Wild Dog

Xue Wang straightened up and spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes fixed on Xue Ren.

Not far away, Xue Ren looked rough: hair disheveled, the gray-white leather armor covering his body now fissured with hairline cracks.

Xue Wang roared. Silver light erupted across his body in cascading waves. Fur spread over his skin; his frame swelled; his very face contorted and twisted. He looked, in that moment, like an upright wolf-man.

"Voluntary mutation?!" A flicker of shock crossed Xue Ren's face. "Have you lost your mind?!"

The eerie green light in Xue Wang's eyes blazed. A savage grin carved itself across his blood-soaked face. He turned toward Lu Yuan.

"Old Lu." His voice was raw and steady. "This is between him and me. Whatever happens — don't step in. Not even if I die." A pause. "This is the only thing I've ever asked of anyone."

Lu Yuan met those luminous green eyes. He fell silent for a beat, then gave a slow nod and broke into a crooked grin.

"You'd better not die on me. I'm not in the mood to dig a grave."

Both fighters hurled themselves at each other.

Nearly every exchange sent blood spraying from their bodies. The shockwaves rolled outward in visible waves of force, powerful enough that even Lu Yuan, watching from a distance, felt the gust wash over him. Their right legs clashed in brutal, repeated collisions until the crack of fracturing bone finally halted them — only for both men to stand back up and charge again as though the broken bones meant nothing at all. Before charging in, Xue Wang had downed several bottles of Potent Serum.

Xue Wang's spiked gauntlet swept across Xue Ren's face. Xue Ren snapped his head aside — a heartbeat too slow. Four deep claw marks tore down his cheek.

**Boom!!**

Xue Ren's chest caved in. He flew over ten meters before crashing to the ground, coughing blood. His aura remained ferocious.

Xue Wang dove straight into the crater after him. Xue Ren burst back out. Two bodies slammed together again and again. They were sent flying, crashed to the ground, and dragged themselves upright once more.

*Xue Ren is strong.* Lu Yuan gripped his heavy sword and watched with guarded eyes. *Strong even by First-rank standards.*

One functional arm. One broken foot. Several cracked ribs. It didn't seem to slow him down.

"You're not my match," Xue Ren rasped. "Why won't you give up?"

"Who knows," Xue Wang answered, "until the very end?"

The fight had barely lasted a few minutes when Xue Ren's punch landed squarely on Xue Wang's left shoulder.

**BOOM!!**

The shoulder detonated. Xue Wang's arm dropped limp. Blood surged from the corners of his mouth; his energy plummeted.

Then Xue Ren bellowed.

Without warning, black tendrils of fog erupted from his body, and with them came a piercing, inhuman shriek — a sound that grated the nerves raw. Wrinkles multiplied across Xue Ren's face in real time, his flesh shriveling, aging by years in mere seconds. His aura surged another notch.

*Wait—*

Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed. There was something familiar about that black energy. He'd sensed it somewhere before—

Then the Shadow tore free from Xue Ren entirely. It shrieked as it launched itself at Lu Yuan and drove straight into his mind.

The impact was like being struck by lightning. The Shadow screamed inside his skull, and a wave of white-hot, agonizing pain crashed through him.

*A soul attack?!*

In the same instant, the Moonstone orbiting his Gene Chain blazed silver-white. A barrier of light expanded outward and swallowed the assault whole. The attack persisted for a single breath — then collapsed. The Moonstone's luminous image dimmed and went dark.

Lu Yuan's color drained. He stared at the empty space where the Moonstone had been. Something cold settled deep inside him and refused to leave.

*One soul attack. That was all it took to shatter the Moonstone Guardian entirely.*

And then he stood back up.

"This is impossible!!" Xue Ren stared at Lu Yuan, face contorted. "How can a First-rank warrior block a soul attack?!" His eyes swept Lu Yuan's figure — unharmed, or close enough. "And after taking damage like that — how are you already recovered?!"

Xue Wang was equally stunned.

*That's the Shadow.* The recognition hit Lu Yuan like ice water. And then, harder: *He killed whoever lived in this body before me. He nearly killed me.*

He had promised Xue Wang he wouldn't interfere.

He rolled his shoulders, tightened his grip on the heavy sword, and glanced sideways at Xue Wang with burning eyes.

*...Well. Xue Wang took a hit for me before. Only fair I return the favor.* The internal logic clicked into place. *And that bastard attacked me for no reason — I'm owed payback.*

He stamped down and blurred into motion.

"Old Xue." He materialized at Xue Ren's flank, heavy sword already rising. "I'm here to help."

Xue Ren's expression hardened with contempt. "One or two makes no difference to me." He sneered at Lu Yuan. "What chance does a mere First-rank have? Worry about yourself first."

Lu Yuan brought the sword down with four layers of Black Steel Force stacked behind it, ferocity written across his own face.

**Boom!!**

The impact drove numbing force shooting up both of Lu Yuan's arms. Xue Ren was driven back several steps — and Lu Yuan was pushed back a few as well. The sheer power behind the exchange was undeniable.

*He's still that strong.* Even grievously wounded, even with the Shadow spent, Xue Ren was no ordinary target. Facing two peak Battle Master fighters locked in a death struggle, Lu Yuan could feel the danger pressing in from every direction. Even now, with Xue Ren heavily injured and fighting on one arm, suppressing him took genuine effort.

He didn't give Xue Ren a breath of space. His swordsmanship flowed in an unbroken, relentless tide, trapping Xue Ren and giving him no angle to break free.

The black fog in Xue Ren's eyes churned — then slowly, gradually, dissipated. His gaze began to clear. Xue Wang saw it. He threw his head back and howled.

"**AWOOOOO!!!** Come, Father!! With Mother's spirit watching over us — let us end this!!"

"Ha — hahaha." Even now, something complicated lived in Xue Ren's laughter. "Xue Wang, you really found yourself a good friend."

He roared again, burning through whatever the soul-devouring had left him — more wrinkles erupted, more flesh shriveled — and shoved past Lu Yuan toward his son. Both fighters' intact right fists drove into each other's chests at the same moment.

**BOOM!!!**

Two bodies were sent flying. They crashed to the ground. The earth beneath Xue Ren fractured in a spider-web of cracks.

The exchange had taken everything. Xue Wang's silver aura collapsed; his body shrank back to normal, the fur receding. Blood poured from his mouth, and his energy bottomed out.

Xue Ren's chest had caved in again. He was down.

Lu Yuan moved like a shadow. He reached Xue Ren before he could rise and drove the heavy sword straight down — through the chest, through the heart.

Ghastly, blood-curdling screams filled the air.

Black fog ripped free from Xue Ren's body in writhing strips, shrieking as it scattered.

Lu Yuan stepped back, eyes fixed on the dissipating darkness, heart cold.

*That was his last card.* The thought arrived quiet and certain. *His most powerful, most insidious weapon. And now it's gone.*

The black fog in Xue Ren's eyes swirled — then slowly, gradually, cleared. His gaze became lucid.

He lay on the ground, struggling to rise. He looked at Xue Wang. Something anguished and violent wrestled across his face. He raised his fist—

And drove it into the floor beside Xue Wang. Not on him.

He collapsed back.

He drifted for a moment. His right hand found the blade of Lu Yuan's sword and closed around it. He looked at Lu Yuan's cold face — then turned toward the distant, crumpled shape of Xue Wang.

Xue Ren saw the wariness still written on Lu Yuan's face. He let out a thin, breathless laugh. His features — deeply lined, the flesh withered, like a lamp burning down its last drop of oil — held a quiet, hollow exhaustion.

"I'm dying," he said simply. "You don't need to be so frightened." A pause. "Would you like to hear my story?"

Lu Yuan said nothing. He watched.

Without waiting for an answer, Xue Ren began — haltingly, in fragments, stopping when the blood came.

"I was born in this dark, filthy South City... *cough*... My father was a small-time gang lieutenant. Armed brawls, gambling, drugs — he touched all of it. A vicious temper. He beat my mother and me whenever the mood took him. To fund his vices, he put my mother to work as a prostitute and sent me into the streets to beg, dressed up like a little urchin." A hollow laugh. "When I was twelve years old, my mother died of illness. That same night, while my father lay drunk, I put a bullet in him."

He coughed. Blood welled freely from his lips.

"After that, I scavenged for scraps alongside the stray dogs in the streets. Joined a gang. Started at the very bottom — a nobody, a petty thug." A quiet, rueful exhale. "Walking the same road as my father."

"I used to ask myself: why do I live like a stray dog? I thought about it seriously. The answer I reached was this — the world is predator and prey. If I could seize enough power, enough authority, everything would fall into place."

"I Awakened. Became a Gene Warrior. I was overjoyed. I thought fate was finally showing me some favor." His voice flattened. "Then I found out: no money, no Gene Armament, no Transcendent Gene. I could barely cultivate. Progress was glacially slow. I was still at the bottom."

"Fortunately, Gene Warriors were rare in South City back then. That got me noticed. I started climbing — by any means. Arms dealing, human trafficking, drugs — whatever paid, I did it. Assassination, blackmail, coercion. I climbed step by step, killed the boss above me, and took his place."

He laughed softly to himself.

"I renamed the gang the Wild Dog Gang. A tribute to my childhood. A reminder to myself: only by fighting like a wild dog — without limits, without scruple — could I take what I wanted."

"The gang kept growing. I kept growing stronger. And whatever I wanted... I could simply take." A pause heavy with unspoken meaning. "Like his mother."

Silence stretched between them.

"Then Xue Wang was born. When I looked at him, I saw my younger self. *He* was my angel. I didn't want him to live the way I had — clawing and scraping like a stray dog. I wanted to give him everything. Status, money, power. Everything my childhood had denied me — I wanted to give it all to him."

Something quieter entered his voice.

"...Why didn't he appreciate it?" A shadow of old grief. "He was my only son. I gave him everything. Why couldn't he value any of it? I was heartbroken. Deeply disappointed." A breath. "And even so, I still loved him."

He coughed again, harder. More blood.

"I buried that disappointment and kept chasing strength, kept chasing power. But my talent was ordinary. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break through to Second-rank. I *refused* to accept it." A ragged pause. "*Cough*... Then someone appeared. He gave me what I wanted. Just devour souls and you'll grow stronger — how simple, right?"

"Soul after soul. I grew stronger and stronger. But I changed. I started to..." He stopped. A long, difficult silence. "...Want to kill my own son."

"His mother was a kind woman. She kept trying to stop me from educating Xue Wang the way I saw fit. So I killed her." No hesitation in the words. "And that was what finally drove Xue Wang away from me."

He turned his fading gaze toward Lu Yuan.

"A mere First-rank..." Something that might have been genuine wonder passed briefly through his expression. "And yet — this kind of strength. Xue Wang found himself a good friend."

Xue Ren's eyes drifted closed. The crow's feet at their corners were faintly wet.

Then, barely above a whisper:

"*Cough*... I'm glad you stopped me. Otherwise I would have done the one thing I'd regret for the rest of my life." The words came slow and fading. "I've suffered much in this life. Enjoyed much too. All told... it was worth it. Only him — my son — I hope he lives well. Happy. Joyful. Not like a stray dog..."

His voice faded away. His aura went still — and then went out.

The silver light around Xue Wang had already dispersed in the final exchange. His body had returned to its normal proportions, the fur receded. He fell unconscious.

Lu Yuan stood motionless over the scene.

He looked at Xue Wang, battered and still. Something nameless and complicated settled in his chest.

He had originally planned to pull his sword free and take Xue Ren's head. He hadn't.

He listened to those last words instead, and a complex expression moved behind his eyes.

*He killed whoever I used to be in this body.* His gaze lingered on Xue Ren's still face — on the wet corners of those closed eyes. *He nearly killed me.*

He said nothing.

*Moonstone Guardian — gone. One soul attack was all it took.*

The thought sat cold in the back of his mind. During the journey through the Mist Forest, he had spent every available moment absorbing Spirit Crystals and continuing to Temper his Gene Chain. The Crimson Copper Light had reached 100% tempering completion. Even Rejuvenation had climbed to 6%.

But the Moonstone was gone.

*I need to move.*

Several minutes had already passed since the fight began. The creature that had been sheltering inside Xue Ren was free now — out there somewhere.

By now, it had probably already consumed every soul it could reach.

*Time to go.*