Eternal Cultivation Of Alchemy

“Move back,” Pearl told the wolf in a low voice. “They might try to go past me and come for you. You’ll have to protect yourself too.”

“I’ve done that before. I can do that still,” the wolf said, getting back on its feet as it prepared for the fight.

Pearl sensed his opponents’ cultivation bases. The dog and the bear had about the same level of strength as him, but the woman was stronger. Her cultivation base was in the Immortal Spirit realm, which meant she would have a spirit.

If that spirit had anything to do with fighting, he would be in a bit of trouble.

The other three beasts prepared as well.

“Don’t try to hold back just because he’s a White Tiger,” the woman explained. “That’s one way to get yourself killed. Fight him with all your might. Kill him if you must too. He will be doing the exact same.”

The two beasts nodded. They quickly made a plan and moved out.

Pearl made the first attack. Space shrank and his spear found its first target—the bear.

He stabbed it directly in the chest, only for a talisman to jump out of its Soul Space, protecting it at the same second.

The bear looked surprised at having its life-saving treasure vanish before the fight even started.

“Focus!” the woman shouted to the two and charged forward herself. Even as she charged, her body turned into that of a giant gray bear, like the other one, with the skull-shaped fur on her face as well. Only her eyes looked pure blue, like looking into a serene pool of water.

Pearl stabbed toward the woman, but a layer of frost appeared on her body that stopped the attack. Then her paw glowed with ice aura and she slammed it down at him. Sharp icicles flew toward Pearl, each one attempting to lacerate him.

Pearl’s spear spun, creating a defensive barrier, but that couldn’t stop the icicles. They were far too strong and broke through his defense, striking him.

Pearl could have teleported away, but the wolf was still behind him, not moving. If Pearl left, the wolf would die. Besides, he didn’t want a beast out there that knew about a teleporting White Tiger.

Pearl chose to defend it entirely.

His body glowed golden at the last moment as he used the White Tiger’s Dominating Body technique to improve his physical defense by leaps and bounds. Perhaps because his body cultivation itself was at the Divine realm, the icicles hit him and managed to not even lay a scratch on him.

When the light subsided, he saw the female bear standing with a look of absolute shock on her face.

Pearl took the moment and stabbed the dog with the flaming paws, sending it flying far away. He could’ve hurt it far worse had he wanted, but he was only here to protect the wolf, not to help it kill others.

Pearl was about to attack the weaker bear when the female bear got hold of her senses and prepared another attack.

“Can’t you do something?” Pearl asked the wolf. “I can’t win if I have to take care of you all the time.”

“Don’t worry,” the wolf said. “I’ve eaten a pill. I’ll be healed soon. Just hold her off for a moment, please.”

Pearl nodded. He eyed the two beasts for a moment, the weaker one moving backward as it was too scared to continue. The woman, however, knew that she was stronger.

She landed down on all four legs and stared at Pearl. Frost energy covered her face, forming the shape of the mark her black fur made—the shape of a skull.

The skull floated out of her face, and the woman slumped to the ground, seemingly tired all of a sudden.

Pearl knew something dangerous was about to happen, but he didn’t know what. Before he could think of doing something, he felt his entire body grow extremely lethargic, as if keeping himself standing was taking everything he could force out of him.

Pearl landed on his knees, only still up because he relied on his spear. “What… what’s happening to me?” he asked, his words too slurred for anyone else to understand.

“Are you okay?” the wolf asked. Its body had healed more than before and had gained most of its energy back.

The female bear looked at him with a hint of pity in her eyes, but beyond that, she could not do anything either. Whatever she had done had taken her out of it completely.

“It’s our family’s secret art,” the other bear explained as it moved forward. “It hampers the connection between you and your body, making it hard for you to control it. It takes us out completely, so it’s unusable when fighting one-on-one, but when we have help, it’s the most powerful ability out there.”

Pearl could barely hear what the bear had said. Most of its words sounded drowned out, coming in and out of focus. He got the gist of its message though, and understood that he had somehow been made incapable of using his own body.

Not just his body—he was made incapable of using his mind and Qi as well. It was as though he were cut off from all three. This was no different from a poison.

It was clear to Pearl that he needed help. Thankfully, there was someone who could help him. The female bear was out for the count, so the wolf only had to keep the other bear tied down until Pearl could find a way out of this.

Surely there had to be a limit to how long the woman could keep it going. It wouldn’t be that long. He had to believe that.

“Truefangs…” he groaned out the words, barely pronouncing them. “You need to…”

Pearl turned around to ask for help, only to realize that no one stood beside him. Far beyond, he saw the wolf running away now that it had the chance, leaving Pearl behind to die in its stead.