He jumped forward, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the Saint. Before the tall Saint could do anything, the blue threads coiling around him had absorbed the energy he was trying to use.
It took him half a second to realize that he needed to channel most of his strength to immediately explode and shatter those blue threads. Only then could he directly strike the youth on the head with his warhammer.
The threads shattered as expected, but just as he was about to use the warhammer, he found himself unable to hit the youth’s head. Instead, he could only strike his left leg. When he struck the leg with all his strength, the Saint felt satisfied because he saw it tear away from Yan Xiaobao’s body, spinning in the air before landing on the ground. But when he saw Yan Xiaobao throw himself onto the severed leg, the Saint was shocked again as the limb began to fuse together immediately.
Yan Xiaobao and the Saint both delved into thought. Yan Xiaobao used his blue cloud to gauge how long he could stall the Saint, while the Saint was inwardly cursing, damning those gifted with such heaven-defying self-healing abilities. If he didn’t know better, he would think this youth had obtained some divine treasure. But clearly, the energy emanated from the youth’s own body. Were this not a battlefield, and were the person before him not the Great Marshall, the tall Saint would surely have spent time trying to capture him. Within his body lay secrets that could strengthen the Siban Empire—perhaps enough to surpass other Kingdoms and eventually expand across the entire world. A fanatic excitement bubbled up within the Saint. Yes, this man was the Great Marshall of the Beast Army, but that did not mean he had to kill him. He should capture him instead.
Unfortunately, he didn’t yet have the ability to do so. Yan Xiaobao had already managed to withstand anything thrown at him. Once something was crushed, his body would heal itself, releasing energy at the moments he needed it the most.
As he filtered through thoughts of the red wolf and Blue Monk, Yan Xiaobao closed his eyes. Several abilities surfaced in his mind, and one in particular stood out as highly useful. This was an attack created by the red wolf in his youth. Fortunately, it wielded great power, and now it was Yan Xiaobao’s optimal choice. The attack was called Shadow Wolf, and it allowed Yan Xiaobao’s own shadow to transform into a wolf resembling him. The Shadow Wolf moved slowly forward, and everything it touched began to bubble and ooze as if corroded by acid, even the stone beneath its feet.
The Shadow Wolf was a manifestation born from the red wolf’s ability, appearing only after absorbing souls. Absorbing souls increased the strength of the one who absorbed them, intensifying their soul’s capacity to resist illusions or attacks aimed at specific targets. However, the man in front of Yan Xiaobao was not one who focused his strikes on the soul. Judging by his warhammer, it was clear that he had concentrated all his cultivation on physical strength. This was bad news for Yan Xiaobao. Though he had trained his physique more extensively than most Kings, facing a Saint whose focus was purely on physical power was another matter entirely. The red wolf’s emphasis had always been on internal energy and the precision of the soul. The monks were somewhat similar, though their origins differed vastly from Yan Xiaobao’s world. Their cultivation methods were distinct, as was their energy—hence the reason Yan Xiaobao now controlled energy outside this world.
Nonetheless, this energy bore resemblance to the red wolf’s. It demanded powerful souls—the stronger the soul, the greater the ability. Even so, the monks and wolves exhibited differences in their methods. Wolves enhanced their own souls by absorbing others’ souls, while monks fortified their souls through solitude, training, and enlightenment. Without knowing much else about what lived inside his Dantian Cave, Yan Xiaobao’s abilities stemming from the monks and red wolf leaned heavily toward soul attacks. This Shadow Wolf was one such attack.
The Shadow Wolf was created from the corruption within the souls Yan Xiaobao had absorbed. Every soul contained both good and evil; while the good was naturally absorbed into Yan Xiaobao’s own soul, the evil remained stored within his body. These negative emotions corroded a person’s soul unless removed, and one way of purging them was through the Shadow Wolf. It allowed all the wickedness, hatred, and anger buried deep within his soul to manifest. As these negative thoughts surfaced, they materialized into a fierce creature within his shadow, something capable of destroying everything it touched. This was a beast forged of pure malice, and as it stared at the tall Saint, an eerie cold smirk etched itself onto its face. The Shadow Wolf pounced on the Saint repeatedly, seeming unbothered by encountering the warhammer. To the Saint’s surprise, the moment the hammer struck the wolf, its surface started bubbling and oozing. The metal began to melt under the corrosive influence, while the beast remained utterly unscathed.
Whistling softly, Yan Xiaobao couldn’t help but acknowledge that the Shadow Wolf was truly an embodiment of shadows. The instant the hammer landed on the wolf, it simply passed through it, as the creature’s body was formed from Yan Xiaobao’s own shadow, making physical attacks ineffective against it. Watching this unfold, Yan Xiaobao couldn’t suppress his gratitude towards the red fox and the abilities it had created, now tools he could master. Follow current novels on novelꜰire.net
The Saint stared at his warhammer in astonishment, his expression quickly turning grim. As the Shadow Wolf lunged at him repeatedly, he hastily stored the hammer within his storage stone, narrowly evading yet another fierce assault from the towering Saint.