Alex looked at the scene of destruction. Trees were uprooted by the shock wave and were on fire. Stones crumbled to dust were still in the air.
And at the center of the explosion was a massive crater. The crater had not been there previously and was made by the explosion that had just happened.
He walked up to the edge of the crater and waited for the dust to settle down. Once the air was clear, he finally saw what was inside.
The crater was about 10 meters deep and about 20 meters wide. Broken trees and bushes were on fire all over the crater. At the center of the crater was a white and red figure.
Alex moved a little closer to see what it was. When he went closer he finally realized that the white and red figure was a monster. Alex's first thought was to run away, but he stuck around once he noticed the monster wasn't moving at all.
'Is it dead?' He thought. He went a little closer to look at what it was. The monster was a cat-like monster with big whiskers. It was about as big as a rhinoceros, and its fur was white with red patches.
'Wait, those aren't red patches,' he thought. He walked up a little closer to see what it was and found out that what he thought were red patches were actually blood.
The cat-like monster was bloody all over. He looked at its wound and saw something sticking out from its back.
'Hmm…' Alex stopped. He thought he heard something. It was the cry of a cat, but it was very small and didn't feel like one this humongous cat could make.
Meow
He once more heard the meek little cry of a cat. He went closer to the dead cat monster when suddenly it started moving.
Alex ran to the outer edges of the crater before he could even take another breath. The cat wasn't dead. It was actually moving. He decided to check the description of the cat, so he focused on it.
[????????????]
That was all he got. He could neither see the name, nor the cultivation of the cat. 'How strong is this cat?' he thought.
'What would happen if I kill it right now? It seems to be wounded for some reason. Killing it should be easy. Given the high level of this cat, the corpse and core should sell for a lot.' Greedy thoughts started to appear in his head.
The cat was slowly starting to stand up, but could barely do it. Blood dripped from its body like it was a packet of ketchup.
The cat was standing with 3 of its legs and was holding 1 of its front limbs to its chest. At first, he thought the cat was holding onto its wound in the chest, but he was wrong.
He now realized where that small and meek 'meow' had come from. The giant cat was currently holding a small, newly born cat in its arms.
The cat stumbled once more and fell to the ground. Its wounds were too much for it to handle. Alex just stood there and watched, unsure of what to do.
Just as he was contemplating what to do, something moved on the other side of the crater. From far away, it looked like a blob of red and white.
When Alex focused to see what it was, he realized it was a silver-colored wolf with a giant wound on its back making it red.
'That wolf…' he thought. It looked very similar. He checked its name, and he was correct. It was the Swift Wolf that Luo Mei had failed to kill.
It was at Bone Tempering 4th realm and was currently making its way toward the wounded cat. The cat made a loud growl that deterred the wolf for a few seconds, but it had more than realized that the cat was on its deathbed, and couldn't do anything anymore.
Alex remembered what Luo Mei had told him. 'A monster cultivates using another monster's core. It can also heal its wounds by eating the core. What would happen if the wolf ate that strong monster's core?'
He was scared. The cat couldn't move right now, so it would die to the wolf for sure. Besides, it had its child with it. Alex couldn't stand around and watch the parent and child die.
He decided to help them. He took out his sword and ran up to where the cat was. Listening to something else appear towards him, the cat made another large growl.
Alex felt his spirit grow cold as that growl left him very scared. The wolf also got scared once more. Alex took a deep breath and walked in front of the cat.
"I am not going to hurt you. I am here to save you and your child," Alex said out loud and stood with a sword in his hand. The Cat looked at him with its clear, cat eyes and closed his eyes.
'Did it understand me?' he wondered. It certainly acted like it. He turned his attention back to the wolf. He turned focus mode on and prepared his Smiting Blade technique.
The wolf was apprehensive of him. It seemed to have enough intelligence to realize that he was with Luo Mei when it got hurt. It was considering whether to attack or not.
If he was as strong as Luo Mei, that would just be asking for death. The wolf slowly walked around the cats and the human, taking its time, to understand the situation.
It wanted to delay a bit longer, but it was heavily wounded. So if it did not kill the cat and eat its monster core, he was sure to be dead by tomorrow.
It had come all the way to the western side of the jungle to get away from the stronger monsters, and now there was an opportunity for it to not only heal but get stronger in the process too.
Given that the situation was life or death, the wolf no longer hesitated and went for the attack.