On the second night, Chen Wu was on patrol again with Su Ling along the eastern perimeter of Iron Stone Village.
The moon hung half-full above the trees, casting just enough light to see the treeline clearly. Everything was quiet.
Perhaps too quiet.
Chen Wu's hand went to his sword. "Su Ling—"
"I felt it too."
They both stopped and stood perfectly still.
Then they heard it.
A deep howl rolled out from the forest, somewhere two hundred meters away.
Not a normal wolf. The sound carried power. Spiritual energy spread through the air, making it tremble.
"Alert the others!" he shouted.
Su Ling was already moving. She pulled out a signal flare and sent it shooting into the sky, it exploded in bright red light.
The howl was answered with multiple voices. Dozens of them, coming from different directions and they were surrounded.
"Back to the village!"
Chen Wu turned and ran. Su Ling moved with him, both racing through the narrow streets.
Other disciples were emerging from buildings, weapons drawn.
Lamps flickered to life inside the houses as villagers woke in confusion, voices rising, panic spreading through the dark.
Lin Mei was already at the center, organizing. "Defensive formation! Zhao Wei, Liu Chen, get the villagers into the reinforced hall! Everyone else, prepare for—"
The first wolf burst through a building wall.
It was massive. Chen Wu had fought beasts before and had seen wolves in the wild. Normal wolves were maybe waist-high at most.
Yet, this one stood as tall as a horse. Its shoulders were broader than a man's body—fur black as night and eyes glowing with faint spiritual energy.
A fully grown Iron Fang Wolf, a beast whose strength rivaled that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The beast let out a roar, revealing its large fangs.
At this time, Yang Kai was closest to the beast, he noticed the opportunity, and raised his spear, with the tip of it piercing through the air, right into the beast's throat.
But the beast abruptly turned left, its claws tearing across Yang Kai's shoulder and driving him several steps back with a pained cry.
Chen Wu's sword flashed out. He stepped to the side and slashed down at the wolf's flank.
Blood spurted out.
The wolf howled, a sound twisted between pain and rage.
The answer came immediately. Five more wolves burst out from different directions, crashing through buildings and leaping over walls.
"SPREAD OUT!" Lin Mei shouted. "Don't let them surround us!"
The battle erupted into chaos. Chen Wu found himself facing two adult iron fang wolves at once, one of which feinted left while the other attacked from the right, forcing Chen Wu to barely block the strike until his sword met claws with a shower of sparks.
Su Ling was beside him with her own blade flashing until she caught one wolf across the face, subsequently making it retreat with a yelp.
But more were coming. So many more.
Smaller wolves - young ones, flooded into the village. They were still huge, each one the size of a large dog. And there were dozens of them.
Zhao Wei and Liu Chen, the two outer disciples, were trying to protect the villagers while fighting off the young wolves. But they were being overwhelmed.
"Liu Chen, watch your left!" Zhao Wei screamed.
Too late. A young wolf clamped onto Liu Chen's leg. He screamed and fell on the ground. Then three more piled on top of him.
Yang Kai abandoned his fight and rushed over, spear stabbing. He managed to kill two of the wolves before the others scattered.
Liu Chen was bleeding badly but alive.
Chen Wu couldn't think about that. The two wolves in front of him pressed their attack.
One lunged for his throat. He ducked and rolled, then came up slashing.
The blade bit into its front leg, cutting deep. The beast howled and staggered back.
The other wolf seized the opportunity and lunged while Chen Wu was off-balance.
However, Su Ling's blade intercepted it. She'd moved so fast Chen Wu barely saw the strike. Her sword pierced the wolf's side, killing it in seconds.
"Pay attention!" she snapped at him.
"Thanks—"
Another howl cut through the air. Louder than the others and different.
Everyone froze for a moment after seeing where it came from.
"An Alpha."
It walked into the village center deliberately slow like it owned the space.
It was enormous. Twice the size of the other adult wolves. Scars crisscrossed its body—marks from countless battles.
And its eyes... they held intelligence, radiating with power equal to Core Formation realm cultivator.
The other wolves immediately backed away and made space for their leader.
The Alpha looked at each of the disciples in turn assessing and calculating. Then its gaze settled on Lin Mei, growling at her.
She realized the danger had shifted toward her. But she didn't stop. She still launched herself at the Alpha, her sword blazing with spiritual energy.
The Alpha met her charge head on. They clashed in the center of the village, the impact sending shockwaves through the ground.
Chen Wu didn't have time to watch. More wolves were attacking now. The young ones had regrouped and the remaining adult iron fang wolves were coordinating their assault.
He fought alongside Su Ling, back to back. Their blades moving in rhythm.
Minutes blurred together. Strike. Block. Dodge. Kill.
Chen Wu's arms were burning. His essence reserves dropping. And around him, he could hear the others fighting, screaming. This was worse than he'd expected, much worse.
Through the chaos, he caught glimpses of Lin Mei and Yang Kai fighting with the Alpha.
Both were barely holding their own. Yet, the Alpha was faster than something that size should be.
"We need to help her!" Su Ling gasped. She'd just killed another adult wolf but was breathing hard.
"The others can't handle the pack alone—"
"If they fall, we're all dead!"
Chen Wu looked around quickly. Zhao Wei and Liu Chen were protecting the villagers.
But Su Ling was right. If the Alpha killed Lin Mei and Yang Kai.
"Yang Kai!" Chen Wu shouted. "Replace your position with me and su ling, hold the pack with the others?"
Yang Kai glanced over. His face was covered in blood.
"Go! We'll handle it!"
Chen Wu and Su Ling disengaged from the pack wolves. Sprinted toward where Lin Mei and Yang Kai were fighting.
The Alpha saw them coming. Its eyes tracked their movement even while blocking Lin Mei's strikes. Intelligent, dangerously intelligent!
"Formation!" Lin Mei shouted. " Don't give it room to maneuver!"
Chen Wu moved left. Su Ling to the right and Lin Mei to the center. They attacked simultaneously from three directions.
The Alpha couldn't block all three. Lin Mei's sword caught its shoulder. Chen Wu's blade slashed across its hindquarters and Su Ling's strike opened a wound on its flank.
The Alpha howled and spun in a circle, snapping at all of them.
They retreated, then pressed in again.
It was working but slowly. The Alpha was taking damage and bleeding from multiple wounds.
But it still wouldn't go down. If anything, it was becoming more aggressive, more desperate.
"Its core!" Lin Mei shouted. "We need to strike its cultivation core! Normal wounds won't be enough!"
Chen Wu understood. Beasts who had reached this realm had cultivation cores located near their hearts. If they could destroy that…
But getting that close meant getting into range of those massive jaws.
"I'll create an opening!" Lin Mei said. "When I do, both of you strike together! And aim for the chest!"
"That's suicide!" Su Ling protested.
"It's our only chance!"
Lin Mei didn't wait for agreement. She launched herself at the Alpha with a desperate strike. Her sword aimed directly at its face but the Alpha caught the blade in its jaws.
KACKH.
The sword shattered immediately causing Lin Mei's eyes to go wide. And at the exact moment, the Alpha's paw came up and struck her across the chest sending her flying. She crashed into a building wall and didn't get up.
"Lin Mei!" Chen Wu screamed.
The Alpha now turned toward them, glaring at both with its bloody eyes.
Su Ling and Chen Wu stood side by side. Both were breathing hard and low on qi.
The Alpha stalked toward them again, confident, its teeth bared.
That was when Yang Kai appeared from the side, his spear thrusting toward the Alpha's ribs.
The Alpha twisted at the last moment, its jaws snapping shut around the spear shaft. It yanked hard.
Yang Kai was pulled off his feet.
The Alpha's free paw came down and plunged straight through Yang Kai's leg; immediately, a crunch of bone echoed over the battle's chaos, yet Yang Kai's scream was even worse.
Still holding the spear in its jaws, the Alpha shook its head violently, dragging Yang Kai across the ground.
His leg—
Chen Wu couldn't see clearly. Or he didn't want to.
The sheer amount of blood showed that Yang Kai's leg had been torn away, ripped from his body like paper until the Alpha finally released the spear and dropped the limb.
It then simply stood over Yang Kai's screaming, convulsing body and looked at Chen Wu, Su Ling with what could only be described as satisfaction.
This is what happens when you fight ME—or at least that's what those eyes said.
Chen Wu's hands were shaking so much that his sword felt impossibly heavy while Yang Kai's screams were getting weaker as he slipped into shock.
The pack wolves were still fighting, still pressing the attack.
Lin Mei was unconscious or dead and the Alpha was just getting started.