章 17: Days in the Mountain
Deep in the mountains, there was a clearing. The entire forest was silent and the trees so dense that not even a patch of sunlight could reach the ground. It was damp and gloomy, and much of the ground was still covered in snow.
A silver-haired snakeman and a black-clothed young man held their weapons, constantly on alert.
"Uncle Zong, it has been almost an hour since we entered, yet we haven’t met even a single magical beast!"
"Sigh, you..." Zong Ling shook his head helplessly; his nephew might seem mature, but he still somewhat had the temperament of a teen. He whispered, "We only just entered the mountain and are only at the most outer part of the outer perimeter. Naturally, to encounter a magical beast here would be very unusual, but the deeper we proceed, the easier it will be to encounter one! By that time, the only way to survive will be by depending on your strength."
"En."
Dong Bo Xue Ying nodded lightly.
"Sha~~~"
Dong Bo Xue Ying’s ears moved as he heard a faint sound. His arm immediately shot out and blocked the Zong Ling who was walking beside him. Zong Ling’s heart tightened; although he hadn’t heard the sound himself, he knew that Dong Bo Xue Ying’s hearing had become extremely sharp after awakening his primordial blood.
"It’s there!" Dong Bo Xue Ying stared at the front left.
Zong Ling also stared in that direction.
Rustling noises could be heard from a distant bramble as a figure with four thin black hoofs slowly appeared. Its appearance was quite similar to that of a wolf’s, but it was one foot smaller. Its body was covered with thin, black, densely-packed scales. A pair of ice-cold dark pupils looked at the two humans calmly.
"Black-Scaled Jackal?" Both Dong Bo Xue Ying and Zong Ling’s hearts tightened. They had met a troublesome magical beast right after entering the Mountain Range of Desolation.
The Black-Scaled Jackal was a magical beast of the third rank.
Black-Scaled Jackals were extremely calm but vicious creatures. They preferred to attack in groups, and their claws and teeth were covered in acute poison.
Why was it rank 3? Each individual jackal’s strength was that of a Heaven Rank Knight’s! They lived in small groups, but the group of Black-Scaled Jackals which came from the brambles in front was quite large; there were no less than thirty-five. Even a rank 4 magical beast by itself would be torn to shreds.
"This is troublesome." Zong Ling was somewhat nervous. "Xue Ying, you must be careful."
"En, uncle Zong Ling, protect yourself, leave them to me."
Dong Bo Xue Ying took a deep breath, his breathing adjusting to become stabler and stronger. He stared at this group of Black-Scaled Jackals.
These numerous Black-Scaled Jackals started to separate, surrounding Dong Bo Xue Ying and Zong Ling in a fan formation. Being stared at by so many pairs of dark red eyes at the same time… Dong Bo Xue Ying’s heart was slightly anxious! His willpower was amazing and the level of his spear techniques were high, but it was his first time facing such formidable opponents.
Roar~~~ Gloomy and unpleasant sounds came from the Black-Scaled Jackals at the very back.
Shou shou shou!!!
All the Black-Scaled Jackals suddenly leaped and attacked from all directions. Even a Meteor knight wouldn’t be able to withstand being attacked by so many Heaven Ranked Knights on all sides at the same time.
"Die!" Dong Bo Xue Ying’s spear moved.
Shiu!
His spear flashed like lightning.
The instant his spear thrust forward, countless number of snowflakes appeared, creating an incomparably beautiful scene.
The Black-Scaled Jackal that suffered the attack immediately brandished its sharp claws to block the spear. Chi~~~ In the split second that the head of the spear was stopped, the entire spear abruptly spun, creating a torque that split open the sharp claw. Pu chi! The tip of the spear stabbed into mandible of the Black-Scaled Jackal and ran all the way through to the back of its head. The rank 3 Black-Scaled Jackal magical beast’s body twitched until finally, there was no response.
The instant it was killed, Xue Ying rapidly withdrew his spear, and like lightning, stabbed again!
His withdrawing and stabbing was like a viper flicking it’s tongue.
Pu!
Another Black-Scaled Jackal was killed on the spot.
These Black-Scaled Jackals were all experts at close-quarters fighting, but Dong Bo Xue Ying’s spear technique that had been tempered under ten years of hardship and madness was truly too formidable.
Roar roar roar~~~ A cacophony of muffled roars resounded from the Black-Scaled Jackals as they continued besieging them without slowing down at all.
Within that short period of time, Xue Ying had been able to kill three Black-Scaled Jackals. Suddenly, eight Black-Scaled Jackals simultaneously threw themselves at him!
"Get lost!"
His spear was like shadow, rapidly whipping and striking.
It was just like those long days in the past when Xue Ying thrashed the refiner dummy; now, he beat four jackals with only one wave of his spear. Another four jackals were knocked back by his reverse sweep! Xue Ying had the absolute advantage in strength, but one man could hardly win against a group. The true threat of a Black-Scaled Jackal pack was in their endless and fearless attacks.
"Xue Ying, hurry, hurry. Just run if you cannot block them." Zong Ling entwined his tail high around a nearby tree. His speed and flexibility had protected his life when he’d entered the Mountain Range of Desolation before.
"I know."
Xue Ying’s attention was highly focused.
Even though he was an expert at spear techniques, he was still affected by the pressure of being in a life or death situation. Besides, the bones and scales of the jackals were very hard. It took time to pierce and pull out, thus slowing his spear down.
"I have to move in order to avoid their siege." Xue Ying started implementing his experience from his usual training. In the castle, he often allowed a large group of soldiers to besiege him. Xue Ying fought them with his spear techniques by moving nimbly about, dodging and weaving. Of course, they were all unarmed in matches.
Hu, hu....
Xue Ying gradually mastered it. He would occasionally make small movements that would reduce the number of jackals he had to face. So the jackal pack lost their target! Allowing him face to only three jackals at a time!
Pu, pu, pu. The snow was flying and blood was splashing. One after another, the jackals fell.
Peng, peng.
Xue Ying’s actions were becoming more and more natural and fluent. He imbued the spear with power and whipped a Black-Scaled Jackal with it. The jackal twitched, its body weirdly twisted and its bones shattered.
Standing high in a tree, Zong Ling looked down at the ground and beamed.
He adapted to this faster than I expected. He can already bring out all of his strength in this battle of life and death." Zong Ling nodded. "He might be fully adjusted after two or three days."
Hou!
A short, panicked roar sounded from the pack of Black-Scaled Jackals. The remaining jackals immediately fled in different directions.
Xue Ying stopped after killing two more beasts.
"Hu, hu."
Only then did Xue Ying let out a sigh of relief. His breathing was heavy and his blood circulated quickly.
"How was it?" Zong Ling jumped down from high up.
"It was really different." Xue Ying nodded and said, "Three years ago, when I fought with the territory’s prisoner, I felt this tension as well, but that was a one-on-one battle! I have gained some insights into my spear techniques from this group battle."
Being an expert of spear technique merely signified a high level of achievement in spear techniques.
However, in a real combat, how would one know how to link together attacking, defending and their foot techniques? These were all skills learned from combat!
"In a battle of life and death, blood boils within the body and strength rushes forth. The control needed over the whole body is even more fine!" Xue Ying said.
"This is the creature’s instinct under the threat of death!" Zong Ling said.
" I might breakthrough in my spear technique earlier than I’d expected." From the depths of Xue Ying’s heart, his blood had been ignited. Ten years of hard practice had given him amazing skill… Wasn’t the best place to display his skill in the mountain?
"Let’s go. There is a heavy smell of blood here. More beasts will come soon." Zong Ling urged.
"Hmm." Xue Ying noded.
They didn’t care about the rank 3 beasts’ bodies. Although they carried some value, how much could they possibly carry with them? They weren’t worth the effort! As for the Xue Ying’s storage talisman,he feared that it could only store one Black-Scaled Jackal!
...
Within the Mountain Range of Desolation, Xue Ying was like a dragon who had entered the sea. He was unceasingly accumulating combat experience as well as improving his spear technique.
Every single night, they would immediately return to their camp!
One of them was a noble of the serpent clan and the other had awakened his primordial bloodline. They ran extremely quickly, maintaining a speed of 30 miles per hour when they were returning, even if it was in the Mountain Range of Desolation! Although they took a long time when searching, it didn’t take long for them to return.
They had to stay in the camp during the nights; after all, they needed to rest properly. It would be too exhausting for them to spend the nights in the mountains.
...
Time passed by day by day..
Xue Ying’s progress surprised Zong Ling. He could see Xue Ying becoming more and more experienced. With each battle, Xue Ying gradually perfected himself.
"Since childhood, he had always understood how to reflect and conclude, and from each battle he had made a conclusion! It’s not surprising that his spear technique is so powerful!" Zong Ling murmured. He had always felt Xue Ying was very intelligent.
He thought himself clever as well.
Including him, many people understood the importance of learning from the past, but Xue Ying had a unique way of thinking. Therefore, his efficiency was even higher! For example, an ordinary child could only remember the wonderful stories of Transcendent Knights in biographical novels, but Xue Ying could discover the nature of the rising Transcendent knight’s growth.
For example, 90 percent of them had not attended the academy.
Xue Ying had been inspired by a few words in the biographical novels. He found that Transcendent Knights paid attention to their foundations, so he had emphasized on training the foundations of his spear technique to an exaggerating extent.
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