Who is Zhang Yang? The one destined to trample gods and demons underfoot — was he supposed to submit to the feet of some tiny Evil Wolf Hall? Keep dreaming.
To put it in a bit of bragging terms: Zhang Yang's fate is "my life is mine, not Heaven's to control." Whatever good stuff this Zhang finds, why the hell should he hand it over to you? Now, if you guys want to reverse the contribution and give him something instead, Zhang Yang would have absolutely no objections.
"Ding, task triggered: Resist. Task requirement: Reject all demands from the Evil Wolf Hall. Task reward: Unknown."
Perfect. This task is very easy to complete — just refuse the Evil Wolf Hall and it's done.
"From today onward, we no longer obey the orders of the Evil Wolf Hall."
Zhang Yang announced this decision to Lang Shan (Wolf Mountain).
A decision shocking enough to make Lang Shan wet himself.
"My King, you can't! If we submit, nothing will happen to us. If we resist, our entire clan will be exterminated. The Evil Wolf Hall is far, far more terrifying than this nest of snakes."
Some creatures kneel for so long they forget how to stand up and fight.
Even with Zhang Yang leading, the wolves of Lang Shan didn't dare entertain the slightest thought of rebellion.
"The kind are bullied, the yielding are ridden. The weaker you are, the less chance you have to ever turn things around. I am the Wolf King now. Everything follows my word."
Zhang Yang was extremely domineering. He didn't leave Lang Shan any room to argue at all.
Lang Shan felt despair in his heart. He was convinced the Qinglang (Azure Wolf) clan was finished.
Still, he didn't continue to oppose Zhang Yang. Right now Zhang Yang was so full of bravado — probably because he had never seen what a real Evil Wolf looked like. Once an Evil Wolf actually showed up, Zhang Yang would surely fold.
"Yes, your command shall be obeyed, my King."
"Enough. Focus on recovering from your injuries."
Zhang Yang couldn't be bothered talking to Lang Shan anymore. If he wanted Lang Shan to stop groveling on the ground, he had to let him witness hope big enough to shatter that fear. Wasting words was useless.
Confidence had to be built starting now — and the first step was to eat all those big snakes.
Zhang Yang didn't join the feast. He stayed to guard the two spirit fruits.
Just fifteen days, right? He could wait.
Originally he had planned to let the Azure Wolves guard the fruits during the day while he went hunting. But after hearing Lang Shan's words, he changed his mind. He felt it was safer to stay put himself. If he left and that so-called Evil Wolf showed up, that cowardly Lang Shan would definitely hand over the spirit fruits without hesitation.
So Zhang Yang decided to guard them personally. Anyway, his lifespan was still quite plentiful at the moment. Worst case, he still had Evolution Points as backup — if lifespan ran out, just exchange for more.
Fifteen days passed in the blink of an eye. During this time Zhang Yang never left the fruits. Lang Shan's injuries had long since fully healed. He even led the Azure Wolves to bring Lang Qing and the other Forest Wolves to the snake cave.
Zhang Yang came from the Forest Wolf lineage. One man achieves the Dao, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Because of Zhang Yang, the Forest Wolves received excellent treatment.
Zhang Yang was naturally very satisfied with this. He saved Lang Shan because Lang Shan had decent strength and some management ability — good as a subordinate. As for Lang Qing — he was the next Wolf King that Zhang Yang planned to groom. Who cares if his bloodline is lowly? Zhang Yang didn't give a damn. With his training, even a Forest Wolf could become a powerful Wolf King. That's how overbearing he was. That's how unreasonable.
"Big brother, what does this fruit do after you eat it?"
Lang Qing had been here for several days already, always staying by Zhang Yang's side. In his eyes, no matter how magical these two fruits were, they couldn't possibly compare to the stones his big brother had given him before.
"I don't know either. They're almost ripe — we'll find out once we eat them."
Having never eaten a spirit fruit before, Zhang Yang naturally had no idea what they did.
And today was the day the mystery would be revealed.
Lang Shan stood anxiously to the side. Zhang Yang was dead set on eating both fruits. If they were eaten, then when the Evil Wolf arrived, even if Zhang Yang regretted it later, they wouldn't have any spirit fruits left to hand over. What was he supposed to do?
Just as Lang Shan was agonizing over what to do, Zhang Yang suddenly stood up.
"They're ripe."
"Ding, mature spirit fruits detected. Would you like to store them?"
The system was asking whether to put the spirit fruits into Zhang Yang's inventory.
"System, what's the recycle price for these two mature spirit fruits?"
"Ding, mature spirit fruit can be recycled for 5,000 Evolution Points each."
Oh ho? Not bad at all.
Zhang Yang was very familiar with how this system worked: anything that can be recycled, the system will always lowball it by at least ten times. That meant if the system were to sell this kind of spirit fruit, one would cost 50,000 Evolution Points.
Zhang Yang glanced at his Evolution Points balance — just a little over 50,000. Enough for one.
With that thought, Zhang Yang stepped forward and took one bite — swallowing the entire fruit.
Mm, sweet and sour, not astringent at all. Pretty tasty.
Out of respect for the spirit fruit, Zhang Yang ate it skin, core, everything.
Lang Qing stared wide-eyed at Zhang Yang, waiting to see what effect it would have.
"Ding, spirit fruit absorbed. Host's physical potential +5."
Potential +5? Not bad at all. It's just a pity his Evolution Point cap didn't increase — Zhang Yang felt like giving the system a one-star review.
"This fruit is somewhat useful to me. I won't be sharing this time."
After saying that, Zhang Yang bit into the last remaining fruit.
"Big brother, you eat. I'm not jealous."
Look how cute Lang Qing was. He didn't even think in that direction. He was simply wondering whether the fruit tasted good. As for whether Zhang Yang would ever cheat him — Lang Qing never had the slightest doubt.
Lang Shan, on the other hand, had no thoughts at all. Right now he only felt deep melancholy. With his current strength, even if you gave him five or six of these fruits, he still wouldn't be able to match a single Evil Wolf.
Two spirit fruits down the hatch — physical potential increased by 10 points total.
Excellent. Adding the 5 points he gained from snake gallbladders earlier, Zhang Yang's current attribute ceiling had reached 45. If he wanted, he could raise his attributes to 45 right now.
But Zhang Yang wouldn't do something so stupid. If he was going to upgrade, he'd wait until his Evolution Points were maxed out first.
"These spirit fruits really are good stuff. Where can I find more to eat?"
Zhang Yang started thinking about hunting for more spirit fruits. They were so easy to consume — far more convenient than fusing with other creatures, and with no losses. Fusing with other creatures could indeed raise physical potential and even grant useful talents, but fusion carried risks. Zhang Yang felt his Evolution Points couldn't afford to take that gamble right now.
While Zhang Yang was pondering where to find more spirit fruits, the envoy sent by the Evil Wolf Hall was already on his way toward the Azure Wolf territory.
"This godforsaken backwater doesn't even have anything decent to eat. This time, if the Azure Wolves don't hand over those two spirit fruits, they'll have to offer up fifty cannon fodder instead."
A five-meter-long, over-two-meter-tall Evil Wolf muttered as he walked. Every living creature within a hundred meters fled at his approach. His aura was overwhelmingly powerful.