Chapter 59: Attraction

Late at night, Hongyun sat cross-legged in the center of his chamber, cultivating the arts of the Surging Moon Sect. A shaft of moonlight pierced through the window, shining upon his body and stirring a hazy radiance that resonated with his own aura.

Just then, a subtle and indistinct presence began to tug at his heart and mind, causing his brow to furrow. Though this presence was somewhat distant, it was undeniable—he could not find peace in his cultivation, even after sealing his six senses.

At that moment, a long, drawn-out howl echoed in the night, setting his blood ablaze with restlessness.

“Awooo…”

That was... the howl of a demon cultivator from the Howling Moon Wolf Clan, and of no low rank at that!

Hongyun sprang to his feet, but as soon as he moved, a hint of suspicion appeared in his eyes.

Why did he feel as if he was being deliberately guided?

As this thought crossed his mind, another howl reverberated. He recalled how refining the wolf demon’s baleful core after his previous hunt had greatly aided him. His gaze flickered with keen light, and in a flash, his figure vanished from the room.

If it really was a Howling Moon Wolf, there were few among them who could make him wary nowadays.

Since that was the case, whether this was intentional or not, why not seize the opportunity to claim another baleful core for himself?

Now was the perfect time to advance his cultivation—a pillow delivered to the drowsy. How could he let such a chance slip by?

No matter what, he was determined to take a look.

...

He moved swiftly, leaping across rooftops, and once beyond Mirror City, he sensed his surroundings, then sped off in the direction his intuition indicated.

After trailing his quarry for over thirty miles outside the city, Hongyun suddenly stopped.

Looking down, he saw an elderly man with a wolf’s head and a human body standing atop a pile of jagged rocks, gazing at him in silence.

Before him, a tiny flame in the shape of a bird pointed directly at Hongyun.

Within the old wolf’s eyes, Hongyun saw a dense and murderous intent.

“So, that’s why that young one lost his baleful core to the despicable Surging Moon Sect. It was you—so cunning and sly you’ve already reached the Nirvana Realm.”

Youming Huan lifted his gaze to the airborne Hongyun, hatred swelling in his eyes as though he wished to shatter his own fangs and swallow Hongyun whole.

“Now that I’ve found your trail, today is your day of death!”

With these words, his pupils contracted into slits, wolf claws extended, and his form vanished on the spot.

This wolf demon!

Hongyun watched the speed of his opponent, eyes narrowing as he traced a hand in an incantation, condensing baleful energy into a protective shroud around himself.

In the next instant, Youming Huan appeared behind him, slashing with a claw.

Crack—

A crisp sound rang out as a massive fissure split the moonlight shield encasing Hongyun.

The blow was powerful; his form could no longer hold aloft and he plummeted from the sky into the rocky debris below.

Having landed a hit, Youming Huan did not close in for a brawl but instead opened his jaws wide, inhaling the scattered moonlight and the force of the wild wind, compressing them into a dense core.

As Hongyun emerged from the rubble, the baleful energy gathered in the wolf’s maw, long in preparation, erupted downward.

“Awooo!”

The wolf’s howl was a maddening assault on his mind. Hongyun, alarmed, summoned his baleful force once more.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion rocked the air. Hongyun’s shield faltered for a moment, his body pressed several feet into the earth by the force.

When the pressure finally dissipated and he looked up, the field of broken stones—hundreds of yards across, centered on himself—had been reduced to grains of sand.

As the dust settled, Youming Huan’s towering figure emerged atop the stones.

He peered down at Hongyun, murderous intent growing even fiercer.

“To withstand that strike, your cultivation is no ordinary Nirvana. I’m curious—why have I never heard of a Nirvana cultivator from the Surging Moon Sect such as you?”

This wolf of the Howling Moon Clan possessed strength at the very peak below the Metamorphosis Realm. If Hongyun could refine his baleful core, how much hard work would it save him?

Hongyun’s heart burned with fervor as he gazed at his opponent, licking his lips unconsciously.

“Let me offer you some advice: curiosity is dangerous.”

With that, moonlight surged from his form and he vanished, reappearing before Youming Huan, crescent blade unsheathed, its edge unstoppable.

“Curiosity, after all, is what kills the wolf.”

Before the blade could pierce the wolf’s chest, a claw intercepted it, but the blade’s edge was undiminished, slicing through one of the wolf’s talons.

A surge of peril flooded Hongyun’s senses, and he retreated with explosive speed, transforming into his true demon form.

Hovering in midair, now fully revealed as a giant wolf of the Howling Moon Clan, a blade of moonlight materialized out of thin air, tearing open the space he had just occupied.

“Human, I admit I underestimated you. But don’t get arrogant.”

Youming Huan felt the lingering sting of that blade and wariness crept into his gaze.

Never had he imagined that the insect he thought he could crush with a wave of his hand could hold its own against him.

After speaking, he threw back his head and howled at the sky, shrouded in a thick mantle of moonlight.

Simultaneously, a phantom of moonlight slowly rose behind him, as if about to merge with the moon above. Behind that, the spectral form of a Howling Moon Wolf materialized, stretching hundreds of feet high.

Now this—the true might of the Howling Moon.

Hongyun regarded the apparition with grave eyes, yet could not help but appraise it.

As the moonlight surged upward, he dropped into a seated posture. The roar of vast rivers echoed forth, growing ever more majestic.

A mighty river, summoned from nowhere, poured forth in torrents—boundless, source unknown, its waves grand and magnificent.

The waters surged, gradually engulfing the spectral wolf’s four paws, rising higher.

Hongyun’s own form, too, was lifted ever upward by this vision, rising above the battlefield.

“The Canglang Howl of the Howling Moon Clan—a twin apparition. But is mine not the same?”

With a light laugh, Hongyun’s river vision lifted a bright moon phantom, which rose toward the sky.

Three moons appeared, real and illusory—colliding in a fleeting moment. When the two merged with the true moon, all was abruptly shattered.

Moonlight cascaded down, stabbing pain into Youming Huan’s mind and driving him into a frenzy.

When he opened his eyes again, they were blood-red, and the moonlight around him had turned a sinister crimson.

“You have truly angered me, whelp.”

With a furious roar, the moonlight at the center of his brow grew purer than ever, as if about to birth something new.

If this kept up, who knew how long the battle would last?

Seeing the shift, a sense of danger stirred within Hongyun. Without another word, he summoned a great seal from his brow with a flicker of thought.

He traced an incantation in the air, drawing all his essence, energy, and spirit into the seal, then pointed it downward.

“Fall!”