No one knew how much time had passed when Chen Xiaojun suddenly felt his consciousness relax and woke up. His soul power was now coursing through his minor meridians, leaving him feeling refreshed and clear-headed.
He planned to head deeper into the forest the next day to challenge the Blackmoon Wolf Pack near the mountain hollow.
In the middle of the night, Chen Xiaojun was suddenly awakened by a chorus of wolf howls—chaotic and deafening. As he stepped outside the cave, waves of intense pressure surged toward him like a crashing tide. Even though the source was several miles away, the oppressive force made him feel like his soul might shatter at any moment.
"Something's not right. Wolves are usually very disciplined creatures—why is the howling so chaotic? And there aren't that many Blackmoon Wolves—at most a hundred. Any more than that, and this little forest wouldn't be able to sustain them."
"With this many howls and this kind of pressure, it signals a massive battle. Could it be an invading wolf pack? Could it be the Gale Wolves?"
Earlier in the day, Chen Xiaojun had already found it strange that a lone Gale Wolf had shown up.
Narrowing his eyes, he activated his Sword Eyes, and a white gleam appeared in both pupils. Although he was still a beginner with this technique, it enhanced his vision.
He vaguely saw soul power flying through the air several miles away. Trees were being uprooted, sand and dust filled the sky. Amid the chaos, he could barely make out one group of wolf-type soul beasts surrounding and attacking another group.
A few minutes later, a loud firecracker-like explosion rang out. In the sky, a giant yellow Seven-Kill Sword emblem appeared in the form of a firework, visible from ten to twenty miles away.
Chen Xiaojun remembered something he'd learned before entering the Martial Hall. Back then, his second granduncle had explained the meaning behind the red, yellow, and blue emergency signal flares:
"Xiao brat, these are our Chen Clan's emergency signals—red, yellow, and blue. Red is the most urgent, followed by yellow, then blue.
Blue means the enemy or threat is at Soul Sage level, and we need a Soul Sage to respond. Yellow means a Contra is needed. Red means a Title Douluo is required.
Anything below Soul Sage? No need to even bother!"
"It must be Uncle Wu. Only he would be in this forest and have the authority to fire a yellow flare. That direction is where the Blackmoon Wolf Pack is based. I'm only Ranked 10 right now—I shouldn't get involved. The shockwaves alone would knock me over—I'm not even qualified to be cannon fodder."
Chen Xiaojun quickly assessed the situation, keeping a cool head.
"This place is seven to eight li from the forest exit, and the exit is another five to six li from the village's north wall—so about fifteen li in total. With the strength of the wall's garrison, they could reach here in just a few minutes. Our clan's top experts are even faster. As long as I stay put, I'll be safe."
With that, he gripped Wind Luan tightly, leaned against a rock at the cave entrance, and closed his eyes to rest.
In the distance, a massive dark cyan tornado, 20 to 30 meters wide, surged into the sky—its violent, bloodthirsty aura spreading outward.
Then, in the same patch of sky, a giant Seven-Kill Sword, 20 to 30 meters long, materialized. Countless strands of Seven-Kill Sword Qi erupted in a dazzling display of force, forming a glowing orb of light as bright as the moon, illuminating the entire forest like daylight—like a full moon rising over a vast sea.
The trees of Blackmoon Forest couldn't withstand such overwhelming force and shook violently, some even threatening to collapse.
"With such a scene, could it be that Uncle Wu has activated his Seven-Kill True Form, unleashing one of his ultimate sword techniques—Bright Moon Over the Sea? That dark cyan tornado must be from the Gale Wolf King, a Windstorm Demon Wolf. As expected, battles between high-level soul masters and soul beasts are utterly terrifying to low-level ones like me."
When the two powers clashed, a strange radiance spread outward, expanding at a visible speed. Even though Chen Xiaojun was miles away, he was still within the affected area. A wave of suffocating pressure flooded his chest, as if he were being buried alive—he could barely breathe, his body crushed and stifled.
At the same time, atop the hundred-meter-long north wall of the village, a dozen soul masters sat cross-legged, gazing up at the flare in the sky.
Leading them was a middle-aged man in a blue brocade robe. Slender and refined, with delicate features and gentle eyes, he exuded an air of serene elegance. This was Ling Yunxiao, Chen Xiaojun's granduncle by marriage, and husband of Chen Hanxin, a Level 79 Soul Sage.
"Chen Wu and Xiaojun are both in the forest. Cheng Hao, go scout the situation. Ding Lao San, Chen Chen—come with me. Old Zhao, you stay here and maintain defense. When the villagers arrive, have them prepare to support us."
Cheng Hao, Ding Lao San, and Old Zhao were all long-time loyal followers. They served in the North Gate Guard Unit.
Old Zhao—Zhao Lin—was the vice-captain of the north gate guard. Ding Lao San was the third uncle of the chubby Zhu Wuneng, and the younger brother of Zhu's mother, Ding Dang—his name was Ding Lang. Chen Chen was Ling Yunxiao's son, thirty-five years old, and already a Soul Emperor.
Upon receiving orders, Cheng Hao—who was at Soul King level—activated his martial spirit, Azure Shadow Divine Eagle, and flew toward the flare. Ling Yunxiao, Ding Lao San, and Chen Chen followed quickly behind.
At that moment, the Blackmoon Wolf base, Blackmoon Ridge, was a scene of devastation—fallen trees, torn-up terrain, and wolf corpses scattered everywhere.
A force of about 300 Gale Wolves and Azure Gale Wolves was attacking 70–80 Blackmoon Wolves and Blackmoon Shadow Wolves, splitting the battlefield into several zones.
The wolf race was a major soul-beast clan with over a dozen subspecies. Gale Wolves were near the bottom in combat strength but were the most numerous.
In the center of one battlefield stood the leader of the Blackmoon Wolves—Old Black, a Blackmoon Shadowkiller Wolf. Entirely jet-black, with a silver crescent mark on its forehead, and blood-red eyes, it stood over 7–8 meters long and 3 meters tall, with a fierce, savage expression.
Old Black was using its innate ability, Shadow Moon Phantom Kill, to create illusionary clones while fighting two Windstorm Demon Wolves, both enveloped in cyan-gray energy. One had cultivated for over 30,000 years, the other over 10,000.
Several hundred meters away, a slightly smaller Blackmoon Shadowkiller Wolf—the Wolf Queen—was fending off one Windstorm Demon Wolf and a deep cyan Azure Gale Wolf King. She was already covered in wounds.
(Note: In wolf packs, the dominant male theoretically has access to all females, but the dominant female will usually prevent him from mating with others. As such, reproduction generally happens between the strongest male and female. Thus, wolf packs have a "Wolf Queen.")
The Azure Gale Wolf King represented an alternate evolutionary path from the Windstorm Demon Wolf—more accurately, a reinforced version. However, its potential was inferior to that of the qualitatively evolved Windstorm Demon Wolf.
Blackmoon Wolves had certain natural advantages against Gale Wolves, which may explain their long-standing hostility:
High resistance to wind-element soul power.
Much larger physique: Gale Wolves are small—2 meters at 100 years, 3 at 1,000, and 4 at 10,000. Blackmoon Wolves start at 4–5 meters, with some reaching 6–7.
Blackmoon Wolves excel in illusion and stealth, often causing Gale Wolves to miss and get counter-killed.
It was currently midnight, with the moon overhead—boosting the Blackmoon Wolves' combat abilities. They could take on 2–3 enemies of the same rank.
These were the reasons the Blackmoon Wolves had managed to hold their ground—despite the initial surprise attack.
In theory, the Gale Wolves would've been better off launching their assault in daylight. But wolves are nocturnal by nature and much weaker during the day. Plus, a group this large would've been easily detected in daylight.