Silence was his only reply.

Dissatisfied, Hans circled around the tree. Let's see how much longer this brat can act tough for!

With a gleeful tone, he paced around the s.p.a.ce between the trees, waxing lyrical about the numerous ways he was going to crush every single little bone in Van's hands, until he couldn't even wipe his own a.s.s. On an on he went, in vivid detail.

And yet, the web was quiet and still, unresponsive.

Hans' glee turned into a silent fury, his hands tightened on the staff.

This brat was looking down on him!

Very well, then.

Hans displayed a blood-thirsty smile. He squeezed a drop of qi into the staff in his palms.

It responded hotly. A fierce and righteous aura spilled out. It gave off a haughty air, as if a divine judge pa.s.sing judgment on all evil.

Hans dashed forwards.

Weng!

A fierce intent pulsed off the staff. Hans leapt and swung the staff to deal a devastating blow on the trapped figure.

CRACKK!!

Hans' mouth curved into a vicious grin, but in the next moment – his face went pale.

He staggered backwards.

His eyes were wide, disbelieving.

I-Impossible!

In front of him, the thread-trap had sagged inwards under the blow from his staff, as if there were no one inside!

Hans' mind whirled. The boy had clearly been trapped inside. He was wearing the clothes that had been contaminated, otherwise the thread-trap would not have appeared.

But if he was inside, how had he gotten out?

It was impossible unless he possessed some extraordinary treasure or had reached the 2nd level of Qi Distillation!

Hans' face became white as a sheet. How could a villager who came to the sect with nothing but the clothes on his back possess some miraculous treasure? As for such things as body cultivation techniques, that was disregarded by Hans immediately. Firstly, body cultivation techniques were relatively unpopular. But due to that, they were also rare to find – rumours were that the Cedar Sect only had one or two in their vast library of techniques. A village kid having something like that was laughable, impossible!

If the kid had reached the 2nd level of Qi Distillation… that meant the kid had gone from being a non-cultivator to the 2nd level in only three weeks!

If it was true, then the kid wasn't a mere genius – he was a monster!!

Hans' stomach twisted into a cold hard ball. Cold sweat formed on the back of his neck.

He himself was barely in the 2nd level of Qi Distillation, and that was after having reached the 1st level when he had yet to enter the sect. After entering, the spirit stone provided and the abundant spiritual power in the air had allowed him to finally reach the 2nd level – but it had taken him a whole year!

Not good! By now, they had threatened the boy and offended Van thoroughly. If they didn't get rid of him while he was still at their level, he'd come back to bite them in the future. His cultivation speed was simply too frightening.

Hans steeled himself, killing intent flashed through his eyes. From the time that he had hit the web to now, only a few short moments had pa.s.sed.

"Freya," he called, eyes locked on the empty web before him, "The brat has escaped. We cannot return to the sect until we are sure he is dead!"

There was no reply. Hans' whirled around, hand already on the staff, a foreboding feeling welling up in him.

He saw Freya standing close to the middle of the clearing, her face pale. Her throat worked soundlessly as a single shaking finger pointed to something in the trees.

Cr-ack

A twig snapped.

A snarling beast leapt out of the trees.

The girl was thrown onto the ground. She screamed, a blood-curdling sound full of fear. The beast above her snarled again, teeth dripping with thick saliva. She swung her whip at it, but it evaded easily.

"FREYA!" Hans shouted, running towards her. He channelled qi into the staff again.

Weng!

The staff revolved its power. The attention of the beast above Freya was caught. It watched the staff warily.

At that moment.

BAMMM!

A heavy force slammed into him from the side. Hans crashed into the ground like a sack of potatoes. An iron taste filled his mouth. There was a dull pain in his spine.

A thunderous growl echoed through the trees.

Full of terror, Hans scrambled onto his knees.

A giant beast with yellow eyes loomed over him. It was over twice his height and snarled at him viciously. Like the other, it was a giant silver wolf – but this one had a black patch of fur on its chest.

Hans forcibly calmed himself. This was still just the outskirts of the forest; this beast couldn't be that strong!

A ma.s.sive paw swung downwards.

Hans rolled away, fingers outstretched. He nearly touched the staff, which had fallen to the side. His sweaty fingers slipped off the handle.

The ma.s.sive demon beast knocked it away. It turned it's eyes on Hans and straightened its neck. A powerful howl rose to the skies.

Hans rolled away and leapt to his feet. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the staff from the ground. But the next moment, a feeling of instinctive terror washed through him.

Not good!

Hans turned just in time.

TENG!

The wolf's ma.s.sive claws bounced off the staff held horizontally across his chest. It snarled, foiled.

He swung the staff threateningly. The wolf watched him with intelligent eyes.

Hans leapt forwards and swung the staff at the wolf. Due to its larger body, it was slightly slow to react. The staff hit the giant foreleg of the beast. It yelped and hopped backwards. Hans regained confidence. The wolf was intimidating, but it wasn't that strong! With time, Hans was sure he would win.

"Stupid animal. I'll kill you!" He screamed.

Angered by his blow, the wolf bounded forwards lopsidedly. It raised its uninjured paw.

Hans was ready.

The demon beast narrowed its yellow eyes. Its claws rocketed through the air.

"Same old tricks!" Hans yelled, and moved the staff to block.

But suddenly, the wolf's descending paw curved to the side.

It slammed into the side of Hans' head!

s.h.i.+t! Hans thought, as he was swatted onto the ground once more. The taste of blood in his mouth grew thicker.

He scrambled back up to his feet, eyes pinned on the wolf in front of him. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Freya struggling with the other wolf. Her arm was bloodied, but she seemed relatively fine. The wolf in front of him stared coldly back.

The sound of rustling leaves filled the small s.p.a.ce. Four dozen glowing eyes lit the gloom between the trees.

Hans stumbled backwards.

Four dozen large shadows slinked into the clearing; they glared at him with eyes full of malevolent intent.

Hans gritted his teeth.

One or two wolves he could handle, but suddenly four dozen? Even if he killed one, another would just take its place!

While he was in the 2nd level of Qi Distillation, Hans had yet to practice any skills. This was sect protocol – only upon reaching outer disciple was one allowed to pick three skills from the library to practice. Prior to that, the focus of cultivation was on building a stable base. It all made sense, but in this moment, Hans wished he had a skill in his repertoire.

The only thing he could use staff in his hands. It was a good treasure, but could it deal with four dozen wolves at once?

Hans felt wronged, absolutely wronged.

This was not how things were supposed to turn out! What deity had he offended, up in the Heavens? How could it be like this!? Why had these wolves suddenly appeared here, and why had the villager been able to escape from their meticulously sprung trap?

Three of the largest wolves advanced towards him.

Moments later, Hans' arm was sliced into, causing it to drip with red blood. He fought with all his strength, and yet was only able to injure one wolf with the staff. That wolf limped back and was replaced by another. Sometime during the chaos of the fight, Hans was thrown to the ground once more. A snarling wolf s.n.a.t.c.hed the staff out of his hands with its jaws and threw it to the gra.s.s.

It lay just beyond his reach. Shakily, he reached forwards and tried to pick it up.

As the tip of his fingernail scratched the metal surface - a bare foot stepped painfully onto his fingers, pressing them into the metal.

Hans nearly fainted from the pain.

With trembling neck muscles, he looked up.

"No, no... " he cried out.