Wen Jingshu's longsword grazed its back. The sharp sword qi instantly tore through its tough hide, leaving a bloody gash from which demon blood immediately welled out.
Driven into a frenzy by the pain, the Wind-Howling Wolf whipped its head around. Three even more condensed and wider green wind blades rapidly materialized in its maw. Whirling and howling, these blades were far more powerful than the previous ones. Carrying a destructive momentum, they shot straight toward Wen Jingshu's face and vital points.
Weng Jingshu lightly tapped her toes against a tree trunk, flipping through the air to glide several feet on the wind. She quickly swallowed a Rejuvenation Pill and a Qi-Recovery Pill to restore her stamina. Channeling her lightning element, she managed to perfectly dodge two of the lethal wind blades. She deflected the third, but the residual impact sent a jolt of pain through her chest, forcing a mouthful of blood from her lips.
Not daring to pause, Wen Jingshu threw out handfuls of Thunder-Attracting Talismans and Exploding Talismans to disrupt its vision. Her wood immortal root flared to life once more. This time, countless vines surged from all directions. No matter how sharp the Wind-Howling Wolf's claws were, its legs were firmly ensnared.
Seizing the moment while the Wind-Howling Wolf was immobilized, Wen Jingshu unleashed the first stance of the Thunder Brake Sword Art, Cloud-Falling Thunder Strike. Sword qi infused with overbearing lightning attribute slashed heavily at the Wind-Howling Wolf's weak spot. At the same time, because lightning countered wood, many of the vines she had conjured were blasted apart.
Fortunately, the strike hit home. The Wind-Howling Wolf collapsed to the ground, heavily wounded. Summoning her last ounce of strength, Wen Jingshu finished it off.
Wen Jingshu dropped to one knee, propping herself up with the hand holding her longsword so she wouldn't collapse completely.
By now, she was completely drenched in blood. Gasping heavily for air, she hurriedly swallowed several pills.
With the enhancement of her mutated wood immortal root, her entire body glowed with a faint, lustrous green spiritual energy. Within ten breaths, her external injuries were mostly healed.
The pills she consumed were all supreme-grade. In less than fifteen minutes, Wen Jingshu's condition had fully restored to its peak.
Since a battle had just taken place here, the surrounding demon beasts didn't dare approach for the time being. Wen Jingshu cast a Cleansing Spell, changed into a fresh set of clothes, put away the Wind-Howling Wolf's corpse, and quickly left the area.
Not long after she departed, four people arrived at the scene.
One of them, a petite woman, stepped forward to investigate the area. “Senior Brother, this blood belongs to a Wind-Howling Wolf! Someone snatched my wolf!”
Hearing this, the leading early-stage Golden Core Stage cultivator frowned in displeasure. “A Wind-Howling Wolf has immense combat strength. Judging by the scale of this battle, the killer must have been injured too. Let's search around. We must find that Wind-Howling Wolf's corpse.”
They had originally come to capture a contract demon beast for their junior sister, only for someone else to slay it first.
However, even if it was already dead, they had no intention of letting the Wind-Howling Wolf's corpse slip through their fingers.
A Wind-Howling Wolf's fur could be used to make talisman brushes, its pelt could be crafted into robes, its blood was the best medium for drawing talismans, and its meat was rich in spiritual energy, making it perfect for cooking spiritual food.
With a bit of refining, its bones could serve as excellent formation stones, and even its teeth could be fashioned into defensive magic treasures.
A single wolf like this could be sold for five hundred mid-grade spirit stones—even completely unprocessed!
“Yes!”
The other three responded and scattered to search for the culprit.
Meanwhile, Wen Jingshu had found a hidden cave. After tossing down an illusion formation plate and a shielding formation plate, she began to review the battle she had just fought.
First was her wood immortal root. It had a robust foundation, but she lacked any corresponding offensive cultivation techniques.
Still, even her most basic Entangle skill could trap a low-grade third-rank demon beast for a few seconds, which was enough to prove its heaven-defying quality.
Second, the lightning attribute naturally countered the wood attribute. When her lightning struck, the vines were blasted directly into fragments. She would need to be careful when using combo attacks in the future.
Finally, there was the shortcoming of her Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation. When fighting a third-rank demon beast, she easily ran low on spiritual energy. Fortunately, she had pills to replenish herself. Without even using her life-saving trump cards, she now had no major issues taking on a low-grade third-rank demon beast by herself.
Three days later, Wen Jingshu concluded her secluded cultivation. Stretching lazily, she flew on her sword to the nearest town, Shanbin City.
Shanbin City was bustling with cultivators traveling to and from Jiangyuan Valley for training. As a result, the town was packed with pill shops, talisman shops, spiritual artifact shops, and spirit beast shops.
There were also shops that specialized in purchasing spiritual plants and demon beasts.
Weng Jingshu inquired at a few places to get a general idea of the prices. She then found a reliable-looking shop named Zhenbao Pavilion to sell off her pile of “junk.”
The shopkeeper was a male cultivator at the seventh layer of Qi Refining. He did not look down on Wen Jingshu just because she was a female cultivator. The two of them walked to the open space in the backyard, where Wen Jingshu waved her hand, instantly summoning a mountain of demon beasts.
Sensing the dense ripples of spiritual energy, the shopkeeper's eyes widened. This was especially true when he saw the Wind-Howling Wolf resting right at the top of the pile, its eyes still wide open in death. Even though it had been dead for a few days, he could still feel the pressure radiating from a low-grade third-rank demon beast.
“That's all of it,” Wen Jingshu said.
Her voice snapped the shopkeeper out of his daze. He hurriedly ordered an assistant to bring over a table and chairs for her, serving tea and snacks as he said:
“Senior, you have returned with quite a bountiful harvest this time. The inventory might take some time to tally. Please have a seat and wait for a moment.”
To be able to kill a low-grade third-rank demon beast, her cultivation had to be at least at the half-step Golden Core Stage!
She was well deserving of being addressed as “Senior.”
Wen Jingshu had no objections to this. She sat to the side and watched him count, casually picking up a pastry to taste.
“One Gale Rabbit. Pelt is eighty percent intact, blood is eighty percent preserved, meat is fresh. Eighty low-grade spirit stones.”
“One Blazing Chicken. Pelt is fifty percent intact, blood is seventy percent preserved, meat is acceptable. Seventy low-grade spirit stones.”
“One Hurricane Rat...”
“One Ground-Tunneling Mole...”
“Five Three-Colored Giant Ancient Fish...”
...
The shopkeeper and three assistants appraised the items as they sorted them. After waiting for half an hour, Wen Jingshu saw that they hadn't even finished a tenth of the valuation. She decided to head over to Jiuchuan Pavilion first.
This pavilion was similar to a mortal escort agency combined with an intelligence network. One could hire people to transport goods, deliver packages, buy and sell information, post missions, or issue assassination bounties. It was the largest service-oriented organization in the Eastern Azure Continent.
Wen Jingshu wanted to send the Xuanyuan Tripod to Wen Shuyi, but she felt that delivering it in person would be a waste of time. It would be better to spend some money to have Jiuchuan Pavilion deliver it.
The young woman at the entrance counter was busy with some paperwork. Sensing someone enter, she spoke without even raising her head:
“Counter one for cargo escorts, counter two for package delivery, third floor for buying and selling information, fourth floor for hiring assassins, and window seven for accepting missions.”
Wen Jingshu looked around. In the massive first floor, there were at least fifty to sixty cultivators coming and going, with people crowded around almost every window.
“I need a special escort.”
Hearing that someone wanted a special escort, Linglong couldn't help but look up at Wen Jingshu.
“Special escorts start at two hundred top-grade spirit stones. May I ask if Fellow Daoist is certain you want to request a special escort?”
Wen Jingshu nodded. Seeing that this was a major transaction, Linglong quickly broke into a smile and said, “Please follow me to the top floor, Fellow Daoist.”
Compared to the bustling scene below, the top floor was practically empty. There were actually more staff members of Jiuchuan Pavilion than guests here.
Linglong led her into the largest private room. A moment later, a black-robed cultivator appeared before her.
Wen Jingshu sensed his pressure. This person was actually a cultivator at the early stage of the Body Integration Stage!
An early-stage Body Integration Stage cultivator was actually just a courier?
Rate on N.U.
