Book One: First Show of Prowess — Chapter One Hundred: The Bait, Breaking the Deadlock

Two hours had passed.

The man drove Wang Jue and the bun-haired girl into a narrow canyon, then, paying them no further mind, began setting traps all around. The thick stench of blood pervading the air made both Wang Jue and the girl exchange uneasy glances, a chill creeping over their bodies.

Instinct told them that something—a presence no weaker than the terrifying martial artist before them—dwelt in the vicinity.

Was it human?

Or...

Wang Jue's mind churned with suspicion, and the unease in his heart grew ever more pronounced.

Just then, the bun-haired girl suddenly moved closer and whispered in an extremely low voice, "Hey, don't say I didn't warn you. If you want to live, you'd better seize the opportunity when it comes."

"Hm?"

Wang Jue shot her a puzzled look, not quite understanding what she meant.

But to his surprise, he caught a rare look of genuine fear on the bun-haired girl's face.

That sight only deepened the unease in his heart.

Wang Jue lowered his voice and asked, "Tell me honestly—what do you know?"

Before the bun-haired girl could speak, the man had already strode over and unceremoniously kicked both of them, nearly shattering their bones.

Looking down at them, the man said, "Don't try any tricks. Stay put and behave. I've laid traps all around—don't test my patience!"

With that, he slipped straight into the shrubbery at the mouth of the canyon and vanished as if he had never been there.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Wang Jue coughed violently as he slowly dragged himself up from the ground, paying no heed to the dust on his clothes. His eyes, brimming with murderous intent, remained fixed on the direction the man had gone.

Thinking back to the man's words, the unease in his heart surged stronger than ever. He quickly turned his head toward the bun-haired girl, hoping to glean some information from her.

The girl said nothing. Her face covered in cold sweat, she was methodically snapping her dislocated left arm back into place, bone by bone.

Seeing her endure it all without making a sound, Wang Jue couldn't help but regard her with a measure of newfound respect.

About three minutes passed.

"Phew..."

The bun-haired girl sat on the ground, panting heavily, and slowly produced a vial of medicinal liquid from her clothes, which she drank.

Wang Jue silently averted his gaze. While regulating his breath, he also took the opportunity to survey their surroundings.

"Enough. Don't bother looking. These aren't ordinary traps—the man must come from a top-tier adventure troupe. Otherwise, he couldn't have set up something this intricate."

Suddenly, the bun-haired girl's voice came from one side: "Don't even think about trying to break through them. Even a martial artist at the Red Star Mirror would lose their life if they weren't careful."

Wang Jue frowned and asked, "Since you can recognize them, do you have a way out?"

The bun-haired girl fell silent. After refining the medicinal liquid within her body, she gradually recovered much of her mobility.

Then she rose to her feet in one motion and cast a wary glance toward the canyon. "This is the core zone of Blood Wolf Valley. You can feel it, can't you? The star force here is so dense it's practically vaporized."

"Yeah, of course I can."

Wang Jue nodded, gazing at the canyon shrouded in a haze of blood-red mist. As if a thought had struck him, he said in a grave tone, "I'm guessing he wants to use us as bait to lure his prey out."

"I saw your expression earlier—you know what star beast lives here, don't you?"

At first, Wang Jue had thought some powerful human expert dwelled here, but after hearing the girl call this the core zone, he realized it wasn't a person at all—it was far more likely a formidable star beast.

"You're smarter than I took you for."

The bun-haired girl glanced at him. "Blood Wolf Valley is divided into eight zones. We're in the first. Each zone is teeming with countless blood wolves, and the one who commands them all is the Blood Wolf King."

"In fact, every zone in Blood Wolf Valley has its own Blood Wolf King. All of them are at the Red Star Mirror, and even at the same realm, star beasts are stronger than humans."

"For martial artists at the Orange Star Mirror, a Red Star Mirror Blood Wolf King is roughly equivalent to a third-rank star beast. Even though their value ranks among the top of third-rank beasts, very few people bother to hunt them."

"A Blood Wolf King isn't like other star beasts—it's constantly surrounded by a pack of blood wolves. Once you're caught in the middle of the pack, all that's left is death."

"I see."

Wang Jue nodded in sudden understanding, then asked curiously, "But what I don't get is, why doesn't the safe zone send powerful martial artists to kill these Blood Wolf Kings?"

"That comes down to the blood wolves' habits. A Blood Wolf King spends its entire life guarding its own territory—that's the biggest reason they survive."

The bun-haired girl shook her head. "Besides, comfort doesn't just kill a person—it can destroy an entire safe zone. And right now, the real experts in the safe zones are all dealing with more dangerous star beasts. They barely have any hands to spare. No—even if they could spare the hands, they still wouldn't wipe out the Blood Wolf Kings."

"I refuse to believe you haven't noticed. Blood wolves are worth a fortune, yet the number of people who actually dare to come to Blood Wolf Valley isn't even a tenth of those who practice martial arts."

"Why?"

"Either they don't have the strength, or they're too afraid to die!"

At that, the bun-haired girl said with a serious expression, "The truth is, the big shots in the safe zones simply don't want to eradicate Blood Wolf Valley. In their eyes, its continued existence serves as a training ground for low-level martial artists like us."

"True experts aren't forged through cultivation—they're forged through killing."

In that moment, Wang Jue finally understood. So this was intentional on the safe zone's part.

In an era like this, where martial arts reigned supreme, the safe zone could protect you for a moment, but not for a lifetime. If you wanted to live without want, you had to fight for it with your life!

The strong devour the weak; survival of the fittest.

Wang Jue thought of the disciples at the Extreme Martial Hall—those who had actually set foot in Blood Wolf Valley likely numbered fewer than the fingers of one hand.

Most of them were nothing more than flowers raised in a greenhouse, fragile and easily broken.

Still, he was rather surprised that such words had come from this girl's mouth.

Having gotten the information he wanted, Wang Jue didn't know what to say for a moment, and the bun-haired girl seemed to have said all she intended to say.

The two fell into silence, quietly regulating their breathing.

After all, they were both injured.

If what the bun-haired girl said was true, and they really were being used as bait, then to increase their odds of survival, they had to recover their strength as quickly as possible.

After all, no one knew what might happen in the next second.

...

To give credit where it's due—

The man was shrewd. He hadn't completely crippled Wang Jue and the bun-haired girl; instead, he'd left them with half their strength.

His intention was for them to put up at least some resistance against the Blood Wolf King, buying him more time.

However, as far as Wang Jue could sense, the man's presence was growing fainter and more distant.

Had he gone far away?

Probably. He didn't want the Blood Wolf King to catch his scent and grow wary.

Sensing that the man had left, Wang Jue stopped regulating his breathing, stood up, and slowly crept to the edge of the trap zone. Staring at the traps buried all around like slumbering steel beasts, he felt an itch to try his luck.

The bun-haired girl noticed the commotion on Wang Jue's side and opened her eyes, an odd, unreadable look on her face.

Her eyes darted around for a moment, and driven by instinct, she crept closer.

"ROOOAR!"

At that moment, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from within the canyon.

The next second—

A massive blood wolf, over ten meters in length, sprang out from above the canyon.

Aside from being larger than the other blood wolves, this one radiated a far more menacing aura than the rest. A faint golden pattern marked the center of its brow, its four limbs were thick and powerful, and its fangs were razor-sharp and elongated.

The man, concealed in the distance, narrowed his eyes at the sight of the Blood Wolf King's emergence, a gleam of bloodthirsty excitement flashing through them.

"Heh heh heh... finally, the beast shows itself..."

...

At the same time—

Seeing the Blood Wolf King suddenly leap out from atop the canyon, both Wang Jue and the bun-haired girl were stunned frozen.

This was the Blood Wolf King?

It was likely the first time either of them had encountered such a terrifying beast up close—and to make matters worse, as bait. The shock in their hearts was immense.

Wang Jue felt the overwhelming, heaven-shaking murderous aura radiating from the Blood Wolf King, as well as the presence of the man who had supposedly left but was now rapidly closing in again.

During this period, what Wang Jue had improved most wasn't his raw strength, but his practical combat experience and his grasp of timing.

The moment he sensed the man's approach, he knew the opportunity had come.

Whether they could turn this around all depended on now!

Run!

Without a single moment's hesitation, Wang Jue bolted.

At that instant, he didn't care whether there were traps ahead of him. If he didn't run, the Blood Wolf King closing in from behind would turn him into a meal.

And sure enough—

The moment Wang Jue stepped into the trap zone, it activated instantly!

A steel spike as thick as a man's waist hurtled toward his back with crushing force.

Sensing the danger closing in, Wang Jue drew his longsword without a second thought and swung it behind him as a shield.

CLANG!

Sparks flew in every direction.

Gritting his teeth, Wang Jue used the immense force of the impact to propel himself forward, bursting out of the trap's killing range with everything he had.

On the other side, the bun-haired girl proved no less impressive.

Unlike Wang Jue's brute-force clash, she relied on her footwork to dodge the steel spikes shooting toward her, then exploded forth with startling speed and charged out.

At the same time—

The man heard the sound of his mechanisms being triggered and immediately rushed over—only to find that the ones who had tripped the traps were the two baits he'd captured earlier, while the Blood Wolf King hadn't even entered yet.

At the sight, his fury knew no bounds. "You're begging for death!!!"

He had poured so much thought and money into setting up today's trap.

Never in his wildest dreams had he expected those two damned brats to ruin everything.

At that moment, he wished he could kill them both on the spot to vent his rage—but since the Blood Wolf King was already charging this way, drawn along by Wang Jue and the bun-haired girl, he found himself helpless to do so.

"Ruined my good work, and you still think you can walk away?"

The man saw Wang Jue charging straight toward him, and murderous intent blazed from his eyes.

He swept his spear across in an instant, trying to intercept Wang Jue.

Who could have guessed—Wang Jue, without the slightest hesitation, slashed out with a sword-light that seemed to carry thunder!

The gap in their strength was all too apparent.

The man's spear lashed toward Wang Jue's sword with savage speed, slamming it hard into Wang Jue's chest.

"CLANG!"

The moment sword met spear, Wang Jue knew something was wrong. In his haste, he could only twist the blade sideways to keep its edge from facing him.

He had no intention of being killed by the man's spear, only to die pointlessly by his own sword.

The next second—

BANG!

Wang Jue's entire body was sent flying backward like a cannonball, several ribs in his chest shattered by that single strike...