parentshiftbook Chapter 36: The Wolf Tide Collapses
Chapter 36: The Wolf Tide Collapses
Lin Yan's movements to prop himself up were extremely slow, each slight shift accompanied by the soft cracking of bones returning to their places, like the whispering of cracked and mended soil as parched earth receives rain again. His head was lowered, his disheveled black hair stuck to his forehead and cheeks with blood that had not yet dried, obscuring his eyebrows and eyes, revealing only his taut jawline and bloodstained, tightly pursed lips.
"Click...click click..."
The fine cracking sound continued, no longer coming from within his body, but rather as if the air, light, and even the lingering stench of blood and despair around him were being stretched and crushed by some invisible force.
When he finally raised his head—
"boom--!!!"
It wasn't a deafening roar, but a silent yet far more awe-inspiring "rumble." It was the surging of power, the subtle resonance of the cosmic spirit stirred by a leap in life's level! Centered on his position, a visible gray-black aura suddenly expanded outwards, sweeping across the ground. Dust, grass clippings, small pebbles, congealed blood clots, and even a few stray wolf furs were all propelled outwards smoothly by this pure and powerful force, leaving a clear, clean ring-shaped mark on the ground.
The wind seemed to have stopped. Or rather, it was dispersed and smoothed away by some kind of force field that naturally circulated around him.
He stood up straight.
He was still covered in wounds; his left arm was twisted, and his right arm was covered with deep, bone-revealing scratches. His chest, ribs, and thighs were almost entirely devoid of intact flesh. Blood soaked through his tattered clothes, dripping onto the ground and pooling into a small puddle. To anyone who looked at him, this was a severely wounded man on the verge of death.
But ironically, no one dared to associate him with the word "near death".
A thin, smoky, grayish-black aura swirled around him. This aura flowed slowly, sometimes like a babbling brook, sometimes like billowing clouds, seemingly gentle yet possessing a serene, mercury-like, and agile quality. Unlike the scorching heat and brute force emanating from a Body Tempering Realm martial artist surging their blood and qi, this aura was more restrained and pure, seemingly containing a deeper power and law.
Liquid true essence, self-protecting and endlessly regenerating—this is the most prominent sign of the Profound Realm!
The blood and grime on his face and body could not obscure the brilliance of his eyes. His once bright and sharp eyes now seemed to swirl with two tiny, gray-black vortexes deep within their pupils, so profound they seemed to draw one's very soul in. Wherever his gaze swept, the air seemed to thicken and become heavy. The townspeople whose eyes met his felt a chill run down their spines, as if gently pressed down by an invisible mountain, a sense of awe rising within them; while the surviving demon wolves, as if targeted by a natural enemy, whimpered, tucked their tails between their legs, and instinctively shrank back.
He broke through. He really broke through. In this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, in this desperate and deadly place, he forcefully broke through the insurmountable barrier that had blocked countless martial artists, ascending from the mortal realm of tempered body to the profound and mysterious realm in one step!
Lin Yan himself was also immersed in a wonderful experience he had never had before.
Within his body, what surged and roared was no longer fiery blood and qi, but a gray-black liquid true essence flowing like a raging river. This true essence was more than ten times more condensed than the previous true qi, each drop containing immense energy. It circulated silently through the meridians, yet contained the potential to move mountains and fill seas. The meridians, which had been cracked by the violent energy during the breakthrough, were now being repaired and widened at an astonishing speed under the nourishment of the newly generated true essence, becoming more resilient and expansive, capable of bearing even greater power.
The most wonderful feeling comes from the perception of one's own life.
When he was in the Body Tempering Realm, he could vaguely sense whether his "Flame of Life" was strong or not; that was an intuitive feeling based on the strength of his physical body's blood and qi. But at this moment, he "saw" it.
It wasn't with his eyes, but with a profound and mysterious introspection and spiritual awareness. In his perceptual "field of vision," a new, more intense, more stable, and more vast "flame" seemed to ignite at the center of his body. That flame wasn't actually burning, but it radiated a warm, vigorous aura that seemed capable of lasting for endless ages. It was rooted in the true essence sea of his dantian, spreading to his limbs and bones, intimately connected with every drop of true essence and every inch of flesh and blood.
Lifespan... has increased. And it's a significant, fundamental increase.
At the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, one's lifespan is limited to about 120 years, and even then, one needs to be free from illness and disaster and maintain proper health. At this moment, Lin Yan clearly sensed that the vigor and stability of his newly formed life force were more than enough to easily support him through... nearly two hundred years!
Two hundred years! That's almost two or even three lifetimes for an ordinary person! This is the most direct blessing brought about by a leap in the level of life. Although two hundred years is just the beginning for cultivators who pursue immortality, for Lin Yan, who struggled on the edge of life and death, it was an earth-shattering change.
Strength, true essence, lifespan, perception... the all-round improvement and transformation allowed him to feel an unprecedented sense of power and control amidst extreme injury and weakness. It was as if his broken body was no longer a constraint, but a treasure trove that had just been infused with infinite potential, waiting to be explored.
Just then, the massive silver corpse beneath his feet let out a final, almost imperceptible wail. It wasn't a sound, but the complete annihilation of some lingering consciousness. Immediately afterward, the shriveled, gray-furred wolf king's body, as if weathered by millennia, rapidly disintegrated and crumbled from the wound on its neck where Lin Yan had pierced it, turning into a cloud of grayish-white powder that fluttered down. In just a few breaths, the Bloodfang Wolf King, which had once dominated Canglang Mountain and instilled fear in Blackstone Town for years, was reduced to a pile of bone dust, and in the center of the dust, a dull, cracked, grayish-black crystal the size of a pigeon's egg, almost devoid of any energy fluctuations—the last remnant of its spirit core, its essence completely devoured.
The wolf king was utterly destroyed, both in body and spirit.
This scene was witnessed by all the surviving demon wolves.
They lost their last sense of the king's breath and witnessed his horrific and humiliating end—being drained of his life force and reduced to ashes!
The fear deep within their blood, like an icy tide, instantly overwhelmed the rage and madness of revenge. Those pairs of red eyes, once filled with bloodlust and violence, were now filled only with boundless fear and bewilderment.
"Waaah..."
The nearest lame wolf let out a fearful howl. It tucked its tail between its legs, its limbs trembling slightly, and began to slowly back away, its eyes fixed on the terrifying human standing amidst the ashes, terrified that he might pounce at any moment.
This mournful cry was like a signal.
"Awooo..."
"Waaah..."
More and more whimpers rang out. The dozen or so remaining demon wolves, whether they were still charging the defensive line or lingering in the rear, all stopped moving. They no longer looked at the "food" behind the defensive line, but stared in terror in Lin Yan's direction, retreating step by step. Some of them, too badly injured or already timid, even collapsed to the ground, emitting weak howls.
Without the wolf king's leadership and the drive of his mad will, these demon wolves, already badly injured and exhausted from last night's battle and today's charge, finally reverted to the most primal instinct of wild beasts when facing an insurmountable natural enemy—to flee!
A slightly larger wolf suddenly turned around and ran wildly back the way it came without looking back.
The rout began.
Like the receding tide, the surviving demon wolves turned in all directions, dragging their wounded bodies, whimpering and howling, desperately fleeing towards the direction of Canglang Mountain. They trampled each other, and even briefly bit each other to fight for a path to escape, all in an effort to get as far away from that terrifying human as possible.
In just a dozen breaths, apart from the dozens of wolf carcasses and bloodstains left on the ground, and the lingering stench and panic in the air, not a single demon wolf remained standing. To the east of Blackstone Town, the wasteland that had been submerged by the black "tide" was once again empty, leaving only messy paw prints and dust kicked up during their escape that had not yet fully settled.
They collapsed. The wolf tide, which had come with overwhelming force and almost destroyed Blackstone Town, completely collapsed under the terrifying pressure of the wolf king's death and Lin Yan's breakthrough, and fled back to Canglang Mountain.
Dead silence.
This time, it was a deathly silence, filled with immense shock and bewilderment, as if the survivors had survived a catastrophe.
At the breach in the defensive line, Shi Hu, with a broken bamboo spear slung over his single arm, propped himself up, staring blankly at the blood-soaked figure standing before the town gate, watching the retreating wolf pack. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The men around him, some sitting, some lying, some supporting each other, all wounded, were equally stunned.
Uncle Zhang collapsed onto the blood-stained, broken wall, the iron hoe in his hand clattering to the ground. He wiped the blood and sweat from his face, only to find his hand covered in a warm, wet liquid—he couldn't tell if it was blood or tears. Butcher Li, Widow Liu, and all the surviving townspeople seemed to have all their strength drained away, staring blankly in that direction.
Su Qingyao slowly lowered the short sword in her hand, its tip touching the ground. She looked at Lin Yan's back, at the dissipating wolf king's ashes, at the fleeing wolf pack, and then at the faces behind the defensive line, filled with shock and disbelief, a surge of indescribable emotions welled up in her heart, a mixture of lingering fear, relief, excitement, and a near-dizzying shock at witnessing a miracle.
Just then, on the eastern horizon, the sun, which had struggled for so long and had been obscured by smoke and blood, finally leaped completely over the horizon.
Ten thousand golden rays poured down without reservation, piercing through the thin smoke and dust that had not yet dissipated, illuminating the battlefield full of wreckage and blood, illuminating the broken town walls, illuminating the frozen expressions on everyone's faces, and also illuminating the figure standing alone in front of the town gate, amidst wolf corpses and ashes, surrounded by a faint gray-black aura.
Sunlight fell upon him, outlining his blood-stained figure with a dazzling golden edge. He tilted his head slightly, seemingly also feeling the warmth of the sunlight. The aura of awe-inspiring power and boundless vitality emanating from him was not obscured in the golden dawn, but rather gained a touch of holiness and majesty.
It's unclear who was the first to have their legs buckle and kneel down in that direction.
Then came the second, the third... like waves of wheat swaying in the wind.
Shi Hu released his bamboo spear, braced himself on one arm, knelt on one knee, and bowed his head. Uncle Zhang struggled to his feet and then slowly knelt down. Butcher Li, Widow Liu, and all the townspeople who could still move, regardless of the severity of their injuries, knelt down in Lin Yan's direction. Even the women, children, and elderly people who were helped to the stone house struggled to bow deeply to the figure who had saved them all and created an incredible miracle, supported by their relatives.
There were no words, only a suppressed, post-disaster gasp, and a silent gratitude and awe that was more profound than any words.
Lin Yan slowly turned around, facing the townspeople kneeling before him. The sunlight stung his eyes, causing him to squint slightly. The wounds on his body healed with a tingling, itchy sensation as his true energy circulated, and the severed part of his left arm was temporarily stabilized by his true energy. He looked at these survivors, their eyes now rekindled with hope, and at this land soaked in blood, yet finally revealing vibrant life in the morning light.
The calamity that befell Blackrock Town has temporarily passed with the death of the wolf king and the collapse of the wolf tide.
Lin Yan's cultivation path, after being baptized in blood and fire and breaking through on the brink of life and death, has embarked on a brand new and broader starting point.
The Profound Realm is just the beginning.
He clenched his fist, feeling the unprecedented power surging within him. His gaze passed over the kneeling townspeople, landing on the silent outline of Canglang Mountain in the distance, and then on the more distant and unknown direction of Qingzhou Prefecture.
The road ahead is still long.
But at least for now, the sun is shining brightly, and new life has arrived.