Chapter 991: Corpse Wolf

One by one, the people searched the caves along the eastern passage.

To prevent mishaps, usually three people would enter a cave to explore, while the others guarded the passage to prevent the Shadow-Ginseng Steed from escaping.

Not long after, they arrived at the small cave where the man surnamed Yuan had discovered the Shadow-Ginseng Steed.

This time, the beautiful woman in black and Bai Yaoyi waited outside, while Han Li and the elderly man went inside to examine it.

As soon as they entered, they noticed something unusual about the cave: the yin wind inside was extremely weak, and there was even a warm feeling.

They found not only some soft sand but also several rare rough warm jade stones piled in a corner of the cave. A faint fragrance lingered in the air, resembling both a medicinal scent and sandalwood, as if a mixture of the two.

Looking down, they could clearly see various messy hoof-like footprints on the ground, though shrunken several times in size.

"Yes, it is indeed the Shadow-Ginseng Steed!" After circling the footprints twice and sniffing the air, the elderly man surnamed Fu rubbed his hands together, clearly excited.

"Since Brother Fu also says so, then there's no mistake. We should pursue it immediately. This passage isn't very wide; it's likely a branching one. We can track it little by little and eventually force it out," the burly man surnamed Yuan said, a hint of flush on his face.

"Hmm, that makes sense. Let's..." The elderly man surnamed Fu nodded, but before he could finish his sentence, a rumbling sound suddenly came, and then all three of them lost their footing as the entire cave began to shake.

Then, roars like crashing waves came from outside the cave, seemingly not far away.

Startled, the three instantly glowed with spiritual light and transformed into three streaks of escaping light, flying away from the spot.

In a flash, they appeared in the passage. The two women looked startled, gazing ahead.

From that direction, footsteps echoed, one after another. It was unclear what colossal creature it was, but each step caused the entire passage to tremble violently. At the same time, the astonishing roars also came from the same direction, clearly from the same entity.

They exchanged glances. Without anyone needing to remind them, they all summoned their magic treasures and looked on with grave expressions.

While others couldn't see too far due to the obstructing black yin wind, Han Li's pupils had already flashed with blue light, and he instantly saw a ghostly creature over a hundred feet away.

He couldn't help but gasp.

It was a giant wolf covered in green fur.

The wolf stood on all fours, about threezhang high, with a head as massive as a small house. Its enormous wolf eyes were blood-red, and its four wolf claws were dark and sharp, like blades.

But what surprised Han Li most was that as the giant wolf roared, clumps of green corpse fire constantly spewed from its mouth. Occasionally, the ice walls on either side, when grazed by these green gases, immediately showed circular grooves of varying depths, glowing green and appearing melted.

"Corpse Wolf!"

The name of this type of ghostly creature immediately came to Han Li's mind. However, ordinary corpse wolves were common ghostly creatures; even if they were larger, they were never this exaggerated. The sheer size of this corpse wolf far exceeded any recorded in ancient texts. Moreover, the aura emanating from this wolf was incomparable to that of an ordinary ghostly creature.

Han Li was about to open his mouth to warn the other four, but as his gaze shifted, he suddenly saw something partially hidden on the giant wolf's head, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"This is... the Spiritual Ginseng Steed!"

"What? What do you mean by that, Brother Han?" The elderly man surnamed Fu turned his head slightly, asking in astonishment.

"A powerful ghostly creature has arrived, and the Shadow-Ginseng Steed should be with it," Han Li replied very concisely.

"The Shadow-Ginseng Steed?"

Upon hearing this, the others immediately showed great joy.

By now, the giant wolf's immense form was vaguely visible in the yin wind. Although they hadn't yet clearly seen the wolf's true appearance, its massive silhouette instantly made the elderly man surnamed Fu and the burly man grimace, their smiles quickly fading.

The beautiful woman in black, her jade face sinking, suddenly flicked her ten fingers, sending more than ten white light spheres shooting out. But instead of aiming at the giant wolf, the light projectiles shot upwards diagonally and exploded in mid-air.

A blinding white light instantly illuminated a large area ahead with unusual clarity, revealing the giant wolf's hideous and terrifying appearance to everyone else.

All four of them couldn't help but change their expressions.

They were all exceptionally experienced individuals, and the wolf's terrifying nature was immediately apparent.

However, in that instant, they also simultaneously saw a white, fuzzy object perched on the corpse wolf's head.

Although its lower body was completely hidden in the green fur, the visible part was entirely a white, tender horse head, with a pair of emerald green eyes staring intently at them.

At this, the group felt a mix of surprise and joy.

"Everyone, be careful not to let the Shadow-Ginseng Steed escape! This Corpse Wolf is likely a mutated ghostly creature. Although it's a bit tricky, it should be easy for the five of us Nascent Soul cultivators to kill it. Fellow Daoist Bai, you just focus on capturing the Shadow-Ginseng Steed," the elderly man surnamed Fu reminded them.

He patted his storage pouch, and a chain-like treasure emitting dark light shot out like a python, coiling swiftly towards the giant wolf opposite.

The others also took action upon hearing his words.

The beautiful woman in black flicked her sleeve, sending three crimson flying swords soaring out; the burly man tapped the jade tablet in front of him, and several winged monstrous scorpions flew out from it, rushing forward; Han Li let out a soft puff, and several flying swords immediately glowed brightly, turning into streaks of golden light that swept forth.

At the same time, Bai Yaoyi flipped her hand, revealing a translucent silk net. With a gentle shake, cold light flickered, and the net transformed into a white mist, directly covering the Shadow-Ginseng Steed on the giant wolf's head.

Although it was the first time the five of them had teamed up, with all their treasures unleashed, the momentum was astonishing.

The Shadow-Ginseng Steed seemed quite intelligent. Upon seeing the attack, it was so startled that it flattened itself even further, hiding deep within the wolf's fur and refusing to show itself again.

Upon seeing so many attacks, the Corpse Wolf's fierce eyes flashed, and its roar ceased. Instead, it opened its mouth wide, continuously spewing out a stream of碧green fire, which instantly transformed into a monstrous green wave to meet the various magic treasures.

For a moment, green flames and treasure light resonated, intertwining.

Neither Han Li's flying swords nor the others' treasures could get within half a step of the giant wolf, blocked by this corpse fire. The few flying scorpions summoned from the jade tablet, unable to dodge, were engulfed by the green flames and instantly turned into green smoke, as if this corpse fire possessed considerable power.

The white silk net, which was supposed to target the Shadow-Ginseng Steed, was also lifted by the green flames and unable to descend. Seeing this, Bai Yaoyi couldn't help but let out a cold snort.

The Northern Night Minor Palace was originally located in an icy, snowy region, and this woman's magic treasures and cultivation techniques were primarily cold-attributed, so she naturally disdained this mere corpse fire.

Before Han Li and the others could react, she formed hand seals, let out a delicate shout, and a sudden burst of spiritual light erupted from her, accompanied by a layer of white frigid air.

A strikingly beautiful crystalline glow enveloped her, making her appear graceful and ethereal, like a celestial maiden of the ice.

The temperature in the surrounding air plummeted instantly. Han Li and the elderly man surnamed Fu were fine, but the beautiful woman in black and the burly man, caught off guard, couldn't help but shiver.

The giant wolf also seemed to sense danger. After taking a deep breath, it suddenly spewed out even more corpse fire from its mouth.

Almost simultaneously, Bai Yaoyi opened her mouth and ejected her ice fan, which then circled once and landed in her jade hand.

Glowing with cold light all over, she gently fanned it towards the Corpse Wolf.

This time, what roared out from the fan was not the yellow wind Han Li had seen before, but a bone-chilling snowy wind mixed with countless ice crystals, sweeping towards the opposite side.

Green and white lights burst forth, instantly engulfing the spiritual light of the other magic treasures, and bursts of explosive sounds continuously rumbled from their collision.

The corpse fire spewed by this Corpse Wolf was indeed extraordinarily potent; even when encountering ice-attributed divine abilities specifically designed to counter it, it showed no sign of being at a disadvantage. Seeing this, a blush flashed across Bai Yaoyi's face, and she felt greatly annoyed. After a slight shake of the ice fan in her hand, it suddenly expanded by more than fifty percent, and the ice wind spewed from it naturally increased greatly in power.

At this point, the elderly man and others, having tested the Corpse Wolf, naturally wouldn't stand by and watch Bai Yaoyi battle this ghostly creature alone.

Immediately, the elderly man pointed at the chain he had previously summoned. With a soft "bang," black flames fiercely ignited on the chain. Then, the chain vibrated, transforming into dozens of identical fire chains, instantly forming a giant fire net that appeared above the giant wolf's head and fiercely descended, like a net cast from the heavens.

The beautiful woman in black, meanwhile, chanted an incantation. Her three crimson flying swords trembled rapidly, then suddenly merged into one, forming a giant sword about a zhang long, which slashed fiercely with surging sword qi.

The burly man surnamed Yuan calmly put away his jade tablet, and a blue gourd appeared in his hand. From it, an exceptionally dense purple mist sprayed out, slowly drifting towards the opposite side, its efficacy unknown.

Han Li, seeing the others unleashing their divine abilities, his eyebrow twitching slightly, casually flicked one of his sleeves, and a red line flashed, disappearing from his sleeve in an instant.

With so many attacks pressing down simultaneously, the giant wolf, despite its formidable abilities, was greatly overwhelmed. As soon as the fire chains and crimson giant sword joined the fray in the air, the corpse fire was immediately pushed back step by step. The dense purple mist was also about to drift over.

Although this Corpse Wolf's intelligence wasn't high, its innate wolfish instinct still made it sense danger. Its body instantly flashed with green light, and its size suddenly shrunk a circle. Then, the coarse, stiff fur on its back bristled, and with a low growl, dense clumps of green light shot out, instantly enveloping all five people.

This somewhat caught them off guard, but they dared not underestimate it and quickly used their divine abilities to block the green light, naturally slowing their offensive. In just this brief delay, the mutated Corpse Wolf suddenly turned around and bolted back the way it came.

At this, the elderly man and the others couldn't help but be stunned.