It turns out that getting something for nothing can be addictive.

In less than a few minutes, Fu Yi had already risen to Level Five. After curling into a ball and trembling briefly, when it got up again, it was even smaller than before, yet its spikes were sharper than ever. Huai Shi touched it accidentally; what had felt like thorns before now felt like iron needles, pricking painfully into his paw. More important, however, was the increasingly intense Source Fluctuation in Fu Yi's eyes.

"Huai Shi, Huai Shi, I have a new skill!" she exclaimed, jumping excitedly on Huai Shi's head. "Look, look."

Huai Shi rolled his eyes upward; he couldn't see a thing. Who could see what grew on their own head without a mirror?

Soon, a hedgehog-like silhouette jumped to the ground in front of him, shaking its body and sketching vague colors in the rainwater.

"Invisibility?" Huai Shi's eyes widened.

"It should be blurring. My panel tells me it's some kind of Source camouflage color... I don't know what it is, but if you don't look closely, you probably can't tell, right?"

Fine, a high-end ghillie suit, then, Huai Shi thought. Poor as he was, he sucked on another lemon, then noticed that as Fu Yi lay on top of him, his own figure also became blurred.

It was an Auxiliary skill too!

"Let's go, let's go, hurry up! If we don't finish them off now, it'll be too late."

Fu Yi saw that not far away on the blood-drenched battlefield, several of the wounded wild wolves were about to breathe their last.

The fight between the wolves and the Ice Bull had reached a fever pitch; they were completely unaware of the out-of-place dog crawling stealthily through the mud and grass. Despite the bull's strength and might, it was now covered in blood, the wolves' desperate charge having torn several deep, bone-exposing gashes into it.

But the remaining wolves were down to half their number, and the condition of the Wolf king was even more dire. To take on such a heavyweight opponent, they were supposed to leverage their advantages in numbers and speed. This meant employing hit-and-run bleeding and kiting tactics. Even possessing a geographical advantage would have allowed them to better utilize their numbers. But now, they had none of these advantages. The geographical advantage was with the enemy. To leverage their speed, they had to abandon the long-guarded Relic Bone... but would the enemy still be willing to play the kiting game once they got the Relic Bone? By that time, they wouldn't even have a chance to fart, let alone play Pokémon games!

For the Ice Bull as well, there was no turning back. If it didn't take this opportunity to eliminate the leader of the wolf pack, even if it managed to snatch the Relic Bone, it would face the wolves' kiting tactics. Both sides were in a deadlock and could only fight with the spirit of boldness—a fierce clash on the narrow path. Today, it was either you die, or you perish.

With such determination, the murderous intent from both sides intensified, yet their movements became more cautious, unwilling to give the enemy any opening. Continuously probing, probing, and probing again. They were so cautious, it was as if they'd rather waste their ultimate moves on empty air than give the other an opening.

In the distance, Huai Shi lay in the grass, drenched in the downpour, cautiously poking his head out to observe the fight, wishing he could rush up and shout, "Stop fighting! You won't kill anyone like this..."

But what did this have to do with him, the cold and merciless last-hitting machine? With the ghillie suit and Fu Yi, now like an invisible pistol, his last hits were more enjoyable than ever. Fu Yi would pick off the distant targets in the field from afar, and for those closer in the bushes, Huai Shi would pounce for a bite.

In just a few minutes, his Level Five progress bar was already full.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Wolf king was becoming increasingly panicked. He felt his subordinates' numbers constantly decreasing. The pouring rain muffled the sounds of spikes breaking through the air, and the mud and bloodstains concealed the puncture wounds on the corpses. If one didn't look closely, the cause of death was indiscernible, but he had no time to look closely now. He merely assumed his subordinates had succumbed to grievous injuries, his hatred for that Ice Bull intensifying.

And the Ice Bull, after waiting in vain for experience points, assumed the wolves were playing dead. Growing even warier, it soon found itself unable to contain its impulse. Snorting two heavy breaths from its nostrils, frost spread rapidly beneath its feet.

With a thunderous moo, the Ice Bull charged forward like a tank. Caring for nothing, it broke through the wolf pack and headed straight for the Wolf king. Its sharp horns, like long spears, thrust out, so cold that even the rainwater froze on them, forming sharp icicles. More importantly, on its body, the intense cold had frozen the rainwater into a thick shell of Armor, impervious to the wolves' teeth.

The bastard's using his ultimate! the Wolf king thought, his pupils shrinking as he watched the charging Ice Bull. He turned to run, but it was too late; the bull was already upon him. All he could remember was twisting his body...

A wolf and a bull brushed past each other. In an instant, the Wolf king was sent flying, half his body smashed and broken. Yet the Ice Bull let out a pained scream, staggered, and fell to the ground. In the frozen mud, hot blood gushed out continuously. From its belly, a huge gash appeared on its stomach, as if cleaved by an Axe. This was partly because its belly hadn't been exposed to the rain, so the frost Armor was thinner there, but more importantly... it was due to the Wolf king's tail, which he had finally revealed. Covered in sharp, hard, shell-like Armor, it was much like an Axe. With one strike, he had grievously wounded his mighty enemy.

The Wolf king let out a shrill laugh, struggling to stand up, but then collapsed again, unable to get up—his spine was broken. Copper head, iron back, tofu waist, he recalled. While not quite tofu-level soft, the old saying had a point...

"Hand over the Relic Bone... I... will let you go..." the Ice Bull emitted a deep and powerful voice, filled with icy sternness. "Otherwise, today I'll be the one seeing you off the stage."

"Hah? Are you kidding me?" mocked the Wolf king. "My wolf pack still has eight members. Who do you think is sending whom off the stage?" He threw his head back and let out a mournful, piercing howl, his entire body beginning to shake violently. His wounds and broken bones twitched madly, astonishingly recovering quite a bit!

He had saved one evolution point and had not used it yet!

At this moment, the leveled-up Wolf king had reached Level Eight, just like the Ice Bull! More importantly, he hadn't used the point on himself. Instead, with fierce determination, he strengthened his subordinates. As he howled, the bodies of his eight remaining Gray Wolves inflated further, their fur gleaming with a metallic luster. Pushed by his evolution point, they mutated!

Without waiting for his order, the eight Giant Wolves screeched as they pounced, launching an attack on the Ice Bull, who was lying on the ground.

What followed was a thunderous bellow as the Ice Bull roared in fury. Blood gushed from its wounds once more, but it quickly froze into blood-colored Armor. This time, even more dramatically, the terrifying chill formed near-waves. These waves instantly swept around, engulfing the Giant Wolves and encasing them in the mire. Only one managed to leap out in time. After escaping its frozen fate, it was promptly gored to death in mid-air by the bull's renewed charge.

"—DIE FOR ME!!!" With blood-red eyes, the bull bellowed. Ignoring the agony of his entrails hanging from his belly wound, he charged at the Wolf king again, wrapped in a terrifying chill.

THUD. The Wolf king's tail blade wedged into the bull's face, freezing there!

Then, following the bull's charge, the Wolf king was knocked flying again, his tail forcibly torn off midair. When he landed back on the ground, his body sported two ghastly, bleeding holes, spewing fresh blood and shattered organs—clearly, he wasn't going to survive.

But before the Ice Bull could smile in triumph, he saw that as the Wolf king's blood spurted, a blood-red mist fluttered in the air, suddenly outlining a befuddled silhouette.

What the heck? The Husky lying in the mud looked down blankly, seeing the fallen Wolf king beside him. The Wolf king also saw him, a surge of shock and anger flickering in his bloodshot eyes.

Outsider dog and local wolf stared at each other, eye to eye.

"Who is that!" The Ice Bull roared furiously, his big bovine eyes staring intently at the spaced-out Husky.

"Uh..." After pondering for a moment, Huai Shi suddenly jumped out from the bushes amidst their astounded gazes, stood upright on his hind legs, spread his paws, and struck a strange pose. He declared in a resonant voice:

"First, never act on a whim!"

What??? The Ice Bull thought he was hallucinating.

"Second, never overlook any bad deed!" the Husky held up Fu Yi, the small hedgehog, in his paws and stated solemnly, "Third, ensure absolute and impeccable fairness in judgment!"

"I will be the judge of this Relic Bone struggle!" Huai Shi shouted, "—Sled Captain, reporting for duty!"

Then, the Sled Captain raised his paw. A claw as sharp as a dagger flicked out, and he slashed downward, slitting the Wolf king's throat. Speech over, he got to work—quick and efficient.

Blood Plasma spurted.

The judgment was rendered! The Sled Captain, with a decisive blow, ended the conflict! Perfect!

Before the stunned Ice Bull could react, Fu Yi—held in Huai Shi's other paw and having held her breath for a long time—activated her aiming auxiliary, like a magnifying scope. Without needing to steady her aim, she unleashed a rapid volley of over a dozen spikes at the Ice Bull, soundlessly.

The Ice Bull felt darkness wash over its eyes; Fu Yi had also turned it into a hedgehog. Two spikes plunged straight into its eyes, wedged into its skull, and disrupted something in its nerves, causing it to struggle furiously on the spot, but it couldn't get up. Soon, the wound in its belly burst open again, blood gushing out, and the bull fell silent once more.

Fu Yi, still a little worried, shot two more spikes to be sure. A horrific amount of experience points surged into her, instantly pushing her to Level Seven!

Huai Shi also reached Level Seven. His progress bar had been full at Level Five, and after he eliminated the Wolf king, the massive influx of experience filled more than half of his Level Seven bar as well.

Not opting for an immediate evolution like Fu Yi, Huai Shi hurriedly rushed to the few Giant Wolves frozen on the ground, giving a good-natured smile to his distant relatives. Then he raised his paw, and one by one, claws as sharp as daggers popped out.

After consuming all seven remnants, Huai Shi was only a small sliver of experience away from reaching Level Eight!

And more importantly...

Carrying Fu Yi, who was like a hedgehog, Huai Shi forcefully tore open the straw covering the high ground by the lake with his paws. This revealed a huge pit, almost entirely filled with mud. And within it, a black megalith, of which only fragments protruded...

It seemed like a sleeping giant. Merely looking at it evoked a pressure and fear from deep within his bloodline. As he cautiously extended his paw and touched a protruding part of the megalith, a display suddenly popped up before his eyes.

[Obsidian Relic Bone detected, insufficient level (7/10)]

Huai Shi gasped.

This is the Relic Bone?