was nearly exhausted, and his body bore several fresh scratches from wolf claws, burning with pain.

"Brother Wang, how are you?" Li Hu and Zhang Mei hurried over to surround him.

"It's fine, just a minor injury." Wang Shan waved his hand, pulled out a pill from his bosom and stuffed it into his mouth, "Let's leave this place first; Wan Tianjue's people will probably be here soon."

The three dared not delay; Wang Shan led the way, Li Hu guarded Zhang Mei from behind, using the complex terrain to quickly leave that troublesome place.

……

At the same time, somewhere in the Man Yun Mountain Range.

Wan Tianjue sat cross-legged on a large boulder, eyes slightly closed. Before him, several bloodthirsty hunting hounds and shadow leopards appeared somewhat restless.

Suddenly, Wan Tianjue snapped his eyes open, his expression turning grim.

"Huh?"

He clearly felt that the divine sense imprints on the several Swiftwind Wolves sent out had suddenly become blurred in a few strands, and immediately after, the imprint on the Wolf King outright dissipated!

"What's going on?!" Wan Tianjue's heart jolted.

He could sense that, before the imprints dissipated, the Swiftwind Wolves' demon souls seemed to undergo a strange fluctuation—a kind of… sign that they had been forcibly interfered with by an external force.

"This feeling… is it a rune? No, not an ordinary attack rune; it seems more like… a method specifically targeting demon souls!"

Wan Tianjue sprang to his feet, a flash of shock crossing his eyes, which quickly turned into deeper greed.

"Beast Taming Sect! It must be their doing!"

He had previously suspected Wang Shan's ties to the Beast Taming Sect; now it seemed this kid had not only received their inheritance but had also managed to grasp and employ it in such a short time!

"How could a Body Refinement, Ninth Stage, Early Phase kid achieve this? Unless… the inheritance he received is extraordinary!"

Wan Tianjue licked his lips, the killing intent and possessive desire in his heart blazing like wildfire.

Danfu the Ferocious Old… Wang Shan… your secrets are far more than I imagined! Excellent, excellent! All of this will be mine!

He immediately ordered his close aides: "Pass my command—all teams speed up the search! That brat is injured, he won't get far! Also, keep a tight watch; he might know some methods to disturb demon beasts' minds—don't be careless!"

……

In a secluded mountain hollow.

Wang Shan and his companions finally stopped to catch their breath.

"Brother Wang, that move just now… was divine!" Li Hu plopped onto the ground, his face full of admiration, "Those wolf pups were like idiots—what talisman did you use? It's far stronger than a Fireball Talisman!"

Zhang Mei also gazed at Wang Shan with sparkling eyes, whispering, "Big Brother Wang, you're amazing."

Wang Shan smiled, didn't elaborate on the Soul-Disturbing Rune, merely saying, "Just luck. Those Swiftwind Wolf corpses mustn't be wasted."

Suppressing his fatigue, he immediately acted, retrieving the corpses of the several Swiftwind Wolves he had slain and gravely wounded from the system space via "recycle."

【Recovered 1 damaged corpse of a Second-Order Mutant Beast Swiftwind Wolf, gained 15 Spirit Plant Points.】

【Recovered 1 corpse of a Second-Order Mutant Beast Swiftwind Wolf, gained 25 Spirit Plant Points.】

【Recovered 1 corpse of a Second-Order Mutant Beast Swiftwind Wolf King (damaged inner core), gained 35 Spirit Plant Points.】

……

After recycling four Swiftwind Wolves in succession, he gained nearly a hundred Spirit Plant Points total.

"At least I've recovered some capital." Wang Shan glanced at the numbers on the system interface, letting out a slight sigh of relief. Though these Spirit Plant Points weren't many, they at least eased the urgent need, allowing him to exchange for some pills to heal his injuries and replenish spiritual power.

He exchanged for a 【Second-Order Qi-Replenishing Pill】 and some wound-healing medicines, giving portions to Li Hu and Zhang Mei, and took the pill himself to begin regulating his breath.

"It seems this Soul-Disturbing Rune really works." Wang Shan mused while recovering, "But my cultivation is too low; forming it is exhausting and its power limited. If I could integrate it into an offensive talisman, or combine it with other methods…"

He thought of Wan Tianjue. That old coot, who claims to have mastered the Ten Thousand Beast Method, surely controls demon beasts far beyond the level of Swiftwind Wolves.

"The Beast Taming Sect's runes might just be the key to countering his Ten Thousand Beast Method."

Although they had temporarily shaken off the Swiftwind Wolves, Wang Shan knew this wasn't the end. Wan Tianjue's pursuit would only tighten, and his methods would multiply.

"Body Refinement, Ninth Stage, Early Phase is still too weak." Wang Shan felt the still-incomplete spiritual power within him and the sluggishness from an unstable foundation, "I must quickly increase my strength, at least solidify my current realm, then seek a chance to achieve Foundation Establishment!"

The Purple Monkey Flower on Ghost Sorrow Cliff, the Wan family's deep blood feud—all of this weighed on his mind.

This encounter with the Swiftwind Wolves was more like a warning bell, reminding him that peaceful days were still far off.