Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Specter Wolf

There was another noticeable item found during the fight. When Li Qing had been pinned down by his enemy and almost died because of it, he mustered all his strength and used his Ivory Edge to scrape off a patch of wolf skin from his adversary, which turned into another reward.
[Bloodstained Skin]
[Level: Ordinary Rank-5]
[Rarity: Refined (Offering)]
[A bloody trophy gained through a life-and-death struggle against a Blue Wolf. The proof of a human warrior’s great courage.]
Ji Ye was glad to find another offering item from a general-rank creature, but not a boss. Previously, he thought defeating boss monsters was the only way to get more of them. He had just been proven wrong.
This new offering item combined with the Heart of Enlightenment Lu Zhishen gained from the killed “Eagle Man” meant that they could finally perform a summoning ritual and welcome another hero at the settlement.
Ji Ye suddenly received a message in his head.
[Killed Steelback Blue Wolf (Extraordinary Rank-1, Quasi-Commander) EXP gained: 235. Honor gained: 4.]
“Oh, it died?”
It wasn’t surprising, since that piercing wound was more than enough to sap its remaining life in a few moments. Even if the wolf had something to recover its health, it couldn’t do anything about the lethal blood loss.
“Chief Lu, let’s check the wolf’s cave.”
“Of course, master.”
“Yup, there it is.”
Ji Ye and Lu Zhishen cautiously peeked into the entrance and saw the body of the alpha wolf
lying still deep inside. Its hard fur had softened up due to its weakened condition. Several glowing item spheres were already there.
I guess I was being too careful then. Ji Ye tossed a stone inside the cave and didn’t find other signs of activity.
The cave wasn’t big. With Lu Zhishen following closely, he quickly approached the dead wolf and eagerly checked the first orb that looked pale white.
[“Septwolves” men’s underwear x4]
[Level: Extraordinary Rank-0]
[Rarity: Superior]
[Comfortable undergarment hand-woven using the softest, selected fur found on a Blue Wolf’s belly. It won’t come off or break apart no matter what kind of dire situation the wearer is in. *Will change size according to the user’s shape-shifting abilities]
Ji Ye read the description with a blank face and didn’t know what to say about it. Thankfully, no one else saw what he was holding.
Without a word, Ji Ye put the orb away and reached for the second orb in view. But as soon as the tip of his finger reached it, he quickly retracted his arm when he saw something black coming from the wolf’s body that carried the stink of blood.
The dark mist grew thicker and gathered into the shape of a large wolf that looked just as bloodthirsty and deadly as the alpha wolf when it was still alive.
[Specter Wolf]
[Level: Extraordinary Rank-1]
[Quasi-Commander]
[Upon death, the Steelback Blue Alpha Wolf channeled all of its remaining life force inside a special treasure, creating this powerful fallen spirit fueled by pure malevolence and resentment that sought nothing other than revenge.]
The wolf’s soul unleashed a maddened howl, before it charged at the entrance of the cave, where Ji Ye and Lu Zhishen were already retreating.
“Die, beast!” Lu Zhishen took a step forward and raised his hands.
Boom!
His glowing fist successfully landed on the coming wolf and created a muffled explosion sound, causing the soul to break apart into smaller clusters of black air. Some of the clusters latched onto the towering warrior’s exposed skin, causing him to shudder all of a sudden.
“Look out, master, don’t touch these things! They have something that taints your very soul!”
It seemed Lu Zhishen was resisting the strange effect just fine thanks to enhancement he had received from the serpent’s soul. Besides, he was currently a full-fledged Commander of Extraordinary Rank-2, which meant he was a rank higher than the wolf’s soul.
“So this thing had special abilities only after death?” Ji Ye muttered.
Slowly, the broken parts fused into one and became whole, before it once again lunged at Ji Ye’s position.
Ji Ye lifted his Black Serpent Sword high in the air and slashed down, cutting the soul from the middle, causing more “black air” to seep out again. He wasn’t affected in any way when the sword helped him absorb some of the pollution.
There was a problem though. He knew that the superior effect of the sword had a limit. It would soon exhaust its power and when that happened, the weapon would need some time to recover. Telling from how the wolf soul returned again without losing any of its “mass,” they had yet to figure out an effective way to kill it.
Ji Ye looked further and saw more black mist being pumped out from the dead body, which in turn increased the soul’s size. As he watched, the soul’s rank became “Extraordinary Rank-2.” And this probably wasn’t the end of it.
“Let’s get out, Chief Lu. Since it’s a fallen spirit of some sort, I doubt it can do well in sunlight.”
“I don’t think it’ll work, master. It’s not an ordinary soul of a dead beast, but something worse supported by the wolf’s dying will. Light alone won’t be enough to get rid of it. Besides, we can’t risk taking it outside the cave. It would put our other comrades in danger.”
“Damn. Killing the wolf was easy. I didn’t think it would give us so much trouble afterwards…” Ji Ye complained while dissipating the soul again with his sword.
“Wait…”
When the soul came close, he noticed that it was gazing at his sword rather than himself.
“It wants something? The blood absorbed by the blade?”
He just remembered that the sword had drained a large amount of wolf blood during the previous fight. The “black gas” that had built this soul seemed to be made of blood as well. If so…
“Blood…”
Ji Ye’s eyes flickered as though he had thought of something.