There was no need to even look—Li Chang'an knew the Gale Wolf was already dead. In close-quarters combat, his Pangu Axe had never lost.
Since he'd already made a move, he had no intention of holding back. Finishing this battle swiftly was the only thing that mattered now.
Li Chang'an slowly opened his left hand. The donghuang Bell enveloped his body, and after offering a word of comfort to Mu Xi, he charged forward with his Pangu Axe.
"Be… careful~" Mu Xi watched as Li Chang'an strode forward with utter confidence and couldn't help but worry a little.
But she quickly noticed that the Gale Wolves' claws couldn't even scratch the hem of Li Chang'an's robe. Instead, their attacks were deflected the moment they neared him.
Still, Li Chang'an wasn't foolish enough to waste his soul skills fighting off these ordinary Gale Wolves. He leapt out of the encirclement in one smooth motion and sprinted toward the perimeter.
There, a massive black Gale Wolf—about three meters long with agile limbs—stood tall. This was clearly the alpha of the pack, a thousand-year soul beast!
Seeing Li Chang'an make a beeline for the wolf king, Song Rentou and Duolong immediately tensed, prepared to intervene at a moment's notice. They couldn't allow even the slightest harm to befall Li Chang'an.
The Gale Wolf King moved fast—so fast that Li Chang'an could barely catch its movements. He only saw a flash of black before he felt a heavy blow against his donghuang Bell, forcing him to stumble back a few steps.
Still, despite the attack, the wolf king's proud claws failed to pierce Li Chang'an's defenses—they merely made him retreat a few paces.
"Heh, frustrated, are you?" Realizing that his opponent couldn't harm him, Li Chang'an relaxed. His first soul ring glowed a faint purple, and a beam of violet light slashed down toward the Gale Wolf King!
Although the timing of his strike was perfect, the wolf king's speed was even greater. Just as the Heavenly Cleave descended, the beast turned into a streak of black and dodged, only losing a bit of fur in the process.
"Awooo!"
The Gale Wolf King glanced at its now-bald tail and howled in fury. It clawed at the ground with violent force before charging at Li Chang'an once more.
Yet Li Chang'an stood firm, channeling even more soul power into the donghuang Bell. The resulting shockwave sent the wolf king flying.
The wolf king was frustrated to the point of madness. It couldn't penetrate his defenses, and it couldn't overpower him in battle. Even its greatest weapon—its speed—seemed utterly ineffective against this human.
" You dodge once—let's see if you can dodge again!" Li Chang'an raised the Pangu Axe high. Violet light shimmered along the blade, but this time, he didn't swing it—instead, he hurled it.
The Gale Wolf King instinctively darted to the right to evade the expected strike. But mid-leap, it realized—too late—that Li Chang'an had anticipated the move. While he himself dropped straight down, the Pangu Axe arced perfectly through the air, slamming straight into the wolf king's path.
Even at the moment of death, the Gale Wolf King couldn't understand: how he lost so easily.
[Duolong. Points +12]
[Song Rentou. Points +6]
[...]
No one had expected this—a child of merely six years old had managed to kill a thousand-year soul beast all on his own. Even Song Rentou had to admit that he might not have been able to do it faster himself.
'This kid is terrifying', Song thought, silently warning himself to be cautious around Li Chang'an from now on.
With the wolf king dead, the rest of the Gale Wolves lost their Leader and were quickly wiped out. The standout was Jiang Yi—he had slain eight Gale Wolves singlehandedly!
"Keep moving!" Song Rentou didn't allow the group any rest. With so many corpses around, other soul beasts would soon be drawn in. Pressing forward was the safest choice.
"A-Are you okay?" Mu Xi poked Li Chang'an gently in the back with her finger and asked in a soft, sweet voice.
Li Chang'an shook his head with a carefree smile. "This? No big deal."
Just then, a handkerchief appeared in front of him. Mu Xi offered it shyly from behind. "Y-You should wipe your sweat…"
Li Chang'an didn't turn her down. That last battle had indeed drained his focus, but what truly surprised him was how thoughtful this girl was.
As they journeyed deeper, the group encountered a few more soul beasts that attempted to ambush them. However, Song Rentou began stepping in more frequently, ensuring things remained manageable.
Along the way, they also found suitable soul rings for three of the students—a decent harvest.
At this point, the only ones still missing soul rings were Li Chang'an, Mu Xi, Song Rentou (a prospective Soul King), and Jiang Yi.
Of the group, Li Chang'an and Song looked down on low-grade soul beasts. Mu Xi and Jiang Yi, meanwhile, both had rare Martial Spirits and refused to settle for anything subpar.
"Let's take a short break before we move on," Song Rentou said as he took a seat beside Li Chang'an.
"Chang'an, I've got a rough idea of your situation. What kind of soul beast are you aiming for this time? Three thousand years? Five thousand?"
Song Rentou knew Li Chang'an's first soul ring was around a thousand years old, so he was mentally prepared for a tough hunt. Given Li Chang'an's background, he'd already braced himself for a long, arduous search.
"Senior brother Song, I won't hide it from you. My second soul ring... I'll definitely need your help and the vice-dean's. I want something around nine thousand years."
Li Chang'an kept his voice low—it was a big ask.
"What?!" Song Rentou looked at him like he'd seen a ghost. A nine-thousand-year second ring? For a kid this size? And he'd already advanced again in less than two months? His soul rings were absolutely ridiculous!
Naturally, he reported the situation to Duolong. The man came over in person, confirmed the details multiple times, then nodded silently—his way of showing support, even if he was momentarily stunned by the sheer audacity of it all.
But in the end, Li Chang'an's identity spoke for itself. As the personal disciple of His Holiness the Pope and a core member of the Spirit Hall, no one dared question his qualifications, no matter how outrageous.
"Chang'an, I… I sense there's a soul beast nearby that might be suitable for me," Mu Xi tugged on his arm and whispered.
Li Chang'an instantly perked up and scanned their surroundings with caution. Mu Xi's Martial Spirit was very unique. If she said a soul beast was suitable, he absolutely couldn't let the opportunity slip away.
Sure enough, under his watchful gaze, a beautiful swan with a jade-like body came soaring in from the distance.
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