Volume 1: Bo'an Awakening & The Calamity Storm
Chapter 25
The Demon Wolf's Cavern
Mountain winds howled through the narrow mountain gorge, shrieking in eerie, mournful wails like the weeping of wronged ghosts.
Dusk was fast approaching. Lead-gray clouds hung heavy across the jagged ridges of Cang Lei Ridge. The feeble embers of dying twilight cast only pale, sickly streaks of light down into Luyuan Valley, shrouding the weathered crags and ancient, gnarled trees in an aura of eerie desolation.
At the foot of a sheer, ash-gray cliff face, a natural cavern mouth lurked behind dense tangles of thorn-choked vines.
Yet what greeted the young mages was no breathtaking vista of untouched wilderness, but a spine-chilling tableau strewn right across the stone threshold.
Scattered across the muddy quagmire before the cave entrance were dozens of splintered, bleached bones. Some were femur-sized leg bones, dried and mildewed to a sickly yellow, but others were fractured animal skulls still clinging to chunks of slimy, purplish flesh. The suffocating reek of stagnant blood mingled with the putrid stench of rotting entrails, assaulting their nostrils and churning their stomachs with violent nausea.
Xiao Min instinctively took half a step back, her fingers clutching the hem of her tactical uniform as her voice trembled:
“So many bones... This place definitely isn’t normal. The magical beast ecology textbooks specifically teach that only territorial, carnivorous demon beasts drag their prey back to their lair’s entrance like this. There is definitely a ferocious monster nesting inside.”
Beside her, Li Peng’s knees were already knocking together in an audible clatter. His face had turned as pale as a corpse’s shroud. Gulping hard, he tugged frantically at Ling Bai’s sleeve:
“B-Brother Ling, shouldn’t we call it off? Luyuan Valley is vast—we can easily search another ridge for magic ore... What if there’s a fully grown Servant-class beast lurking in there?”
Ling Bai froze before the yawning cavern entrance, his knuckles whitening around his silver-inlaid sandalwood magic wand.
To say he wasn’t afraid would be a blatant lie. Confronted with that gruesome graveyard of splintered bones and the choking stench of rot, a layer of cold goosebumps prickled along his spine. Yet, the moment his gaze drifted toward the distant dense forest—catching sight of the colored signal flares and smoke plumes rising from the other experimental squads pressing deeper into the valley—an ember of greedy ambition flared into an inferno within his chest.
The Basic Magic Shield Talisman!
That defensive treasure was worth at least five hundred thousand magic coins on the black market! More importantly, the one personally bestowing the reward was Lord Lei Zhen—Commander-in-Chief of the Cang Lei Ridge Border Garrison, a living legend whom even Patriarch Ling Zhuofeng had to treat with utmost deference.
If his squad could be the first to bring a raw vein sample of Crystal Magic Ore back to the forward base, he wouldn’t just claim that priceless talisman for himself; he would also seize the undivided adulation of the faculty and the clan elders. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to wash away the humiliating disgrace Lin Feng had inflicted upon him at Moon Garden Manor’s banquet hall. How could he possibly let it slip through his fingers?
Ling Bai slapped Li Peng’s hand away, a vicious sneer contorting his handsome face:
“Shut your useless mouth! How can a cowardly rat like you ever hope to become a true mage? Look closer! Most of these bones belong to wild mountain goats and spirit deer—there isn’t a single scrap of hunter armor or mage equipment here! That proves whatever is inside is at most a low-tier predator that happened upon this cave and claimed it as a den.”
Puffing out his chest, he swept an arrogant, condescending glare across the rest of the team:
“There are five of us! I have already mastered the peak of Basic Tier 1 Ice Magic. Xiao Min has her scorching Fire Burst, and Fatty Hu has his Earth Ripple for crowd control. Even if there really is a low-tier Servant-class beast inside, a single wave of my Ice Frost will freeze its joints solid! Once it’s locked down, all of us will bombard it with magic. Do you think we can’t blow it to ashes?”
Lin Feng had remained silent at the rear until now, his sharp gaze never leaving the sheer basalt cliffs flanking the cave entrance.
Gouged into the iron-hard granite were massive claw gashes exceeding half a meter in length. The grooves sank nearly half a hand-span deep into the stone, their edges razor-sharp, with pulverized stone dust settled below that had not yet gathered a speck of moss or dust.
These claw marks were fresh!
Furthermore, while the nauseating stench originated from the rotting carcass pile, if one listened closely, a faint, humid draft carrying a dense pulse of mana surged out from the depths of the tunnel at rhythmic, steady intervals. That was the steady breathing of a colossal predator!
Lin Feng stepped forward, his voice low and solemn:
“The claw marks on the rock are over five inches deep. That tearing force far exceeds any ordinary wild beast. A low-tier Servant-class creature could never leave grooves this deep into solid basalt. Whatever is inside is at least an intermediate Servant-class beast—possibly even high-tier. The stone shavings beneath our feet haven’t even had time to dry. It’s inside the cave right now. Walking in there is walking straight into a death trap.”
Hearing Lin Feng’s deduction, Xiao Min nodded in agreement, tension tightening her pale features. Fatty Hu nervously shifted his mining pick, shuffling closer to Lin Feng’s side:
“He’s right, Ling Bai... Maybe we should listen to Brother Feng. Safety comes first—we only have one life...”
Seeing Xiao Min and Fatty Hu immediately side with Lin Feng, a surge of venomous fury choked Ling Bai’s throat.
All his life, he had been the center of attention—the blessed prodigy of the Ling Clan’s branch bloodline. Yet ever since setting foot in Feng Lan High School, this destitute carriage driver’s son had relentlessly stolen his spotlight, even having the audacity to shred the Ling Clan’s indentured servitude contract right before the city’s high society!
And now, in the middle of their wilderness combat trial, this bastard dared to challenge his leadership, undermine team morale, and dismiss his judgment!
“Lin Feng!” Ling Bai hissed through gritted teeth, thrusting an accusatory finger inches from Lin Feng’s nose. “Stop trying to play your pathetic scare tactics here! I am the team leader officially appointed by Instructor Kang Mu! You’re nothing but a bottom-feeder who fluked his way into awakening the Fire element. What could you possibly know about beast ecology? These scratches were clearly left by a wild mountain ox rubbing its horns against the rock! How dare you fabricate a high-tier Servant beast just to terrify everyone?!”
He sneered with dripping disdain:
“Trying to sabotage my first-place finish? Keep dreaming! If you’re that terrified of dying, tuck your tail between your legs and cower out here! But let me make one thing crystal clear: once we deliver the magic ore to Lord Lei Zhen, your practical evaluation will be branded with a fat, glaring F for cowardly desertion!”
With that, Ling Bai spun on his heel. Drawing a keen mana dagger from his belt, he slashed through the tangled, thorny vines concealing the cavern mouth:
“Move in! We pry out a single chunk of Crystal Magic Ore and withdraw immediately! It won’t take more than three minutes—what the hell are you all so terrified of?!”
Without offering Lin Feng another glance, Ling Bai crunched his boots right through the rotting bones and strode haughtily into the dark maw of the cavern.
Seeing Ling Bai’s resolute display, Li Peng instantly scurried after him, fawning loudly:
“Brother Ling is magnificent! That is the true bearing of a great clan’s young master—unlike some impoverished trash who only knows how to tuck his head in like a turtle!”
With that, he dashed inside right behind him.
Xiao Min stood rooted to the spot, her delicate brows knit tight. She looked at Lin Feng, conflict written across her face:
“Lin Feng, what... what should we do? This practical combat trial accounts for fifty percent of our graduation grade. If our squad splinters mid-trial, all of us will face severe disciplinary score deductions.”
Fatty Hu scratched his head, his chubby face scrunched up in distress:
“Brother Feng, how about... how about we just tail them a short distance? We stay right by the mouth of the cave. If anything looks off, we grease our heels and sprint! I brought two mana mining picks. Helping them pry loose a fist-sized chunk shouldn’t take too long.”
Lin Feng gazed into the pitch-black abyss of the cavern. He knew the unforgiving rules of this world all too well: the wilderness trial scores directly dictated resource allocation at Feng Lan Magic High School. If he received an F, he would be stripped of all school cultivation subsidies, and his path toward funding the treatment for Xiao Mo’s legs would become unimaginably harder.
Moreover, if the beast inside truly awakened, letting those two arrogant fools die was one thing, but he could not leave Fatty Hu and Xiao Min to perish.
“Fine. We go in,” Lin Feng nodded, his gaze turning icy. “But remember: keep at least ten paces behind Ling Bai, and do not wander off into any branching fissures. The instant I call for a retreat, you two turn and run. Don’t linger for a single scrap of ore. Understood?”
“Understood!” Fatty Hu tightened his backpack straps. Xiao Min nodded softly as well, an odd sense of calm and security blooming in her chest at Lin Feng’s resolute command.
The three carefully slipped past the thorn bushes, their boots treading lightly upon the damp stone as they ventured into the cavern.
The moment they crossed the cavern threshold, the temperature plunged into bone-gnawing chill.
Darkness enveloped them, thick and viscous as ink. Murky droplets seeped from the damp stone walls, splashing onto the rock floor in eerie, echoing cadences: drip... drip... drip... The stagnant air was stifling, drenched in the nauseating stench of beast excrement and decomposing flesh that clung to every thread of their clothes.
Trembling, Li Peng produced a mana light-stick and snapped the primer ring. A pale white beam illuminated the rugged, winding passage strewn with jagged rubble.
“Move faster! Stop dragging your feet!” Ling Bai snapped from the front, his hushed voice betraying his mounting impatience.
The tunnel sloped gently downward into the mountain’s belly. After about fifty paces and a jagged, zigzagging bend, the cramped corridor abruptly opened up!
It was an expansive subterranean cavern resembling an underground cathedral, its vaulted ceiling soaring more than a dozen meters overhead, draped in grotesque stalactites of every shape and size.
And the instant the beam from the light-stick swept across the opposing cliff face, all five of them froze in place, their breath catching in their throats!
“Good heavens...” Fatty Hu’s eyes bugged out as the words tumbled from his slack jaw.
Embedded in the towering basalt wall ahead, hundreds of hexagonal crystal clusters jutted outward like a forest of crystalline stone blossoms! They radiated a gentle, pure azure fluorescence. Ribbons of cerulean radiance intertwined, illuminating the cavernous vault and reflecting off subterranean pools below, creating a surreal, breathtaking spectacle like a miniature galaxy sparkling in the abyss.
Crystal Magic Ore!
And it was an unrefined, high-density mineral vein of astonishing purity!
Ling Bai trembled violently with excitement. A wild, unrestrained burst of laughter escaped his lips, sheer triumph blooming across his face:
“Hahaha! Do you see this?! Was this young master wrong?! A pristine, untouched vein of Crystal Magic Ore! This deposit alone is enough to refine dozens of Basic Magic Crystals! First place in this trial is ours without question!”
He spun around, fixing Lin Feng with a gaze dripping with smug vindication and mockery:
“Lin Feng! Where is that high-tier beast you were babbling about? Where is your Blood-Eyed Frenzy Wolf?! All I see is an unclaimed mountain of treasure! You useless clown, you’re nothing but a coward who pulls wild guesses out of your ass!”
Lin Feng didn’t waste a single breath on the boy’s jeers. His keen eyes scanned every shadowed recess of the vaulted cavern.
The closer they drew to the mineral deposit, the more the soothing fragrance of raw mana was violently overpowered by a sickening, feral stench. Across the damp stone floor beneath the crystal face, patches of cave moss had been shredded to pulp, littered with fist-sized clumps of ash-gray beast fur crusted with congealed, black blood.
This was emphatically not an abandoned cave!
Quite the contrary—this was the inner sanctum of a beast’s lair! This raw mana vein was the beast’s natural energy nexus, an essence font it fed upon to accelerate its demonic evolution!
“Don’t touch it!” Lin Feng barked in a sharp warning.
Yet greed had already blinded Ling Bai and Li Peng. Tossing all caution to the wind, Li Peng lunged toward the rock face like a moth to a flame, raising his mana mining pick high:
“Brother Ling, I’ll pry loose the biggest cluster for you! Let’s show these paupers what real mages are made of!”
CLANG! CLINK——!!
The mana-alloy tip of the pick struck a fissure in the rock with tremendous force, unleashing a harsh, metallic ringing that reverberated deafeningly through the hollow cavern!
Luminous blue shards of crystal showered onto the floor.
Seeing Ling Bai and Li Peng already chipping away, Xiao Min and Fatty Hu couldn’t suppress their growing anxiety. Fatty Hu looked at Lin Feng with pleading eyes:
“Brother Feng, the vein is right here... I only need a fist-sized fragment to pass the practical exam. It’ll take five seconds, please!”
Xiao Min bit her lip and stepped toward the cliff as well, drawing her magical mining chisel. “Let’s take a sample quickly and leave at once.”
CLANG! CLINK! SMACK——!
A rapid barrage of pickaxes hammering against basalt echoed through the subterranean abyss. That sharp, jarring din shattered the subterranean silence that had reigned for centuries, reverberating into the darkest recesses of the cavern.
Lin Feng stood motionless in the center of the cavern, his right hand slipping inside his uniform to tightly grip the dragon pendant resting against his chest.
Suddenly!
Rumble...
The bedrock beneath their feet gave a subtle tremor.
It was no illusion!
The Primordial Dragon Pendant pressed against Lin Feng’s chest flared with a searing, warning heat! A life-or-death alarm!
Water droplets falling from the ceiling froze for a fraction of a second, then shattered into trembling ripples across the subterranean pools. The ground began to thud in rhythmic, heavy, dull impacts emerging from the pitch-black abyss behind the crystal vein:
Thud... Thud... Thud...
With every colossal step that slammed down, stone dust and pebble fragments showered down from the vaulted ceiling like rain!
“STOP! ALL OF YOU, STOP RIGHT NOW!!”
Lin Feng roared, his mana-infused bellow detonating like thunder, sending an ear-piercing ache through the eardrums of his teammates:
“IT’S AWAKE! GET BACK NOW!!”
Lin Feng’s thunderous roar froze the chisel in Xiao Min’s raised hand. Fatty Hu shuddered, instinctively leaping back three paces behind Lin Feng.
Ling Bai whipped around, his face flushed scarlet with outrage:
“Lin Feng, have you lost your damn mind?! How dare you scream like an idiot and try to sabotage—”
The words choked in Ling Bai’s throat as though an invisible vice had clamped around his windpipe.
From deep within the pitch-black chasm to the right of the cavern—a dark crevasse where the gentle azure glow of the Crystal Magic Ore could never reach...
FLASH!
Two blazing crimson orbs ignited in the dark!
They were no gemstones. Nor were they dancing wisps of will-o’-the-wisp flame.
They were beast eyes!
A pair of eyes as large as dinner bowls, blood-red like twin burning coals submerged in a sea of gore! Within their slit, golden pupils swirled unadulterated savagery, insatiable bloodlust, and the incandescent fury of a territorial apex predator whose slumber had just been disturbed!
The air within the cavern instantly curdled, freezing solid as if dipped in liquid nitrogen. A nauseating, gag-inducing wave of putrefaction—like bloated corpses that had soaked in stagnant water for weeks—billowed outward, utterly obliterating the sweet scent of crystal mana!
Grrrr... rrr...
A low, rumbling growl resonated through the bedrock like subterranean thunder. The vibration hammered against the chests of all five teenagers, sending their hearts pounding so violently they felt ready to burst through their throats.
And then...
ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAR——!!!!
A frenzied, apocalyptic roar detonated through the subterranean cavern!
A tangible shockwave of sound, riding a tempest of putrid gale-force wind, blasted across the expanse like an erupting hurricane! The earth-shattering roar rebounded off the basalt walls in terrifying acoustic resonance, shaking the very foundations of the ceiling! Massive stalactites weighing hundreds of pounds snapped, crashing down onto the stone floor and shattering into explosive shrapnel!
Li Peng, who stood closest to the chasm, took the brunt of the acoustic blast straight to his chest. White froth bubbled from his mouth as the mana pick slipped from his numb fingers, clattering loudly against the stone. He crashed flat onto his back, eyes rolling back, a dark, steaming puddle rapidly spreading across the crotch of his trousers with a pungent, foul stench!
Xiao Min was blown back several paces, her hands clamping tightly over her ears as thin streams of crimson blood trickled between her fingers, every drop of color drained from her face.
Thud... Thud... Thud...
Heavy, earth-shaking footsteps, like battering rams pounding the ground, steadily emerged from the fathomless shadows.
Bathed in the ethereal glow of the Crystal Magic Ore, a colossal silhouette like a walking mountain of muscle and sinew emerged, unveiling the full nightmare of its horrific visage!
It was a demonic wolf over four meters in length and standing nearly two meters tall!
Its entire frame was covered in coarse, ash-gray fur that bristled like barbed wire, matted with thick crusts of dried, black gore that had hardened into impenetrable scales. Its four pillar-like limbs were twice as thick as temple columns. With every stride, curved pitch-black talons as long as combat daggers gouged into the solid bedrock, leaving jagged fractures trailing in its wake!
Most terrifying of all was the beast’s head!
Protruding from its broad, craggy brow was a single, twisted horn over half a meter long. The spiral horn was sharp as a forged lance of tempered steel, glinting with a rancid, obsidian sheen, while crackles of violet-gray mana occasionally sparked around its wicked tip.
Its elongated maw peeled back, revealing twin rows of jagged, yellowed fangs half a hand-span in length—uneven and razor-sharp like rusted iron saws. Thick, viscous saliva dripped continuously onto the basalt slabs, hissing as acrid white smoke dissolved the stone!
“A One-Horned... Blood-Eyed Frenzy Wolf?!”
Xiao Min collapsed to her knees, trembling violently as her voice splintered in utter despair:
“It’s not... It’s not a low-tier Servant beast... That horn has turned completely purplish-black... This is a peak Blood-Eyed Frenzy Wolf! A high-tier Servant-class beast!!”
A high-tier Servant-class beast!
The rank struck like a death sentence straight into the hearts of tenth-grade students who had barely dipped their toes into the magical world!
In the hierarchy of magical beasts, a high-tier Servant-class creature was the absolute apex terror among Servant-class ranks. Their hides were tougher than reinforced steel plate, virtually impervious to ordinary Basic Tier 1 magic. The brute kinetic power and hunting agility of a mature Blood-Eyed Frenzy Wolf were more than sufficient to tear apart a veteran squad of Basic Tier 3 battle mages!
Ling Bai stood frozen to the marrow, shivering like a leaf in an autumn gale.
The silver-inlaid wand in his hand knocked frantically against his quaking knees. The wisps of pale-white frost he had desperately tried to channel shattered into thin vapor before the beast’s suffocating, feral aura.
His pupils shrank to pinpricks, his mind wiped completely blank. Where was the pompous arrogance of the noble Ling Clan scion? Where were his haughty boasts of freezing any beast in the blink of an eye?! Confronted by an apex killing machine forged by raw nature, all the sterile theories recited within the lecture halls of Feng Lan High dissolved into pathetic, worthless jokes!
The Blood-Eyed Frenzy Wolf lazily rolled its blood-soaked gaze across them.
It did not immediately pounce to shred the insignificant insects before it. Guided by the sinister cunning and hunting instincts of an apex predator, its massive bulk glided slowly along the cavern wall.
Its talons scraped against the stone in a grinding hiss. With steady, deliberate paces that exerted a thousand tons of invisible pressure, it circled straight toward the narrow, zigzagging fissure—the sole exit leading out of the cavern!
BOOM!!
The beast’s four-meter-long frame came to a sudden halt. Pivoting its massive bulk sideways, it completely plugged the narrow passage!
Its spine nearly grazed the ceiling, its bristling ash-gray fur transforming into an impenetrable barrier of barbed wire. The faint, dying twilight filtering in from outside was instantly extinguished by its towering mountain of flesh!
Their only route of escape was completely sealed!
The wolf’s blood-red eyes—like twin pools of stagnant gore—locked onto the five prey cornered in the back of the cavern.
A scorching, sickening wave of breath laden with the stench of rotting flesh blew through its jagged fangs straight into their faces. The razor-sharp horn on its forehead dipped low, aligning directly with their chests, as the corded sinews of its massive limbs coiled tight for the fatal pounce!
Deep within the subterranean cavern, darkness closed in.
The Grim Reaper had arrived, leaving not a single seam through which to flee!