Corpses of wolves—most of them dismembered—were scattered around Zhen, but he felt nothing, as if it was just something natural for him to do.
It seemed like the instincts of a cultivator had taken root within him.
His eyes scanned the ten level 6 wolf corpses and the two at level 7.
He then cut off a small part of the tail of the one closest to him.
"This should be enough as proof. The disciples from that Sect should have some kind of special detection ability," he muttered quietly before continuing to cut off the other tails.
In the battlefield area, he noticed some torn cloth that might belong to someone else. He placed the severed tails onto one of the larger cloths, wrapped it tightly, and moved it into his Inventory.
With that, he would be able to obtain the complete version of the Flying Sword Technique.
"But what is this place?" he wondered, feeling that this ravine was truly unique.
He was sure that some kind of special energy was hidden here, the one that emitted the light at the bottom of the ravine.
"Is it there?" He saw many paths within the ravine, and one of them appeared brighter, so he headed in that direction.
That path was full of bones—he had no idea what kind of creatures they belonged to.
Occasionally, broken remains of weapons could also be seen.
"Mm..." After passing a few turns, his eyes widened as he discovered an extremely bright cave.
How could there be such a brightly lit cave? Zhen almost thought there was some kind of huge lamp powered by electricity, but clearly, that was impossible.
He quickly approached the cave, not considering the danger—only wanting to see what was inside.
"Eh!" At the cave entrance, he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
He saw a Crimson Ravine Wolf inside.
This one stood five meters tall, clearly indicating a much higher level.
More than that, its fur had transformed into blades—something Zhen thought was absurd but was clearly real in front of him.
And that didn't seem to be without reason.
Zhen saw a sword inside the cave. It appeared to be made of light. The glow that illuminated the cave—and the entire ravine—came from that sword.
The wolf was absorbing the aura from the light sword, and it seemed that this was what had caused some of its fur to transform.
DING!
(Crimson Ravine Wolf – Level 8. Equivalent to Qi Master Realm Stage 8 Cultivator!)
DING!
(You have discovered a Tier 4 Sword Soul. You can absorb its aura to gain insights into the sword!)
Zhen received two notifications that explained everything in the cave.
ROAR!
The wolf roared at him as all the fur on its body stood on end. Even the fur that hadn't turned into swords likely had the hardness of one.
Its cultivation being interrupted while it was so close to something so precious, it was only natural for the wolf to be furious at Zhen.
However, Zhen saw this as an opportunity.
"Wolf, let's fight to the death!" he shouted before dashing toward the beast fearlessly.
The wolf, enraged even further, charged toward him as well, trying to slash him directly with its claws—but Zhen countered with his Dragon Fist.
BANG!
Claw and fist collided.
Both were pushed back, but two of the wolf's claws were broken, and the rest cracked.
Even though the wolf was at level 8, that didn't mean it was stronger than Zhen.
However, due to its partial evolution, it possessed additional techniques.
Its fur suddenly launched toward Zhen—among them were the ones that had turned into swords.
They were incredibly fast and came in large numbers.
Zhen felt slightly threatened, knowing it would be difficult to dodge.
His focused eyes distorted space, expanding it so the sword-hairs appeared farther away even though they were still moving toward him.
But this at least bought him some time.
He swung his sword multiple times—each slash producing five strikes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
His sword strikes collided with the hairs and blades, creating countless loud metallic clangs.
In the end, all the hairs and swords were stopped, but three of his slashes remained.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
They struck the wolf, injuring several parts of its body, causing it to stagger.
"Die!" Zhen moved quickly and punched the wolf's head with full force.
BANG!
Half of its head exploded, its brain splattering—clearly killing it instantly.
DING!
(You have killed a Level 8 Beast. You have earned 8 System Points!)
[System Points: 82]
Phew!
Zhen exhaled in relief. Though the fight had been brief, he felt slightly fatigued as he had used Sword Slash too many times, which drained his stamina.
If he hadn't possessed Dragon Qi, using the technique repeatedly would've been nearly impossible.
Zhen then turned his attention to the sword of light, which was apparently the Sword Soul.
Its usefulness seemed unbelievable, but since the system said so, there was no way it wasn't true.
Zhen approached the Sword Soul. It seemed to be alive, as its light continued to radiate without end—yet it also felt as if it would never move.
He tried absorbing a little of the Sword Soul's aura and was immediately shocked—he felt as if he had entered an illusionary world filled only with swords.
That world was filled with sword slashes from countless blades. Upon witnessing the variations of those slashes, he couldn't help but gain countless insights into his Sword Slash Technique.
Without hesitation, he sat in front of the Sword Soul.
It was truly incredible—he could feel his mind working rapidly. No wonder the Red Ravine Wolf had begun transforming its fur into swords just by absorbing the aura of this Sword Soul.
If it had absorbed all the aura from the Sword Soul, it might have been able to freely transform its fur into swords at will—becoming a truly terrifying being.
Fortunately, Zhen had discovered it and killed it, making this opportunity his.
In a short amount of time, Zhen's comprehension of the Sword Slash Technique began to deepen.
He didn't know how much, and he didn't care. He focused entirely on understanding more. The more he could grasp, the better—since it would allow him to unleash more slashes, each one stronger than before.