Absolute Death Game

Xiao Buli accepted the mission and followed a golden armored attendant to the vicinity of the city wall, where fifty to sixty people were already waiting. In groups of three to five, they were discussing the routes for the pursuit. Looking down from the city wall, Xiao Buli saw that the sea of clouds beneath had returned to its normal pure white color, quiet and peaceful as if nothing had ever happened. However, he couldn't see clearly what lay farther down.

At that time, a golden armored attendant stood atop the city wall, giving an impassioned speech, seemingly to boost everyone's morale. Xiao Buli listened for a few sentences; the speech was in an archaic and stern language that was difficult to understand, so he paid it no further mind.

Then, the golden armored attendant who had brought him there began to distribute something to everyone. Quite soon, he approached Xiao Buli, "Please take this. If you encounter a demon, don't fight it head-on. Use this to signal, and immortals will come to encircle and kill it." He then moved on to another person, saying almost the same thing.

Xiao Buli took a close look at what he'd been given. It resembled a small handheld firework used at weddings, but was made of a different material, seemingly bamboo, with a fuse at the tail end, which he guessed could be pulled to activate it.

By then, some of those who had received the signal flares couldn't wait any longer and had already leaped from the wall, descending rapidly along the ridge of the mountain. They occasionally skidded on rocks to slow their descent and soon vanished into the white clouds. Seeing this made Xiao Buli anxious. He didn't wait for the golden armored man to finish his speech and followed with a Cloud Thunder Leap down the cliff.

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, Xiao Buli had landed in the dense forest below the clouds, even earlier than those who had jumped before him.

The forest trees had been smashed askew by the corpse of the ancient demon—now resembling huge stone blocks. Xiao Buli moved past this area and quickly spotted the traces of the fleeing ancient demons. As most demons had enormous bodies, their passage through the lush forest caused many branches to break, leaving conspicuous signs.

Upon seeing the tracks divide into multiple paths, Xiao Buli, though his strength had greatly increased due to the three pieces of Dark Gold equipment, didn't dare act rashly in the Immortal Realm. He chose to follow the least obvious trail, indicating two possibilities: first, the demon was smaller in size; second, the demon was heavily injured and possibly lacked strength. Regardless, it was still a demon, and if he could overpower it, all the better. If not, he still had the signal flare. Moreover, seeing that the demons had strong resistance to hits but not fast attack speed or agility, even under the worst-case scenario, he should be able to escape by relying on Cloud Thunder Leap.

After realizing this, Xiao Buli followed the trail and continued tracking. This time was different from his last foray into the forest; his initial path with Yi Xuan was near the main road, and the woods were not very dense. But this time, the forest he traversed clearly had the makings of a primeval forest. After about fifteen minutes, Xiao Buli could clearly feel the light dimming around him and, due to the dense trees, even though he knew the pursuing troops should be nearby, he couldn't hear a single sound. He quickly put on the Betrayer's Dark Vision to settle his unease.

Seeing the density of the forest, Xiao Buli began to worry whether the signal flare would indeed attract the Immortal Families' aid.

With uneasy thoughts, he immediately grew suspicious of his surroundings, as if countless creatures were lurking in the shadows, rustling persistently. He quickened his pace, hoping nothing untoward would occur along the way.

Whether it was fate being contrary or mere coincidence, the more he hoped to avoid trouble, the faster it found him.

No sooner had Xiao Buli taken a few steps than he heard a snuffling, snuffling sound far ahead. It sounded somewhat like human snoring but was as if accompanied by heavy breathing. Xiao Buli listened for a moment, then suddenly his heart leaped with joy. This sound, wasn't it a bit like the gasping from a dying creature's throat? Could he be so lucky as to have stumbled upon a dying ancient demon? He quickly hastened his steps toward the source of the noise and shortly arrived at a clearing in the forest, only to find a scene that startled him.

He saw about a dozen silver wolves the size of calf-sized calves, their bodies completely white. They were encircling and feeding on the carcass of some animal. The snuffling sound Xiao Buli had heard was actually these wolves making a threatening noise from their throats as they ate, similar to a dog guarding its food.

This shock was no small matter. Xiao Buli knew these silver wolves were called Frost Claw Silver Wolves, and their attack power was not considered strong among the creatures of the Immortal Realm. He had learned this from Jingji, who had once kept one such wolf; Xiao Buli had seen it. However, Frost Claw Silver Wolves are social creatures. Encountering many at once could be a difficult situation to escape from, especially since Xiao Buli was alone at the moment.

With this in mind, Xiao Buli tiptoed backward, hoping to slip away unnoticed by these Yama, King of Hell equivalents.

But after just two steps, he felt a threatening growl behind him. The sound was not loud, but it made Xiao Buli's hairs stand on end. Turning around, he saw a Frost Claw Silver Wolf, a full head taller than himself, sitting there, staring at him with a pair of icy silver eyes.