09/08/2026
Chapter 93: The Ring Moves
The warmth lasted only a heartbeat.
Then it disappeared.
Kael lowered his arm slowly, his eyes remaining fixed upon the battlefield. The explosion had torn open a large section of the forest, leaving broken trees scattered across the muddy ground. Smoke and steam mixed with the rain while fragments of stone continued falling from above.
Varek and Elder Ren had vanished.
Kael's spiritual perception spread outward.
There.
Above.
A violent collision shook the treetops.
Varek emerged from the smoke first, spinning through the air before landing on one knee. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, but he immediately wiped it away and laughed.
Elder Ren landed several steps away.
His spear remained firmly in his hand.
The old man's breathing had finally become heavier.
"You've become troublesome," Ren said.
Varek grinned.
"You were already old when I first met you."
Ren's eyes hardened.
The spear moved.
Varek barely raised his whip in time.
Boom!
The impact forced him backward, his boots tearing through the earth.
Kael watched carefully.
Varek was strong.
Very strong.
But Elder Ren was more experienced.
The old man's attacks carried no wasted movement. Every strike forced Varek into another position, gradually reducing the space available to him until his movements became increasingly restricted.
The guild members surrounding the battlefield understood it as well.
Their expressions relaxed.
Varek was losing.
One of them whispered,
"Elder Ren has him."
Another nodded.
"Finally."
Kael did not agree.
Something was wrong.
Varek was smiling.
Not the careless smile he had worn earlier.
This one was different.
He looked...
Satisfied.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
Varek suddenly released the whip.
It fell uselessly into the mud.
Elder Ren's spear stopped halfway through its next thrust.
For the smallest fraction of a second, the old man's expression changed.
That was enough.
Varek slammed both palms together.
A violent roar erupted from the forest.
The Blood Wolves returned.
Not from the front.
From beneath the ground.
The earth exploded as six wolves burst upward simultaneously, their bodies covered in thick crimson spiritual energy.
They didn't attack Kael.
They attacked the guild formation.
Chaos erupted.
"DEFEND!"
The surrounding cultivators immediately scattered.
One wolf crashed into a tree where a guild member had been standing a moment earlier. Another tore through a defensive formation before its claws struck the shoulder of a second cultivator.
Blood sprayed across the rain.
Elder Ren turned.
"Varek!"
The Beast Tamer laughed.
"You should have watched your surroundings."
He whistled once.
Every surviving Blood Wolf retreated toward him.
Kael finally understood.
The entire battle had been a distraction.
Varek had never intended to defeat Elder Ren.
He had intended to create an opening.
And that opening...
Was already closing.
Varek's eyes suddenly met Kael's.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Varek smiled.
"Until next time, swordsman."
He turned.
The wolves followed.
Kael immediately stepped forward.
He could have pursued.
His speed was sufficient.
Yet before he could move, something slammed into the ground directly in front of him.
Elder Ren's spear.
The old man's eyes were cold.
"Don't."
Kael stopped.
Varek disappeared into the forest.
The wolves vanished after him.
Kael looked toward Elder Ren.
"You let him escape."
Ren pulled his spear from the ground.
"So did you."
Kael said nothing.
The old man studied him.
"You could have followed."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you?"
Kael glanced briefly at the black ring upon his finger.
"I had no reason to."
Elder Ren's eyes narrowed.
That answer seemed to interest him more than expected.
"You don't chase every strong opponent you encounter?"
"No."
"Good."
Ren looked toward the direction Varek had disappeared.
"Then you're smarter than most hunters."
Several guild members were helping their injured companions now. The battlefield had become a mess of broken trees, blood and mud.
Kael looked at the bodies.
"Why were you hunting him?"
Elder Ren sighed.
"He began as a beast hunter."
His gaze hardened.
"Then he discovered he could control corrupted spirit beasts."
"And?"
"He stopped hunting them."
Kael understood.
"He started creating them."
Ren nodded.
"Exactly."
He glanced toward the forest.
"Those Blood Wolves weren't born naturally."
Kael's expression changed slightly.
"How many?"
"At least three hundred."
The answer was quiet.
Kael looked toward the dark forest.
Three hundred.
The wolves he had fought tonight were only a fraction.
Elder Ren continued.
"We found his breeding grounds two weeks ago."
"Then why haven't you destroyed them?"
The old man's face became grim.
"Because something else is there."
Kael waited.
Ren did not immediately continue.
Instead, he looked at the Sword of Authority.
Then at Kael.
"You aren't a normal rogue cultivator."
Kael's expression remained unchanged.
"I never said I was."
A faint smile appeared on Ren's face.
"No."
"You didn't."
He reached into his robe and removed a small crimson token.
He tossed it toward Kael.
Kael caught it.
The token carried the same silver beast emblem worn by the guild members.
"What is this?"
"A hunter's token."
"I don't belong to your guild."
"You don't need to."
Ren turned away.
"Bring me Varek alive..."
He paused.
"...and I'll make sure your name enters the Hunter Registry."
Kael looked down at the token.
"The reward?"
"Ten thousand Crowns."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"Only?"
Elder Ren stopped.
Several guild members stared at Kael.
The old man slowly turned around.
"You think ten thousand isn't enough?"
Kael looked toward the ruined forest.
After everything he had seen in the cultivation world, ten thousand Crowns no longer sounded impressive.
"No."
He tossed the token once in his palm.
"I think he's worth more."
Elder Ren stared at him for several seconds.
Then...
He laughed.
A deep, unexpected laugh that echoed through the ruined forest.
"Perhaps."
He turned away again.
"Perhaps you're right."
Kael placed the token inside his robe.
He did not accept the mission.
He did not reject it either.
For now...
He simply continued down the road.
Yet after taking only a few steps, he stopped.
The black ring became warm again.
This time...
The warmth did not disappear.
Kael looked down.
A thin line had appeared across the surface of the ring.
It was glowing faintly.
And beneath his feet...
Something answered.
A deep vibration travelled through the earth.
Kael slowly raised his head.
Far away...
Beyond the forest...
Something had awakened.
Chapter 94: The Blood Moon Beast
The vibration beneath Kael's feet grew stronger.
He looked toward the forest.
The trees were moving.
Not from the wind.
Something enormous was pushing through them.
A distant roar rolled across the mountains, deep enough to shake rainwater from the branches. Every injured hunter in the clearing stopped what they were doing.
Elder Ren's expression changed.
"Everyone back."
No one questioned him.
The Crimson Guild immediately retreated toward the ruined road.
Kael remained where he was.
Another roar.
Closer.
A massive tree snapped in half.
Then another.
Something emerged from the darkness.
It was a wolf.
But calling it a wolf would have been an insult to the word.
Its body was nearly twice the size of an ordinary horse, covered in black fur streaked with dark crimson lines. Two enormous horns curved backward from its skull, while a vertical red eye opened above its normal pair.
Blood dripped from its jaws.
The moment it stepped into the clearing, the surrounding Blood Wolves lowered themselves completely.
Elder Ren's face became grim.
"Blood Moon Beast."
One of the younger hunters whispered,
"That's impossible."
Ren tightened his grip on his spear.
"It should have been impossible."
The beast's gaze slowly moved across the clearing.
Then...
It stopped on Kael.
The black ring on his finger became hot.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
The beast roared.
The ground exploded.
It crossed the clearing in an instant.
Kael drew the Sword of Authority.
Clang!
The beast's claw collided with the blade.
The impact sent Kael sliding backward.
Three meters.
Five.
Ten.
His boots dug through the mud before he finally stopped.
The sword trembled in his hand.
Kael looked at the beast.
Strong.
Very strong.
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
Finally.
Something worth fighting.
The Blood Moon Beast attacked again.
Its enormous claws descended.
Kael stepped sideways.
The claw smashed into the ground.
Kael's sword flashed.
A black arc cut across the beast's foreleg.
Blood sprayed.
The beast roared.
Kael immediately realized something.
The wound was already closing.
Regeneration.
He moved again.
The beast's tail swept across the clearing.
Kael ducked beneath it and drove the Sword of Authority upward.
The blade pierced through the creature's thick hide.
The beast screamed.
Kael twisted the sword.
The wound widened.
Yet instead of retreating...
The beast opened its jaws.
A crimson sphere formed inside its mouth.
Kael's instincts screamed.
He released the sword.
His body vanished.
BOOM!
A beam of blood-red energy tore through the clearing.
Trees disappeared.
Stone melted.
The mountain road split apart for nearly fifty meters.
Kael reappeared on the other side.
His expression had changed.
That attack...
Could kill him.
The Blood Moon Beast turned.
Its red eye locked onto him.
Kael slowly wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
The beam had grazed him.
Only a scratch.
But it had drawn blood.
Elder Ren stared.
"He's alive?"
One hunter swallowed.
"That attack..."
Ren didn't answer.
Kael tightened his grip around the Sword of Authority.
His cultivation surged.
For the first time since leaving Blood Mist Valley, he stopped suppressing himself.
Spiritual energy erupted from his body.
The rain around him scattered.
The black blade began vibrating.
The Blood Moon Beast lowered its body.
Kael lowered his sword.
Both moved.
The collision came so quickly that the hunters could no longer follow it.
The beast's claws struck from three directions.
Kael blocked one.
Dodged another.
The third tore through his shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
Kael ignored it.
His sword entered beneath the beast's ribs.
The creature twisted violently.
Kael was thrown into a tree.
The trunk shattered.
He landed on his feet.
The beast charged again.
Kael didn't retreat.
He stepped forward.
Their attacks collided at the exact same moment.
The beast's claw pierced his side.
Kael's sword pierced its chest.
Both stopped.
Rain fell between them.
The Blood Moon Beast looked down.
Black steel had passed through its heart.
For several seconds...
Nothing happened.
Then the beast's enormous body collapsed.
Kael pulled the sword free.
The creature hit the ground hard enough to shake the clearing.
Silence.
Kael stood over it, breathing heavily.
Blood ran down his arm.
His shoulder burned.
His ribs ached.
But his eyes were clear.
He had won.
Not because the beast was weak.
Not because the Sword had solved the battle for him.
He had simply found the opening...
And taken it.
The hunters stared.
Elder Ren slowly lowered his spear.
The young hunter who had mocked Kael earlier looked as though he had forgotten how to speak.
Kael turned toward the co**se.
The black ring suddenly pulsed.
Once.
The dead beast's blood began moving.
Everyone froze.
The crimson liquid flowed backward across the ground, gathering around Kael's feet before slowly rising toward the ring.
Kael looked down.
The ring absorbed the blood.
Nothing else happened.
The beast's co**se became completely pale.
Elder Ren's expression changed.
"Impossible..."
Kael raised his head.
"What?"
Ren stared at the ring.
"Where did you get that?"
Kael's fingers slowly closed.
"Why?"
The old hunter's face had lost all color.
"Because..."
He looked toward the co**se.
"...that ring hasn't appeared in the world for three hundred years."
Kael said nothing.
Far away, beyond the mountains...
A bell suddenly rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
The Crimson Guild members looked at one another.
Ren's expression hardened.
"Someone knows."
Kael looked toward the distant mountains.
The battle was over.
But the moment he had killed the Blood Moon Beast...
Something else had begun.
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