"My Lord!" Lang Qingshan's expression turned grave as he swiftly moved toward Yang Kai. Scarface also swallowed hard, his face going pale.
The three stood back to back, quietly circulating their power, ready to strike at any moment.
A howl rang out, and the dozens of demonic wolves lunged forward. Yang Kai flicked his finger, sending a crescent blade slashing ahead, but its power was drastically diminished—barely over a foot in length.
The crescent blade struck one wolf's shoulder, leaving only a shallow wound. It failed to kill the creature outright.
Yang Kai's expression darkened.
This bizarre world was severely suppressing their strength. Had that not been the case, that crescent blade would never have performed so poorly.
Elsewhere, Lang Qingshan and Scarface also unleashed their attacks in succession. But their foundations had always been inferior to Yang Kai's, and now equally suppressed, even at full power they could only inflict minor injuries on the wolves.
The dozens of demonic wolves encircled the three, charging in rotation. The scent of blood stimulated their nerves, driving them into an ever more frenzied and savage state.
Yang Kai and the others made several attempts to break through the encirclement but found no suitable opening.
If this continued, the three of them would inevitably be torn to shreds by these wolves.
"My Lord, I can't hold on much longer!" Scarface cried out. The moment he finished speaking, he let out a sharp yelp—a wolf had clamped its jaws around his arm, and blood gushed from the wound.
Yang Kai's mind raced, searching for a way out. Everything in these fruit-worlds followed discernible patterns. When he had first entered the bubble world, the key to leaving had been hidden within a single bubble. In the sword world, he could slay other swords to grow stronger, rising step by step to the peak.
This world must have its own rules—rules he hadn't yet uncovered. If he could exploit those rules, escape should be possible.
With that thought, Yang Kai turned his gaze to the cloth pouch at his waist and reached inside, pulling out a small insect.
Ahead, a demonic wolf leapt high into the air, its foul breath washing over him, its fangs glinting with a cold sheen. Yang Kai channeled his divine sense and launched the insect directly at the wolf.
Strangely enough, the moment it left his hand, the insect burst into a blinding sphere of white light that engulfed the wolf.
The wolf, which had been charging with savage ferocity, was visibly shaken the instant the white light enveloped it. It tumbled from midair, shaking its head in a daze.
At the same time, Yang Kai clearly sensed a faint, tenuous connection form between his own spiritual consciousness and that of the wolf. It seemed he could now control the creature.
Without hesitation, he pressed down with his divine sense.
The wolf tried to resist, but Yang Kai's spiritual consciousness was far too powerful. At full force, the creature had no chance of fighting back. In the span of a single breath, the white light surged entirely into the wolf's body.
With a thought from Yang Kai, the wolf whipped around, its massive jaws snapping toward the throat of one of its companions. Blood sprayed from the wound as the struck wolf stumbled backward.
"These insects can command the wolves!" Yang Kai called out.
Hearing this, Lang Qingshan and Scarface needed no further encouragement. They each pulled insects from their own pouches and, mimicking Yang Kai's actions, hurled them forward.
One insect after another burst into white light that settled over the wolves. Once the light was fully absorbed, the wolves fell under the three's control.
The tide turned almost instantly. Yang Kai launched insect after insect from his pouch, subduing wolf after wolf.
Beside him, Lang Qingshan and Scarface were equally busy, doing the same.
It didn't take long for Yang Kai to discern the underlying mechanism. These insects— Beast-Taming Insects, he would call them—could be activated much like an Artifact, though they were single-use consumables. Once deployed, each would transform into a sphere of white light that enveloped a wolf. That was when one's divine sense clashed with the wolf's spiritual consciousness. If the wielder's will proved stronger, the white light would flood into the wolf's body and subdue it. If not, the light would shatter, the Beast-Taming Insect would perish, and the practitioner would suffer some backlash.
Scarface learned this the hard way. He had tried to activate too many insects at once, lost control, and two of the white lights burst apart. Blood streamed from his nostrils, and his face went deathly pale.
Time passed steadily. What had begun as three men besieged by dozens of demonic wolves gradually transformed with the help of the Beast-Taming Insects.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, half the wolves lay dead, and the remaining half had been subdued by the three.
Scarface panted heavily, overcome with the relief of a narrow escape. Back in the sword world, he had observed Yang Kai and Lang Qingshan's trials through the Small Mystery World, but that had been mere spectating. Even though he'd frequently watched in terror, he hadn't truly experienced it himself.
Now, having gone through it firsthand, he realized that each of these fruit-worlds was far from easy to traverse. If their Lord hadn't discerned the key at the critical moment, they would have been in grave danger from this very first encounter.
"My Lord, is this a world of beast taming?" Lang Qingshan asked.
Yang Kai nodded. "Judging by what we've seen, that appears to be the case." But whether that was truly so, they would need to explore further before they could be certain.