"Bang!"
The gray wolf slammed into Yang Ye's abdomen with a loud crash. His body slid across the ground and crashed into the wall with a thunderous impact. The wall shook, and stones scattered, burying Yang Ye underneath.
Of course, the gray wolf wouldn't let Yang Ye off so easily. Just as it was about to devour him, a wolf howl suddenly sounded from outside the cave. Hearing the howl, the gray wolf's expression changed, and without hesitation, it ran towards the cave entrance.
As soon as the gray wolf left the cave, Yang Ye climbed out from the pile of rocks. His consciousness was hazy, his head muddled, and he could only feel intense pain all over his body, deep to the bone. If he hadn't exerted great willpower to stay conscious, he would have fainted from the pain.
After a moment, Yang Ye's head cleared up a bit. When he realized that the gray wolf was gone, the first thing he did was run!
After leaving the gray wolf's cave, Yang Ye found a dense tree and sat on it. He lowered his head to assess his condition. When he saw the state of his clothes, he couldn't help but gasp. His clothes were tattered, and his body was covered in numerous bloodstains. The irregular wounds crisscrossed, and with the fresh blood, it was a horrifying sight.
"I was careless this time!" Yang Ye smiled bitterly and shook his head. Initially, he had killed the Python King with his fists and slain the Grade Seven Profound Beast, the Double-Winged Snake, with a single sword. This made him think that a Grade Nine Profound Beast would be nothing. But the truth told him that Grade Nine Profound Beasts were much stronger than Grade Seven ones.
And he had arrogantly challenged the Grade Nine Profound Beast in terms of physical strength. That was truly seeking death.
However, this battle had brought him some surprises. His physical strength was unexpectedly formidable! Although there was still a considerable gap between him and the Grade Nine Profound Beast, he couldn't deny that his physical defense and strength were superior to those of humans at the same level, or even surpassing Innate Realm experts.
This discovery pleased him. Originally, he practiced the Body Refining Decision out of helplessness, but he didn't expect the sudden boost in strength from the impromptu use of Golden Profound Qi. From now on, his physical body would be a trump card when facing opponents!
Feeling the intense pain in his body, Yang Ye regained his focus. He closed his eyes slightly, and the golden Profound Qi surged within him, repairing his heavily damaged body.
The golden Profound Qi flowed through his body like a warm stream, healing his wounds. Although the recovery was slow and imperceptible, he could still feel it. This brought him joy, and he accelerated the circulation of the Profound Qi within his body.
Unknowingly, a night passed. When the red sun rose on the horizon, Yang Ye opened his eyes while sitting on the tree. It took six energy stones and a night's time, but although his wounds hadn't completely healed, he was now ready for battle.
He leaped down from the tree, landed on the ground, and stretched his limbs. Feeling the abundant Profound Qi in his body, Yang Ye grinned and thought to himself how good it was to have energy stones. They allowed him to squander Profound Qi without worry. Without a continuous supply of energy stones, his injuries would take at least five or six days to heal!
"Hail to the energy stones!" Thinking about the tens of thousands of energy stones he still had, Yang Ye wanted togive his precious companion, Bao'er, a big hug and a kiss. Those energy stones were truly invaluable to him.
After reveling in his excitement for a while, Yang Ye flicked his wrist, and a small dagger appeared in his hand. Since his longsword had inexplicably broken and he didn't have a spare one, he had to make do with this dagger.
Gripping the dagger, Yang Ye moved like a nimble leopard as he dashed towards the gray wolf's cave. He didn't want to let such a good opponent slip away.
...
"Bang!"
Inside the gray wolf's cave, the battle between Yang Ye and the gray wolf resumed.
The gray wolf was genuinely angry at the human who dared to provoke it for the second time. It went berserk, swinging its claws and fangs frantically at Yang Ye.
This time, Yang Ye became smarter. He didn't engage the gray wolf head-on; instead, he employed tactics. He launched hit-and-run attacks, utilizing his dagger to draw blood from the gray wolf whenever an opportunity presented itself.
The size of the gray wolf was both an advantage and a disadvantage. In the current situation, its size was of no use. Not only was it unable to maneuver agilely, but it also became an easy target for Yang Ye due to its large size. Most of Yang Ye's dagger strikes landed successfully.
However, Yang Ye wasn't having an easy time either. Occasionally, when the gray wolf rammed into him, his entire body felt as if it was falling apart. If it weren't for the continuous restoration of his physical body by the golden Profound Qi, he might have already collapsed.
The battle between the two continued for about an hour. At this point, Yang Ye had accumulated over a dozen claw marks on his body. The gray wolf also had numerous wounds, but given its size and physical defense, those injuries were merely superficial and hadn't reached its vital areas.
"Bang!"
Caught off guard, Yang Ye was sent flying by the gray wolf, crashing into the wall. But in the next moment, he leaped out of the wall and charged at the gray wolf once again.
Seeing the human charging at it again, the gray wolf's eyelid twitched. Clearly, Yang Ye's reckless fighting style made it wary. Although it was wary, the gray wolf didn't retreat. If it were anywhere else, it might not fight to the death, but this was its territory, and it wouldn't abandon its den no matter what!
The battle continued for another hour, and ultimately, it ended with Yang Ye's defeat and escape.
Yang Ye had no choice but to flee because he had depleted all of his Profound Qi. Each stab he made with his dagger required the use of Profound Qi, and without the support of the golden Profound Qi, he couldn't break through the gray wolf's defense. Moreover, the Profound Qi was needed to heal his body, and he simply didn't have enough to spare!
So he had to retreat temporarily!
Seeing Yang Ye flee in defeat, the gray wolf didn't pursue him. Instead, it lay down on the ground, panting heavily. After two or three hours of battle, coupled with Yang Ye's reckless fighting style, it was exhausted. All it wanted now was for this human to stop coming and trying to steal its den.
However, it was disappointed. In less than half an hour, the human appeared once again in its cave, and a new round of battle commenced.
This continued for one or two hours at a time. Yang Ye would fight the gray wolf, then escape, and when his Profound Qi recovered, he would seek out the wolf again. This pattern persisted for two days. The gray wolf became more and more frustrated, while Yang Ye grew more and more excited. Each time he escaped and returned to battle the wolf, his combat skills improved, which greatly frustrated the gray wolf!
During their encounters, the gray wolf did try to chase after Yang Ye while he fled, but it was disappointed. This human before its eyes was nothing like a regular human. He would fight while running, making it impossible to defeat him. Even when it climbed up a tree, the gray wolf couldn't reach him. It resorted to using its head to ram into the trees, causing one tree after another to collapse. But the human just wouldn't touch the ground. In the end, the gray wolf gave up.
On the sixth day, the sixth day of battling the gray wolf, Yang Ye stopped fleeing. He had gained the upper hand in the fight, and after three more days, the battle between him and the gray wolf was completely under his control.
"Howl!"
Yang Ye straddled the back of the gray wolf, tightly gripping its sides with his legs, and relentlessly hammered its head with punches, radiating a faint golden light. Fist after fist struck, and the cave echoed with the wolf's howls of agony.
In an attempt to throw off Yang Ye, the gray wolf rolled on the ground, taking Yang Ye along and crashing into the walls. Countless large craters were formed on the walls, but Yang Ye didn't let go. Whenever he had the opportunity, he would deliver a punch to the wolf's head.
Now, it was a matter of who could hold on longer between the two!
This continued for about an hour until suddenly, the cave fell silent. Both Yang Ye and the gray wolf lay on the ground, breathing heavily. They were about a yard apart, staring at each other. Neither of them had the strength to charge forward because they were both completely exhausted.
The gray wolf looked at Yang Ye, its gaze filled with deep fear. In its instinctive thoughts, this human was even scarier than a profound beast. Yang Ye, on the other hand, shimmered with excitement. Without using any profound techniques, he had managed to bring down this ninth-rank profound beast. Although it had taken nearly ten days, he had achieved his goal.
After half an hour, Yang Ye slowly climbed to his feet. By now, he had recovered most of his strength. Seeing Yang Ye getting up, the gray wolf's eyes finally revealed a look of horror. It also tried to get up but ultimately failed.
Yang Ye walked slowly toward the gray wolf, shaking his fist. He looked at the wolf and smirked, realizing it was time to dig out its inner core and skin it.
Just then, a purple light flashed, and the purple ferret appeared in front of Yang Ye. The purple ferret pointed at the wolf lying on the ground, then looked at Yang Ye, shaking its small head urgently.
Yang Ye was taken aback and asked, "You want me to let it go?"
The purple ferret nodded its little head vigorously.
"Are you kidding me? The inner core is valuable, and so is the wolf skin. How can I just let it go?" Yang Ye responded to the purple ferret's request.
Upon hearing Yang Ye's words, the little creature scurried up to him and patted his nose with its small paw, wearing a pleading expression on its face.
Seeing the little creature playing its usual tricks, Yang Ye felt a headache coming on. He glanced at the wolf lying on the ground and was surprised to see its trembling body and the obvious fear in its eyes as it looked at the purple ferret.
Is this wolf afraid of the little creature?
That was Yang Ye's immediate thought. He looked at the wolf, then back at the coquettish purple ferret. Yang Ye said, "Is it afraid of you?"
The purple ferret blinked and turned its gaze toward the wolf. Its eyes blinked again, and then it shimmered and landed on top of the wolf's head. The wolf's trembling became even more pronounced, and its head was completely pressed against the ground, displaying a subservient attitude.
The purple ferret patted the wolf's head with its small paw, nodding in satisfaction. It was evidently pleased with the wolf's response.
In the next moment, the purple ferret waved its paw, and to Yang Ye's astonishment, the wolf transformed into a purple light that merged into his body. At that moment, Yang Ye stood there, dumbfounded.