NOVEL NEXT Chapter 479: First Beast Encounter
The wolves circled the group with low snarls, their glowing eyes filled with hunger and cunning.
Han Yu gripped his halberd tightly, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield. The scent of blood and burnt grass thickened in the air, each breath filled with the metallic tang of violence.
Wu Shuan's sword flashed like lightning, slashing through the shoulder of the nearest wolf. The creature yelped and stumbled back, only to meet Han Yu's halberd as he spun in from the side.
SHING
The blade tore through its neck in one clean motion, a streak of crimson spraying across the forest floor.
The disciples moved with discipline, their formation holding firm even amid the chaos.
SHUA
Luo Ruyan drew a talisman and flicked her wrist, releasing a wave of searing flame that swept across the clearing. The second wolf leapt aside, but not quickly enough, its fur caught fire, and it thrashed wildly before Wu Shuan drove his sword through its ribs.
"Keep the pressure up!" Han Yu commanded. His tone was calm, yet carried the weight of someone accustomed to leading.
The final wolf lunged at him, its jaws glowing with Qi as it gathered power for a qi skill. But Han Yu reacted instantly.
Spirit Qi surged into his legs as he dashed forward, halberd raised. The beast unleashed its attack, a beam of compressed Qi tearing through the air, but Han Yu's body twisted just in time.
Boom
The blast split the ground where he had stood a heartbeat ago, leaving a deep scar in the soil.
Before the beast could react, Han Yu leapt upward and brought his halberd down using the Falling Leaf Strike.
CRACK
The impact cracked the creature's skull, and it collapsed with a dying growl.
For a long moment, no one moved. Only the rustle of disturbed leaves filled the silence. Then Wu Shuan lowered his sword, exhaling slowly.
"It's done."
Han Yu glanced around to confirm. The other disciples stood with weapons drawn, their breathing heavy but steady. The three wolf-like beasts lay motionless, their blood slowly soaking into the mossy ground.
No one spoke for a few seconds. The group remained alert, their gazes darting toward the tree line, half-expecting another attack.
"Stay sharp," Han Yu said, his voice low. "The noise might attract others."
The disciples nodded. They knew he was right. In this realm, sound carried strangely—sometimes far, sometimes not at all. They didn't know if it was due to the the turbulent qi, or it was some other illusory effect, but if there were other beasts nearby, or worse, wandering cultivators, their battle could easily have drawn unwanted attention.
Luo Ruyan wiped sweat from her brow. "Do you think the unorthodox sects are close enough to hear that?"
Wu Shuan frowned. "Let's hope not. With the orthodox sects, at least we can talk. But with the unorthodox…" He shook his head. "Negotiation usually ends in blood."
Han Yu silently agreed.
This inner realm was lawless ground. Whatever order the sects upheld outside these walls no longer applied here. The elders had said as much, each cultivator was responsible for their own survival. Treasures would change hands through strength alone, and those who hesitated would be buried before anyone even remembered their names.
Han Yu's grip on his halberd loosened slightly. "Let's check the bodies. If any of these beasts carry cores or usable materials, we shouldn't waste them."
They approached cautiously. The beasts' auras had already faded, but their presence lingered like an echo of killing intent. Yuan Ping knelt beside one of the corpses, inspecting its fur and claws.
Han Yu crouched nearby, observing the details closely.
The wolves were unlike any he had encountered before. Their fur was dark gray with streaks of metallic sheen, and their horns were short but unusually dense. The scales running down their backs were similar to lizard hide, yet their skeletal structure was clearly lupine.
"I don't recognize this species," Han Yu admitted. "It's not listed among any of the known wolf-type beasts in our sect's bestiary."
Wu Shuan nodded in agreement. "Same here. Even the hybrid types don't match these features."
Yuan Ping hesitated before speaking. "Actually… I think I've seen something like this before."
Everyone turned toward him.
"You have?" Luo Ruyan asked, disbelief coloring her tone. "Where?"
"I can't be certain," Yuan Ping said slowly, "but I once read about a similar beast in an old archive. The text described a kind of wolf with scaled backs and horned heads, said to inhabit mountain ranges far from our lands. It mentioned their affinity for both metal and earth elements."
Han Yu raised a brow. "Far from our lands? You mean outside our continent?"
Yuan Ping nodded. "That's right. The record called it the Ironback Rockwolf, native to another continent altogether."
The words hung in the air like a sudden chill.
"Another continent?" Wu Shuan repeated, incredulous. "Are you saying there's more than one in our world?"
Yuan Ping scratched his cheek, clearly uncomfortable. "So the book claimed. It said there was another great landmass across the endless seas, but no one from our side has ever reached it. The distance is so vast that even cultivators of the higher realms couldn't cross easily. At least, not that we know of."
Han Yu frowned deeply. "Why were we never taught this?"
"I don't know," Yuan Ping admitted. "The record I read wasn't part of the sect library—it came from an old merchant's collection. It described flora and fauna that don't exist anywhere on our continent, and some of the names match beasts I've never heard of elsewhere. These wolves… they look almost identical to the drawings in that book."
The others exchanged uneasy glances.
Luo Ruyan spoke quietly. "If what you're saying is true, then that means the tomb isn't just a collection of relics from our world. It might contain things from beyond it."
Han Yu's eyes narrowed slightly.
The thought unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.