Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

Pearl smelled blood in the air.

The iron-like smell made him stop in his steps and sniff it even more. It was definitely blood. Someone was bleeding rather profusely. He sensed the direction of the gale that carried the smell of blood and followed it.

He wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find really, but he was curious enough to go and check.

He hadn’t made it far when he heard movements from far away. And then, he sensed someone enter his range of spiritual sense.

A beast showed up in his senses, large and grisly, as well as bloody and wounded to a point where Pearl was surprised it had kept going. The beast hadn’t been heading in his direction at first, but upon noticing him, it immediately turned and ran toward Pearl.

Pearl frowned, bringing his spear out to fight. Only, when the beast got closer, Pearl’s eyes narrowed as he recognized it better. It was a wolf, a giant wolf with fur that was pitch black in color.

The wolf stopped not far from Pearl, the right side of its face bloody with a chunk of flesh missing, and numerous wounds covered the rest of its body.

The wolf was barely hanging on to its consciousness even as it was. In fact, it should have been knocked out a long time ago, so Pearl was a little surprised that it had held on for so long.

“You… you’re him,” the wolf said, limping toward Pearl slowly. “It’s me. You remember, right?”

Pearl narrowed his eyes, the voice sounding familiar. “Are you… Truefangs?” he asked as the memory of a wolf he fought when first arriving on this island came to mind.

The wolf had called itself Truefangs and said that it was from the Obsidian Wolf family, a rather large family when discounting the heavenly beasts.

“Help… help me,” Truefangs said. “I’ll give you anything. Just… don’t let them kill me.”

The wolf’s body gave out and it slumped to the ground. It hadn’t known what Pearl would do, but it had decided to trust in him.

Pearl teleported right next to it, looking it over. As he arrived, he could hear more sounds far ahead. More beasts were coming.

“What’s going on?” Pearl asked.

“They ambushed me near the artifact here. I killed one of their members, but I couldn’t handle the rest. I barely got out with my life,” the wolf said as it huffed loudly.

“Do you have any healing pill on you?” Pearl asked.

“Already ate one, but they continued attacking me, wasting all of it,” the wolf said. “I’ll eat another one when I’m not going to be attacked.”

Pearl ignored the wolf for a second as three angry beasts appeared from up ahead, all but one in their beast form.

One of the beasts was a large gray bear nearly twice the size of the wolf. A large black spot lay on its face, the shape of a skull.

The other beast was a large dog with flaming paws on its feet.

The final beast, in its human form, was a young woman with silver-gray hair. She raised her hand, causing the other beasts to come to a stop as they stared at Pearl, behind whom their target hid.

The woman narrowed her eyes, staring at Pearl. “Are you his friend?” she asked.

Pearl gave a blank look. “We fought once. That’s the extent of our friendship.”

The woman hadn’t been expecting such an answer and raised her eyebrows. “Then would you mind moving out of the way?” she asked.

“May I ask why?”

“He killed my brother!” the dog barked before returning to snarling while hot drool dripped down the side of its face.

Pearl stared at the dog for a moment, truly questioning if he should move aside. Who was he to stand between two beasts that had a blood feud?

But then, it had been an ambush as per the wolf behind him, hadn’t it? They were the ones that started it first.

“Do you intend to stand beside him?” the woman asked, her body ready to fall into a fighting stance.

“May I ask if it is true that you four ambushed him, and that he only killed one of your friends while fighting all of you at the same time?” Pearl asked.

“Does it matter what the answer is?” the woman asked.

“I don’t mind moving away if he was the instigator of this battle. He did kill your brother,” Pearl said. “But if he didn’t start it, then I will protect him.”

The woman stared at Pearl for a few long seconds before smiling. “Well, it looks like we might have to offend one of such status as yours. Please forgive me.”

The gray bear and the dog looked confused. “Why are you bowing down to him?” the bear asked.

“Don’t you see?” the woman asked. “You’re in the presence of a White Tiger.”

“A White Tiger?” the bear asked, its body stiffening in fear. The name did more to scare it than the being in front of it.

The dog sucked in a deep breath as well, its eyes seemingly gaining clarity as fear drove hatred away from its mind, making space for more.

The wolf next to Pearl looked up with a face of pure awe. “You… you’re a White Tiger?” it asked.

Pearl narrowed his eyes, not answering the wolf. Instead, he addressed the woman.

“How did you recognize me?” he asked. “Was it a guess?”

“Not precisely a guess,” the woman said. “I have incredibly acute senses, and I’ve had the luxury of meeting a White Tiger before. You give off a close enough aura, maybe even stronger than the one I met before. That’s how I knew.”

“I see,” Pearl said. So he had been recognized. At least it wasn’t a White Tiger that did it, or else the situation would’ve been worse. “So? Do you still wish to fight me?”

The woman smiled. “Do you still wish to protect him?”