Cultivation Nerd: Chapter 224 (Patreon)

Chapter 224 - Singing With Wolves

On our third day traveling through this snowy wasteland of a forest, we finally spotted something that might relate to our mission—a broken tree. A light layer of snow clung to its splintered trunk, but it didn’t look old or dead, as if it had only recently been damaged.

All the teams gathered tightly around the tree as though it were some precious relic. For the first time, we gave the image of a team and even got close to each other without too much suspicion. None of us wanted to linger in this icy wilderness, and the weaker members were beginning to feel the strain.

“Should we just head back?” I suggested.

“For a broken tree?” Jie So, the leader of the Jie team, shook his head. “This doesn’t prove anything. We need solid evidence, not just a random fallen tree. It could have toppled on its own after years of wear and tear. We’d be a laughingstock if we returned with this.”

Pride was clouding some people’s judgment. If it weren’t for the current team mash-ups, I’d have pushed on without them.

I decided to let the other clans lead from here on out, though breaking the news to Liu Qian wouldn’t be easy.

I glanced at my cousin. She was intently studying the break in the tree’s trunk.

There was no fur, paw prints, or trace that might explain the tree’s fall—perhaps it was just the relentless cold or an unremarkable wind.

We didn’t linger. With nothing conclusive, we pressed onward.

After days of trekking deeper into the forest, we finally started seeing tracks. Most were wolf prints in the hardened snow, but some were hooves.

Maybe certain beast types—horses or moose-like creatures—had turned defensive. Or perhaps a Thunder Wolf had mutated to hypnotize prey, leading them back rather than hunting them outright.

As we moved deeper and the sun reached its peak, casting stark shadows around us, more broken trees littered the path. It seemed a battle had taken place here, yet there were no beast corpses, frozen blood, or fur caught in the splinters.

This time, we didn’t need to go much farther before a howl sliced through the air, sending a chill up my spine.

Only now did I realize how unsettling a wolf’s howl truly was. If memory served, wolves howled for hierarchy—a call among the pack.

In this world, a wolf’s howl often meant it was lost, searching for its pack. In those times, the wolf's tone was more of a loud, desperate whine. It was a signal for the pack to find it, a plea, not a challenge to the alpha’s authority.

Damn, even wolves in this world seemed to care about saving face. Everything here had its own xianxia twist.

A monstrous beast wolf wasn’t much different from an ordinary wolf, either. But a wild, solitary howl like that was likely a signal of dominance.

There was a strong chance this wasn’t just some low-tier Qi Gathering beast sitting at the bottom of the hierarchy. It had to be a Foundation Establishment-level monster capable of leading its own pack. Since no other howls answered, it was either separated from its pack or a true lone wolf.

All of this knowledge about monstrous beasts flashed through my mind in a split second. But by then, the beast was already upon us.

A massive shadow loomed overhead, and as we looked up, a colossal blue-furred wolf with streaks of yellow through its mane towered over us as large as a bus.

Thunder crackled along the wolf’s body, and I knew instantly there’d be no time to cast an array. In a flash, lightning struck.

Dancing Jade Armor!

I channeled nearly half my Qi to summon a translucent jade dome around myself and my team. The other clans were too far away to reach.

Thunder struck, screams erupted, and my jade barrier shattered, absorbing just enough of the attack to give us time to jump back as Liu Bo and Liu Heng dragged the twins out of danger.

With a ground-shaking crash, the wolf slammed down, its enormous paws crushing two members of the Jie Clan before they could react. Bones splintered under the impact, blood splattering across the pristine snow and leaving dark, violent stains. The forest was filled with the iron scent of blood and the beast's low, menacing growl.

“Run!” I shouted, and the wolf’s icy blue eyes swung toward us. In an instant, lightning surged, and it hurled another bolt in our direction.

I raised another jade barrier, this one thinner, barely using any Qi. It held just long enough to collide with the lightning bolt, causing both to explode.

That had been a gamble on my part, betting that the lightning as a lazy energy would explode on impact rather than pierce.

The blast kicked up a thick mist of snow around us. While it wouldn’t fool a monstrous beast who could sense Qi, it gave us the cover we needed to bolt, creating distance without looking back.

As for the other teams, only the sounds of thunder and distant screams trailed behind us. With any luck, they’d be strong enough to buy us a bit more time.

“What… what was that?” Liu Bo stammered, his voice shaking.

“That was a true Foundation Establishment beast... one that’s mastered its element,” I replied grimly.

Technically, I’d faced a Foundation Establishment beast before—the gorilla during the last beast wave. But that one hadn’t developed an element yet.

Depending on their bloodline, monstrous beasts faced different challenges in cultivation. During Qi Gathering, they were mostly instinctual, mindless creatures, relying purely on animal instincts. But reaching Foundation Establishment required them to choose an element, a mental leap that was much harder for beasts than for humans.

Without a bloodline like the Thunder Wolves, a beast wouldn’t typically gain such instinctual abilities. Even if one brute-forced its way to human-like intelligence through raw power, it would face a grueling process in choosing an element. Unlike humans, monstrous beasts at this stage lacked access to libraries or teachers to guide them; a poor choice could doom them to stagnation at the lower levels of Foundation Establishment.

I had learned countless theories like these during my studies on monstrous beasts, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on them.

With no time for anything but survival, we ran like hunted animals. Eventually, we were so far that the crackling of thunder faded into silence. Or perhaps the beast had dealt with the other teams and would soon turn its attention toward us.

No, the other teams had members at peak Qi Gathering; they wouldn’t be taken out so easily.

I’d already expended a large portion of my Qi in that first defense and didn’t dare consider a fight with that monstrous wolf.

We ran until the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the landscape in hues of fading gold and violet. Yet, even as darkness settled and the chill of night wrapped around us, we didn’t stop. The vast, star-strewn sky arched above while we pushed forward, our breaths forming faint clouds in the cold air, steps pounding rhythmically on the snowy ground beneath us.

By dawn, our pace slowed, but we pressed on relentlessly. The first light cast a faint glow over the snow-covered world. Just as exhaustion threatened to overtake us, we stumbled upon something unexpected.

Rising before us was a hill, cloaked in snow, with a vast, dark opening carved into its face—a cavernous mouth, wide enough for giants to pass through as if it had once been the home place of ancient titans. A frozen river stretched out before this gaping cave, its surface glassy and smooth, catching the early sunlight and glinting like a sheet of crystal.

We were still some distance from the hill, able to see it from afar thanks to our keen eyesight. As we paused and looked around, the adrenaline from last night’s chase began to ebb, and we could finally take in the scene around us.

The trees thinned as we approached, giving way to a clearing littered with still, ominous shapes. Blue-furred beasts lay scattered across the snow, their massive bodies frozen in grotesque poses, each marked by deep gashes and smears of dark, dried blood on the ice. The cold had preserved them in an eerie, lifelike stillness, their fur frosted over and faintly catching the morning light. Even in death, their forms were imposing, claws and fangs visible beneath a thin layer of ice that had begun to encase them. The clearing was hauntingly silent, the air dense with an unspoken warning, as if whatever had slaughtered these creatures still lurked nearby, hidden within the shadows of this desolate, frozen expanse.

“What happened here?” Liu Heng asked, frowning.

“Maybe some territorial fight… or a strong cultivator came through and tossed them around,” I replied.

Answers weren’t often served up on a silver platter. While I didn’t enjoy being in the dark, I wasn’t about to risk our lives just to find out what had gone down here.

“We escaped in the wrong direction and ended up deeper in the forest,” I noted.

When the Thunder Wolf attacked, we didn’t have time to choose the best path for escape.

“Well, now we’re between a rock and a hard place,” Liu Bo muttered. “If we go back, we might run into the one who almost wiped us out. We can’t go forward, either—this looks like a wolf nest. Our best bet is to skirt the sides and hope we don’t run into something worse.”

“We could also take our chances in the sky,” I suggested. “Flying would cut down travel time.”

Liu Bo, Liu Heng, Liu Qian, and I all had flying swords in our storage rings. Liu Qian probably had her flying sword stashed in her ring as well. As for our twin cousins, two of us could carry them, each taking one.

Of course, there was a reason cultivators hesitated to fly during beast waves or in unknown territory. Flying monstrous beasts were insanely dangerous, with a serious advantage in the air. Plus, we could easily stumble upon a flock of them up there.

“We’ll go with your plan,” Liu Qian agreed. “It’s risky, but it’s still the best option. Besides, taking another route would add days to our journey—and we’re already worn out.”

Ultimately, we agreed: Liu Bo and Liu Heng would each carry a twin, I’d prepare to cast a barrier if needed, and Liu Qian would keep watch, buying me time to cast if necessary.

With our plan in place, I retrieved my flying sword—a blade with a snow-white hilt, its edge emanating a faint chill.

Balancing atop it, I went through the motions to activate a barrier, holding off on the final step. This time, if we were ambushed like before, I’d be ready.

We began to rise, watching as the snow-covered trees shrank beneath us, fading into the endless white backdrop.

Ascending higher, we broke through misty layers until we soared above the clouds, leaving the world below buried beneath a blanket of soft, unbroken white. Up here, the sky stretched vast and open, clear except for the thin, biting chill of high altitude. With a shared nod, we shot forward, each of us channeling our Qi to blaze a path through the high altitude. The wind whipped past in a fierce, icy rush as we cut through the open sky.