The next day, the three cultivators had returned back to the campsite.

They seemed relatively exhausted as if they had just been in a big fight.

There was indeed an early essence foundation spider who broke through.

It was taken care of by the three cultivators as they fought with it for about half a day.

By the time the fight ended, the sun had already risen.

The group of cultivators decided to set off midday instead, letting the three rest.

It seemed that the three of them also got some rare herbs that were in the cave itself.

It was indeed a beneficial trip for them.

Meanwhile, Liu Xun himself was given a small vial that contained the spider's blood.

Senior Qin was kind enough to grab a portion of the blood that contained the most refined qi for him.

Liu Xun was thankful.

Poisonous beasts tend to have corrupted beast qi that would be difficult to digest.

That would not be the problem here though thanks to her consideration.

It was a valuable sample of essence foundation blood that could easily overpower the gains he had gotten from the lizard before.

--

By noon, the campsite was cleared and the group began to head off towards the orchid basin. They could have stayed another day since the day was already half over. However, this trip was on a very limited time for some of the seniors and they had other tasks that require their attention.

There could also possibly be other complications that delay the process.

The group thus moved with a slightly hurried pace.

Advancing towards a visible jungle area in the distance.

The plan was to reach near the entrance zone by nightfall before setting up a smaller makeshift camp.

It would make sense since it would be dangerous to camp in the jungle, yet it would be unwise to not shorten the journey duration considering they are likely to be camping inside there over the next few days.

--

It was deep into the night.

The group had finally arrived within a visible distance from the jungle.

Its official name was the Western Jin Vermillion Jungle.

There were quite a few Essence Foundation beasts that lived there, some of which were stronger than the seniors themselves.

However, most of these beasts are strongly territorial. If the group chooses to thread by the peripheries, they are unlikely to meet up with these beasts.

Looking at the new zone that was bordering the group.

Liu Xun raised his guard.

Though they were still outside the jungle, once in a while some beasts would leave the jungle to hunt prey.

He would rather not be caught unprepared.

The senior cultivators themselves are not as worried due to their wider search ranges, but for Liu Xun and the other juniors, it was largely the unknown.

To trust someone else was to put your life in their hands.

That sounds fancy but in reality, would be foolish in many circumstances.

If there was a threat that the seniors are unable to handle, the first ones to be bait would be them.

The chances of that happening are low though, and a cultivator has to take risks to gain experience.

Liu Five volunteered to be the night watch as the other three cultivators were still exhausted from the fight yesterday.

Everyone had no qualms with his opinion and was even thankful for it.

--

"Wake up, everybody! Enemies are approaching!"

A loud hoarse voice could be heard echoing throughout the night.

It came from Liu Five.

The rest of the cultivators woke up and began to arm themselves.

"How many are there?"

Senior Qin asked.

Liu Five stood from a vantage point as he gazed into the distance.

"About four li¹one li is about 500 metres away, 20 green dire wolves. Most of them are about the fifth to the sixth level of qi gathering."

He said out in a serious tone.

"Oh fifth to the sixth level, you say? Why not throw some to your juniors as battle practice. Just about two of them will do. The rest can be split between the four of us."

Senior Gan said in a casual tone.

Senior Qin nodded in agreement and Xuan Tie just walked forth to the approaching beasts as if he had no opposing opinions.

Liu Five himself was not too worried as the Liu juniors have already reached the fourth stage and have trained in weapon skills and movement arts, the only exception would be Liu Xun which he assumed only got his ax weapon art which he personally thought was not such a great skill.

The consequences are unlikely to be dire as it was four cultivators against two wolves anyways.

--

Two wolves charged over in the direction of the juniors.

"Ohhhh, my first live fight. I am getting kind of jittery. Say Liu Xun, are you nervous? How about Ruoxue, getting the cold feet yet? Do not worry, this big brother will be here to support you guys. Do not worry with me around..."

Langsheng began rambling off again even as the tension was rising.

It seems no one was in the mood to listen though.

Liu Xun slowly brought his ax to his side as he went into a neutral position, waiting for a chance to make a move.

Ruoxue stood beside Waner, the former was holding a sword while the latter held a whip.

They were in a defensive position as they watched the wolves approach.

Both of them covered each other's back.

The fatty himself was wearing a pair of knuckle bracers, a rather unconventional weapon as well. It was mainly made for body cultivators.

He smacked his fist against his other hand.

One could see the excitement that was filled in his eyes.

The two wolves gave a glance at each other.

Looking at the choices of prey, they decided to split up.

One of the wolves charged towards Liu Xun.

The other decided to run up against the pair.

"Oh come on, you guys aren't any fun."

Langsheng complained as he charged towards the wolf that was heading towards Liu Xun.

Liu Xun was the weakest in the group after all.

--

The dire wolf approached the young man.

It quickly bent its knees as it approached.

Then it sprang off its hind legs.

The wolf did a lunge towards Liu Xun.

Howl.

A loud howl echoed out as a sound wave flew towards Liu Xun.

The sound wave traveled fast as the wind blade aimed towards his neck.

Liu Xun placed his ax blade in front of him as he prepared to brace the impact.

Swooosh...Boom!!

The wind blade connected against his ax blade. Liu Xun jumped as he activated the Blade Shaft Guard skill. Directing qi into his weapon to reinforce it.

The force of the wind blade sent him flying backward.

This opened the distance between them.

The wolf was rather surprised as it did not expect Liu Xun to both block and gain distance.

It continued its relentless charge nonetheless.

On the other side, Liu Xun gave a quick spin mid-air to gain momentum and convert part of the opposing force from the wind blade as his own.

The ball of his left foot then landed on the ground as qi was directed to his feet.

He crouched down like a spring.

Bam. A burst of speed was released as the qi exploded beneath his foot.

He broke into a sprint forward to the wolf.

Grrrraaaaaahhhhh!

The wolf roared out in anger as it could sense the puny cultivator that was weaker than it actually charging at it fearlessly.

It was a beast of the sixth stage of qi gathering. Its opponent feels more than a stage or two lower than it. Yet, that being dared to face it!

The wolf bared its fangs as its mouth opened wide. 

A faint gleam of beast qi could be seen on the two large fangs, threatening to tear Liu Xun to shreds.

Liu Xun slowly swung his ax upwards towards the pouncing wolf.

Rising Serpent Uppercut!

The ax blade came into contact with the pair of large wolf fangs.

A strong collision ensued.

The force between the two beings was not equal, the wolf was stronger than Liu Xun.

It was not overwhelming different thus Liu Xun could still hold his ground as he held on against the wolf's pressure.

And for the side twirl.

Liu Xun redirected the force to the edge of his ax blade as he made a spin in the same direction.

This parried the fang charge by the wolf as it confusedly missed Liu Xun.

Wham!

The wolf received a large punch to its flank as Langsheng slammed his left fist.

The wolf was sent flying before quickly crashing on the ground a few feet away.

Uwuuuu...

The wolf whimpered as it tries to stand up.

Unfortunately, the last blow was to the lungs as it found itself at a loss of breath.

"Hehe, take my storm collapsing fist strike!"

Langsheng chuckled as he launched a rain of fists towards the weakened wolf.

Wham!Bam!Bam!Crack!Wham!Wham!Bam!

Heavy hits land on the wolf which started cracking its bones.

Liu Xun also decided to join in the beat-up.

He gave an upward jump as he brought his ax overhead.

A swing descended from above.

Smash.

A loud force was heard as the ax smashed down on the vulnerable wolf.

The wolf's body immediately caves upon impact.

Its body struggled for a brief moment, then fell limp.

The first victory as a duo.

Liu Xun was satisfied with the result.

"Wow, you did great back there! I cannot believe you took that blow to the face and still appeared unharmed. You even dared to fight face to face with the wolf despite its cultivation level is much greater. This one is very impressed."

Langsheng looked over as he said excitedly.

"Look, the other two over there are also done. Though the wolf they managed to slay was a fifth stage rather than the sixth stage like ours. We worked pretty well as a team, don't you think?"

Liu Xun rolled his eyes as he could not afford to be distracted by this chatterbox.

He quickly took out his blood-collecting gourd to fill it with a new source of beast qi.

The quantities and quality are much weaker than the Red Nuo Monitor, looks like it was an inferior beast.

It makes sense since these wolves only hunt in packs.

Strength in numbers.

--

The two young women were gathering by the corpse.

Both of them were rather relaxed as they started to scavenge valuable spoils.

It seems that they had the easier fight.

--

The seniors themselves were slaughtering the wolves with relative ease.

Senior Qin swung her sword forward as each slash cuts down a wolf.

A faint while slash could be seen before the wolves were launched to the ground.

--

Senior Xuan holds his coffin forward as he rammed a wolf up into the air.

Slash.

A sickle swung down as the wolf was torn apart mid-torso.

Three other wolves jumped towards him, baring their fangs.

However, their attempts were halted by a huge coffin as they were thrown back by the large man.

--

Senior Gan, on the other side, was standing with two small mirrors floating behind his back.

The mirrors launched small beams at the wolves.

A wolf leaped towards him as it avoided the mirrors.

Senior Gan was calm though.

Stretching out his hand.

A ball of flare gathered in his palm.

The fireball flew and engulfed the beast.

It was burnt to shreds.

"Fireball."

A calm voice said as he patiently looked for his next target.

--

Liu Five was mainly swinging a saber as the blade cuts into each wolf.

Two other wolves jumped towards him from two different directions.

One from the east, while the other, west.

"Hmph."

His sword slashed towards the left.

Swoooosh.

A small dagger flew out from under his right sleeve.

Both wolves stood no chance.

He then walking to his next target.

Swinging at each wolf.

Occasionally,  launching out small daggers from under his sleeves.

Each dagger felling one prey.

--

It was only a short while after that the battlefield was cleaned up.

Only one or two wolves managed to survive and escape.

The rest were just corpses on the ground.

The party then harvested the valuable materials before going back to rest.

The night resumed its quietness.

Mysticant

Aren't group battles just fun. The perspectives do get a bit messy once many people fight a single target though. Like boss fights. This is adventure is kind of the feeling one gets being a rogue cultivator before joining a sect.

Incoming jungle subarc:

Western Jin Vermillion Jungle