Zhao Fan and Liu Zhong exchanged glances, both containing boundless battle intent. A tier 5 beast! The disparity between cultivators grew exponentially between levels and this was even more prevalent in beasts. A normal Qi Condensation level 3 cultivator could fight a tier 3 beast or even a tier 4 beast, however a Qi Condensation level 4 cultivator would get slaughtered by a tier 5 beast. A tier 6 beast could easily slaughter ten level 5 cultivators and a tier 7 beast could easily slaughter ten level 7 cultivators. The problem was precisely because of one factor, beast essence. Beast essense was vastly superior to a cultivator's qi, but lower level beasts had little beast essence so the gap was still small. However, at the higher levels, the beast has much more beast essence which is why the difference in levels is so large.
A tier 5 beast against a level 4 and level 3 cultivator was manageable because the wolf species were generally trash compared to others but the problem lay in the vast number of wolves. They couldn't easily win the fight, and there was always the threat of more wolves coming in and overwhelming them. In short, the situation was disastrous and uncertain.
Because of its huge size, the wolf could barely fit in the small crevice but it was able to get in nonetheless. The moment it saw the inside of the cave, it was faced with a sword and a fist flying towards it at full speed.
"Growl!"
The attacks landed on the wolf's head before it could get the rest of its body through and left a trail of blood on its head. Zhao Fan's brows furrowed, his strongest attack merely left some blood on its most vulnerable spot? Before they unleashed the second round, the wolf's massive body finally managed to get through, raising a tremor in the cave in the process. Fast as the wind it pounced at Zhao Fan who channeled the Steel Gorilla at full strength.
Boom
He was thrown back 10 meters and he could barely lift his hands which somehow managed to resist its might. Liu Zhong didn't miss the chance and unleashed an attack at the beast's exposed neck the moment it attacked Zhao Fan.
"Dark Wind Severing!" A line of blood appeared on the wolf's neck as the horrifyingly fast sword arrived. This was already impressive enough because this was the first time Liu Zhong was able to pull off this technique. However, despite it managing to cut the neck of the wolf, it wasn't deep enough to cause it to die. Instead, it turned around and swiped at Liu Zhong who evaded using a ghost like movement technique which confused the wolf. Instead of pursuing Liu Zhong, it turned around again and charged at Zhao Fan once more. Clearly it wasn't stupid and would try to finish off the weak link first. Not only that, it smartly lowered its head so the wound on its neck wasn't visible anymore.
"F*ck." Spirit Dash wasn't even considered a technique and obviously wouldn't be enough to dodge the wolf like Liu Zhong. Zhao Fan knew he would probably die if he was locked down by the wolf. He struggled to take even one attack and his movement technique wasn't even much of a technique.
Instead, the moment before he was struck, Zhao Fan didn't employ the Steel Gorilla fist because it would only prolong his death. Instead he jumped up and before he fell down, released a burst of qi from his legs to effectively double jump over the wolf. The wolf slammed into the wall, not being able to stop its momentum. Hurriedly turning around, it saw Zhao Fan in his signature pose with his arms in a horizontal line. Qi was able to be condensed more at higher levels but with his level 3 cultivation, it could hardly harm the wolf.
"NOW!" Zhao Fan yelled.
BAM
BOOM
SIING
In a second, the bullet of qi hit the face of the wolf, not doing too much damage but managing to stagger it. The second it was staggered, Zhao Fan's Steel Gorilla fist flew up and hit its jaw causing its head to point up in the air. Like a ghost, Liu Zhong appeared by its side with a Dark Wind Severing aimed straight at its now visible neck. Being slashed a second time, the wound spewed a fountain of blood as it was cut even more, directly severing the artery.
Before it could even react, the wolf was killed! A mighty tier 5 wolf was taken down by the two's impeccable teamwork and Zhao Fan's cleverness.
"Hahaha" Liu Zhong and Zhao Fan almost collapsed because of the adrenaline caused by the life and death situation. After surviving this calamity together, the two started to form a brotherly bond and clasped hands. After experiencing such a situation how could they have reservations about trusting the other? To be honest, Liu Zhong knew that in terms of pure skills and power, Zhao Fan was not even close to being his match but the latter's craftiness and battle talent made him fear becoming his enemy.
BOOOM
As the two rejoiced in the victory, they completely forgot about the other wolves. A claw came seemingly out of nowhere and slammed into Liu Zhong who could barely lift his sword in time. His sword instantly flew out of his hand as the claw sent him flying into a wall producing a huge boom. It was unknown whether he was currently alive or not.
Zhao Fan's expression turned grave as he sized up the opponent. It was a dark wolf the size of the previous however its aura was drastically different, it was a rank 6 wolf! He looked at the crevice and he saw that another rank 5 was coming in as well. During the short moment when they fought the wolf and celebrated, the tier 6 wolf managed to sneakily fit in the crevice without attracting attention.
When the wolf slammed Liu Zhong it wasn't even serious, it could no doubt kill him if it wanted. Instead it was playing with the two who dared to kill its tier 5 subordinate. That's right, since wolves lived in packs, higher ranked wolves would have subordinates, for example the tier 6 wolf had two tier 5 wolf subordinates. Now that one died, it would definitely make the two pay.
Before Zhao Fan even raised his fists he was likewise slammed into the wall with no resistance. His gloves directly shattered and nearly all of the bones in his hands broke despite his great defense. This was the power of beast essence!
Being slammed into a wall this heavily caused Zhao Fan to nearly black out as his spine almost broke. His internal organs were all jumbled up and he puked out blood before falling down unable to even move.
"I can't die here" Zhao Fan's thoughts even felt weak at the moment, it was just his last will struggling before his death. The tier 6 wolf slowly made its way over making the floor tremble with each step. Instantly, the situation went from being happy to hopeless.
Thinking about a myriad of things, Zhao Fan's eyes blurred. His father advised him countless times to not come to the forest and he was unfilial time and time again. Now he would die without a burial ground, leaving his father alone in the world. Zhao Fan was simply unwilling to die this way.
It was no use struggling, his broken body could barely move to sit up before he puked blood again. The wolf did not hasten its steps in any way and instead stopped. The other tier 5 wolf came to his side and continued to make his way toward Zhao Fan. The tier 6 wolf did not even bother about this fly, letting his subordinate slowly play with the ant.
With each step of the wolf, Zhao Fan's determination and will to live increased until he was able to slowly stand up. Slowly he moved his body and began to run away from the wolf, each staggering step taking extreme amounts of will. But how could he run away from the wolf in this condition? Slightly increasing its pace, the wolf pounced at Zhao Fan and struck him away with a paw leaving him powerless on the ground.
At the moment, above the cave, the skies suddenly started darkening. Small arcs of thunder dancing in between the clouds ready to strike down.
Lying there, Zhao Fan knew he was about to die. There was nothing he could do and a wave of calmness washed over him. Puking out another mouthful of blood, his vision finally started darkening. However, a familiar refreshing feeling aroused his darkening consciousness, suddenly instead of the slow and gentle stream of refreshing power which saved him earlier, a sea of power erupted.
"MOTHERF*CKER STOP USING MY POWER" A scream was heard inside Zhao Fan's head.
"What???" Zhao Fan's body healed at a visible speed but he was very confused as to why there was another soul inside of him.
"Ah, I guess I'll just have to awaken early. It should be fine."
"ARGGH!" his soul felt like it was getting pricked by a thousand needles as Hei Long directly tried to devour it. Just as he was about to get devoured, the pendant around his neck shone with a purple light which shot into his head. A purple shield was formed around Zhao Fan's soul and attacked Hei Long's soul.
Thunder struck down from the sky as if the heaven's themselves were angry. Hei Long screamed as his already weakened soul barely survived the onslaught of the purple light. It weakened further before the purple light finally depleted and the amulet turned dim. The two souls were now exactly equal and battled each other for supremacy.
The two wolves were extremely confused at the sight of a convulsing Zhao Fan. Zhao Fan's body was violently thrashing as if he was having a stroke. The tier 6 wolf and the rank 5 wolf decided to finish Zhao Fan off. Sensing him coming close, Hei Long shouted.
"STOP! At this rate we will both die!" Zhao Fan also observed the situation outside and withdrew from their scuffle.
"Listen, if we merge our souls then maybe we can have a chance to kill them, then after that we can settle our battle" Hei Long pleaded with Zhao Fan.
"Are you stupid?? How can souls be merged that easily. We are clearly two different people??" Zhao Fan thought the idea was ridiculous. The soul was the most central part of the body, any changes to it could result in changes in personality, brain damage or even death.
"Idiot, you do realize we are in the same body right now yet we both haven't been rejected?? Furthermore, does it look like we have a choice??" Hei Long seriously doubted the intellect of Zhao Fan at this point.
"F*ck, that's true. I'll go along with your suggestion for now." Zhao Fan reluctantly agreed, after all a slight accident with a soul could likely change his whole personality or sanity. The two souls who previously battled stopped and instead came together. For some reason, not only was there no rejection, instead it was as if they clicked into place. The two still retained their consciousness but it was as if Hei Long and Zhao Fan shared a special bond. The two could send thoughts to each other without any delay and both shared control of the body.
"Looks like it worked, alright for now I will let you have full control since you have experience" Zhao Fan felt a thought transmitting into his mind. His body stopped convulsing and he finally regained full control.
In the outside world, lightning strikes directly above the cave were clearly heard and felt as chunks of rock fell down from the ceiling. Zhao Fan's body was completely healed by now and he slowly stood up. Instead of his despairing expression from earlier a creepy grin was present. The two beast's felt uncomfortable and even scared. The tier 6 wolf didn't mess around anymore. A claw filled with beast essense struck down at Zhao Fan as the wolf flew at him at an incredible speed.
From the moment the two merged, Zhao Fan felt a unique energy encircling all around him. Just by will, he was able to move the energy and he felt that he was in control of everything around him.
Looking at the claw, Zhao Fan did not change his creepy expression, instead raising his hand. Suddenly the wolf stopped in place, frozen in fear. It wasn't that it stopped moving due to being frozen in fear, it was frozen in fear because it couldn't move. Zhao Fan's soul power exploded in strength as his relaxed raised hand suddenly formed a fist. The light in the wolf's eyes faded and it fell down powerlessly, even though it was clearly alive.
Seeing this the other wolf was scared sh*tless and tried to run away. Zhao Fan had only tested the most basic application of his new power so naturally he would not miss a chance like this. Suddenly, all of the qi in his dantian flew to his hand and was released through it, however instead of dispersing, Zhao Fan was still clearly in control! Normally only Foundation Establishment experts could move qi outside of their bodies but this did not apply to him. Under his control, the qi spread into tens of little pieces which he each independently controlled.
This wasn't even his limit but he hurried to not let the wolf get away. The moment it got close to the crevice, it sensed something and turned around. A huge amount of qi bullets charged at it from different angles at insane speeds. Raising its claws, the wolf tried to defend itself. The bullets all swerved out of the way and dodged the claws.
Not even a moment later they each landed on the wolf at different angles, each embedding into different parts of the wolf. Sadly for it, the bullets of qi landed in non lethal parts like the paw or the legs. After they were all in its body, Zhao Fan gestured in a beckoning motion and the qi bullets in the wolf's body parts controlled it to raise its legs and run up to him.
Seeing the snarling wolf right next to him but not able to move, Zhao Fan laughed before crushing its soul.