"Long time no see, Brother Wolf."
The Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf roared with pure rage as it faced the grinning youth, its killing intent overflowing.
It had not forgotten the day.
The day that it had waited in the mountains and was lured away by this kid to fight a strong Other. And then the feared King expert had somehow come to capture it, sealing it away in yet another prison.
All of that was because of this little human before it right now!
Its power surged to the fore as it bared its claws, swiping out towards Li Luo.
It would tear the kid to shreds!
“Roar!”
A meter before it reached Li Luo, there was a loud clanging of chains, stopping it short and tripping it back to the ground.
As if triggered by the movements, the chains suddenly grew heavy, pinning the wolf down to the ground.
“Roar!”
Muscles bunching underneath, the wolf strained as hard as it could against the chains, but they would not budge even an inch.
That was because the chains were being reinforced with the power of triple resonances. The power of a King, far beyond the ability of a beast trying to reach the Duke Stage.
“Phew.”
Li Luo breathed out, wiping cold sweat off his brow. Looked like principal Pang knew what he was doing after all. The seal was still holding strong, and Li Luo remained outside of the wolf's belly.
"Come now, Brother Wolf, don't be so angry. Can't we talk about this peacefully?" He grinned.
His answer was a muzzled roar and a face full of bloody saliva.
Li Luo wiped it away and continued to smile, although he was not so certain about showing his teeth off again. Did this mean he had just shared an indirect kiss with the wolf? "If you don't mind," he said casually, "perhaps we can work together. You see, I'm on the verge of death right now, and I need to borrow your strength.
"I don't blame you for not knowing, old boy, since you're stuck here and all, but there's a nasty meanie out there who doesn't respect your strength, Brother Wolf."
The Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf subsided back down, glaring at Li Luo. It extended one claw towards its chains, indicating that he should let it free to help him.
Li Luo chuckled dryly. "That's very insincere of you, Brother Wolf. We both know that the moment I do that, you'll swallow me whole."
Li Luo thumped his own chest. "Look, I'm just a puny, little Resonant Master, there's no need to be afraid of me. But one day I'll reach the Duke Stage for sure, and maybe faster than you. At that time, I won't forget you, Brother. I'll definitely find a way to help you get there too."
The wolf ignored his bragging.
"If you don't believe it, I'll even swear it to you," Li Luo offered. "If I don't reach the Duke Stage in four years, I swear that the heavens will strike me down, and my cultivation won't move forward another inch."
Actually, he only had four years left to live anyway, so he would actually die if he didn't reach the Duke Stage before then. He didn't really care if the heavens struck down his corpse. Maybe the lightning would even resuscitate him.
The wolf was a little surprised by the little human's conviction. Where in the world did he get such confidence from? Duke in four years?
The Duke Stage was a monumental bottleneck that required not only supernatural talent, but also an abundance of resources and luck to back up that process.
A Duke was an asset to any place.
What made this kid this crazy?
But the wolf remained silent. Ultimately, this kid's journey and breakthroughs would not make one whit of difference to its situation.
Li Luo stared at the unresponsive wolf. The beast clearly did not like him much, which Li Luo fully understood. After all, it was he who had gotten it into this state in the first place.
His first plan had been to establish a friendly connection, and then perhaps he could use the Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf's power with its cooperation. That had been naive. Of course a Greater Heavenly Resonance creature like the wolf would not care at all about a puny Resonant Master.
Perhaps that attitude would change when he got a little stronger.
"Brother Wolf, whether you consent or otherwise, I WILL have your power today," Li Luo said sternly.
He pressed his palms together and allowed blood to flow from his fingertips, then he mixed it with his resonant power to form a powerful rune.
"Heavenly Libation Chant!"
The Three-tailed Heavenly Wolf did not resist. It knew it could not resist, and so it just continued to look at Li Luo disdainfully, taunting him.
Use its power? Was a puny, little Resonant Master really capable of handling such power?
Fine, then! Take it!
Take all of it!
It could sense how strong the enemy outside was. Definitely a Greater Heavenly Resonance in strength. Li Luo would have to borrow more than just a little of its power.
And the more power Li Luo took, the more it would be able to take over his mind, until he was utterly consumed by its own presence. Li Luo would become a mindless wolf-slave.
At that time, it could easily control him and make him its puppet.
A lolling wolf smile spread across its face as it felt the Heavenly Libation Chant draw upon its power.
Whoosh!
The transfer was swift, and soon Li Luo himself was bottled with its power.
The blood vessels in Li Luo's eyes thickened and a feral look crept into them.