Chapter 31: The Slaying

After facing off against the Autumn Chill for a while, the Azure Wolf Beast let out a sky-shaking roar and opened its bloody maw, unleashing a wind blade straight at Autumn Chill. Fortunately, Autumn Chill was on guard; the moment he saw the Azure Wolf Beast preparing to attack, he swiftly dodged, retreating seven yards from where he had stood.

The attack missed, but the wind blade slashed a nearby tree in two where Autumn Chill had just been, causing it to crash to the ground and scatter dust across the earth.

Autumn Chill gazed at the Azure Wolf Beast, his expression calm after narrowly evading its strike. Days of constant battle had taught him to remain unflustered in peril. His sword-like brows arched, a hint of murderous intent flashed across his handsome face, and his eyes gleamed sharply. With a push of his right hand toward his chest, he invoked the Ice Arrow technique with practiced ease. Six white ice arrows formed in the air, flickering through the darkness.

The Azure Wolf Beast saw Autumn Chill launch his attack and, anticipating his move, leaped aside to dodge the spell. Yet Autumn Chill was prepared, his spiritual sense locked onto the beast. The six ice arrows shot forth; while the Azure Wolf Beast evaded most, two struck its body.

A small wound appeared on the beast’s abdomen where the ice arrows pierced it, blood flowing down from the injury. Though its formidable body could withstand the attack, and the Ice Arrow technique failed to inflict serious harm, the pain enraged it.

Seeing that his magic hadn't achieved the desired effect, Autumn Chill was not disappointed. He knew that with each advance in a monster’s strength, its physical resilience grew exponentially. In terms of cultivation, this Azure Wolf Beast was on par with him, perhaps even superior.

Were it not for his diligent training under his master—honing both spiritual sense and energy—he would not be able to rival even cultivators of the eleventh level of the Qi Refining stage, despite being only at the ninth. Moreover, his master’s guidance had granted him superior magical tools and techniques compared to his fellow disciples; he possessed both high-level spells and spiritual artifacts. If another cultivator at the ninth layer of Qi Refining were in his place, they would have long perished.

To slay this Azure Wolf Beast, he would have to resort to high-order spells or spiritual tools. The previous beasts had fallen to his Wind Blade technique and the Ice Feather Ring.

The man and the beast resumed their standoff. This time, Autumn Chill moved. He raised his right hand, and a wind blade condensed in the air, visible to the naked eye. With a slicing sound, the Wind Blade spell hurtled toward the Azure Wolf Beast like an arrow loosed from a bow.

The beast was ready, pushing off with its limbs to dodge left. Weeds kicked up by its movement were still floating when the wind blade struck, missing its target.

Standing in place, Autumn Chill silently recited an incantation and extended his right hand before his chest, palm upward. A fireball the size of an egg quickly formed in his palm, its surface red hot and its core flickering blue.

He was about to use the Fireball technique against the Azure Wolf Beast. Fireball was the lowest-level elemental magic, learned by cultivators as soon as they entered the Qi Refining stage, with limited power. The Azure Wolf Beast glanced disdainfully at the fireball in Autumn Chill’s palm but still dared not approach for a close attack.

Autumn Chill tossed the fireball at the beast. The Azure Wolf Beast seemed unconcerned, as if the small fireball posed no threat. Yet when the fireball was just three yards from the beast, Autumn Chill’s lips curled into a cold smile.

Suddenly, the fireball burst apart and rapidly expanded, enveloping everything within three yards of the Azure Wolf Beast. The flames were fierce, scorching the very air and producing sharp, crackling sounds. In fact, Autumn Chill had unleashed a high-level fire spell—Fire Control—that attacked the beast.

Only then did the Azure Wolf Beast sense the danger, emitting strange cries. The flames were so intense that even it struggled to withstand them; soon, it would be reduced to ashes. In desperation, it opened its jaws and expelled a white mist, indistinct as gas or liquid, which grew and spread in front of it, forming a barrier that enveloped its body.

“So it knows the Breath technique!”

A hint of surprise flashed in Autumn Chill’s eyes. It turned out that the Azure Wolf Beast was using a monster’s innate defensive art—Breath. Typically, only monsters at the second tier, equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage for cultivators, could use Breath. He hadn’t expected this first-tier Azure Wolf Beast to have learned it.

Indeed, under Autumn Chill’s Fire Control spell, after about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the flames still could not penetrate the beast’s protective mist.

Autumn Chill grew anxious. Fire Control was a sustained spell, requiring constant infusion of spiritual energy to maintain. He could feel his energy rapidly depleting. The longer this dragged on, the worse his situation became.

If his energy ran dry, he would end up as the Azure Wolf Beast’s next meal. With this in mind, his anxiety mounted. Gritting his teeth, he made a final decision.

While controlling Fire Control with his right hand, he reached to his waist with his left, retrieving the Ice Feather Ring—a low-grade spiritual artifact. Injecting his energy into it, he sent the ring flying before him, spinning rapidly in midair. At this point, the flames weakened dramatically due to his waning energy.

He halted the Fire Control attack; as the flames vanished, the Ice Feather Ring’s assault followed. The Azure Wolf Beast had no time to react; before it could move, a storm of ice needles rained down.

With a sense of unwillingness, the beast tried to roar, but countless ice needles pierced its body. Blood spurted from the multitude of wounds, and with unfulfilled rage and resentment, the Azure Wolf Beast collapsed, dead.

Autumn Chill gasped for breath. The repeated use of advanced spells and spiritual artifacts had left him utterly exhausted, unwilling even to move a finger. He managed to retrieve several spirit stones from his pouch, clutching them in his hand, and sat cross-legged on the spot, beginning to restore the energy depleted from continuous battle.

Only after two full hours did Autumn Chill recover most of his energy. He rose and walked to the spot where the Azure Wolf Beasts had died, storing their corpses in his pouch. He planned to find a safe place to rest; after all, this place was too dangerous, and with his energy not fully restored, encountering another slightly stronger monster would spell disaster.