Blood drawn in this dark, suffocating dungeon where not even a sliver of light could pierce the impenetrable darkness.
Countless pairs of glowing crimson eyes danced menacingly, fighting each other with ringing thuds and grisly snarls as Dark Wolves' decapitated heads dropped lifelessly, their thick, viscous blood further staining the already macabre surroundings.
Sliced flesh and dust scattered, Ji Wuye's long white ponytail swung right and left in a hypnotic rhythm as his jian moved continuously in wide arcs, following the precise rotations of his battle-hardened waist.
His piercing crimson eyes remained eerily calm, carefully observing and glinting with each thunderous attack from the relentless Dark Wolves pack. His breathing was slightly roughened, the strained exhalations turning to faint mists in the dank air, as it had been twenty brutal minutes and their snarling numbers hadn't decreased.
"Crazy," Ji Wuye muttered under his breath, straightening his sweat-glistened back and slashing his razor-sharp jian horizontally to clean off the accumulated crimson viscera from the felled Dark Wolves. By now, his entire once-pristine white martial robe was completely drenched in their hot, sticky blood.
The wolves' matted black fur seemed to move freely in the pitch darkness like ominous shadows swimming in murky waters, yet none dared to approach within even a chi or zhang of Ji Wuye, who stood surrounded by towering mounds of their fallen kin's gigantic corpses.
His jian still flowed with a reddish, bubbling aura akin to freshly spilled blood, as the powerful Skill Slash Breaker remained menacingly active after slaying over 100 of the wolf pack in just a few fleeting moments.
Ji Wuye paused briefly, not to rest his fatigued muscles, but because the long-awaited transparent status screen he'd been anticipating finally shimmered into view before his focused eyes:
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/6BhGJjy/Notif-1.webp]
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/TBdwNkY/Notif-2.webp]
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'Finally, it has caught up,' Ji Wuye concluded inwardly with a sense of grim satisfaction. Now his feline-like reaction time would be in perfect deadly sync, unlike before when he relied purely on his superior physical prowess.
Though there might be no outwardly noticeable difference, at least this Feline Reflexes skill that had greatly aided him in the previous timeline could now seamlessly match his physique. 'Now, only Slash Breaker and Deflecting Blows are left,' Ji Wuye thought.
But then, as he briefly pondered the implications, his toned muscles tensed unconsciously, his battle-hardened senses detecting the slightest movement in the darkness.
CLANK!
His downward-pointing jian raised instantly as his right hand followed the precise movement, parrying a vicious strike coming from his right flank with a resounding clang of steel.
At the same time, a transparent status screen flashed urgently before his focused crimson eyes:
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/xzhnv7X/Notif-1.webp]
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/44Z9K1K/Notif-3.webp]
Ji Wuye's jian managed to deflect a massive, shark-sized fang flying at him at punishingly high speed, the lethal projectile deflecting off at an angle.
'Well...well...well...how surprising,' he thought, slowly raising his head after examining the deflected fang, only to encounter even more alarming surprises emerging from the shadows.
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/1G6hzxr/Notif-3.webp]
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/t8WSzDm/Notif-4.webp]
"Wow," a fiercely calculating grin spread across Ji Wuye's streaked lips as he read the newly upgraded Deflecting Blows skill description. "Negate any magical or spiritual attack, that's an immense advantage," he said in a low, gravelly tone laced with grim satisfaction.
As he spoke, Ji Wuye's piercing crimson eyes fell upon the identity of his latest attacker slowly materializing from the inky blackness. An obsidian-like shadow with coarse fur similar to the other Dark Wolves, yet strangely small in stature, akin to a normal wolf.
At first glance, he thought it was merely a runt Dark Wolf pup, but those baleful emerald eyes shining and glaring at him...
"A Jadefang," Ji Wuye said easily, instantly identifying the creature.
A Jadefang was of the same species as the Dark Wolves, sharing many of their feral attributes, yet for some inexplicable reason, it seemed to act as an alpha commander of sorts. It wasn't an alpha Dark Wolf with vastly greater size and brutal strength, but it possessed eyes that could...
image [https://i.ibb.co.com/gVt1RDs/Notif-4.webp]
"Charm and enthrall its target," Ji Wuye concluded as the glowing Soul Anchor Amulet he wore pulsed protectively.
Once the Jadefang's insidious mental charm attack proved ineffective against Ji Wuye's protective amulet, the sinister wolf commander quickly submerged itself within the seething crowd of massive Dark Wolves.
The gargantuan beasts glared at Ji Wuye with ravenous, glowing crimson eyes and bared rows of jagged, ivory fangs in a display of feral hostility. Their towering size, easily comparable to that of a sturdy horse-drawn carriage, made the menacing glow of their predatory eyes even more terrifying to behold in the pitch darkness.
"Though it didn't manage to charm and enthrall me, that Jadefang is still an annoying threat to deal with," Ji Wuye muttered under his breath, his deep voice laced with weary irritation.
HOWL!
As the words left his lips, the horde of Dark Wolves suddenly surged inwards once more, swarming at him from all sides with a cacophony of bestial snarls and snapping jaws, seemingly already forgetting how easily he had slain scores of their kin just moments before.