ARK SPIRIT

After leaving the lakeshore, the three found a stretch of higher ground more than a hundred zhang from the battlefield and stopped to rest. None of them had suffered serious injuries in the previous fight, but all three had spent a considerable amount of true qi.

Hao Nhien treated the claw marks on his shoulder, then sat down for breathing cultivation.

Lam Phong replaced the damaged strap on his shield, while Tieu Van inspected his two short knives and sharpened the small chips left along the blades after striking demonic beast bone.

About a day passed by their best estimate. Inside the Spirit Beast Forest, the enormous moon remained suspended in the dark sky, making it difficult to distinguish day from night. The three could only judge the passage of time through their cultivation sessions, their rotating watches, and the changes in their own bodies.

When his true qi had nearly fully recovered, Hao Nhien opened his eyes. Tieu Van sat on a low rock, idly turning a knife in one hand while gazing toward the lakeshore.

“I think we can go back.”

Lam Phong looked up.

Tieu Van continued, “The blood and beast corpses there will draw other creatures in. We already know the terrain. If we choose a good hiding place, mask our scent, and wait for lone targets to come close, we can strike fast, harvest fast, and leave anything too strong alone.”

Hao Nhien considered it for a moment. The blood was a double edged sword, but familiar ground was still better than pushing deeper into the forest without knowing what lay ahead. More importantly, they did not have to hunt at any cost.

“We can try. But only attack targets we’re confident about. If the numbers look wrong or the aura is beyond what we can handle, we leave. No points are worth forcing it.”

Lam Phong tugged twice on his shield strap before standing. “Understood.”

The three returned to the lakeshore. Hao Nhien did not choose a position immediately. He first circled the area, checking the wind, the paths animals were likely to use, and places where they could conceal their tracks. Afterward, they used some ordinary scent masking powder purchased in the outer sect and avoided letting their true qi fluctuate outward unless necessary.

The powder could only weaken their scent, not hide them completely from a demonic beast’s nose. Their ambush position therefore remained downwind, with the understanding that they would move if the wind shifted.

The hunt began slowly.

Their first suitable target appeared only after a long wait. It was a lone first rank demonic beast moving along the edge of the forest toward the corpse of a Gray Shadow Wolf. Hao Nhien waited until it passed a fallen tree before giving the signal.

Tieu Van rushed out and cut into its front leg. Hao Nhien followed and finished it, while Lam Phong covered the rear in case something else appeared.

The ambush was over within a few breaths. They harvested the beast core and returned to hiding before the area could stir again.

Their coordination became more natural with each attempt. Sometimes Tieu Van drove prey toward Lam Phong. At other times Lam Phong used his shield to block an escape route, allowing Hao Nhien to finish the target. There were also plenty of creatures they simply let pass because they were too alert, traveled in groups, or were poorly suited to a quick ambush.

With each encounter, the strengths and limits of the three became clearer. Lam Phong could hold a position extremely well, but he was not suited to prolonged pursuit. Tieu Van was fast and skilled at attacking legs and awkward defensive angles, though he lacked the direct power of the other two. Hao Nhien, meanwhile, began to understand that good coordination did not always mean acting first.

Sometimes, waiting half a beat for Lam Phong to close an escape route was more effective than rushing in himself.

After roughly three days, the group had killed nearly ten first rank demonic beasts of several different species. Not every ambush had gone smoothly, but careful target selection and the advantage of surprise had kept them from facing another battle as dangerous as their first one by the lake.

Even so, the signs of fighting around the area were steadily accumulating.

Hao Nhien studied the lakeshore for a moment before speaking.

“One more round. If nothing suitable appears, we leave.”

Lam Phong nodded. Tieu Van returned to his position in the tree.

Some time passed.

Then three gray shapes appeared at the opposite edge of the forest.

Hao Nhien recognized them at once.

Gray Shadow Wolves.

Three of them, all first rank.

They did not head straight for the lake. The one in the middle stopped to sniff the ground, while the other two spread out and watched the surroundings as they advanced. One approached a decaying corpse of its own kind, lowered its head to inspect it, then returned to the others.

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From above, Tieu Van raised three fingers.

Lam Phong had seen them as well.

Hao Nhien kept watching. There were no howls and no other wolves visible among the trees ahead. Only after the three had spread far enough apart did he give the signal.

Tieu Van moved first, dropping from the tree with both knives aimed at the nearest wolf. Hao Nhien stepped from concealment at the same time, driving the Tieu Dao Sword toward the one in the middle, while Lam Phong raised his shield to block the last wolf’s retreat.

The ambush unfolded quickly.

Tieu Van slashed the first wolf across the leg and brought it down. The middle wolf barely had time to raise its head before Hao Nhien’s sword forced it backward.

The third reacted differently from what they expected.

Instead of charging into Lam Phong’s shield or fleeing into the forest, it sprang sideways onto a low rock and lifted its head.

Hao Nhien’s expression changed.

“Stop it!”

Lam Phong turned and rushed forward, but he was half a beat too late.

Auuu...

The howl carried through the gray forest.

Hao Nhien forced the wolf from the rock. Lam Phong cut off its path below, and within several exchanges the beast fell. The other two were dealt with soon after.

Three Gray Shadow Wolf corpses lay on the ground.

No one looked pleased.

Hao Nhien stood still and listened.

For the first moment, the forest remained quiet. Then a howl answered from the far side of the lake.

Another followed, farther away.

A third came from a different direction.

Hao Nhien did not wait any longer.

“Close formation. We’re leaving.”

But the trees ahead had already begun to shake.

One gray shape appeared.

Then three.

Then more.

Within a short time, nearly twenty Gray Shadow Wolves had emerged through gaps in the forest, not counting those still hidden behind the trees.

Lam Phong raised his shield, his voice turning grim.

“This isn’t three anymore.”

Tieu Van had already drawn both knives.

“Which way do we retreat?”

Hao Nhien swept his gaze across the area. The lake lay behind them, wolves were moving in from both sides, and several gray shapes had appeared along the route they had intended to use.

The encirclement was not complete yet, but the wolves were fast enough that turning their backs and running would be nearly impossible.

“Stay together.”

Three stronger auras began to emerge from within the pack.

Second rank.

Three of them.

The strongest stood near the center, its silver fur brighter than the others, its body larger, neck thick, and eyes cold. The other two second rank wolves held positions to either side without straying far from the pack.

Lam Phong lowered his center of gravity.

“The silver one is the leader?”

“Most likely.”

Hao Nhien kept his eyes on it, but this time he had no intention of charging straight in.

Knowing where the leader was did not mean he would get the chance to reach it.

A short howl sounded.

The pack began to press forward.

Hao Nhien changed their formation.

“Lam Phong, front. Tieu Van, stay behind him and watch the sides. I’ll hold the flank.”

Tieu Van asked quickly, “Fight while falling back?”

“Yes. Don’t stop, and don’t chase.”

Lam Phong stepped half a pace forward and raised his shield.

Three first rank wolves rushed them almost at once.

The first impact rang through the shield and jolted Lam Phong’s arm, but he held his ground. The second tried to circle right, only for Tieu Van to intercept it, one knife catching the claws while the other sliced across its front leg.

Before the third could squeeze through, the Tieu Dao Sword flashed in from the flank.

One clean slash opened its throat.

“Move.”

The three shifted left together.

Not fast, but never stopping.

Lam Phong kept his shield facing the heaviest pressure. Tieu Van stayed close behind him, sealing the openings that appeared whenever the formation changed direction. Hao Nhien moved about a body length outside the line, cutting off wolves that tried to circle around before returning to position.

The pack adjusted with them. One group pressed from the front, another spread toward the sides, while the three second rank wolves still refused to attack at the same time. The silver wolf remained behind the others, moving with the battle and waiting for an opening.

Hao Nhien did not watch it for long.

Trying to kill the leader now was nearly impossible. Whenever he looked for a path forward, at least one of the other second rank wolves would be there to block him while the first rank beasts kept pressure on the formation. If he forced the issue, he would be the first one dragged away from his companions.

A first rank wolf rushed low from the right.

Hao Nhien stepped across and drove the Tieu Dao Sword into its shoulder. His wrist turned with the motion, pulling the blade across its neck before he withdrew.

The beast collapsed.

Another gray shadow was already behind it.

He shifted back half a step, avoiding the claws without counterattacking. A second wolf was waiting just behind the first, ready to exploit any opening.

“Right!”

Lam Phong turned his shield.

A heavy impact rang out.

Tieu Van slipped into the gap between them, driving a short knife into the leg of the wolf braced against the ground. As it lost balance, Hao Nhien finished it with one stroke.

The three kept moving.

Their pace was slow, but the formation remained intact.

At last, the second rank Gray Shadow Wolf on the left stopped waiting.

It charged straight at Lam Phong.

“Second rank!”

Tieu Van had barely spoken when the shield came up.

This impact was entirely different.

Lam Phong was driven back nearly two steps, his elbow trembling as blood appeared at the corner of his mouth. The wolf prepared to strike again, but Hao Nhien was already at its flank. The Tieu Dao Sword came down, forcing it to spring away.

He did not pursue.

Driving it off Lam Phong was enough.

“Can you keep going?”

“Yes.”

Lam Phong breathed heavily. His hand almost went to the shield strap out of habit, then stopped.

There was no time.

The wolves kept pressing in.

Hao Nhien eventually lost count of how many times he had swung his sword. Whenever one beast pushed too far ahead of the pack, the blade found it. Some died. Others were wounded badly enough that they could no longer keep pace.

The cost was beginning to show as well.

Several cuts had opened along Lam Phong’s arm where claws slipped past the edge of his shield. The wound on Tieu Van’s leg was slowing his steps. Hao Nhien’s shoulder burned after two grazing strikes.

Even so, the three had not been separated.

That mattered most.

A howl rose from behind the pack.

The silver wolf had moved closer.

Hao Nhien had just driven back another first rank beast when the sound of grass being crushed came from the northeast.

It did not match the movement of the wolves already surrounding them.

Tieu Van heard it too.

“Something else is coming.”

Hao Nhien turned his head toward a gap between the trees.

A pair of dark red eyes appeared at the edge of the forest.

Then another.

Two Gray Shadow Wolves stood outside the existing encirclement, noses raised as though testing the thick scent of blood hanging over the lakeshore. One looked toward the bodies scattered across the ground.

The other looked directly at the battle.

Hao Nhien tightened his grip on the Tieu Dao Sword.

They had just arrived.

Behind them, another bush trembled.

The faint smile that so often lingered on Tieu Van’s face disappeared.

“Captain...”

Hao Nhien did not answer.

He had just realized the most dangerous part of their situation.

The pack was not shrinking.

It was still growing.