Crack. Crack.
Under Wu Lian's horrified gaze, Wu Tian used his sharp fangs to gnaw on the severed arm, crushing flesh and splintering bone.
The scene was bloody and savage beyond imagination.
Wu Lian stood frozen, fire poker in hand, a chill shooting straight up her spine to the crown of her head.
"Grrr!"
Wu Tian let out a low growl.The arm—now nothing more than a pile of mangled flesh and shattered bone—fell from his mouth and hit the ground with a dull thud.
At the same time, two streaks of light shot out from his mouth and landed heavily in front of Wu Lian.
A six-foot strand of Yin Soul Thread.And a Wind-Resonance Stone.
"Mad… completely mad!"
The blood-soaked ground, her husband's agonized screams, the arm reduced to pulp—
Wu Lian's entire body trembled uncontrollably.
"Beast! Monster!"
Her eyes turned red with rage as she raised the fire poker and swung it wildly at Wu Tian.
"Woof! Woof!"
Wu Tian glanced at her, flashed aside, and lifted his head to the sky, letting out a long canine howl.
His fur was drenched in blood, and he had taken a solid blow—but he felt indescribably exhilarated.
Favors and grudges were troublesome things.
Sometimes, turning completely hostile was far more refreshing.
As he howled, Nether Qi surged through his body and poured into the sound-transmission talisman belonging to Wu Xia'er.
With a sharp bang, the talisman ignited.
In moments, it burned into ashes and scattered across the ground.
"Ah—ah—ah—! It hurts! It hurts so much!"
Wu Lian's fury boiled over, and she nearly lost herself, wanting nothing more than to beat this vicious dog to death.
But Huang Ren's screams snapped her back to reality.
She no longer dared to deal with Wu Tian.
Rushing to her husband's side, she looked at Huang Ren's deathly pale face, his body drenched in blood, and the missing arm.
Tears poured from her eyes.
"Senior Brother Liu! That beast has gone mad—please help us!"
Today's instructor at the Teaching Hall happened to be Liu Yusheng, the enforcer who wielded the Soul-Cleaving Hook.
He was a Core-Forger realm cultivator and had refined the Soul-Cleaving Hook—a weapon built purely for slaughter.
Among the three enforcers of the Teaching Hall, he ranked first.
Hearing the screams from the neighboring dining hall, Liu Yusheng rushed over immediately.
By the time he arrived, Huang Ren lay in a pool of blood, his severed arm nearby.
The scene was horrifying.
"Wicked beast—seeking death!"
Liu Yusheng was furious.
He did not care where this white dog came from.
It was nothing more than a beast—and yet it dared cause chaos within the sect and maim a disciple.
This was a capital crime.
With a furious shout, he flicked his wrist and unleashed a streak of dark light.
That dark light was the Soul-Cleaving Hook.
The weapon resembled a hook forged from iron, handleless and pitch-black, flying at terrifying speed.
As it tore through the air, it emitted a shrill, ghostly shriek.
A sharp sense of danger exploded in Wu Tian's mind.
Without hesitation, he activated Wind Escape.
His body rolled, stepped onto the wind, and shot away.
The Soul-Cleaving Hook swept past him, missing by a hair's breadth, then arced through the air and returned to Liu Yusheng's hand.
Wu Tian ran upon the wind, moving at terrifying speed.
Wind Escape was a high-tier talent comparable to spells.
Core-Forger cultivators who had not yet refined true techniques were, in some ways, inferior to spirit beasts possessing such abilities.
"Woof! Woof!"
Wu Tian barked joyfully, feeling lighter than ever.
Even the wind swirling around him felt more alive.
The Yin Soul Thread promised to Wu Lian had been returned.
The Wind-Resonance Stone belonging to Wu Xia'er had also been given back.
Huang Ren had once been forced by him to pass messages to Wild Dog Cave.
Today, losing an arm was payment enough.
Their grudges were settled.
Wu Tian had no intention of staying.
His blood-stained claws retracted into their sheaths.
He moved gracefully upon the wind—light, agile, unhurried.
Even with a Core-Forger cultivator pursuing him, he remained calm.
Like a tiger or leopard strolling through the forest—free and unrestrained.
Seeing his attack fail and the beast escape right before his eyes, Liu Yusheng's face turned ashen.
"Beast! Where do you think you're going?!"
As he shouted, the Soul-Cleaving Hook flew out once more.
By now, disciples from the Teaching Hall had gathered after hearing the commotion.
Among them was Fei Tianyun, whom Man Xiong Mu had once brought back from the mountain.
She recognized Wu Tian at a glance.
The white dog's snow-like fur was far too striking.
"It's him! That beast who tackled me down the mountain!"
"Stop him! Stop him! I'll skin him alive!"
Fei Tianyun was the daughter of the chief of Demon Cloud Village.
Among the Teaching Hall disciples were seven or eight others from the same village.
Hearing her words, their eyes lit up.
The white dog had injured someone, and even Enforcer Liu was enraged.
If they captured it, rewards from the sect were guaranteed.
Even disciples not from Demon Cloud Village were tempted.
But Huang Ren's blood-soaked, miserable state frightened many.
Those who truly dared act were few.
Still, more than a dozen disciples drew their weapons—blades, swords, staffs—and closed in from all sides.
Wu Tian's gaze remained cold.
He dodged the Soul-Cleaving Hook's slashes and sweeping arcs with ease.
With Wind Escape, he moved freely.
No matter how sharp the hook was, it meant nothing if it could not hit him.
Hearing Fei Tianyun's shrill shouting, Wu Tian fixed his eyes on her.
He remembered how, in the past, he had to avoid her carefully whenever he came to the dining hall.
A surge of dark intent rose in his heart.
"So you've delivered yourself to me…"
The wind beneath his feet curved.
Carried by the gale, his body changed direction midair like a white rainbow streaking across the sky.
In an instant, he was before Fei Tianyun.
She had been on the mountain for over a year and had not even completed basic foundation training.
Seeing Wu Tian charge toward her, she froze.
"A—ah! No! Help!"
Only now did she realize—
She was no match for this white dog.
Overwhelming terror flooded her mind.
But it was far too late.
A fierce gust swept through.
A white blur slammed her to the ground.
Sharp claws snapped out of their sheaths.
Rip!
Blood splattered.
Fei Tianyun's face was torn open by several vicious claw marks, as if her skull itself were about to be pierced.
Blood streamed down her cheeks.
It was a horrifying sight.
"AAAAH! It hurts! It hurts so much!"
Pampered since childhood, she could not endure such pain.
After one scream, she passed out cold.
"Die! DIE! You wretched beast!"
Liu Yusheng was completely enraged.
With a wave of his hand, his cloak transformed into a massive two-zhang-long serpent.
The giant snake flicked its tongue and lunged at Wu Tian.
True energy poured violently into the Soul-Cleaving Hook, which sliced through the air, screaming with ghostly shrieks.
"Everyone else—get out of the way!"
As he spoke, Liu Yusheng formed hand seals and cast Profound Yin Arrows.
More than ten arrows tore through the air toward Wu Tian.
Wu Tian leapt off Fei Tianyun's body, leaving several more bloody wounds with his claws, and calmly dodged the giant serpent's gaping jaws.
But the Profound Yin Arrows fell from all directions.
At the same time, the Soul-Cleaving Hook circled in ambush, waiting for him to dodge—
Then strike.
Wu Tian transformed into a streak of white light and darted beside the serpent.
He bit straight through its scales.
Then he activated the Devour Ghost talent.
The imprisoned soul within the serpent trembled violently.
For a brief moment, the massive body froze.
In that instant, Wu Tian flipped and hid beneath the serpent's body.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
More than a dozen Profound Yin Arrows slammed down.
Some pierced straight into the ground, leaving finger-thick holes.
Others embedded themselves in the serpent's flesh.
The chilling Yin energy coated the ground in a thin layer of frost.
The serpent's body was torn apart by the strikes.
"So this is the power of a spell driven by true intent…"
Wu Tian's eyes narrowed.
He had to admit—
Spells empowered by intent were truly formidable.
Buzz—buzz!
His ears twitched.
He heard the Soul-Cleaving Hook tearing through the air.
"Wicked beast—die!"
Liu Yusheng's Soul-Cleaving Hook had already been waiting.
At this moment, it descended without hesitation, shrieking like a ghost.