Chapter 017: Extreme Misfortune
Du Fan glanced around quickly and noticed that aside from the rotten skeletons, the place was filled mostly with gold artifacts—some half-buried in the piles of bones, others exposed. However, the surfaces of these gold items were covered with a mold-like substance that gave people a feeling of disgust.
After scanning the surroundings further, Du Fan was even more shocked. Aside from the entrance where he had arrived, there was only one dark hole directly in front of him. From within, a foul-smelling wind blew out, and in the darkness, the wind howled like the cries of ghosts and wolves, sending chills down one’s spine.
Instinctively, Du Fan drew the Silver Moon Sword from his storage ring and stared at the dark hole, as if something might burst out at any moment.
After waiting for a while, he frowned and silently recited a magic spell, summoning a small fireball to throw into the hole. With his action, everything inside the hole gradually became visible to Du Fan. But in less than a moment, the fireball seemed to be extinguished by something.
Frowning, Du Fan was about to take a few steps forward when suddenly, a deafening roar came from inside the cave, startling him greatly. He stepped back several steps, staring at the cave in confusion.
The agonizing roars continued endlessly, as if there was no end to them. The broken rocks on the cave walls seemed to respond to some kind of call and began falling down.
Inside the dark cave, several blue flames appeared and grew closer with each roar.
Du Fan inwardly cursed. He had previously wondered why this secret passage was so well-hidden—it must be a place holding great secrets. But his entry had been too easy. Although there had been a large rock blocking the way earlier, that rock was only useful to ordinary people; it posed no threat to someone with even a slight amount of strength. How could such a place be so simple?
Sure enough, he was in big trouble again!
Before his thoughts could fully form, those blue flames were already very close. Upon closer inspection, Du Fan couldn’t help but marvel—what were those flames? They were actually three giant wolves with towering bodies!
Call them wolves! But their entire bodies seemed translucent, allowing one to see the blood inside clearly. At the same time, their bodies seemed wrapped in a layer of blue flames, causing the surrounding air to turn cold due to these flames.
The three wolves stood together in a triangular formation and gradually moved closer to Du Fan’s location. Du Fan felt his scalp tingle—how could the flames on these wolves be cold? Were they the legendary cold flames? It was said that such cold flames only appeared on abyssal creatures. Du Fan compared them with the texts he had read, inwardly groaning. If he wasn’t mistaken, these three creatures were the legendary Level 6 magical beasts—Nether Wolves.
These Nether Wolves were said to be creatures from the abyssal hell, impossible to encounter in the human world. Yet his luck was too good—just by entering a secret passage in the barbarian’s grand palace, he ran into such creatures. He really didn’t know how he would die next! Before he could finish thinking, one of the Nether Wolves lunged at him. Du Fan instinctively jumped aside. With a loud crash, the Nether Wolf hit the spot where Du Fan had stood earlier, turning the piles of bones there into ice crystals. A thick layer of ice armor formed across half of the cave.
Du Fan was shocked. Legends said that the abyssal magical flames could freeze anything in the world. Though it might be somewhat exaggerated, seeing these flames now made him realize the rumor was likely true. Using his mediocre magic to deal with these flames? It was pure nonsense!
Before he could steady himself after dodging, another Nether Wolf rushed at him. He rolled away in panic, barely escaping, while that wolf also crashed into the ground. As a result, the remaining half of the cave was also covered in ice armor.
The air around became extremely cold, as if they were in a snowy wasteland. Du Fan quickly got up and looked around, feeling even more frustrated. Those two attacks had already pushed him from one side of the cave to its center. These Nether Wolves weren’t stupid—they even used such tactics.
Thinking about the piles of bones beneath his feet, Du Fan realized that those creatures were probably like him—having fallen here only to become food for the Nether Wolves.
The three Nether Wolves moved forward slowly, as if teasing Du Fan, circling around him. Du Fan felt nervous, but he gripped his Silver Moon Demon Sword tighter. He silently calculated that if all else failed, he would risk his life and use the Space Rending Slash—other moves would likely be ineffective against these wolves.
Finally, the wolves seemed to have had enough. One of them slowly approached Du Fan, its front limbs straightening as if ready to pounce at any moment. Du Fan grew anxious, knowing that any hesitation would mean the end of his life.
With a grunt, his combat energy flared brightly, illuminating the cave intensely. Du Fan could sense that his energy was on the verge of a breakthrough, but what good was that in such a place?
Unexpectedly, the wolves let out agonized cries and rushed backward. Du Fan gradually understood what was happening—living in the dark underground for so long, their eyes were sensitive to light. His radiant combat energy, filled with holy light, must have caused them temporary blindness, rendering their eyes useless for a while!
Realizing this, Du Fan held his breath and slowly retreated to a corner of the cave while the wolves continued to scream.
Angered by Du Fan’s actions, the wolves began to rampage around the cave. Their immense strength, combined with each strike’s freezing effect, caused rocks to fly and ice to swirl, shaking the entire cave.
Just as Du Fan felt a little safer, the wolves stopped moving. One of them stretched out its head and spat out a several-meter-long blast of demonic flame!
Damn it! These wolves not only had ice and fire all over them but could also spew it! Did they think they were playing some game called “Nine Heavens of Ice and Fire”?!
Soon, Du Fan felt a wave of cold hit him. It wouldn’t freeze him instantly, but if it touched his body, it might be disastrous…
He held his breath, not daring to move, fearing that even the slightest movement might be heard by the wolves, leading to…
But it seemed as if heaven did not hear his prayers. The remaining two Nether Wolves suddenly opened their mouths and spat out magical flames in all directions, one of which headed straight for Du Fan’s location. Du Fan inwardly groaned in despair, knowing that if he made a sound now, those three flames would likely come at him all at once! Gritting his teeth, he unleashed blue and white combat energy, instantly forming a shield around himself. When the flames reached him, he felt a chill, but the combat energy shield seemed to have some effect against them, causing them to split apart… Du Fan glanced at them in surprise—the magical flames on those Nether Wolves could at most freeze the surface of objects, but the flames they spat out could freeze moisture in the air into ice crystals. This was truly terrifying. If not for his good luck in blinding their eyes, he probably wouldn’t have been able to withstand such a blast! Fortunately, the Nether Wolves’ ability to spit out flames didn’t seem to last long. After spewing a few times in Du Fan’s direction, they changed locations. Du Fan hid his combat energy and his heart pounded wildly. In just under a minute, he was already drenched in cold sweat! Hiding there, he dared not move at all! After that burst of flames, the three Nether Wolves grew anxious, seemingly eager to find Du Fan, and started scurrying around again. But without their eyes, their reliance on hearing was limited. After dodging several attacks silently, Du Fan felt a bit relieved… These magical beasts were not humans, so no schemes would work in such a situation. Relying on his own strength to defeat them was also unrealistic. Du Fan was prepared—once these Nether Wolves relaxed, he would immediately return the way he came. No matter what secrets lay here, he wouldn’t come back again, no matter what! As he was thinking this, suddenly, a faint call reached his ears. Though soft, it was clear enough for Du Fan’s sensitive hearing—not a hallucination, it came from the cave he had entered earlier!!!