Volume 2 Chapter 30: I Appreciate That Part of You

14 Earthburst Wolves were slain by sword energy, two were heavily wounded, three were lightly injured, and one was lying on the ground in a daze, head still buzzing from being slammed.

The Ye Family’s female members had no interest in taking a wolf as a spirit pet, but the males were all eager to own a Crystallization Realm wolf, and a heated argument broke out over it.

Ye Gou had wanted Ye Yong to make the call since the wolves were defeated by him, but Ye Yong simply waved his hand, signaling Ye Gou to handle it. Instantly, Ye Gou felt the weight of Ye Yong’s trust and responsibility settle on his shoulders, and was so moved that he launched into an intense discussion with the other juniors. In the end, they agreed to give up some of the secret realm’s resources in exchange for the right to claim the wolves.

Ye Mao, being a direct member of the family, didn’t need to give up resources to compete for a wolf. He had the privilege to pick first.

He immediately set his sights on the one that had been choked by Ye Yong earlier, probably concussed from being slammed around. Its eyes were filled with “intelligence”, because it just sat there in a daze, unlike the other five, who were still trembling in fear.

Ye Mao thought this wolf resembled his former self: lost and confused, in need of guidance. And he, Ye Mao, would be the guiding light in this wolf’s darkness, raising it into a mighty wolf king who would one day stand beside him to challenge Ye Yong and reclaim their pride.

“You’ll follow me from now on,” Ye Mao said, squatting in front of the Earthburst Wolf with “intelligence” in its eyes, reaching out to pat its head.

Chomp. The wolf bit his hand.

After a brief moment of silence.

“You bastard! Die!!” What had been a touching scene of bonding turned into a brawl.

“Brother Mao! Calm down! Calm down!” The others rushed to restrain him. Luckily, the wolf hadn’t used spiritual power. It only left a row of teeth marks on Ye Mao’s hand. Otherwise, given Ye Mao’s body’s current toughness, he’d definitely have bled.

“Hmph.” Ye Mao calmed himself, wiped off the saliva with a handkerchief, and looked at the wolf again. “Not submitting to anyone, I appreciate that part of you.”

The wolf suddenly stood up and trotted straight over to Ye Yong, sniffing him all over. Thinking it was about to pee, Ye Yong kicked it aside, only for it to trot right back and sit down in front of him, looking at him, just short of wagging its tail.

After another moment of silence.

“Don’t stop me! I’m cutting it down!!” Ye Mao was practically breathing fire. That was your enemy! The one who beat you and slaughtered your kin! Shouldn’t you be baring your fangs and going down fighting?! Where’s your pride as a wolf?!

“Brother Mao, calm down, calm down! Don’t bother with a bastard.”

…

Ye Yong took note of the commotion. He studied the wolf carefully. Its fur looked coarse and probably wouldn’t be pleasant to pet. Truthfully, he wasn’t very interested in wolves; maybe if it were a fox, sure. But this one seemed a little brain-damaged, following him around nonstop.

Did it acquire some secret technique of the Shura Dragon King, turn into an enduring master to endure by my side, and wait for the right time to take revenge?

But then Ye Yong caught that same “intelligent” look in its eyes again. If you dyed its fur black and white, it’d basically be a husky. And expecting this dumb mutt to plot revenge? It’d be a miracle if it didn’t sell out its own kind.

He recognized this wolf as the one he had casually slammed earlier. Maybe it had hit its head. Ye Yong placed a hand on its head, probing with spiritual power for internal bleeding or clots. Everything seemed normal.

“Shoo shoo.” Ye Yong waved his hand, but it still refused to leave, acting like it had become dependent on him. “I just wiped out most of your pack. Isn’t it bad to switch sides?”

The wolf tilted its head. Maybe it understood Ye Yong’s words, because it ran over to one of the heavily wounded wolves.

That wolf was larger than it and was at the 3rd layer of the Crystallization Realm. It weakly licked the other’s fur, then looked at Ye Yong. Its eyes were full of fear, but also submission.

That was the way of spirit beasts- natural selection. Seeking revenge for their kind? Impossible. Ye Yong had demonstrated overwhelming strength; if they wanted to live, they had to submit. And following a strong master wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

Ye Yong came over and checked. He could tell they shared very close bloodlines. Clearly, they were directly related.

But Ye Yong didn’t want a male.

He looked down. The heavily injured one was female.

He pretended to squat down and check the mother wolf’s wounds, then sneakily glanced at the husky wolf’s underbelly. No little handle. Also female.

Hiss. Suddenly, all the proper and improper manga and novels he had read flashed through his mind.

This isn’t right. He’d nearly wiped out their family, and now he was going to take them as spirit pets? Was there anything weirder than that?

If it were Ye Gou and the others, it was fine as they hadn’t personally killed any wolves.

Ye Yong was tempted, but he had some reservations. He walked around and sensed the dead wolves. Genetically related, but not very close. The secret realm only opened once a century and was full of competing species. These wolves definitely weren’t the only pack.

Alright. At least he didn’t kill their close kin. That’d make living together a bit easier. Ye Yong actually wanted to see how far he could raise an ordinary spirit beast’s bloodline. Hua Ning Yan already had the potential to become a celestial fox, but these wolves were just plain spirit beasts.

“These two… I’ll take them.” Ye Yong fed the mother wolf a healing pill and sprinkled some medicinal powder on her wounds. Her breathing quickly stabilized, and the fear in her eyes faded a bit, replaced with submission.

“Okay.” Ye Gou and the others had no objections. Still, now there were only three wolves left- two had been claimed by Ye Yong, and Ye Mao had taken one. The competition got fiercer.

Originally, it was already tough enough to give up secret realm resources to earn a spot—now they’d need to add more on top of that.

But spirit pets were rare, and these wolves had already submitted after being beaten by Ye Yong. It was a golden opportunity, so they were willing to cough up extra resources to claim one.

Ye Mao was still fuming over the husky-wolf, but he had no choice in the matter. In the end, he picked one that he found somewhat pleasing.

Actually, all the Earthburst Wolves wanted to go to Ye Yong. They already saw him as the “alpha wolf”. But since he didn’t come to them, they didn’t dare to approach him like the husky-wolf did.

Once Ye Gou and the others finalized the picks, the remaining three wolves were assigned owners, and they began forming soul imprints.

Soul imprinting wasn’t just for spirit beasts- it could even be used on humans. Essentially, the master imprinted a sliver of their consciousness into the servant’s divine soul. At any moment, they could inflict wrenching pain on the servant’s divine soul with just a thought.

Of course, if the divine souls’ strengths were too far apart, the servant could break the bond or even reverse it during the formation process.

But with Ye Yong present, the four wolves didn’t resist. Their intelligence hadn’t developed much, and their divine soul strength wasn’t that much stronger than Ye Mao and the others. The imprinting process went smoothly.

Seeing this, the husky-wolf quickly ran over to Ye Yong, wagging its head like crazy, as if to say it wanted what the others had as well. Ye Yong couldn’t help but think that its eyes were indeed filled with “intelligence”. It was so proactive in becoming a spirit pet.