Chapter 117: The Wild Wolf Guard

Chapter 117: The Wild Wolf Guard

All the generals present had some knowledge of the Wild Wolf Guard of the Great Han Dynasty—a unit that caused many headaches. They were called the Wild Wolf Guard because every warrior’s mount was a wild wolf.

Like the Great Qian Dynasty, the Great Han Dynasty spanned vast territories, but its forests were far more extensive. The mountains and woods teemed with countless beasts, and rumor had it that the Wild Wolf Guard’s warriors were the alpha wolves of those mountain packs.

Each was ferocious beyond measure, and it was common for a ten-thousand-strong army to have a wolf king named Wanzhi as their steed.

Back in the day, the troops of King Wuwei clashed repeatedly with the Wild Wolf Guard of the Great Han Dynasty, decisively defeating them. This victory was celebrated throughout the Great Qian Dynasty.

Yet within the Great Han Dynasty, King Wuwei’s name was like an invincible demon—unstoppable and feared.

The Wild Wolf Guard represented the elite of the Great Han forces, truly formidable.

But at this moment, Emperor Yang Wei’s Yulin Army was also exceptionally impressive. Ten thousand Yulin soldiers stood on the training grounds, each brimming with vitality, clad in gleaming armor and silver helmets, wielding uniform dark-blue iron swords. Each was enveloped in black true qi, radiating a fierce aura.

The other envoys from the three kingdoms, who had not yet paid their respects, all showed expressions of shock. One expert at the marrow-refining realm was nothing special, but tens of thousands of Yulin soldiers all practicing the same cultivation method were exceedingly rare.

Not long ago, Wuhong had suffered a devastating siege at Blackwood Cliff by Yang Wei’s ten thousand Yulin troops. If not for the sudden ascension of the Old Poisoner to the Innate Realm, who obliterated the mountains and rivers with a single palm and slaughtered all the Yulin soldiers, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Even now, Wuhong shuddered at the memory.

At present, the strength of these ten thousand Yulin soldiers seemed even more formidable than those at Blackwood Cliff.

Yet for some reason, Wuhong felt an odd familiarity looking at the Yulin soldiers cloaked in black energy, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint why.

A long, piercing wolf howl suddenly echoed in everyone’s ears, followed by a thunderous roar like the galloping of thousands of horses. All faces changed.

The reason was clear: this was no ordinary howl, but one infused with true qi. It was anything but simple.

With a continuous rumble, a grand force emerged from the left side near the Xuanwu Gate.

“Ah! Are those wolves? Why do they have two heads? And tiger tails?” Some civil officials, unable to bear the shock, shouted aloud.

From the Xuanwu Gate came a force of over ten thousand. The burly men seated atop the wolves wore animal pelts; this was not unusual.

Their true qi protection was simple, clearly not reaching the marrow-refining realm.

But what truly astonished everyone were the wolves beneath these soldiers.

Each wolf bore two heads—one white, one red. The red head had bright, pupil-less eyes that looked ghostly, while the white head was blood-red, like the eyes of a demon.

Most peculiar of all was their long tiger-like tails. These beasts were enormous, their backs standing as tall as an adult human when upright, far larger than any tiger or lion.

Led by a guard captain at the front, these ten thousand Wild Wolf Guards took their places on the training ground.

The three Han envoys’ faces relaxed slightly, but facing ten thousand marrow-refining warriors left them uneasy.

Emperor Yang Wei’s expression darkened. He had expected a resounding victory—after all, every one of his Yulin soldiers was a marrow-refining expert.

But to find the Wild Wolf Guard not only formidable but mounted on these two-headed giant wolves made a perfect victory far less certain.

The Yulin soldiers showed no fear despite the fierce opposition. They stood like statues, unwavering.

Wuhong admired their mental fortitude, truly impressive.

What he did not know was that every one of these Yulin soldiers practiced the Servant Technique of the Ten Thousand Demons Heart Sutra. Their loyalty to Emperor Yang Guang or Yang Wei was absolute; even if Yang Wei personally killed their parents, they wouldn’t bat an eye.

Of course, Wuhong was unaware of the existence of the Ten Thousand Demons Heart Sutra at this moment.

The two elite forces faced each other across the training ground. Wuhong’s heart trembled at the Han Dynasty’s beast-taming technique. Setting aside the origins of these ten thousand two-headed wolves, it was remarkable how docile these beasts were—standing obediently like horses, awaiting their riders’ commands.

Wolves were wild by nature, very different from domestic dogs. No one believed these two-headed wolves were less wild than ordinary wolves.

Suddenly, a thought struck Wuhong. He recalled the countless strange beasts within the Heavenly Book Miniature World, where two-headed wolves also existed.

Through his knowledge of the Heavenly Book Miniature World, Wuhong knew that all five great nations had entrances to this realm, which was far more complex than imagined.

Could these wild wolves have been captured from the Heavenly Book Miniature World?

He immediately suspected the crucial truth.

Indeed, his guess was correct. These two-headed wild wolves were all captured from the Heavenly Book Miniature World.

This was the Han Dynasty’s trump card. Originally, these Wild Wolf Guards were assigned to protect the envoys on their journey to Great Qian. But unexpectedly, Wuhong’s interference had led to a standoff with Emperor Yang Wei’s Yulin soldiers.

Clearly, among the three envoys was someone of extraordinary status, likely of great importance to the Han Dynasty.

Wuhong’s gaze swept over the faces of the three Han envoys. The leader was a particularly robust warrior; the second was somewhat leaner, though still robust compared to Great Qian generals. What caught Wuhong’s attention was a short, stocky man who showed respect toward the tall captain but bore no trace of nervousness.

His status was evidently exceptional, though Wuhong did not press further.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” The Yulin soldiers shouted in unison, their voices imbued with true qi, causing momentary disorder among the Wild Wolf Guard.

The captain of the Wild Wolf Guard suddenly produced a flute and played a special melody that calmed the entire unit.

“Begin the contest!” Emperor Yang Wei said softly but with a commanding tone, showing his considerable cultivation.

Years ago, Yang Wei and Wu Lie were the first and second prodigies in the capital, both gifted cultivators.

Due to practicing the Ten Thousand Demons Heart Sutra, Yang Wei’s cultivation rapidly advanced, surpassing Wu Lie by a wide margin, reaching the Late Postnatal Perfection stage in just two years.

At his command, the two units charged amid the thunderous pounding of the wild wolves’ footsteps. This contest transcended mere formations and tactics.

Both forces were the elite of their realms. The Great Qian Yulin Army was composed of martial arts masters with flawless coordination, their ten-thousand-strong formation radiating a vast true qi aura.

Before the two forces collided, a massive sphere of true qi, nearly a kilometer wide, surged forward from the Yulin Army toward the Wild Wolf Guard.

Chaos erupted among the Wild Wolf Guard, but each wolf beneath a warrior opened its jaws, exhaling two spheres of energy—one red, one white—that surged toward the Yulin Army.

These twin spheres carried opposing forces: one radiated endless heat, the other an unending chill—two diametrically opposed energies unleashed in tandem.