Wind Wolf! Wind Wolf-Please Send Flowers...

Meanwhile, leaving aside the Honey Badger, who had already lost his nerve...

Elsewhere, the scarred gray wolf had begun to mutate after coming into contact with the Life Essence Yu Ziyu had given it.

"Awooo..."

Its howl rang out, strong and full, with something of the imposing force of a tiger's roar through the mountain forests.

Then the gray wolf slowly pushed itself upright...

Whoosh...

The wind rose, gathering around it in currents visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, it was enveloped in a blue-green whirlwind.

"What's this?"

Showing a rare trace of puzzlement, Yu Ziyu took a long, close look. Within the blue-green whirlwind, the gray wolf's bluish fur had begun to stand on end, its color changing little by little.

As though the color of the wind had seeped into it, its fur slowly turned blue-green...

[Species: Mutant Gray Wolf.

Rank: Entry-Level, level five.

Innate Talent: Power of Wind-Capable of controlling wind, it is an incarnation of the wind, a Wind Wolf in the truest sense.]

"A wolf of the wind? A Wind Wolf, huh..."

Murmuring to himself, Yu Ziyu was momentarily taken aback.

He had not expected this gray wolf-no, this Wind Wolf-to awaken an elemental power.

Elements. A distant and unfamiliar word.

Wind, fire, water, earth...

The basic elements that made up the world.

Yu Ziyu had once speculated that, in the age of Spiritual Energy Revival, some might be able to control the elements and use them to attack.

But he had never awakened any similar elemental powers himself, so he had not given it much thought.

And now, this Wind Wolf had borne out his conjecture.

"Wait, aren't my dense mist and Hallucination abilities pretty much the same as controlling the elements?"

After that little remark, Yu Ziyu came to a realization.

Back then, he had tried to explain his dense mist and Hallucination abilities through science.

For instance, the dense mist was released by his leaves, just as he could take in and release carbon dioxide and oxygen.

As for his Hallucination Ability, he could secrete special substances that affected the nerves of animals and even humans.

But thinking about it now, that explanation really did not hold up.

After all, though he could take in and release carbon dioxide and oxygen, he could not control them, whereas he could control the dense mist.

His Hallucination Ability could even weave falsehoods at will, according to his thoughts.

Such strange and terrifying means really could not be explained by his "shallow scientific theories."

"Ahem."

Yu Ziyu gave a dry cough, trying to conceal his embarrassment.

But a moment later, he realized that not a single animal was paying attention to him.

Every one of them was staring wide-eyed at the Wind Wolf howling toward the sky amid the wind.

Compared with before, the Wind Wolf had grown two sizes larger, becoming roughly the size of a wild ox.

Even its bone-deep wounds had healed unnoticed, revealing smooth blue-green fur.

"Awooo!"

Howling toward the sky as though unable to contain its excitement, the gray wolf slowly opened its mouth.

Then a mass of blue-green air gathered inside it.

Boom!

It opened its mouth and spat, sending a tiny blue-green wind blade flying out of the tree cage and slicing through the thick mist.

"Not bad."

With a teasing chuckle, Yu Ziyu slowly raised his branch again.

But before he could approach, the Wind Wolf seemed to sense something and abruptly turned around.

Then it cast a wary glance at the branch, shifting its paws lightly.

Only when it had backed up to the edge of the tree cage and had nowhere left to retreat did it begin to whimper softly, as if trying to say something.

Then its forelegs buckled, and its whole body seemed to kneel on the ground.

"Uh..."

Falling into a rare silence, Yu Ziyu blinked.

"This should mean it's submitting, right?"

Uncertain, Yu Ziyu could not quite decide.

But a moment later, a voice suddenly came from the air.

"Master, I heard this blue-green wolf send a signal of 'obedience.'"

"Heard?"

Slightly puzzled, Yu Ziyu shifted his gaze to Qing'er's petite figure.

"Yes."

Nodding, Qing'er covered her mouth and laughed.

"They seem to want to express something, but they can't say it. With my spiritual power, I can only barely make out that 'he seems to be expressing submission.'"

"Is that so?"

After a moment's consideration, Yu Ziyu tentatively extended his branch.

A moment later, watching the Wind Wolf quietly enjoy the caresses of his branch, Yu Ziyu felt somewhat satisfied.

Good, I've finally tamed it.

With a chuckle, Yu Ziyu turned his gaze to the other animals, only to see the other three gray wolves slowly prostrate themselves as well, facing his true body-the willow tree.

"When their leader submits, the other gray wolves follow suit?"

Somewhat astonished, Yu Ziyu spoke with a rare note of pleasant surprise.

Then he scattered a few more drops of Life Essence, helping these gray wolves along.

Unlike before, now that Yu Ziyu had become Transcendent, his Life Essence had grown increasingly concentrated to a terrifying degree.

A single drop now was comparable to dozens of drops before.

As such, to keep these beasts from bursting and dying, Yu Ziyu diluted the Life Essence.

Of course, another benefit was that Yu Ziyu would not lose too much and could replenish it in just a night or two.

Also worth mentioning was that, as Yu Ziyu grew, he had more and more branches, and correspondingly, could provide more and more Life Essence.

However, this also meant that Yu Ziyu needed even more Evolution Points.

After all, his new branches needed Evolution Points to strengthen them. Although each branch did not require many, their sheer numbers added up.

At the current rate at which new branches were growing, Yu Ziyu reckoned it would not be long before the "thousands upon thousands of branches" he hoped for might become a reality.

When that happened, he would need another enormous quantity of Evolution Points.

"Sigh."

With a sigh, Yu Ziyu looked at his remaining 92 Evolution Points, feeling somewhat reluctant to part with them.

But however reluctant he was, it could not stop his determination to grow stronger.

Also worth mentioning was that strengthening a single branch now cost him 0.5 Evolution Points.

Still, that was understandable.

The toughness of his branches now was far beyond what it had been when he first strengthened them.

When he entered the Transcendent First Order, it was as though he had been cleansed by spiritual energy. His entire body had been strengthened, and his branches in particular had become tougher by more than one degree.

And now, 0.5 Evolution Points really was not much to bring these new branches up to that level of toughness.

"The stronger I get, the more terrifying my resource requirements become."

Sighing inwardly, Yu Ziyu nevertheless spent 52 Evolution Points in one go, strengthening every one of his new branches.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Amid the sounds of air being sliced apart, the new branches all extended toward the sky, translucent as jade and glowing softly... for a moment, they made Yu Ziyu's true body look dazzlingly radiant.

Unfortunately, Yu Ziyu was now hidden within the dense mist, making it difficult to see him clearly.

There was only a vague sense that the invisible pressure throughout the Canyon seemed to have grown a little heavier.

That's the third update. Will there be five updates today, or six? (*^▽^*) You decide.

(Event period: June 12 to June 14)