Chapter 163: Chapter 149: Mysterious Mantis (2)

Egg Pancake didn’t dodge or evade. It raised its sharp claws, wreathed in crimson Flame, and swept them forward.

BANG!

A dull thud echoed across the open ground.

The blazing crimson Flame erupted from the tips of Egg Pancake’s claws, instantly igniting the Ink Wolf’s jet-black fur.

"AWOOOO!"

The pained howl echoed through the valley.

Egg Pancake showed no mercy. The muscles in its arms bulged slightly, and even the Flame on its fingertips swelled. It brandished its sharp claws, slashing a dozen times in quick succession.

Its claws, carrying terrifying heat, instantly tore the Ink Wolf’s body apart. Sizzling white smoke rose, and in a flash, the stout Ink Wolf was engulfed in a blazing inferno, collapsing in front of Egg Pancake.

"Squeak..."

Egg Pancake’s nose twitched. It caught a strange, meaty scent and subconsciously swallowed.

"AWOOOOOOO!!"

Just as it was about to dig out a piece of wolf meat to taste, a resonant howl came from the sky.

"SWOOSH!"

Above the forest, a giant wolf, at least four meters tall with mottled cyan and black fur, was seen descending rapidly from the sky, its feet treading on four swirling vortexes of wind.

Its razor-sharp claws glinted menacingly in the light.

Its piercing wolf eyes, in particular, were locked onto Egg Pancake’s position as it dove.

A pitch-black Light Blade swept down from the sky.

"Squeak squeak!"

Egg Pancake lifted its forelimbs and flung them upward.

A large mass of dark brown mud shot from its claws into the sky, coalescing into a thick slab of rock that blocked the Light Blade.

SHING!

The Light Blade sliced through the rock, diminishing in size, before being shattered mid-air into a shower of black light motes by a swipe from Egg Pancake’s flaming claws.

"SWOOSH!"

A cold light flared in the Cyan Sky Wolf’s eyes.

It then swung its forelimb, slashing in Egg Pancake’s direction.

The light shifted, and two more Light Blades, shimmering with a dense cyan glow, shot out.

The two Light Blades tore through the air with a sharp shriek, flashing before Egg Pancake with lightning speed.

Egg Pancake only had time to form a rock defense.

The Light Blades easily shattered the rock but were firmly blocked by a Crystal Shield shimmering with a frosty white light.

’Extraordinary Level... This is definitely an Extraordinary Level Soul Beast.’ Han Ning’s eyes flickered as he watched the giant wolf that had now landed on the ground.

Beside him, Lü Xiuning was flipping through an illustrated guide. He spoke up, "Cyan Sky Wolf. The evolved form of the Ink Wolf. It controls the Darkness and Wind Attributes."

Yin Yi’s hands shot out scorching cyan Light Sabers that hovered in front of Egg Pancake. Flames danced in her pupils as she quietly watched the giant wolf.

"Egg Pancake, come back. Let Yin Yi handle this."

The gap between the Extraordinary and Awakening levels was too great. A single mistake could get Egg Pancake killed instantly. This was no place for training.

"Squeak squeak!"

Although Egg Pancake was outmatched, its spirit was unyielding. It shot the Cyan Sky Wolf a fierce glare before obediently returning to Han Ning’s side.

"Grrr!"

The Cyan Sky Wolf stared intently at Yin Yi, then suddenly lifted its paw, its body blurring into a cyan afterimage as it dashed forward.

Yin Yi extended her hands, and a brilliant light bloomed from them.

CLANG!!

Green and cyan Spiritual Light Points exploded outward.

A massive wave of Spiritual Energy surged from Yin Yi’s body, erupting from the tips of her Sword Stabs and instantly knocking back the Cyan Sky Wolf in front of the Frost Crystal Wall.

"Ling~"

Then, Yin Yi let out a light, ethereal cry, and ripples spread out from her body.

Hundreds of dark green vines, emitting a faint green light, shot up from the nearby grass and trees, frantically trying to entangle the Cyan Sky Wolf.

Yin Yi waved her small hand again.

A sky full of high-speed, spinning green Flower Thorns formed, indiscriminately cutting off all of the Cyan Sky Wolf’s escape routes and pouring down like a torrential storm.

THWIP THWIP THWIP THWIP~

Even though the Cyan Sky Wolf was fast enough to dodge a batch of vines and Flower Thorns and sever another with its claws, just as it was about to break out of the encirclement of vines...

...something that drove it to despair happened. Yin Yi simply gestured with her hand.

And hundreds more identical Flower Thorns appeared in the sky.

THWIP THWIP THWIP THWIP~

A single Flower Thorn, or even dozens or a hundred of them, posed no real threat to an Extraordinary Level Cyan Sky Wolf.

’Ever since Yin Yi’s Talent Awakened, her control over Wood Type Spiritual Energy has become more and more masterful.’ Han Ning watched the beautiful, shimmering Flower Thorns that filled the sky, marveling internally.

The stream of Flower Thorns was endless, and even though the Cyan Sky Wolf did its best to evade...

SHHH~

...an explosive beam of light grazed its back, instantly searing away its fur and leaving a gruesome, bloody gash.

The verdant light clung to it like a festering poison. It didn’t dissipate, but instead seemed alive as it burrowed into the wound, continuing to destroy the flesh within.

Whimper~

The Cyan Sky Wolf let out a pained howl. Its speed slowed noticeably, its head hung low, and its cyan-and-black body was covered in more and more bloody scrapes.

’Hmm? Something’s not right.’

Looking at the Cyan Sky Wolf, which seemed to have lost its will to fight, Han Ning felt his scalp tingle.

In an instant, he sensed a massive fluctuation of Spiritual Energy.

It wasn’t just him. As a Soul Beast, Yin Yi sensed it a step ahead of him and immediately increased the frequency of her Cyan Wood Radiance and Flower Thorns.

THWIP THWIP~

Suddenly, a thick green beam of light and nearly a hundred Flower Thorns rained down on the Cyan Sky Wolf all at once.

But the Cyan Sky Wolf jerked its head up, a dark violet light, pulsing with a destructive aura, gathering in its mouth.

"It’s the Dark Type Piercing Cannon! Quick—" Lü Xiuning’s pupils dilated as the words left his mouth.

But a flash of green light flickered across Han Ning’s body.

The amount of Wood Type Spiritual Energy surrounding Yin Yi skyrocketed.

The cyan-green blaze of light surged violently, and the diameter of the Cyan Wood Radiance instantly doubled.

It directly suppressed the dark violet pillar of light and shot forward menacingly.

Under the Spiritual Surge, the destructive force of the Cyan Wood Radiance rose to another level.

WHOOM!

The beam swept across the Cyan Sky Wolf’s head, instantly blowing it into a shower of blood and gore.

The Cyan Sky Wolf didn’t even make a sound as its lower body crashed to the ground.

Seeing the Cyan Sky Wolf dead, Yin Yi skillfully flew forward and began to carve up its body with her Sword Stabs. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The Cyan Sky Wolf was a beast-type creature, so its heart was incredibly powerful, meaning the amount of blood pumped from its body was also substantial.

All of this was an abundant source of Energy. Egg Pancake drew near and began lapping up the blood flowing from the Cyan Sky Wolf’s body.

"Ling~"

Just as Yin Yi sliced open the Cyan Sky Wolf’s abdomen with her Sword Stab...

...she suddenly turned her head and cried out to Han Ning behind her.

"What is it?"

Han Ning paused, then walked over and looked where Yin Yi was indicating.

"Huh?"

He saw that the Cyan Sky Wolf’s stomach, which was about the size of a child, was twitching slightly.

Since Yin Yi had torn a small gash in the stomach, a strange-colored, pungent fluid was now pouring out from the opening.

But that wasn’t what caught Han Ning’s attention. He could clearly see something that had been mostly corroded by stomach acid—he could only vaguely make out that it was a head—slowly, bit by bit, emerging from the stomach wall.

"What is that... Egg Pancake, tear the opening wider."

Hearing this, Egg Pancake swiped with its claw. The contents of the entire stomach—food residue and all—spilled onto the ground with a wet splat, contaminating a good deal of the fresh flesh.

SPLAT~

An insectoid creature, about the length of an adult’s arm, fell onto the sullied grass.

"A mantis?"

The creature before them was covered in translucent stomach fluids and scattered bits of food residue.

Probably due to corrosion from the stomach acid, of the mantis’s original three pairs of legs—front, middle, and back—only a single pair of forelimbs remained.

Its long, narrow body and wings were also pitted and scarred, faintly revealing the slowly writhing organs within.

Even though it was afternoon, the light falling from the sky didn’t seem to dispel the chill emanating from its body.

And so, this grievously wounded mantis, which could barely even walk, trembled as it crawled, inch by inch, out from the area contaminated by food residue, struggling toward the green grass ahead, right under Han Ning and Lü Xiuning’s noses.

In the two pitch-black pupils within its compound eyes, Han Ning could somehow read a hint of defiance.

’An Insect Type Soul Beast... a life so resilient, yet so fragile...’

He couldn’t imagine how this mantis, possibly still a larva, had managed to resist the Cyan Sky Wolf’s highly corrosive stomach acid and survive.