"You must be wondering why I asked you all to meet me here. Well, some of you might have already guessed it by now, but it is mainly about the upcoming friendly competition."
Scarlet Glowflare stood in the centre of the group of 19 men and women as she started explaining her reason for the meeting.
"The representatives of the Glacier Bay Sect and Heavenly Sword Sect have sent the sect a message of potential matchups that they think will be most beneficial to everybody."
"Tsk, let me guess, all of the matchups they sent are actually only beneficial to them? Pretentious pricks I hate both of those sects. They think they are better than us just because their sects are older."
Chester Brown went on about his dislike towards the Glacier Bay Sect and Heavenly Sword Sect. The 19 others knew that once he started rambling about something that annoyed him they wouldn't hear the end of it.
"Okay okay, we get it. You don't like them and they're annoying. Can we move on please?" Kade interrupted the giant man before he could finish his words earning a dissatisfied grunt but Chester didn't say anything after.
Seeing that there were no more disruptions Scarlet Glowflare continued, "Although I must admit that the matchups slightly favour them, I believe this is an opportunity for us as a group to work on our weaknesses. Also, I got a message from a Core elder telling us to remember not to go all out and expose your entire bag of tricks, save them for the actual tournament in a couple of years."
"Huh is that all?" A man with long and electric purple hair neatly styled, asked. He was confused, she could have just messaged them via ManaPhone the same way she contacted them. It made no sense to this purple-haired man.
"Orlando, obviously there's more. Why so quick to leave? Don't tell me you still get nervous being around so many beautiful women."
A charming and teasing voice sounded from an unnaturally gorgeous woman with long blonde hair styled in an elegant French plat that nearly reached the floor. Her golden eyes filled with indescribable beauty playfully winked at the purple-haired man, Orlando.
Orlando turned his attention to this woman wearing a high-slit sleeveless black turtleneck sheath dress with red clouds embroidered on it. Her dress emphasised her large breasts, juicy ass and long smooth legs. This woman was widely considered the number 1 beauty in the Cloud Haven Sect. He couldn't help but gulp and start stuttering like a child caught red-handed.
"It's n-not li-like that. I was just in the middle of cultivating and I wo-would like to get back to cultivating."
"Uh-huh sure." Already bored listening to the nervous wreck of a man, the blonde-haired vixen stopped paying attention to him.
"Yes, there is another matter I wish to discuss." Scarlet Glowflare confirmed, "It's about the matter concerning the recruitment of the new Outer Haven disciples that joined a few weeks ago…"
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"Huff…huff…huff…that should be all the beasts in a 5km radius from my cave."
Vasari took a minute to catch his breath before decapitating the head of a giant sparrow.
For the past 24 hours, Vasari had been hunting non-stop, only taking a break to eat lunch and dinner.
He had the heads of over 10 adult stage beasts, 23 adolescent stage beasts and 52 infant stage beasts which equalled a good sum of cloud points but he thought it wasn't enough.
'Time to expand my search area.'
Vasari was tempted to try his luck in the nearby ocean but decided against it. Even in the world of cultivation, the ocean was considered the scariest and deadliest place.
AWOOOO!!
Suddenly an ear-deafening howl echoed throughout the surrounding area. The howl filled with dominance and power was soon followed by multiple softer and weaker howls.
'A pack of wolves?' His eyes lit up in excitement. This was a good opportunity to get more cloud points.
Vasari stealthily made his way in the direction that he heard the howls come from.
He swiftly weaved through and around bushes and trees until he came to a clearing of lush green grass. Although he couldn't see the wolves he could hear their movements and playful growls of the recently born cubs. Vasari estimated there to be 4 cubs, 12 adolescent stage wolves and 5 adult stage wolves. He could also feel a fearsome and deadly aura from one of the 5 adult stage wolves, he identified this wolf as the alpha.
Vasari did not immediately jump out and attack the pack of wolves, he knew that attacking a pack of wolves was a different ball game compared to attacking a single beast. He wasn't so disillusioned to think he could take on 5 adult stage beasts and 12 adolescent stage beasts working together. Well, that's unless he decides to break the seal on his bloodline which he didn't want to do at the moment.
'Let's see…even if I manage to lure the pack away from this clearing, some of them will stay behind to keep the cubs safe. Hopefully one of the adult stage wolves stays behind and a couple of adolescent stage wolves stay behind too.'
Vasari stalked the pack for a couple more minutes before deciding on a plan that might work. He went back to where he recently killed a giant sparrow. He found the still intact corpse that was only missing a head and carried it by its feet until he reached just outside the clearing again.
He used his sword to cut the bird's corpse to make it bleed and then threw it as far as he could. The decapitated body of the giant sparrow once again took to the skies as if it never left.
The relaxed wolves looked at the giant bird over 5m in length shoot like a missile over their heads and dive-bombed neck first into the trees and bushes just outside the clearing.
"Awoo?"
"Awoo."
"Aaawoo"
Confused by the recent events, the wolves were planning to ignore the bird and continue lazying around but the smell of fresh blood attracted their interest. They were planning on hunting later tonight but if a free meal fell into their jaws they would be a fool not to bite down.
Vasari waited for some of the wolves to take the bait and luckily for him, they did, however, the numbers staying behind were slightly different than expected. 6 adolescent stage wolves and 3 adult stage wolves including the alpha went to check on the suicidal bird while the rest of the pack stayed behind.
Although a little more firepower stayed behind, he was pleased with the result.
Vasari readied his mindset for combat and he still had plenty of Qi stored in his Dantian since only 'eagle soaring river and sea' consumed Qi to perform.
'Let's go.'
Vasari dashed towards the unsuspecting wolves with his spirit-grade sword in his right hand.
Only when he was 10 metres away from the closest adolescent stage wolf, did one of the two adult stage wolves notice him, but by then it was already too late.
Vasari covered 10 metres in a second and slashed down with his sword decapitating the wolf in the process.
AWOOO!!!!!
The adult stage wolf howled in anger after seeing one of its pack members slaughtered right in front of her eyes. She immediately dashed in Vasari's direction with pure hatred and killing intent evident in her eyes.
The rest of the pack in the clearing was instantly alerted and after seeing its family member lying in a pool of its own blood, they understood the situation and took action.
'Savage Shadowless steps: tiger eating mountain and forest' Vasari performed his technique, he had to kill these wolves quickly before the rest of the pack came back and he knew it wouldn't be long until they do.
Vasari swung his blade with much more conviction and skill than when he used it in Mammoth Grove. Now and then Miss Covington would give him advice about swordplay and he would practice in his spare time. Although not a master by any stretch of the imagination, he had enough skill to quickly kill these wolves.
The first adult-stage wolf slashed at Vasari's abdomen which he easily parried, unbalancing the wolf in the process.
Slash. Vasari took advantage of the wolf's unbalance and slashed down, dismembering the front leg of the adult-stage wolf. It whimpered in pain. Vasari ended its pain soon after by slashing its head off.
The 6 other wolfs soon caught up but Vasari made quick work of them.
Tiger-eating mountains and forests paired with the Art of sun and moon made Vasari basically invincible against these wolves.
'Heh, finally the big boy is here.'
Feeling killing intent multiple times stronger than the first adult stage wolf he killed, Vasari turned to face in the direction it was coming from.
The alpha wolf was nearly double the size of the other adult-stage wolves despite being in the same stage. Vasari could feel some danger from this alpha wolf which made his smile widen. It's been a while since he was actually challenged and he was looking forward to it.
"Come."
As if understanding, the wolf released a howl that slightly shook the earth beneath their feet before stomping down with its two front legs.
Vasari felt the ground tremble and on instinct, he jumped back just in time to avoid a razor-sharp spike, resembling a canine, erupting from the ground where Vasari was just standing.
Vasari's confident smile shrunk a little. It seems he underestimated his opponent a little bit, he didn't expect the wolf to be able to control an element. Normally only beasts in the Beta stage and above could control elements but this alpha seemed to be quite the genius.
The alpha did not stop with that attack and once again stomped on the ground but this time twelve 30cm long canines made of earth hovered in the air above the wolf.
Awoo!
6 of the 12 earth canine projectiles cannoned towards Vasari.
*swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh* *swoosh*
Sounds of objects cutting through air whistled in Vasari's ear and his ever-present smile was now nowhere to be seen.
He quickly rolled to the left, managing to evade the first of 6 canines headed his way. Before he could even stand up straight he bent his knees back until the back of his thighs touched his heels, he simultaneously spread his arms out to balance himself out.
He could feel the rush of air blitz past his face as he managed to barely dodge two 2 earth canines that were mere millimetres away from blowing his head apart.
Vasari quickly stood back up and swung his sword diagonally, intercepting an earth canine aimed at his head. He slid back a metre from the impact and momentum of the earth canine before stabilising himself.
The last two earth canines were aimed at his heart and neck. Vasari calmly stepped to the right, evading the canine aimed at his heart. He then swung his sword again to deflect the final earth canine.
*Chomp*
Due to all the intense action and close calls, Vasari forgot something very important and it was that the alpha was not fighting alone.
A heavy force bit down on his right leg, stunning Vasari, but due to the adrenaline rush, he hardly felt the pain. Only now he realised his fault and he duly paid the price for his carelessness.
An adult stage wolf dug his large canines into the muscular thigh of Vasari before its head was mercilessly chopped off and stored inside a spatial ring.
'Damn, that's going to sting a bit.'
His right thigh had four puncture holes that were constantly releasing bright red blood with what looked like gold flakes floating in it.
Vasari took his one and only prized white T-shirt off from under his sect robe and tied it tightly around the puncture wounds.
Not giving the human any more time to rest, the alpha wolf fired the remaining 6 earth canines towards Vasari while another adult-stage wolf and 6 adolescent-stage wolves waited for another perfect opportunity to sneak attack him.
This battle was far from over and Vasari knew it.