Seventh Hundred and Sixty-Three. Wolf-Shaped Girl

As Gu'erzi Fenhuo approached the family training ground, he heard "bang, bang" striking sounds coming from inside—the commotion was so loud, as if a heavy, blunt weapon was repeatedly pounding a sandbag.

"Clan Leader!"

The guard at the door bowed.

"Hmm, is that Luo Jia practicing?" He pointed to the half-open door.

"Yes, she came early this morning and told us not to disturb her unless it's important."

"I'll go take a look."

"But Clan Leader..."

"Hmm?" Gu'erzi glanced at him.

"No, please come in." The guard couldn't help but shudder.

It seemed his daughter was becoming more and more authoritative. He wasn't displeased by the guard's hesitation, but rather raised his eyebrows with interest. This way, when he could no longer ascend the Scorching Fire Platform, the Kuangyan Clan would have a successor.

Pushing open the door, a training hall made of thousands of cowhides, hemp ropes, and wooden poles appeared before him. In Iron Sand City, only the head of the clan with the largest stone fortress could build such an indoor martial arts venue.

The hall wasn't paved with soil or stone bricks, but with fine yellow sand, making it feel like walking in the desert. Although the sand was fine, it wasn't soft; it hid many things that would prick one's feet. Most of them were teeth or weapon fragments left by trainees. Of course, there was also a lot of blood that had seeped in, so some of the sand had a faint dark red hue.

Gu'erzi's father's father had said that if all the sand here could be dyed red, Kuangyan would forever occupy the position of clan leader and have no enemies in the far southern region. Therefore, he had considered that if the clan was defeated and had to leave this stone fortress, not only the cowhide canopy overhead, but even this sand would have to be transported away. Even if they couldn't rebuild such a training ground, at least they wouldn't have to start dyeing it with blood again after regaining the first position.

At one end of the training hall stood a row of iron hanging bars. His daughter was barefoot, her trouser legs and sleeves rolled up, fiercely throwing heavy punches at a suspended sandbag. Gu'erzi had no doubt that if such a fist landed on a person's body, it would shatter their internal organs.

"What, are you excited by the performance of the Aosha Clan?" he said with a smile.

Luo Jia spun around, using a spinning kick to sweep towards the swinging sandbag. Her slender leg was as fast as lightning, knocking the bag, which was taller than a person, flying away. The overburdened hemp rope finally broke under the heavy swing. The sandbag spun twice before crashing to the ground, spilling sand all over.

"Hoo..." She took a long breath, her beastly hands gradually returning to normal. "Don't say it, Father. You know what I'm thinking."

"You watched the Goddess named Ashes, right?" Gu'erzi laughed twice. "After all, in a one-on-one fight, it's hard to find an opponent in Iron Sand City who can match you."

Luo Jia pouted. "It's a pity that they just won the entry qualification to Iron Sand City and probably won't make any moves for a long time. Even if I send them a trial invitation, Aosha probably won't agree."

"Of course. As a newly promoted clan, there are many trivial matters to deal with to gain a foothold in Iron Sand City. I'm afraid they will face new challengers by next spring. No one would waste their strength at this time."

"So I can only chat with sandbags," Luo Jia sighed. "Did you come to me to talk about this?"

"Would you rather chat with sandbags than talk to your father?"

"Uh... it's not that," the ears on top of her head twitched, drooping down as if admitting her mistake.

"Ahem, your expression." Gu'erzi resisted the urge to reach out and stroke his daughter's soft, furry ears, reminding her with a straight face. Although her appearance was quite cute, it wasn't suitable for the expression a clan leader should have. As the future leader of the clan, she should always remain serious and unsmiling, so that her subordinates would feel awe and obedience.

"Oh!" Luo Jia immediately perked up her ears, answering solemnly.

Gu'erzi nodded in satisfaction. Ever since his daughter awakened as a Goddess, she had become increasingly fond of fighting, and her strength and abilities had grown stronger. This wasn't a bad thing in the eyes of the Mojin people. However, as she grew older, the abilities bestowed by the Three Gods gradually caused sequelae to appear in her body. At first, Luo Jia's appearance was no different from ordinary people. Only when she used her abilities would she transform into a giant desert wolf. Later, she mastered the technique of individual limb transformation in battle, thus gaining a means to restrain God's Punishment Stones to a certain extent. After all, the range of influence of the God's Stones was only two to three steps. By pulling away slightly, she could beastify her arms, and the slashes she unleashed were definitely not something ordinary people could block.

This made her invincible in duels. Originally, the warrior team, which had suffered heavy losses and whose foundation had become somewhat unstable in order to protect the first position, became powerful and unparalleled again after she joined. And in the past five years, no one dared to challenge Kuangyan's status again. But prolonged battles had caused a part of her body to become wolf-shaped, such as the pointed, upturned ears and the half-exposed tail. Even if she withdrew her abilities, these parts wouldn't revert to their original state.

As a result, Luo Jia became a half-human, half-wolf monster.

It was conceivable that she would never be able to live the normal life that a Goddess should have—at least no handsome warrior would be fond of her body like this, and Luo Jia couldn't possibly look at those who were too bad.

Perhaps only Gu'erzi, as her father, wouldn't mind whether his daughter's appearance was human or beast.

Therefore, she had to become the Kuangyan Clan Leader—only by standing in a position that everyone had to look up to could she cover up these controversies.

"What do you think of this Sacred Duel?"

"It seems exciting, but it's actually a trick of Zuo'er. Yin Yue, the Aosha Clan Leader. Apart from Ashes, there's nothing outstanding about it." Luo Jia wagged her tail.

"But it must be said that this move is really beautiful. It used abilities to bring people outside the arena into the duel and avoided the restrictions of the rules, almost completely controlling the direction of the duel." Gu'erzi stroked his beard and said, "No one died and a winner was determined. This hasn't been seen in many years. I guess the Xuegu Clan wouldn't hate Aosha even if they thought of this."

"Such tricks can only be used once at most." Luo Jia didn't think so. "I bet that the next time there is a Sacred Duel, it will be required that the onlookers also wear God's Punishment Stones. Also, Aosha's approach, although it can win the respect of opponents, is tantamount to asking for trouble. Respect cannot fill the stomach. After a short period of rest, maybe the first challenger they will face is the Xuegu Clan that has made a comeback."

Gu'erzi patted his daughter on the shoulder with relief. Being able to see this point and prioritizing the interests of the clan has already qualified her to serve as the clan leader—perhaps she wants an equal and hearty competition, but she won't ignore the threat by deliberately looking for such opportunities.

At this time, the guard standing outside the training hall suddenly walked in quickly, saluted the two of them, and reported: "Clan Leader, news has just come from outside that the Aosha Clan has once again issued a request for a Sacred Challenge!"

"What?" Gu'erzi was stunned, and his expression changed. It had only been a day since they won the qualification to enter Iron Sand City. "To whom?"

"The Shabao Clan, ranked fourth."

"They didn't move into Iron Sand City from Little Oasis?"

"Yes, and some people say that they rejected Xuegu's relocation arrangement."

Damn it, what are these people thinking? Could it be that Aosha's purpose is not simply to enter Iron Sand City?

"It seems we were all wrong," Luo Jia was silent for a while, then chuckled, "Perhaps the opportunity to fight with Ashes is not as far away as I thought... What do you say, Father?"