34: Chapter 34 Fruit Trees and Spicy Strips in the Forest

"Awoo."

[I've evolved for a while now, but my boss told me to stay at home and wouldn't let me come out.]

The white fox nodded as if it understood, and the wolf and fox chatted just like that, until a pig interrupted midway, complaining that it was hungry.

Wan Kang held a mace in his hand, nervously looking around as it was his first time in the mountains. Even though Bai Muxue had just said there were no spirit beasts at the foot of the mountain, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Qin Ding, Bai Muxue, are we going to go straight to find Li Dong and the others now?"

At this moment, Wan Kang was both nervous and clueless, acting like a headless fly, and began asking Qin Ding and Bai Muxue what they should do.

"No rush. Let's head to the mountainside first and see if we can find a place to rest. We can go find them in the evening."

"Earth Dog, come here, you go ahead and lead the way, and we'll follow behind you."

As he spoke, Qin Ding nudged Da Hei, and Da Hei carried the white fox, walking in front with a self-satisfied air.

As Da Hei had evolved once and was proficient in melee combat, it was most suitable for it to walk in front in a place like the wilderness.

Meanwhile, seven kilometers away from Qin Ding's group.

Li Dong and the two Zhou brothers were standing under a fruit tree.

"The fruits on these trees are far from becoming spirit items; they can only serve as temporary food to fill our stomachs."

Zhou Chang took a bite and threw the fruit in his hand away in disgust. "It's sour..."

Seeing the Zhou brothers standing comfortably under the fruit tree, Li Dong took a deep look at the green wolf following by Zhou Chang's side.

"When are we going to find Qin Ding?"

"What's the rush? We've just entered the mountains; who knows if the instructors are still watching? Let's wait a bit. When the time comes, you deal with that Wan Kang, and leave Qin Ding and Bai Muxue to us brothers."

The younger brother, Zhou Shen, looked at Li Dong, who was clenching his fists, and smiled meaningfully.

"Hey, look on the bright side. If you can't win their hearts, we can win their bodies. Won't it be fine if you join in then?"

"..."

Among the three classes, except for Class 1 which had three participants, Class 2 had six participants in the Class Competition, and Class 3 had seven!

By noon, the three of them had only reached the mountainside and had to stop.

No other reason; halfway there, Da Hei kept muttering that it was hungry, and they happened to have reached the mountainside.

"Qin Ding, do you think there might be a wolf pack on this mountain?"

Bai Muxue's sudden question made Qin Ding pause noticeably, and Da Hei, who had been muttering about being hungry, also shut its mouth.

The person and the wolf locked eyes, both seeing the greed and eagerness in each other's eyes.

Wan Kang, not understanding what was going on, took the initiative to gather some dead branches and leaves to serve as cushions for the three of them, and the dead branches would be used to start a fire later. After all, it was noon, so they had to eat, right?

"During the assessment, a black wolf was thrown out, which suggests there might really be a wolf pack on the mountain..."

Just then, Wan Kang returned, wrapping a few fruits in his clothes.

"Here, these are some fruits I found while gathering branches. They're sweet. But eating fruits definitely won't be enough. We're used to it, but our spirit beasts might not be..."

As he spoke, Wan Kang looked at Da Hei without even trying to hide it. Although he couldn't understand what Da Hei was saying on the road, he could feel it.

It looked almost exactly like his own Pink Pig when it was hungry and crying out for food.

"Thanks."

Bai Muxue took two fruits from Wan Kang, thanked him, and handed one to Qin Ding.

Wan Kang watched, his mouth twitching slightly. He turned to the side, waiting for the team leader to speak, and placed his mace beside his feet.

Although it was the lowest-grade standard cold weapon, it was still quite heavy.

Just then, Da Hei, who had been lying on the ground crying of hunger and wanting to go 'hunting' with Qin Ding, suddenly stood up.

Its wolf ears suddenly pricked forward, its pupils constricted into vertical slits, its snout bared sharp white teeth, and its entire wolf face froze into a ferocious, terrifying, and icy line. A low, rumbling growl rolled in its throat.

"Woo..."

[Boss, something is coming...]

"A spirit beast is coming?"

Seeing Da Hei's reaction, Wan Kang immediately dropped all the fruits in his hands, grabbed his mace, and began to scan the surroundings, though his hands, which kept gripping and regripping the handle of the mace, betrayed his current state of mind.

Qin Ding didn't rush to grab the spear standing in the dirt beside him, but instead looked down at Da Hei. "Go catch it and let's see."

There were no level 9 or higher spirit beasts in the mountain, so Qin Ding wasn't worried at all that Da Hei would suffer any kind of harm.

As soon as he finished speaking, Da Hei turned into a black gust of wind and darted out. However, unexpectedly, Da Hei didn't charge into the bushes or the forest, but instead rushed straight towards a large tree a dozen meters ahead.

Seeing this, Qin Ding was taken aback.

The enemy is in the tree?

"Maybe we should go together? Wolves can't... What the f—?!"

The nervous Wan Kang had wanted to say that wolves couldn't climb trees and that the three of them should go together, but the next second, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Because Da Hei, like a giant black rat, dug its sharp front claws, which were like hooks, easily into the wood, and then pushed off with its hind legs, darting straight up!

And the surface of the tree was gouged with four conspicuous claw marks!

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

A sharp, explosive snake hiss resounded all around. Before the three of them could step forward to check, Da Hei jumped down from the tree with a snake over four meters long in its mouth.

[Spirit Beast: Forest Snake]

[Potential: Common]

[Element: None]

[Level: 6 (Low Rank)]

[Ability: Molting]

[Bloodline: Snake (100%)]

[Evolution Path Snake: Needs to reach level 11]

[Potential Enhancement: ...]

[Description: A relatively common spirit beast in the forest, with decent cultivation value.]

The Forest Snake, its body bitten by the Sha Jin Wolf, opened its maw amid the hissing and bit toward Da Hei's face, its body simultaneously coiling up in an attempt to complete a constriction.

The ferocity in the Sha Jin Wolf's eyes intensified. It released its bite, shook its head, and flung the four-meter-long Forest Snake away. Then, it quickly charged, its wolf claws, forged like black iron, slamming down onto the Forest Snake's head.

With a crisp crack, the Forest Snake's head was directly crushed, and its snake body began to thrash and twitch irregularly.

However, this level of thrashing was, to the Sha Jin Wolf, very much like acting coquettish. Its sharp claws, like a guillotine, slashed down at the Forest Snake's torso, instantly slicing the Forest Snake in two.

Blood gushed from the wound like a fountain. The Sha Jin Wolf lowered its head, bit the severed section directly into its mouth, and crunched away as it chewed.

On the spot, Wan Kang, who was holding his mace and leaning against his Pink Pig, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and turned his head slightly stiffly to look at Qin Ding beside him.

"Qin Ding, your spirit beast is a bit... fierce, huh?"

He never expected that a battle would be settled by Qin Ding's spirit beast in just a minute or two, and not only was it killed, but it had already started eating.

Have to say, is this the combat power of a spirit beast that has evolved once and gained an element?