Lang Qing had no ability to change Zhang Yang's decision. In the end, he could only compromise and once again returned to the wolf den.
Danger did not arrive.
The brown bear had been scared away, the leopard had been torn apart, the tiger had long since died under Zhang Yang's claws, and the wild dogs had already slunk away in disgrace.
The other carnivores in the surrounding area, even if they smelled the strong scent of blood, didn't dare come to investigate. This was, after all, the wolf den—they knew very well how much strength they actually had.
Zhang Yang lay in the pool of blood for two full hours.
When he stood up again, all the wounds on his body had completely disappeared. He leaped onto the large rock and let out a long, drawn-out howl, declaring to every creature in the vicinity:
From this moment on, in this region, the jungle wolves were the noblest beings, standing at the very top of the food chain.
The pack responded in chorus.
In broad daylight, wave after wave of wolf howls echoed, terrifying every nearby creature into trembling fear.
The next day, Zhang Yang left the wolf den alone, while the rest of the pack stayed behind to digest the massive haul from yesterday's hunt.
There were simply too many wild boars. Even though they could strengthen themselves by eating, they couldn't possibly finish all that food in such a short time.
Zhang Yang had no interest in eating those carcasses. He was going to hunt for evolution points.
"Still short 1200 evolution points to unlock the Level 2 Mall."
Zhang Yang glanced at his attribute panel, then began dashing through the jungle.
He was extremely fast. Even without the jungle wolves scouting ahead for prey locations, Zhang Yang could hunt using his own abilities.
But when a gazelle died in his jaws, Zhang Yang froze.
"No evolution points at all?"
"Ding. The host's attributes far exceed those of the gazelle. Killing it yields no evolution points."
The system actually answered his question this time.
But the answer made Zhang Yang feel rather frustrated.
That's considered "far exceeding"?
"Fine."
Helpless, Zhang Yang had no choice but to go look for stronger creatures to kill—like leopards.
Killing leopards would definitely give evolution points.
Because yesterday he had already killed one.
However, leopards were truly rare in the jungle.
Zhang Yang patrolled a huge circle within his territory and still only managed to ambush two leopards at the water source.
But he did make another discovery.
He had his eye on the creatures living in the water source.
Within the wolf pack's territory, freshwater sources were extremely limited—there was only one freshwater river, and that river was precisely the habitat of crocodiles.
Any creature that came here to drink had to be mentally prepared to be attacked by crocodiles.
Compared to the extreme caution of other animals, Zhang Yang strolled through that freshwater river as casually as if he were walking in his own backyard.
He didn't take the crocodiles in the water seriously at all.
"Wow, these big guys are actually pretty huge, huh?"
Zhang Yang spent the entire morning killing the two leopards, and at the same time, he figured out the crocodiles' habits.
He stood in the shallow part of the river and could clearly see crocodiles moving beneath the surface.
They were massive—mostly three to four meters long. Their huge claws were as big as a tiger's head. Most importantly, their mouths were truly enormous. Zhang Yang felt that a four-meter crocodile could probably swallow him whole in one bite.
But Zhang Yang wasn't panicked. He just stood there in the river, waiting for the crocodiles to come.
The creatures watching him from afar all thought this wolf had gone insane.
Every time they came to drink, they moved with extreme caution. The slightest ripple in the water and they would bolt.
Yet now, they could clearly see crocodiles swimming straight toward him—and this jungle wolf still wasn't leaving?
The scene was so terrifying that some of the more timid animals backed even farther away.
They couldn't bear to watch such a bloody spectacle.
But the braver ones watched carefully.
From the shore, they had nothing to fear from crocodile attacks.
"You're swimming so slowly… what exactly are you being careful about?" Zhang Yang was starting to get impatient.
He had already sacrificed himself as bait—yet these crocodiles were still dawdling along. It really made him annoyed. Grinding evolution points was proving to be such a hassle.
Right now, Zhang Yang didn't even want to keep evolving anymore. If he turned into a tiger, he probably wouldn't get evolution points from killing leopards either.
While he was lost in thought, the crocodiles finally approached slowly.
However, the crocodiles had no intention of attacking him.
To be honest, jungle wolves were not normally on the crocodiles' menu. Wolves usually came to drink in packs, and they didn't come often.
The wolf den already had its own water source. They only came to the river when they were exhausted from hunting nearby.
Attacking a jungle wolf rashly was not a wise choice. The crocodiles didn't want to provoke the wolves either.
If they really angered the wolf pack, the wolves wouldn't even need to fight them directly—just block all other animals from coming to drink and the crocodiles would starve to death.
So the crocodiles swam over now simply to make a statement to Zhang Yang: this is crocodile territory. Finish drinking and get lost quickly.
But that wasn't how Zhang Yang saw it.
When the crocodiles reached the shallows, Zhang Yang suddenly attacked them.
With four legs pumping furiously, he carved a white line through the shallow water. His speed completely exceeded the crocodiles' expectations. They never imagined that this wolf would actually dare to attack them.
Yet that was exactly what happened.
Zhang Yang clamped his jaws around the mouth of one crocodile. His tremendous bite force prevented the crocodile from opening its mouth at all.
Then, without lingering in the shallows, he dragged the crocodile straight toward the riverbank.
The moment he started dragging it, the entire crocodile group exploded in fury.
What the hell?! We already let you drink our bathwater in peace, but what is this? You're taking our face and throwing it away?
A little wolf pup dares to take the initiative and attack us? If we don't teach you a lesson, it seems you won't understand who the real boss of this river stretch is, right?
The crocodile swarm chased wildly after Zhang Yang. The once-clear shallows instantly turned into a muddy mess.
In truth, crocodiles were not slow in the water at all. They had only been moving slowly earlier because they were too lazy.
Once they got serious, they surged forward with terrifying speed, water splashing everywhere.
The most aggressive crocodile quickly caught up beside Zhang Yang. Without any courtesy, before its mouth could reach him—its tail arrived first.
That tail was incredibly thick. The middle section was almost as wide as Zhang Yang's current waist, and the tip was sharp like a sword.
But hitting Zhang Yang with the tail wasn't easy. He was already fast, and he had a crocodile in his mouth serving as a living shield.
Whenever the crocodile swarm attacked, Zhang Yang simply thrust the crocodile he was biting toward them.
The poor crocodile in his jaws was miserable. Tears welled up in its eyes from the pain—not just its mouth hurt, but its whole body hurt. Its companions were really whipping it without holding back at all.