PCJ – Chapter 766 The First Battle

Along the way, dozens of flying crafts from the Battle Hall roared through the skies with immense momentum. The flying spirit beasts in the area scattered in panic — they had never seen such a massive and awe-inspiring formation before, nor such enormous and bizarre spirit beasts. Before the convoy even got close, every flying beast had already fled in terror.

After several hours of travel, the Battle Hall reached the outer regions of the Immortal Beast Mountain Range.

In a spacious valley, the flying crafts descended, and the battle cultivators of the Battle Hall quickly assembled. In less than ten minutes, nearly a thousand battle cultivators had formed ranks in perfect order. With the battle in the Immortal Beast Mountain Range about to begin, every cultivator was brimming with fighting spirit, eager to clash with the spirit beasts.

Soon, the reconnaissance squad moved ahead into the mountain range to scout. Their mission was to locate the distribution of spirit beasts, map the terrain, and provide crucial intelligence for the following combat units.

The main battle forces maintained a set distance from the scouts, ready to respond at any moment, and to plan the attack based on the intelligence relayed back.

Although Zhang Jiaohua followed behind, he did not intend to take action himself — this was the perfect opportunity for the Battle Hall to train and temper its forces. If he intervened, the cultivators would lose a valuable chance to hone their combat experience.

Wen Xiaoqun, the Hall Master of the Battle Hall, was responsible for directly commanding this campaign.

Du Chaohui, one of the reconnaissance scouts, swiftly returned with the latest report: “Ahead, we’ve spotted a pack of Wind-Chasing Wolves — about twenty in total. The pack leader is at mid-stage Qi Refining to Spirit Transformation, and the rest are at early stage.”

“Squad One will take the main assault, Squad Two will provide support!” Wen Xiaoqun ordered with a wave of his hand.

Each combat squad consisted of over a dozen cultivators. The squad captain’s cultivation was at least at mid to late Spirit Transformation, while the members were generally at early stage. Their combined strength matched the wolf pack’s, so sending two squads meant double the force — ensuring victory.

However, this battle carried great significance — it was the Battle Hall’s first engagement in the Immortal Beast Mountains.

Squad One’s captain, Ning Yi, wore a serious expression. He spoke in a low voice to his teammates: “We’re the main assault team for the Battle Hall’s first battle here. We must execute cleanly and decisively. We absolutely can’t disgrace the Battle Hall — as the First Combat Squad, we must set an example!”

“Relax, Captain. We’ve been cooped up in the training base for too long — time to stretch our muscles,” said team member Wang Jie, grinning carelessly.

“Don’t get careless. Those wolves are numerous, and their strength is no less than ours. Even with spirit weapons, we must stay cautious. I don’t want a single casualty,” Ning Yi said sternly.

Squad Two’s captain, Li Linwei, was unhappy about not being assigned the main assault. “Brothers, Squad One got the spotlight this time, but we can’t let them hog all the glory. Even if we’re support, we’ll fight like the vanguard!”

Vice-captain Zhang Lingyun chuckled. “Once the battle starts, who cares about who’s support or main? We just charge in. If we get the chance to steal their thunder, don’t hold back!”

At that moment, the pack of twenty Wind-Chasing Wolves was surrounding a herd of Spirit-Blood Deer. Little did they know, they were about to become prey themselves. Having roamed the mountain range unchallenged for so long, the wolves had no idea they were being ambushed.

A magnificent stag among the Spirit-Blood Deer suddenly lifted its head, sensing danger. When it realized enemies were closing in from all sides, it bellowed, and the herd began to panic. Under the lead of the stag, the deer bolted in one direction.

At the same moment, the wolves — having completed their encirclement — launched their attack.

“Awooo!”

The lead wolf howled, and the entire pack pounced toward the deer herd.

A deer at the rear was caught by a leaping wolf, its neck torn open as it collapsed. Two more wolves lunged in, biting viciously into the struggling animal until it stopped moving.

The deer herd ran desperately, but the coordinated wolves herded them back and forth, reducing their numbers quickly. In moments, several deer had already fallen.

The wolves displayed frightening teamwork, led by a highly intelligent and commanding alpha.

Just then, Squad One completed their encirclement, and Squad Two moved in from behind.

“Attack!” Ning Yi shouted.

The battle cultivators of Squad One charged toward the wolves.

The wolves froze for a moment — shocked to see humans. The Immortal Beast Mountains were forbidden ground for cultivators; almost no one came here to hunt. The sudden intrusion threw the lead wolf into confusion. After a moment of hesitation, it gave a command to abandon the deer and form up against the human attackers.

But the command came too late.

The cultivators had already engaged. Their rigorous training immediately showed results. Groups of three cultivators surrounded each wolf, cutting them down efficiently. Within moments, several wolves were slain.

“This spirit sword is amazing! So sharp — even if the wolf stood still, I couldn’t have killed it this easily before,” Wang Jie laughed.

“Quit talking and keep fighting! Can’t you see Squad Two’s trying to steal our credit?” Vice-captain Wang Jingkun shouted.

“Follow me! Attack the alpha wolf!” Ning Yi roared.

The alpha wolf, at mid-stage Spirit Transformation, was stronger than most of Ning Yi’s squad. Even with defensive spirit tools, fighting it was still dangerous — spirit beasts typically had far tougher bodies than human cultivators of equal rank.

Ning Yi lunged forward to engage the alpha directly. Neutralizing it would cripple the wolves’ coordination and drastically reduce their combat power.

The alpha watched helplessly as its packmates fell. It tried to summon the others to retreat when Ning Yi charged.

“Awooo!” it howled, and several wolves rushed in to block Ning Yi’s path, releasing razor-sharp wind blades from their jaws.

Ning Yi activated a talisman, summoning a massive shield that intercepted all the blades.

Then he darted forward, his sword flashing. Two wolves fell like chopped vegetables. Without pause, he closed in on the alpha and thrust.

The alpha dodged swiftly, countering with more wind blades that sealed all escape routes.

Unfazed, Ning Yi raised his spirit shield again, deftly blocking every strike.

With the alpha pinned down, the wolf pack fell into disarray — some tried to flee, others charged wildly to rescue their leader.

Squad One seized the chaos and cut down wolves left and right.

Li Linwei shouted impatiently, “What are you waiting for?! That bastard Ning Yi’s going to take all the credit!”

Ning Yi, meanwhile, was under pressure — the alpha was tough, and the remaining wolves attacked him madly. He had to defend from all sides while dueling the alpha.

Vice-captain Wang Jingkun yelled, “Follow me! Help the captain — kill the alpha!”

He and two others rushed in. “Captain, you handle the alpha — we’ll deal with these mutts!”

“Good! Be careful — they’re going berserk!” Ning Yi replied, leaping at the alpha again.

Squad Two joined the fray, and the cultivators now had overwhelming numbers.

After cutting down a few wolves, Li Linwei spotted the embattled alpha and charged straight for it.

With the spirit weapon in hand, Ning Yi gradually gained the upper hand. Spirit tools made all the difference — even against a peak-level beast, he could fight evenly.

He slashed the alpha hard, leaving a deep, bone-deep gash across its neck, blood gushing out.

Just as he was about to finish it off, a figure darted in.

“Haha, sorry about this, Captain Ning!” Li Linwei shouted gleefully, driving his spirit sword straight into the alpha’s heart. The beast collapsed with a heavy thud.

“Li Linwei! I’ll kill you!” Ning Yi roared furiously and lunged at him.

Li Linwei just laughed. “Come on then — who’s afraid of who?”

They didn’t actually fight — the two captains were on friendly terms.

“Back at base, we’re settling this in the arena!” Ning Yi growled.

Battle Hall’s discipline was strict; fighting among comrades on the battlefield would be suicidal.

“Quickly clean up the battlefield!” Ning Yi ordered helplessly. The spoils of a slain spirit beast went to whoever delivered the killing blow — this would later count toward their military merit.

Since Li Linwei had landed the fatal strike, the alpha’s corpse belonged mostly to him. A single alpha wolf was worth ten ordinary ones — no wonder Ning Yi was so frustrated.