Chapter 40

The silver-colored Wolf King looked at Qin Shan's statue with reverence, gently licking it, his movements cautious and careful.

Qin Lie's eyes were wide open as he watched the crouching Wolf King, then looked at the statue in his hand, finally understanding that it wasn't an ordinary Silver-Winged Magic Wolf that recognized the statue, but the King of the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves!

His tense nerves finally relaxed at this moment, giving him a sense of survival after a great calamity.

Ling Yushi, Ling Feng, Gao Yu, Liu Yan, and the others had pale faces, staring blankly at the terrifying magic wolf right before them, feeling as if their brains had short-circuited, utterly shocked by the scene before them.

"Whine whine..."

The silver wolf king growled softly a few times, then looked at the statue with a lingering gaze, slowly retreating.

"Ao howl!"

Another loud and stirring howl echoed, and it finally turned around, dashing towards the Ice Fragment Manor like a silver lightning bolt.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Its broad silver wings spread out, dazzling white blades like sharp knives shot out from its wings, all landing in the defensive circle of the Ice Fragment Manor.

"Bang bang bang!"

A series of explosive sounds came in quick succession, those white blades, formed from condensed energy, almost shattered the defensive lines constructed by the Ice Fragment Manor.

Many of the Ice Fragment Manor's martial artists were hit by those white blades, their flesh and blood splitting apart as if they were being flayed alive!

Even Yan Dewu showed fear, seeing it join the battle, a chill ran through his heart, and he urgently said, "We can't hold them off, scatter and break through, whoever can survive, survive!"

All the martial artists of the Ice Fragment Manor were terrified, immediately dispersing their formation and fleeing in panic like stray dogs.

Before the Wolf King joined, the Ice Fragment Manor's tight defensive line could still withstand the magic wolves' attacks, and the defense was well-organized with no major casualties.

However, when this third-stage Wolf King officially joined the battle, everything changed. Its combat power alone was enough to tear apart all of the Ice Fragment Manor's defenses!

Yan Dewu, at the middle stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, knew he absolutely could not match this Wolf King. In this situation, continued defense was a dead end, and only by scattering and fleeing could there be a glimmer of hope for survival.

—His order was not wrong.

At this moment, the martial artists of the Ice Fragment Manor, pursued by the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves, scattered and fled. Several were quickly bitten and torn to pieces, and when their clothes split open, many Fire Crystal Stones rolled out.

Seeing those Fire Crystal Stones, the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves became even more ferocious and brutal in their pursuit.

"Fire Crystal Stones, no wonder the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves are so fiercely attacking them. There's another reason behind it," Qin Lie thought, and hurriedly whispered to Liu Yan, "If you have Fire Crystal Stones or Sun Yang Jade, don't show them, don't let the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves see them!"

"Why?" Liu Yan, recovering from his shock, asked with a puzzled look, paused, and then said, "The Fire Crystal Stones on the Ice Fragment Manor's martial artists were mined by us earlier. When we fled from the Tianlang Mountain, I distributed those Fire Crystal Stones to the Gao family's martial artists. After they were killed, the Fire Crystal Stones were taken by the Ice Fragment Manor..."

"That Tianlang Mountain is the den of the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves," Qin Lie replied.

Liu Yan instantly understood and hurriedly looked at Gao Yu, signaling him to be extremely careful.

Gao Yu frowned, impatiently saying, "I'm not stupid!"

"Qin Lie, why, why did the Wolf King treat Grandpa Qin Shan's statue like that?" Ling Ying's face was flushed with excitement as she asked, "What's so special about your statue?"

Qin Lie shrugged, calmly saying, "I'm not quite sure."

"Hmph! So stingy, unwilling to say anything, keeping it all mysterious!" Ling Ying pouted, angrily saying.

"Regardless, the fact that we've managed to survive this far is all thanks to Qin Lie!" Liu Yan smiled brightly, patting Qin Lie's shoulder and saying in a friendly tone, "Rest assured, I've seen your contributions. Once we return to the pavilion, I will report everything in detail! Heh, just based on the casualties of the Ice Fragment Manor, you'll have earned a great merit!"

Ling Yushi and the others from the Ling family were all elated, their faces breaking into smiles.

Gao Yu grunted, seemingly somewhat dissatisfied, but didn't say much more.

"Now that the Ice Fragment Manor is fleeing in all directions, at this rate, the number of survivors from this trip... won't be many," Qin Lie carefully observed the situation with the Ice Fragment Manor.

At this moment, the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves, led by their king, were chasing and killing the martial artists of the Ice Fragment Manor everywhere.

The all-silver wolf king was closely following Yan Dewu, already chasing him into the dense forest, determined to exterminate him completely.

One by one, the martial artists of the Ice Fragment Manor were being torn apart and killed after their formation broke, the scene was too gruesome to bear.

Because the Wolf King had given instructions beforehand, no Silver-Winged Magic Wolf attacked Qin Lie's group. They would actively avoid this area, and Qin Lie, unsure of the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves' ability to distinguish humans, also told everyone not to scatter and chase the Ice Fragment Manor, to avoid confusing the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves and being mistaken for prey.

Everyone just watched coldly, seeing the martial artists of the Ice Fragment Manor scream in agony, being torn apart and killed.

The group, who had been chased and fled in a panic, now watched the gruesome deaths of the Ice Fragment Manor's martial artists with satisfaction.

Half an hour later, there were no more Silver-Winged Magic Wolves in this area, only over twenty blood-soaked corpses and the gathered Qin Lie and others.

"The Ice Fragment Manor's martial artists should have a lot of good things on them," Liu Yan smiled faintly and suddenly said, "It looks like the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves won't be back for a while. Well, everyone, go ahead and search. Whatever you find, you can keep, I'll pretend I didn't see it."

Upon hearing this, everyone cheered, screaming as they rushed to the spots they had already identified, ignoring the gruesome scene, excitedly collecting the spoils of war.

The Silver-Winged Magic Wolves were only interested in fresh flesh and blood, and had no interest in the weapons, spirit pills, spirit materials, or spirit stones on the dead bodies. This trip, the Ice Fragment Manor's martial artists were all under Yan Dewu's command, and each of them had some cultivation materials, which was very attractive to small forces like the Ling family and the Gao family.

In the past, small forces like the Ling family and the Gao family would also be arranged by the Nebula Pavilion to fight enemies.

However, after each victory, the spoils of war could not be privately kept, but had to be first handed over to the Nebula Pavilion for tallying, and then rewards would be distributed based on merit, casualties, and contributions.

A situation like this, where the Nebula Pavilion did not intervene at all and all the spoils were left to the finders, was very rare.

Therefore, not only did Ling Xin and Ling Xiao rush out in wild joy, but even Ling Yushi and Ling Ying, ignoring the gruesome scene, joined the looting without fear of getting blood on their clothes.

Among the group, only Gao Yu and Qin Lie did not move, still standing with Liu Yan.

"Qin Lie, why aren't you going?" Liu Yan was surprised and couldn't help but ask.

Gao Yu, as the young master of the Gao family, was much wealthier than the Ling family. His two sisters were in the Nebula Pavilion and had helped him collect cultivation materials over the years, so Liu Yan was not surprised that Gao Yu didn't care about those things. However, he was puzzled by Qin Lie's indifference.

The Ling family was one of the most impoverished and struggling among the Nebula Pavilion's vassal forces...

"The Ling family has all gone, so I won't join in. Anyway, only one person from the Gao family went, so the Ling family will definitely have a bountiful harvest," Qin Lie said calmly, smiling, and then earnestly said, "Brother Liu, the den of the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves is on Tianlang Mountain. Every May and June, they go to the Sacred Rock in the depths of the Extreme Cold Mountains to pay homage to the Ice Wolf King, and return in July. If the Nebula Pavilion really wants the Sun Yang Jade, please wait until they leave next year before mining..."

This time, the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves saved everyone's lives, and the way the Wolf King looked at his grandfather's statue made Qin Lie believe that the Wolf King greatly respected and loved his grandfather. Therefore, he didn't want the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves to be killed one by one during the Nebula Pavilion's mining of the Sun Yang Jade.

"They go to pay homage to the Ice Wolf King?" Liu Yan's face turned serious, and he asked in a low voice, "Are you sure?"

Qin Lie nodded.

Liu Yan took a deep breath, his brows deeply furrowed, and said, "I will report this to the higher-ups. If it's true as you say, I think... the Nebula Pavilion must abandon the mining of the Sun Yang Jade. Even if the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves are gone in May and June, we won't go to Tianlang Mountain again."

"Why?" Gao Yu, who had been silent, asked with a cold face.

"Just the Silver-Winged Magic Wolves alone are a headache for the Nebula Pavilion to deal with, and we must report to the Senluo Hall and rely on its power to safely mine. Of course, if we mine after they leave next year, we won't need the Senluo Hall."

After saying this, Liu Yan fell silent for a moment, then shook his head and laughed bitterly, "But if they are descendants of the Ice Wolf King, then... forget it. Not just us, even the Senluo Hall might not dare to offend them."

"The Ice Wolf King has that much influence?" Gao Yu was astonished.

Liu Yan nodded, saying helplessly, "I'm not entirely clear on the specifics, but the higher-ups have ordered us to bypass the deep snow peaks and glaciers when passing through the Extreme Cold Mountains, and not to disturb the cultivation of those powerful spirit beasts, and the Ice Wolf King is one of the most powerful spirit beasts in the depths of the Extreme Cold Mountains!"

After a moment's thought, Liu Yan added, "I only know that this order was passed down to us by the Senluo Hall, but the Senluo Hall... is not the final authority."

"Who issued the order?" Qin Lie was also shocked.

"The Senluo Hall is only a Black Iron-level force. Although it commands the Nebula Pavilion, the Ice Fragment Manor, and other forces, it... also needs to rely on others, just as we rely on it for cultivation and survival," Liu Yan said with a bitter smile. "The forces that can issue orders to the Senluo Hall are too far beyond us. Such forces... are out of our reach. We don't need to think too much, we just need to follow the orders from above, because only by doing so can we survive. Otherwise, if we make a mistake, we might be completely wiped out."

Qin Lie and Gao Yu listened silently, a sense of awe rising in their hearts, their understanding of the brutal rules of different levels of forces in this world deepening even further.

...

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