Grey Wolf

Yue Yang beat the Iron-Claw Wolf senseless, pounding it until it spat blood and lay barely breathing. Yet he discovered that its life force was astonishingly tenacious. Not only had it not died, it even seemed to be enjoying itself. It appeared to be a naturally masochistic wolf that deserved a beating, leaving him thoroughly puzzled.

He stopped, crouched down, and examined the reason.

Probing it with his true qi, he discovered that this Iron-Claw Wolf's body was extremely strange.

Ordinary Iron-Claw Wolves were earth-element beasts, but this one was not. It was a mutant with three attributes: fire, metal, and darkness.

In theory, low-level beasts with multiple attributes, or mutually conflicting attributes, should not exist. Creatures with more than two attributes were usually extraordinarily high-level mutants, such as the Icefire Chimera. Yet even an Icefire Chimera was probably at least Bronze Level Eight, an existence far beyond a Level Two Iron-Claw Wolf. However, this ordinary Level Two Iron-Claw Wolf before him possessed as many as three attributes. It was truly bizarre.

Yue Yang realized that because this strange Iron-Claw Wolf possessed fire and darkness attributes, it could resist demonic aura to a certain extent.

And because it had the metal attribute, its body was extremely tough, like an immortal cockroach of a wolf.

Of course, the reason Yue Yang's beating felt so good to it was not merely because it could take a hit. Yue Yang's attacks carried a trace of pure innate true qi. The Iron-Claw Wolf had come here to absorb demonic qi and lap up demon blood, only to be tortured miserably by Demon King Hashin's evil demonic qi. Yue Yang's blows happened to relieve its suffering. The harder Yue Yang hit it, the more evil demonic qi in its body was purified, so the better the Iron-Claw Wolf felt... What was even more fatal was that Yue Yang's fists and kicks were incredibly heavy, leaving its organs bleeding and its bones shattered. Yet the evil demonic qi within it, which had nowhere to vent and was on the verge of exploding, rapidly fused into its body, constantly repairing it and madly transforming from evil demonic qi into its flesh, tendons, and bones.

It could be said that Yue Yang's attacks were indirectly a process of cleansing its marrow and remaking its sinews.

Beating it was actually helping it undergo a complete rebirth!

The moment Yue Yang examined it, he discovered the problem, and his anger surged even higher. He picked up a huge stone, preparing to smash it to death alive and let it experience the taste of "crushing a crab with a boulder."

"Wuu wuu wuu..."

Fear and pleading filled the Iron-Claw Wolf's eyes. Seeing that look, Yue Yang's heart stirred.

This lone wolf had been abandoned by its companions and drifted alone into another world, somewhat like him. Both had been left with no one to rely on. But he was luckier than it. He still had the beautiful woman and the little girl. Since crossing into this world, he had taken over the tragic guy's identity and inherited everything he had. The beautiful woman treated him as if he were her own son. Although he was not truly her third son, he had in fact received all the love her family had once given the tragic guy.

Smashing this Iron-Claw Wolf to death with a rock would bring him no benefit at all.

Why not use it for an experiment?

If demon blood and demonic qi could strengthen and transform a creature's strength, could the same method be used to cultivate other, more powerful war beasts?

Yue Yang tossed away the stone. After thinking for a moment, he dug out Demon King Hashin's arm and drove all the evil demonic qi within it into the Iron-Claw Wolf's body. This was far easier than driving it into the air. First, there was now a physical target, making it convenient to expel. Second, Demon King Hashin's evil demonic qi clung tightly to living flesh and was difficult to drive out of the body. The living Iron-Claw Wolf was the ideal container for demonic qi. The moment Yue Yang's pure true qi arrived, it immediately fled into the Iron-Claw Wolf's body. Third, the Iron-Claw Wolf's severely injured body was desperately in need of energy. Whether evil demonic qi or pure true qi, it absorbed them all without discrimination.

The severed arm of Demon King Hashin contained enormous energy, but it was extremely impure. The evil demonic qi within was not something Thorn Flower needed.

Thorn Flower could absorb the strengthening demonic energy, hellfire energy, and dark blood energy from the demon arm. These would benefit its mutation and transformation into a "human," especially the dark blood energy, which would be of immense help in shaping a perfect human body.

Evil demonic qi, however, was the opposite. It would turn a creature ugly and terrifying.

Yue Yang did not want the Thorn Flower Witch he had painstakingly cultivated to become a hideous freak in the future, so the evil demonic qi was absolutely unacceptable!

The Iron-Claw Wolf's stomach swelled like a ball, ready to explode at any moment. Its body had expanded by a full circle, its eyes bulged outward, and it was stuffed full of demonic qi, making it look like a "wolf-shaped leather ball."

It was probably suffering to the utmost, but Yue Yang had no time to care about it.

He drove all the demonic qi into its body, then stuffed Demon King Hashin's arm into Golden Thorn Flower's huge mouth.

Golden Thorn Flower did not swallow it in one gulp as usual. Instead, it held it in its mouth, slowly swallowing and digesting it at an incredibly sluggish pace. Yue Yang estimated that if it swallowed the whole thing at once, not only would it fail to digest it, it might even explode with a Boom, blasting its entire body into pieces. Worried that it might burst apart, Yue Yang occasionally sent true qi into it to help speed up its digestion and absorption.

Even so, hellfire constantly ignited across Golden Thorn Flower's stems and leaves, causing Thorn Flower so much pain that its entire body trembled and swayed.

Yue Yang had no such kind feelings for the ball-like Iron-Claw Wolf beneath his feet.

It was only an experimental subject. It would not matter if it died.

Whenever Yue Yang was in a good mood and saw that Thorn Flower was progressing smoothly, he would give it a savage beating. In any case, such beatings were blessings the Iron-Claw Wolf could only dream of. If Yue Yang was in a bad mood and saw Thorn Flower spit out a piece it could not endure after swallowing it, requiring his true qi to urgently assist its digestion, he would also stomp, kick, and beat the Iron-Claw Wolf beneath his feet to vent his frustration... In any case, Thorn Flower and the Iron-Claw Wolf received treatment as different as heaven and earth. One was carefully protected with true qi, while the other was pummeled, kicked, and cursed at.

It took an entire day before Golden Thorn Flower completely swallowed Demon King Hashin's arm.

Of course, digestion had only just begun. Yue Yang estimated that Golden Thorn Flower would need at least two months to fully digest Demon King Hashin's arm. As for perfectly advancing and mutating into the humanoid "Thorn Flower Witch," that would probably have to wait another three months.

Compared to that, the Iron-Claw Wolf's evolution was much faster.

By now, despite having been flattened under Yue Yang's foot eight times, having its skull shattered three times, its neck broken twice, its spine smashed five times, and its leg bones kicked apart nine times, it had completely recovered. If Yue Yang had not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that an Iron-Claw Wolf whose internal organs had been shattered and which had vomited blood nonstop more than a dozen times could still survive intact.

Not only had the Iron-Claw Wolf recovered completely, it had also evolved beyond its rank.

In just one day, it had evolved from an ordinary Level Two Iron-Claw Wolf into a Bronze Level Three Iron-Spine Demon Wolf.

Its evolution speed was simply a miracle in the history of wolf evolution! A Bronze Level Three Iron-Spine Demon Wolf should be as strong as an ordinary Level Four Iron-Claw Wolf King.

Wolves had a trait known as "bronze heads, iron legs, tofu waists." If their greatest weakness, their "tofu waists," evolved into iron spines, their combat power would increase at least tenfold. Moreover, it was a demon wolf evolved from a Demon King's evil demonic qi, making it several times stronger still. It should be able to fight a Level Four Wolf King one-on-one with ease!

Yue Yang discovered that this beatable wolf cockroach still had some potential for evolution.

Mainly because the demonic qi in its body had not yet been completely consumed. After the demonic qi fused with its body, it had not yet displayed its full power. After some time, this unkillable wolf cockroach would probably rise to Bronze Level Four, perhaps even Bronze Level Five.

After the most thorough examination, Yue Yang discovered that his innate true qi had played an absolutely crucial role in its evolution.

Without his innate true qi, this wolf cockroach would have exploded to death long ago.

Furthermore, the demonic qi could not possibly have fused with its body so smoothly. Beating it with innate true qi was equivalent to cleansing its marrow and remaking its sinews, equivalent to helping it undergo a complete rebirth. Otherwise, it was merely an ordinary Iron-Claw Wolf. No matter how exceptional it was, it could never withstand Demon King Hashin's evil demonic qi... Yue Yang suddenly felt that, in some ways, this unkillable wolf cockroach was somewhat like himself.

Though it had suffered a little misfortune, most things had turned out very fortunately.

The only difference was that he could succeed without being beaten, while it had to be beaten mercilessly by him before it could slowly improve.

Once Golden Thorn Flower had swallowed the Demon King's arm, Yue Yang quickly stored it in the Summoning Codex, letting it slowly digest and gradually advance and mutate into the Thorn Flower Witch. Now that Thorn Flower was safe, he no longer needed to worry about it.

What mattered most now was rushing to the Heaven-Piercing Tower, bringing little Yue Bing safely home, and giving the beautiful woman a perfect answer.

The moment Yue Yang set off, the unkillable Iron-Spine Demon Wolf hurried after him. Yue Yang viciously sent it flying with a kick, blasting it several meters away. It immediately rolled to its feet and trotted after him, completely unconcerned by Yue Yang's foul temper.

It also knew how to curry favor with the transmigrator. It followed him around when there was nothing to do, and whenever it was time to eat, it would run off to catch a rabbit or a wild pheasant and offer it to Yue Yang. Yet Yue Yang would roast the rabbit all the same while never changing his attitude toward it. His reason was that like poles repelled: this wolf was male, and it also looked extremely punchable, so Yue Yang simply could not bring himself to like it.

After following him for two days and two nights, the wolf cockroach could not be driven away no matter what Yue Yang tried. He had no choice but to let it follow him, and in the end, he generously gave it a name: Grey Wolf!

As for a contract, Yue Yang would never contract a male Iron-Spine Demon Wolf.

When they reached the teleportation array at the White Cloud City Lord's Manor, Yue Yang learned that he had to pay extra for a war beast that was not contracted, and his temper flared. He sent several flying kicks at it. "Grey Wolf, you bastard dog! I told you not to follow me, but you insisted on coming. Now you're wasting my money for nothing!"

The official in charge of teleportation was nearly in tears at the sight. "Don't hit it, don't hit it! This is a Bronze Level Three Iron-Spine Demon Wolf! I've been stationed here for more than half a year, and I've never seen such a tame and intelligent Bronze-ranked war beast... It hurts my heart just watching you treat it like this. How about I pay the fee for you, all right?"