1. Dou Zhe – Fighter
2. Dou Shi – Battle Master
3. Da Dou Shi – Great Battle Master
4. Dou Ling – Dou Spirit
5. Dou Wang – Dou King
6. Dou Huang – Dou Emperor
7. Dou Zong – Dou Ancestor
8. Dou Zun – Dou Venerable
9. Dou Sheng – Dou Saint
10. Dou Di – Dou God
From now on I am going to use english terms name so you guys understand better. You can look at this chart of names.
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"Hmph! Dream on! I'm not that timid!"
"That's a real shame then..."
---
About ten minutes later, the two returned to the cave entrance. Xiao Yixian looked up at the cliffside towering dozens of meters high. She gave the rope hanging down a slight tug—it had clearly been lowered by Mu Li's group. A trace of helplessness crept into her voice.
"Don't tell me… we're supposed to climb this thing?"
With her current strength, scaling the cliff by rope was going to be a massive challenge!
"No need to make things so complicated! Come here, girl—let me carry you!" Goku grinned wickedly and spread his arms wide.
"What are you trying to pull?" The moment Goku made that move, Xiao Yixian instinctively dodged and jumped back several steps.
"What kind of reaction is that? Do I really look that scary?" Goku grumbled. "Are you coming or not? If not, I'll just leave you here."
"You wouldn't dare!" Xiao Yixian's cheeks turned slightly red. After a brief hesitation, she warned in a low, fierce voice, "If your hands go anywhere they shouldn't, I'll chop them right off!"
With her face flushed and a fragrant breeze swirling around her, she stepped into Goku's embrace.
Holding the soft, fragrant girl in his arms, Goku let out a shameless laugh. "Xiao Yixian, I gotta say, you feel amazing—so soft, and you smell great. It's actually kind of addictive. Mind if I hold you just a little longer?"
Xiao Yixian had never heard such shameless flirtation before. Her face instantly turned crimson. She wanted to get mad, but she couldn't. Instead, a strange joy fluttered in her chest. Helpless, she stomped down hard on Goku's toes and glared at him.
"Are you taking me up or not?"
"Going, going!" Goku laughed. Though her stomp seemed aggressive, it barely had any force behind it—it didn't hurt at all. "Hold on tight!" he said with a grin. With that, he wrapped his arms around her waist and shot into the air.
"Ahhhh—!"
Caught completely off guard, Xiao Yixian screamed and clung to Goku tightly. I mean, imagine being suddenly picked up and launched skyward at breakneck speed—wouldn't you freak out too?
Of course, Goku did it on purpose.
Whoosh! Goku, still holding Xiao Yixian in a princess carry, landed gracefully at the top of the cliff.
But just as they touched down, the scent of blood suddenly filled the air. Goku's expression changed. After a quick sense scan, his brow furrowed.
"There's a ton of magical beasts nearby… What the hell is going on? Damn, Niu and the others might be in danger!"
Without another word, he tightened his grip on Xiao Yixian, then vanished into the jungle in a flash.
---
The scene shifted to a sunken basin teeming with wild medicinal herbs—discovered purely by chance by Niu and his mercenary team.
Countless herbs of all varieties filled the basin. Their rich medicinal aroma floated through the air. Just breathing it in made one feel refreshed and invigorated.
The moment they stumbled across it, they were ecstatic. So many herbs—this was literal money growing from the ground!
"Wahaha! Who would've thought I'd get lucky enough to find a place like this?" Niu laughed heartily. "Everyone shares! Go nuts and gather whatever you can! But remember—leave anything unripe for next time!"
At his command, the mercenaries rushed forward, eager to harvest the herbs.
But several more experienced members quickly pulled them back, whispering urgently. One by one, the eager hands stopped, their excitement giving way to unease.
"What's going on?" Niu frowned.
An older mercenary stepped forward and explained, "Captain, maybe you haven't heard since you're new in town, but rumor has it that the Thousand Medicinal House discovered an herb basin deep in the Magic Beast Mountains. This place... might be the same one. Everyone's afraid of stepping on their toes."
"Thousand Medicinal House? Screw them." Niu blinked, then laughed loudly. "These herbs belong to whoever finds them first! Who cares about some stuck-up herbal sect? Don't worry—if something happens, I'll take responsibility! I'm a 9-star Dou zhe! You think I'm scared of them?"
His confidence reignited the mercenaries' enthusiasm. That's right! With Captain Niu around, even Thousand Medicinal House would think twice. Besides, with so many valuable herbs at stake, how could they pass this up?
They cheered and returned to gathering—unaware that the mood was about to shift dramatically.
---
Just as the atmosphere reached its peak, a chilling presence swept in.
One by one, glowing eyes emerged from the edges of the jungle, encircling the basin entirely.
"Crap! It's a demon wolf pack! We're surrounded!"
A panicked cry pierced the air, instantly plunging the entire camp into chaos.
"No way! Demon wolves only come out at night! Why are they here during the day?!"
"Someone must've pissed them off! Who the hell was it?! Show yourself before we all get killed!"
"This isn't the time to argue! Everyone grab your weapons! Get ready to fight!"
The mercenaries quickly grouped up and drew their weapons, eyes darting in every direction. One by one, gray-furred wolves stepped out from the underbrush. Though only first-rank magical beasts, demon wolves were pack creatures—terrifying in numbers. Even a Dou Huang expert could be overwhelmed and torn apart by thousands of fearless, coordinated wolves.
"Damn it! Why today of all days?!" Niu cursed. Just this morning, a peak rank 3 Beast had wiped out most of his newly-formed team. Now, before the day even ended, they were facing something even worse!
As the wolves parted, a majestic silver-furred wolf stepped forward. Behind it were two larger, more muscular wolves—clearly its elite guards.
The silver wolf's eyes blazed with fury. Then—to everyone's shock—it spoke in a young woman's voice:
"Despicable humans. Return my brother, or I'll turn you all into demon wolf dung!"
The voice was crisp and melodic, tinged with a seductive lilt—yet filled with crushing, sovereign rage.
The crowd froze. A talking wolf? Everyone's faces paled.
Only fourth-rank beasts could begin to understand language. Fifth-rank beasts might be able to speak a few words. But full speech was usually a sign of a sixth-rank magical beast!
Niu forced himself to stay calm and stepped forward. "Respected Wolf King, we just got here. We haven't taken your brother, I swear!"
"Damn it! Who kidnapped that wolf's brother?! Fess up before we all die!"
"Yeah! It's just a baby wolf! You wanna risk all our lives for that?!"
Chaos erupted among the mercenaries. Accusations flew. Suspicion was everywhere.
"Where's Xiao Yixian? And that guy… Goku?"
"Are you implying Xiao Yixian took it?! Say that again, I'll kill you!"
"I didn't mean it like that—!"
"Wait, Mu Li and his whole group are missing too! It's gotta be connected!"
"Damn it! I knew that guy was bad news! Now we're screwed because of him!"
"So it really was you humans?"
The silver wolf's voice dropped to a freezing low. A terrifying killing intent radiated from her, sending shivers down everyone's spine. The will to fight drained from their hearts.
Niu clenched his fists. 'Judging by her aura… at least a fifth-rank beast! Damn it! A freakin' fifth-rank Wolf King? What kind of twisted luck is this?!'
"Respected Wolf King… please, just give us some time! We'll find your brother for you!" he pleaded.
"Time? Hmph. I don't trust humans. I'll find him myself!"
With a deafening howl, the wolf pack surged forward, bloodlust in their eyes.
"Shit! You unreasonable mutt! Fine, if we're dying, let's die fighting! CHARGE!" Niu roared, raising his massive blade and cleaving the first wolf in half.
"Yeah! You think humans are that easy to bully?!"
The mercenaries—seasoned veterans who lived on the edge of life and death—immediately rallied. Fear gave way to desperate resolve as they charged into the fray.
Steel clashed, battle auras erupted, and a brutal fight broke out. Screams and howls filled the air. The ground was quickly soaked in blood.
Despite the mercenaries' valor, there were only a little over sixty of them. How could they possibly hold their own against a pack of several hundred demon wolves?
As one mercenary after another was torn apart and devoured, whatever remained of their morale quickly plummeted. And yet, they continued to fight with everything they had—because they still wanted to live.
Among them, Niu stood out as the fiercest warrior. As a 9-star Dou Zhe, even though he wasn't used to wielding a blade with his left hand, the low-level wolves simply couldn't match him. Every time he swung his weapon, another demon wolf fell, whimpering.
Within minutes, over a dozen wolves lay dead at his feet.
But the silver-furred Wolf King wasn't pleased. Those were her people, her kin. Her eyes gleamed with fury. She growled lowly at the elite guard beside her.
The guard gave a respectful nod, then leapt into the battlefield with a thunderous howl. Its claws slashed down in a blur, aimed directly at Niu.
Niu's face twisted in shock. "Damn it! A third-rank beast?! You've got to be kidding me! One wasn't enough—why is there another?!"
There was no time to complain. He pivoted and raised his greatsword, slashing straight at the incoming claw.
Clang!
The moment blade met claw, a metallic crash echoed through the forest. The wolf's claws were like forged steel, shattering the edge of Iron Bull's sword. The force of the blow sent shockwaves up his arm, launching him backward.
"Shit! This thing is ridiculously strong! There's no way these wolves haven't encountered some kind of treasure to evolve like this!" Niu gritted his teeth, a mix of awe and despair flashing through his eyes.
He had no time to dwell on it.
The elite wolf let out another furious roar and launched a blast of silvery energy from its mouth, hurling it directly at Niu as he tumbled through the air.
His face paled. With a defiant roar, he flung aside his shattered weapon and channeled every last ounce of his Dou Qi into his right fist.
"Rampaging Bull Heaven Charge!"
It was a low-tier Earth-rank Dou Technique—the strongest he had.
He'd earned it in his youth after saving an old man from bandits. The move had defined his fighting style—and given him the Title "Iron Bull."
"Moooo—!"
A massive spectral bull roared from his fist and charged headfirst into the incoming energy blast. It smashed through the wolf's attack like thunder splitting the sky, slamming full-force into the beast's chest.
"Awoooo—!"
A miserable, piercing howl rang out. Crack!
The elite wolf guard flew backward and slammed into a cliff wall, its spine bent grotesquely. Blood poured from its mouth as it lay twitching, broken and dying.
But Niu had paid the price. That one attack had completely drained his Dou Qi reserves. His meridians felt like they were being torn apart. If not for sheer willpower, he would've passed out on the spot.
Looking at the sea of wolves still closing in, he gave a bitter laugh.
"Is this it...? Guess I'm done for... Still, I took out one of their guards. At least I won't embarrass myself in front of my dead brothers…"
---
Suddenly, the air shifted.
A force—immense and formless—swept across the battlefield like an invisible hurricane.
Wolves that had been lunging toward Niu were suddenly flung away as if struck by a massive shockwave. Their bodies crashed into tree trunks and cliff faces. When they hit the ground, they no longer moved.
In an instant, the battlefield went dead silent.
All the remaining wolves froze, eyes wide with fear. Slowly, they backed away and regrouped around their Wolf King, their hostility vanishing like smoke.
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