"Shijie Xu, please don’t hesitate any longer and ask the sect for help!" The Qing-Yun disciples had once again found themselves in a dangerous situation. There is a saying that a single mistake could cause a hundred more, and the "Foundation Stage" beast from before had given the disciples quite the scare, causing them to step off course and into a mountain valley occupied by a pack of Ash Wolves. It didn’t take long before a group of sixth-tier Ash Wolves had surrounded these surviving disciples and pushed them into another battle.

At this point, all of the Qing-Yun disciples were tired and their Qi was in low supply. Xu Linyun in particular had already exhausted her Qi fighting off the two stone golems earlier, and she hadn’t even had time to rest before they’d run into these wolves. This was like adding salt to a fresh wound, as she could no longer defend the Qing-Yun disciples all by herself as she had before.

The disciples fought as they tried to escape from these wolves, and seven or so wolf corpses could already be seen, yet these Ash Wolves still did not give up the chase. Some of the disciples were so terrified that they started to cry out to Xu Linyun for help, hoping that she would ask for assistance from the sect.

Yet Xu Linyun tightened her brows. It would be easy to ask the sect for help, and the cultivation level of the sect master or any one of the chief elders would allow them to definitely come to their rescue. Forget about these wolves, not even the "Foundation Stage" beast from before would be a problem. However, if the sect was called upon, this mission would be deemed a complete failure.

Her shifu had spoken with her prior to the mission, and Xu Linyun was told that the tolerable threshold for failure was fifty percent. Until at least half of the entire group had died, there was no reason whatsoever for her to give up on successfully completing the mission.

The Qing-Yun Sect had already made up its mind. It would use methods similar to those the dark sects used to find a group of talented individuals.

"Everyone, return to that valley in order to fend off the wolves. We shall rethink our plans there!" Xu Linyun had made the decision and tightened her brows even further. She decided that they would retreat back to one of the earlier safer valleys in order to recover Qi with Revitalization Pellets, then she would return to kill the Ash Wolves’ eighth-tier pack leader. She herself was a core disciple in the eighth tier, after all, and she found it unacceptable to give up the mission and ask the sect elders for help just for a beast in the same tier as her. She may have asked for help if the Foundation Stage beast had come after them, but—for better or worse—it seemed that beast in particular didn’t want to make an enemy out of these Qing-Yun disciples and had merely scared them off.

Arooooooo...

Far away on the peak, the hill-sized pack leader of the Ash Wolves released an eerie howl towards the retreating Qing-Yun disciples. It had seen through the disciples’ plans with its cold gaze and it suddenly leapt from the peak, its claws like steel and its back like iron. It dashed into the forest with an unmatched speed, its body only occasionally visible before it landed amidst the battlegrounds like a bolt of lightning.

With a single claw, two Shuwen disciples were torn asunder.

"No! It’s the wolf king!" Shuwen Valley’s Pi Junzi nearby was shocked at witnessing such a thing and felt his blood run cold.

"Nnngh, can’t wait any longer!" Xu Linyun clenched her teeth and took out two Revitalization Pellets, one for herself and another for her white crane. She couldn’t just sit and wait for the wolf king—who was clearly stronger—to kill all of these Qing-Yun disciples right in front of her, and she therefore decided to give it all she had by replenishing her Qi while taking on the wolf herself.

As soon as the white crane consumed its pellet, it let out a long cry before transforming into a white shadow and looked towards the wolf king with determination. The wolf king let out its own long howl when it heard the crane’s cry, and it changed its focus towards Xu Linyun instead.

After the call of the crane and wolf, however, another loud cry unexpectedly came from an eagle in the distance. The sound was so sharp it was as though it would slice open the heavens, and a black shadow darted towards them as swift as lightning. Before anyone could even clearly see what was happening, a giant steel eagle had arrived above the valley with a youth in his twenties atop its back. The youth’s physique was tall and slim, his eyes shined with a stern light, and his lips were as thin as a blade. "Animal! How dare you put your claws on our Qing-Yun disciples?" the youth atop the steel eagle’s back loudly questioned, and from his hands appeared an iron sword that cleaved downwards from above.

A black sword light flew down from the skies like a sudden streak of black lightning—abrupt and violent. The eighth-tier wolf king was alerted by this and its iron-like fur stood up on its back like millions of sharp needles. The wolf king released a deep, demonic howl, the sound waves turning into a distorted tidal wave that destroyed numerous trees and stones as it headed towards the black sword light.

"Heh, you want to block my iron sword? In your dreams!" the youth atop the steel eagle softly laughed. As he shifted his wrist, the black sword light began to twist and turn freely as though it was filled with life. It split into hundreds of thousands of segments before colliding with the demonic howl—dissipating the wave of sound—before reforming back into one and returning to the youth’s hands with a flash.

Whine...

The proud and vicious wolf king let out a sob that only a scared puppy could make. Its body was twisting as though it wanted to escape, but it had been pinned to the ground and was unable to move even an inch. Finally, its entire body exploded into a muddled pile of flesh and blood; the youth’s single strike had minced the wolf king’s entire body.

"It’s.. it’s Shixiong Xiao Jianming..."

"We have hope now! Shixiong Xiao Jianming is here!"

"It is a pleasure to meet you again, Shixiong Xiao Jianming..."

The sight of the steel eagle had excited the Qing-Yun disciples and they let out loud cheers. Those who were more excited could even be seen on their knees, displaying the same respect a youth would show towards an elder.

"No need for all the pleasantries, my brothers and sisters. I shall avenge you all by killing the entire pack of these wolves!" The youth atop the steel eagle let out a clear laugh before his gaze turned cold and he moved his attention towards the wolves scattering across the area.

The wolf king’s death had already destroyed the courage of the remaining Ash Wolves and they tucked their tails between their legs. They either ran back into the forest directly or used the stones and trees as cover, doing everything they could to flee for their lives.

The youth atop the steel eagle gave a faint smile. He threw the iron sword into the air to free his hands to form a hand seal, and the iron sword suddenly shook and turned into hundreds and thousands of illusions. Then, all of these illusions solidified, each becoming a true sword which formed into a giant circle. At Xiao Jianming’s signal, all of the swords immediately flew off into different directions.

Swish swish swish...

A series of concentrated and abrupt sounds covered sixty-five square feet. It was like a rain made of swords, and the blades pierced through every single Ash Wolf as the beasts tried to escape. The wolves were pinned against the ground, their blood splashing out as they struggled with their final breaths.

The pack of wolves that had nearly forced the Qing-Yun disciples into desperation were now being annihilated by a single sword strike from Xiao Jianming.

Whine...

After all of the swords had landed, a larger wolf with slightly shorter front legs had somehow managed to survive. A closer look revealed that its appearance was actually closer to a mythical animal called "Bei", an animal that liked to mix itself amidst wolf packs and were known for their treachery. As it so happened, this Bei had managed to save its own life by hiding beneath a large stone, and it had also been one of the first to flee. Although its front legs were shorter and its dash was more akin to a hop, its speed was still quite impressive as it hopped and fled into a waterfall.

Its dark shadow was only faintly visible from behind the waterfall; it had nearly managed to escape with its life.

"Shixiong Xiao, there’s still one more. Quick, kill it!" someone anxiously yelled towards Xiao Jianming above.

The sword strike Xiao Jianming had used had been breathtaking to the extreme; if this cunning beast were to escape, it was no doubt a blemish on his perfectly clean sword. However, Xiao Jianming simply smiled when he heard the disciple, as if the escaped Bei was within expectations. He leapt off the steel eagle’s back and replied, "Go now. I’ve intentionally left you some livestock."

The eagle cried in excitement and spread its giant wings before darting towards the waterfall. Its iron claws clenched onto the last remaining wolf and disappeared with it into the forest to devour its fresh meal. Xiao Jianming, on the other hand, activated [Levitation] and slowly lowered himself from the ground to the air, his face full of smiles.

"Shixiong Xiao, you’re finally here!"

"We’re saved!"

The Qing-Yun disciples were overwhelmed with joy. Some even had tears of happiness and relief as they all huddled around him with greetings.

Xiao Jianming greeted each of these disciples kindly in return, appearing extremely well-mannered without a single trace of arrogance. As he greeted, his gaze moved towards Xu Linyun in the distance. Unlike the rest of the disciples, she hadn’t come up to greet him and instead had merely sat on a stone by herself while slowly circulating the Revitalization Pellet. Three female Danxia disciples remained by her side, while the others had all come up to Xiao Jianming.

As Xiao Jianming left the crowd, he walked towards Xu Linyun and warmly greeted her in a gentle voice, "Shimei Linyun, it must have been four years!"