Volume 2: The Source of Life Chapter 24: Shattering the Soul Seal

  Without a chance to catch my breath, four more spirit wolves pounced on me. This time, the attack fully demonstrated that the spirit wolves were indeed a ferocious and intelligent tribe. They knew how deadly the small knife in my hand was, so they no longer bit at my upper body, exposing their weak necks. Their target of attack was all below my thighs.

  My skinning knife slashes at their tough hides, leaving only fine scratches, although fresh blood flows out ceaselessly, they seem to be unaffected, pouncing again and again.

  After a fierce battle of less than a few minutes, I was already soaked all over, and sweat and blood were indistinguishable.

  In a short period of time, I've swung my blade nearly a hundred times, and now I'm at the limit of my physical strength. The light and agile skinning knife in my hand now feels like it weighs a thousand catties. My body is already covered in countless wounds, and although the pain isn't too great due to my strong nervous control, the blood flowing out can't be stopped, causing my physical strength to rapidly decline.

  The wolf's offensive didn't stop for a moment, whether I was silently defending or roaring to attack. The wolf's tactics never changed, constantly biting my lower body.

  The ground was littered with the bodies of spirit wolves, I don't remember if I killed twenty or thirty heads, but all around were gray and hazy, as if they could never be killed.

  My calf has no intact muscle left, blood gushing out from the severed blood vessels, dyeing my pale leg bones into a crimson hue. I stand there like a bloody person, amidst the surging blood pressure.

  I really want to let out a long howl to vent the stuffiness in my chest, but don't even mention coolly throwing back my head and letting out a long howl. Even if I just take a deep breath for a little longer, my poor leg bones are very likely to be completely bitten off.

  Having lost muscle protection, I can no longer make the surface of my body tougher than that of ordinary people.

  Failure is inevitable anyway!

  At last, taking advantage of my momentary distraction, a sturdy wolf really bit into the slender bone of my small leg, pulling and tugging at it.

  I slashed its eyes with one knife, but the wolf didn't care about its bleeding eyes at all. Its sharp teeth bit into my leg bone and wouldn't let go. I took a deep breath, lifted my other foot which was only bones left and kicked it in the abdomen.

  However, before I could even touch the ground, another wolf's head bit down on my leg. I couldn't hold on any longer and crashed into the bloody water.

  Due to the severe physical damage, the spiritual power of Freedom's Heart surged out as usual and flew towards my incomplete legs. In fact, if it weren't for the help of Freedom's Heart, my physical strength would have collapsed long ago.

  Unfortunately, there were too many Ling Wolves. More than 50 Ling Wolves lost their mobility, but the remaining ones continued to attack relentlessly.

  Two clusters of jade-white light swirled around my calves, repairing my damaged body. However, no matter how fast the repair speed was, it couldn't keep up with the wolf's howls.

  As I fell to the ground, the wolf finally changed its tactic of only biting my lower body and bit towards my chest. The sharp wolf claws were stabbing fiercely towards my heart.

  With a flip of my body, I dodged the fatal blow to my chest and raised my hand for a swift slash. A silver gleam flashed by, and another wolf let out a mournful cry as it fell to the ground.

  But before this spiritual wolf's body had fallen, another spiritual wolf pounced over.

  There's no way anymore, because with the help of a free mind, my physical strength has always been able to maintain a certain level, but the integrity of my body is gradually decreasing.

  My chest was soon clawed out by the wolf's paws, and if I had listened carefully, I could have heard the sound of my heartbeat clearly, as if my heart was about to jump out of my chest.

  The wolf's attack paused for a moment, the silver-gray head wolf looked me up and down, then let out a long howl towards the sky, all the spirit wolves suddenly became excited, frantically biting at me from all sides, launching a general offensive.

  A faint sigh in my heart, I slowly closed my eyes, never expecting that this reincarnation would end with me being devoured by a group of beasts.

  Ha! How ridiculous!

  Even the strongest people have times of failure, let alone me who is still far from being strong, just dying in the wolf's mouth with some unwillingness in my heart.

  However, no matter how unwilling you are, the result will not change due to your emotions.

  I closed my eyes and waited for the dizziness of soul departure to arrive. This feeling, I haven't experienced it in several hundred years.

  At this thrilling moment, a miracle appeared.

  As I was bitten by the spiritual wolf and my body became disfigured, a large amount of spiritual energy flowed out from the Heart of Freedom and surged towards the wound. Clusters of white light enveloped my chest, and surprisingly, these clusters not only repaired my body but also included the pendant that was hidden on my chest.

  That is one of two rings from Peter Dinklage.

  As the spiritual energy accumulated, the ring suddenly started to vibrate slightly. As time passed, the vibration of the ring became more intense, but because I was highly tense and focused on the spirit wolf, I didn't notice this phenomenon.

  At last, just as the wolves were about to pounce and bite, Jingzi shook violently at its peak.

  Bang!

  A burst of flames shot out from the ring, exploding with a loud bang and scattering in all directions. The fireballs hit the Ling Wolf's body, shooting out holes one by one, and waves of pungent smell also spread out instantly.

  The five spiritual wolves that pounced over suddenly fell down, and the rest were all stunned, standing still on the spot.

  For a moment, Ling Lang's attack paused from start to finish.

  I couldn't help but let my arms drop weakly, took a deep breath, and lay down in the midst of the pungent smell of blood. This unexpected surprise was not enough to change my miserable situation.

  "Huh, you're still a Soul Reaper?" A low, muffled voice suddenly sounded in my ear, and then a black shadow flashed by. I only felt my body being grasped firmly by a pair of strong, bony hands, and was swept away to a distant place.

  The wolf pack suddenly became aware and chased after them with a long howl. They absolutely would not allow the brutal humans who had slaughtered half of their companions to escape from under their noses.

  However, the shadow's speed was strange, and I was lifted by my feet, almost off the ground, flying quickly through the mountains and forests.

  In my experience, this person is not actually familiar with the terrain, and their use of muscles is far inferior to mine. However, somehow he moves as if his body has no weight at all, and if I had to make an analogy, it's a bit like walking on clouds.

  In less than a minute's time, the howling of the wolf pack could no longer be heard in his ears.

  Bang!

  I was thrown heavily to the ground by him. Without making any adjustments, I pretended to be weak and powerless, half-propping myself up to look at him.

  This was a thin, middle-aged man who looked like a bamboo pole, wearing a long gown with wide sleeves, and it was impossible to tell his age. His skin was dark and dry, just like the dead old leather. He was very tall, and when he stretched out his two arms, he looked exactly like a cross.

  As I sized him up, he also looked at me, let out a loud laugh and said: "What's wrong, never seen a handsome guy before?"

  His voice was sharp and shrill, somewhat like a eunuch's, but with an added hint of mystery and eeriness that sent shivers down one's spine.

  "Huh?" The strange man exclaimed in surprise, his hands clasped behind his back, staring at me with a very interested expression.

  "What are you looking at?" I knew it was a pointless question, but still asked softly.

  "Little kid, which sect are you from? Why are you so strange?" The weirdo took a few steps closer, looking at the seven or eight places on my body where white hairs were sprouting out of wounds.

  I quickly swept a glance over his head, and a silver lotus flower bloomed brightly, with a hint of golden light flashing by. This kind of lotus flower I had only seen on Tang Ning'er's head before.

  "Silent?" The strange person suddenly gave a cold smile, and his long, thin arm reached out to grab me. In an instant, a chill, dark energy surged into my body through the center of my palm.

  Due to the severe damage to my body, the spiritual energy of Freedom's Heart has been constantly pouring out to repair my damaged physique. As soon as this person's cold and gloomy aura flowed into my body, Freedom's Heart sensed it, and a powerful surge of spiritual energy burst forth from within, directly confronting that cold and gloomy aura.

  "Haha, interesting." All I heard was his strange laugh, without seeing any movement, a strong and cold aura pressed into my body.

  Two strands of spiritual energy were fighting back and forth inside my body, gradually the cold yin energy took the upper hand, causing the spiritual energy that was distributed throughout my body to repair my injuries to also gather together and rush towards the cold yin energy.

  "Useless!" The strange man sneered, and soon after, the Free Heart suddenly trembled, changing from pale red to milky white, and then dimming. From past experience, I knew that the spiritual energy in the Free Heart had been completely consumed. This was inevitable, as the spiritual energy in the Free Heart had already been greatly depleted during the battle with the Spirit Wolf earlier.

  Losing the blessing of spiritual power, my body was bitten by the spirit wolf and became disheveled, instantly transmitting waves of intense pain.

  For this kind of sensory stimulation of pain, I have had coping experience for a long time, but the mental fatigue caused by excessive bleeding in the body is not something that can be made up for by experience.

  A chill ran deep into my eye sockets, and I clearly sensed that the chill was trying to probe into my free heart, but unfortunately, no matter what method it used, the free heart that had always been open to the manifestation of spiritual power simply rejected this chill.

  The thin man let out a few strange laughs, withdrew his hand and suddenly said: "Young one, are you interested in joining my sect?"

  I lay on the ground and slowly shook my head: "Not interested."

  "Not interested? Hehe, you don't have a choice."

  A lean man chuckled and his fingers danced lightly, drawing a symbol-like image in the air that flew towards my crown.

  In my current state, avoiding the obvious delusions, I can only reluctantly accept any actions. Just as the image flew to the top of the sky, a thin man suddenly shouted: "Are you willing to be my soul servant?"

  My mind was a complete blank and I didn't respond at all, but the image still remained firmly imprinted on my brain, refusing to disappear.

  A lean man laughed and said, "Do you think that everyone needs to answer from the heart when it comes to collecting souls?" He paused for a moment before saying lightly, "The original soul servant's imprint has already been broken. It's really laughable that you actually acknowledge someone with such low abilities as your master."

  "Soul Servant Seal... broken?!" I couldn't believe it, he was actually able to break Lin Miao Xian's Soul Servant Seal so easily, and at the same time, lay down his own Soul Servant Seal.

  "Who are you?" I couldn't help but ask in a low voice.