CHAPTER 707: CHAPTER 704: RESCUE FROM THE JAWS OF A WOLF!

"Hiss hiss!"

The horse, startled, reared up on its front hooves, emitting a neighing sound.

The young girl on the horseback let out a scream of "Ah" and tumbled down.

"Ning Yu!"

The young man saw his sister falling from the horse and wanted to turn back to rescue her.

However, he had only just entered Foundation Establishment and was no match for the Green Fire Wolf Leader. After a single exchange, he was struck off his horse.

The Green Fire Wolf Leader had gained a trace of Spiritual Wisdom and knew the flesh of the girl was tender and delicious. It bared its fangs, which glistened with a cold light, and pressed towards her aggressively.

The girl was terrified to the core, retreating repeatedly with a look of horror in her eyes.

"Whoosh!"

At this critical moment of life and death, the sound of something tearing through the air came fiercely.

"Pfft!"

The body of the Green Fire Wolf Leader was pierced by a sharp blade, and fresh blood gushed out.

It whipped around, its eyes filled with murderous intent, staring fixedly at the person who had launched the surprise attack.

Ning Hua and his sister Ning Yu also instinctively looked in that direction.

The person appeared to be a man around thirty years old, in plain clothes with an ordinary appearance. His cultivation seemed slightly higher than the siblings’, probably Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, most likely a Loose Cultivator.

This was no one else but Li Chen in disguise!

The Green Fire Wolf Leader howled to the sky and, like lightning, leaped towards Li Chen.

"Benevolent sir, be careful!"

Seeing the peril, Ning Hua urgently shouted towards Li Chen.

However, Li Chen did not dodge or evade, standing firm in his spot.

Only when the Green Fire Wolf Leader was about ten meters away did he suddenly raise his palm and smacked down violently as if swatting a fly.

This palm seemed ordinary, but it carried the weight of ten thousand jun (a weight unit), accompanied by a crisp sound of breaking bones.

The entire head of the Green Fire Wolf Leader was crushed. Its brain burst open, lying stiffly in a pool of blood, convulsing in agony.

Seeing their leader killed, the other Green Fire Wolves let out desperate howls and fled into the dense forest.

Witnessing this scene, Ning Hua and his sister Ning Yu were both stunned beyond belief. The man before them appeared unremarkable, yet he was able to kill a Fourth-level Early Stage Demon Beast with a single palm – it was simply terrifying.

"Thank you for your rescue, my name is Ning Hua from Ning Family’s Castle. May I ask for your name, benefactor?"

After being dazed for a moment, Ning Hua quickly stepped forward, bowed deeply to Li Chen, and thanked him for saving their lives.

Li Chen gave a slight nod in return.

However, he did not reveal his real name, casually making up one instead: "Chen Li!"

After a brief exchange, Li Chen learned that they were all from the Ning Family’s Castle.

And this time, the siblings had gone hunting and did not expect to encounter a pack of wolves on their way back.

After this battle, they suffered heavy losses. They set out with twenty-five people, but now, including Ning Hua and his sister Ning Yu, there are only seven survivors.

The burly man named Zhang Zhong even lost an arm in the process. Judging by his pale complexion, he was on the brink of death.

Li Chen frowned slightly upon seeing this and took out a pill, tossing it into Zhang Zhong’s mouth.

After swallowing the pill, Zhang Zhong’s bleeding immediately stopped. Although his face remained deathly pale, there was a noticeable return of vitality—an impressively immediate effect.

Upon witnessing this, Ning Hua and his sister Ning Yu’s eyes lit up again.

Such an incredibly effective pill, if carried during hunts for Demon Beasts, could greatly increase the odds of preserving one’s life by a substantial margin.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Ning Hua stepped forward and respectfully inquired, "May I ask what pill this is, sir, to have such miraculous effects?"

Li Chen did not hide the information and casually replied, "It’s a Blood Coagulation Powder that I concocted myself; it’s an Eighth-grade Pill!"

"You’re also an Alchemist?"

Ning Hua was astonished, and even Ning Yu couldn’t help but take another look at Li Chen.

Within the Cultivation Realm, among a hundred people, only one is likely to succeed in Foundation Establishment to become a cultivator.

And among a hundred cultivators, only one might become an Alchemist.

It could be said that Alchemists and Artifact Refiners are one in a thousand.

Moreover, Li Chen was an Eighth-grade Alchemist.

Alchemists are categorized by the grade of pill they are capable of concocting. If you can successfully make Eighth-grade Pills, then you are an Eighth-grade Alchemist.

Pills can save lives, enhance cultivation, and are an essential item for a cultivator’s journey to power. Due to the scarcity of Alchemists, the entire profession is highly sought after by all the Great Sects and aristocratic families.

Li Chen was not interested in further discussion and directly asked them how to get to Ningling County.

After all, the map that Ling Shuanghua gave him was of the entire Cloud Sea Continent. It only indicated rough areas without detailed routes.

Upon hearing Li Chen wanting to go to Ningling County, Ning Hua slapped his thigh saying it was a coincidence, as they were also planning to go to the city to sell goods, but would not depart until tomorrow.

He also informed Li Chen that local bandits were rampant. Traveling alone could easily lead to danger. Ning Hua sincerely invited Li Chen to join them on their journey for added safety.

Li Chen contemplated that he was not in a rush to save a day. Going alone without knowing the area could easily lead to taking the wrong path, wasting time and effort. Moreover, traveling with Ning Hua and the others could help him stay under the radar and reduce the risk of exposure.

Weighing the pros and cons, Li Chen readily agreed and went with Ning Hua and the rest to Ning Family’s Castle.

Ning Family’s Castle was a large village compound, equivalent to a gathering area of several villages, with a population of over five thousand people. Generation after generation, they lived by farming and hunting.

Due to the necessity of hunting and the rampant bandits in the area, in order to survive in these turbulent times, everyone, regardless of gender, started training as young as six years old.

When these children reached twelve, some with higher aptitude would be selected and sent to Great Sects in the city for screening.

However, for them, the so-called Great Sects were just Human-level Sects. Super Sects like the Cloud Sea Sect were beyond even their wildest dreams.

Even the Human-level Sects seemed out of reach for them. Every three years, they would send a group of twenty to thirty eligible children, and only two or three would be chosen, making it a selection of one in ten.

The aptitude of siblings Ning Hua and Ning Yu was decent. Ten years ago, they both joined the East Spirit Pavilion of Ningling County, a Human-level Sect. However, they were still just Outer Disciples, belonging to the lowest tier.

Yet even this status earned them the envy of those from other villages. Everyone held them in higher regard.

Ning Hua was a warm and hospitable host, thoroughly introducing to Li Chen the customs of Ning Family’s Castle and the power structure of the entirety of Ningling County.

Li Chen listened casually to all of this.

However, when Ning Hua mentioned that there was a nine-story Soul Condensing Tower in Ningling County, Li Chen’s heart stirred...