Judging by their size, the one in the front should be a bit stronger than the one at the back. Yang Bin thought, as he ran at the two wolves. I'll take care of the weaker one first.
Using Phantom Tracks, he easily dodged the first wolf and continued sprinting towards the second.
Understanding his plan, the two wolves reacted instantly. The first one made a sudden stop and turned around. The second slowed down drastically, coordinating with the first wolf.
Oh? Yang Bin was surprised by their level of coordination. If he continued trying to take down the weaker wolf, his back will be exposed, and he'll be injured by the stronger wolf. He didn't want that to happen, so he chose to avoid their attacks. Clicking his tongue, Yang Bin launched himself backwards, away from the line of their charge.
Once again, the two wolves reacted quickly. Simultaneously, they turned and dashed towards him, avoiding a collision with each other. It was the same pattern with the stronger wolf in the lead.
Yang Bin furrowed his brow in mild annoyance. Fine then, since you really want death, I'll give it! I'll test my new strength on you!
Channeling his qi, his fist became completely silvery. Iron Fist! He cried in his heart as he swung out his fist with all his might.
Crack!
His fist smashed into the jaws of the wolf, and the result was a deafening crack that surprised even Yang Bin himself. Staring at his hand, Yang Bin couldn't believe the strength he mustered.
The wolf that was hit was blown back and rolled once on the ground. It shakily stood up, trying to fight, but it was clear that it wasn't in great shape. There was blood trickling from the side of its slightly deformed mouth. Its jaw suffered damage.
Howling furiously, the second wolf came flying at Yang Bin to seek revenge. It stuck its claws out to attack him, but it was a mistake.
Scoffing, Yang Bin stepped out of its line of attack and extended his arm. With his hand still gleaming silver, he tightly grasped the forearm of the wolf. Then, with all his strength, he swung the wolf.
Thud!
Propelled by its own momentum, the body of the second wolf hit the ground with so much force that it bounced and rolled. It no longer stood back up.
It was a one sided fight, but it was expected, as there was basically a three rank disparity between the wolves and Yang Bin. To top it off, Yang Bin's Iron Palm has reached its perfected state, increasing not only the strength but also the weights of his moves.
Seeing what happened to its partner, the first wolf became frenzied. Howling loudly, it charged at Yang Bin with madness in its eyes, but due to its injuries, its steps were clumsy and slower.
And Yang Bin was able to take advantage of that. Dodging it again, he decided to finish the battle. As the wolf's body barreled past him, Yang Bin activated Extreme Piercing Finger.
Accompanied by an afterimage, the stab pierced through the fur on the wolf's neck. The wolf fell dead with a heavy thud.
Immediately after slaying that wolf, Yang Bin turned his attention to the other wolf, which was still unconscious on the ground. He walked over to it, and just as he was raising his hand, he heard a shrill bark.
It was much higher pitched than the barks of the other wolves, and it came from where the rest of the pack was restrained.
Under Yang Bin's attentive eyes, a young pup ran out from under one of the adult wolves, barking. It scurried in front of Yang Bin and barked defiantly at him. It was trying to protect the unconscious wolf on the ground.
Watching this scene, Yang Bin was momentarily dazed. He was taught that demon beasts were savage and ferocious; selfish beasts that cared for only themselves. He didn't expect them to be able to perform any selfless acts. Confronted with this sight, Yang Bin was lost and wasn't sure what to do. It would be cruel and rather inhumane to butcher such a young pup. Turning his head to Yang Gang, he looked to his father to answer this difficult dilemma.
But Yang Gang's face was expressionless. He simply continued suppressing the rest of the pack and watching Yang Bin. Yang Gang didn't intend to give a reply.
Realizing this, Yang Bin turned his attention back to the barking pup in front of him. Taking a breath, he recalled everything Yang Gang had taught him.
When facing a demon beast, always strike to kill. They are highly antagonistic towards humans, and will do their best to devour you at every moment. Do not hesitate to kill them, because they will not hesitate.
He thought and thought again. Finally, Yang Bin came to a decision. He raised his arm.
The pup leaped up and tried to bite him, but Yang Bin easily caught it and threw it towards the pack.
Bringing his hand down, Yang Bin executed the other wolf. Ignoring the howls of the pup, he proceeded to dig out the beast core of both initial stage demon wolves.
The young pup rushed to the wolf's corpse and barked sorrowfully, tears coming out of its eyes.
Tearing his gaze away from this heart wrenching scene, Yang Bin returned to Yang Gang's side. "I've finished." He uttered. His heart was in turmoil.
Yang Gang nodded in approval. "Well done."
After he said that, he released the other wolves. They immediately went to retrieve their leaders' corpses and the wailing pup before fleeing.
"Do you feel bad?" Yang Gang asked.
Yang Bin nodded.
"That's normal." Yang Gang said. "Demon beasts lack compassion towards others and sometimes their own kind, since they must devour others to grow faster. But this isn't the case for ordinary beasts or magic beasts. They are able to have empathy."
"You must never slaughter for pleasure or satisfaction. If everyone were to wantonly slaughter, every beast will be extinct, and the fall of cultivators will follow. This is why it is important to show mercy to these weaker beasts; they are not our true enemy. Now let's continue."
The two continued tracking down other beasts, but Yang Bin's focus wasn't on the task. His mind was occupied with questions.
Yang Gang knew this, but he remained silent, letting Yang Bin sort out his thoughts himself.
With Yang Bin's mind preoccupied, and Yang Gang's silence, they weren't able to find any more demon beasts. As the sun slowly set, the two walked out of the forest.
"I thought you said that the outskirts are filled with initial and intermediate stage demon beasts. Why did we only end up with two beast cores?" Yang Bin grumbled.
"I never said they were filled with them. I only said they contained." Yang Gang answered. "If you go one layer deeper, the outer ring, you'll encounter a lot more, but your chances of encountering rank 2 demon beasts increases drastically. Are you confident enough to fight one?"
Yang Bin dejectedly sighed. "I'm not confident in being able to run away from one. I'll just be content with these two beast cores. Hopefully, I might be able to trade them for a few gold coins."
Hearing his monologue, Yang Gang looked at him strangely. "A few gold coins? Son, do you know how much those beast cores are worth?"
Shaking his head, Yang Bin asked curiously, "No, how much are they?"
Yang Gang facepalmed. "Those are worth 50 silver, give or take. You've only made one gold coin today."
Yang Bin's jaws dropped. "One!? This is just one gold coin!?"
If Yang Bin was an ordinary cultivator, one gold coin after a day's worth of labor isn't horrible. Alas, Yang Bin wasn't planning to be ordinary.
"It seems like I'll need to give you a lesson on the economy when we get home." Yang Gang rubbed his temples.
And so, Yang Gang did just that during the evening and the next few evenings.
These expeditions continued for a few weeks until Yang Gang deemed Yang Bin ready to form his own party. After searching for a while, Yang Bin ended up in the same party as Yang Chen: a group of youths that consisted of peak body tempering stage cultivators.
At first they were a bit skeptical about his abilities, but with Yang Chen's support, their original team of four became five. Together, they ventured into the outer ring and hunted advanced rank 1 and initial rank 2 demon beasts.
Time flew by swiftly and Yang Bin didn't slack off at any moment. He spent six days a week hunting, and one for trading his beast cores for cultivation resources. With this rigorous schedule, Yang Bin improved leaps and bounds.
In a blink of an eye, four months passed and the day of the exam was near.