The morning sun rose in the east.
The already warming air grew even hotter under its light.
A breeze rustled through the forest, bringing with it a rare trace of coolness on this summer morning.
Seated on the rattan rocking chair Su An'yong often lounged in, Su Ping held Xiao Qing in his arms. The little wolf—now noticeably larger than before—looked around excitedly at everything before it.
The scene in front of Su Ping was nothing short of spectacular.
Outside the forest, beneath the shade of the tree canopies and along the garden path of the estate, Forest Wolves of all sizes appeared one after another.
Like obedient house dogs, they sat neatly in place, their green eyes locked firmly onto Su Ping.
At a glance, there were a little over twenty of them.
Among them were seven adult Forest Wolves that had reached Elite Rank or above.
One of those had reached Elite Rank Stage 9, making it the highest-ranked Forest Wolf in the base aside from Old Sha.
The remaining wolves—fewer than twenty—were all still Ordinary Rank, most of them young wolves still in their growth phase.
Yet in the current Heart of Wood Pet Beast Breeding Base, these young wolves were actually the most valuable.
Under normal circumstances, buyers looking for Pet Beasts usually preferred young ones as their first contracted companion.
Ordinary Beast Tamers who had just awakened could not contract Elite-rank Forest Wolves.
And Beast Tamers who had already broken through to Elite Rank generally would not buy adult Forest Wolves with clearly defined limits and little future potential.
As a result, those seven Elite-rank Forest Wolves largely served as breeding stock.
Standing before the wolf pack was Old Sha, his expression cautious as he stared at Su Ping.
Clearly, judging from the apprehension in his eyes, he was still thinking about yesterday—about Su Ping wanting to poison him with dung.
Sure enough, after gathering all the Forest Wolves, Su Ping took out that bottle of dark green liquid.
He slowly turned his gaze toward Old Sha.
"Old Sha."
Old Sha jolted, then looked at Su Ping with an extremely resentful expression.
However, unlike yesterday, he did not turn and flee.
A wolf pack had its rules.
Old Sha possessed the authority of a wolf king. His attitude determined the pack's attitude toward Su Ping.
Su An'yong had entrusted the Heart of Wood base to Su Ping, so Old Sha had to take the lead—ensuring that these little ones would acknowledge Su Ping as the "king" they followed.
Thus, even if his young master meant him harm at this moment, Old Sha would not retreat.
But when Su Ping truly pulled out the container filled with dark green liquid from his arms, Old Sha's body still trembled slightly.
Then, under the curious gazes of all the Forest Wolves, he stepped forward—his four legs visibly shaking.
Seeing the pleading look in Old Sha's eyes, Su Ping felt speechless.
Was it really that bad?
If Xiao Qing were not still too young, and if he did not need to first test the potion's effects on another Forest Wolf, he would not have gone through all this trouble.
Su Ping stroked the coarse fur at Old Sha's bowed head and spoke softly,
"Old Sha, you have to trust me. I'm doing this for your own good."
Old Sha glanced at Su Ping, then at the potion. Even after cooling, once the seal was opened, it still carried traces of yesterday's stench.
He looked back at Su Ping again.
Those green eyes clearly said:
I don't believe a word of that.
But in the end, Old Sha nodded.
After all, he was nearly two generations older than this young master. His intelligence was not inferior to that of humans—he understood perfectly well what Su Ping was trying to do.
Brewing a potion.
When Su An'yong was young, he had tried several times as well. Old Sha had even consumed some of those potions himself.
The results, however…
Now, the newly graduated young master had suddenly taken over Heart of Wood. Naturally, he had ambitions—ideas he wanted to test.
After a night of careful thought, Old Sha understood that even if he were poisoned to death, he had to protect the young master's dignity.
He could not let Su Ping turn out like Su An'yong—that unreliable fellow who had simply given up, wasting the old master's lifelong efforts.
"Ao-wuuu—"
Old Sha closed his eyes.
A dry, miserable howl escaped his throat.
He looked like a martyr walking calmly to his death—one foot already in the grave, filled with righteous resolve.
If tears could form in a wolf's eyes, they probably would have.
As Su Ping poured out the potion, his forehead filled with black lines.
What in the world is this supposed to be?
Without bothering to say anything more, he looked at Old Sha—eyes closed, mouth wide open, waiting to be fed by his young master—
And directly poured the Heart of Wood potion—dark green and jelly-like, similar to herbal jelly—straight into Old Sha's mouth.
Old Sha extended his warm tongue and swallowed it in one gulp, sending it straight down his throat.
He did not even taste it properly.
Just like Zhu Bajie eating a ginseng fruit—down it went.
Old Sha opened his eyes.
He looked at the now-empty potion container, then at his young master staring at him expectantly.
The light in his eyes instantly faded, as if the world had turned gray.
He walked over to Su Ping's side and began to whimper softly.
Though it was wolf speech, Su Ping could roughly understand the meaning:
Take good care of the Heart of Wood Pet Beast Breeding Base.
Make Forest Wolf breeding bigger and stronger.
Do not betray Grandpa's hard work and trust.
Develop even more powerful evolution paths for Forest Wolves.
And—
Work hard to become an even more amazing Beast Tamer, you little brat!!!!
…
It sounded like final words.
Like an elderly elder, on the brink of death, offering his last earnest advice to a younger generation.
For a moment, beneath the sunlight outside the forest, the atmosphere became incomparably tragic.
Even the other Forest Wolves watching from a distance—completely clueless as to what was happening—let out mournful howls.
As if bidding farewell to their wolf king… and their elder.
If Su Ping did not know exactly what was going on, he might truly have been swept up by the mood.
But seriously—
What the hell is this!?
I'm feeding you a potion, not poison!
Fortunately, Su Ping did not have to wait long.
Suddenly, Old Sha's previously calm, death-embracing demeanor changed abruptly.
The low whimpering stopped at once.
Su Ping's expression turned serious as he stared at Old Sha's reaction.
In that instant, specks of emerald-green light appeared across Old Sha's originally cyan-green fur, as if he were enveloped by a faint verdant barrier.
The air outside the forest seemed to become exceptionally clear.
Nearby, both within the forest and beneath Old Sha's paws, vines and branches burst forth from the soil, growing at a visible speed.
At the same time, a faint wave of pressure spread outward.
Su Ping's eyes widened instantly.
The reaction from the wolf pack behind him was even stronger.
Their bodies trembled as they dropped flat to the ground, unable to look directly at the aura of their wolf king.
The entire process lasted only about a minute.
In the next moment, all the strange phenomena vanished.
In their place—
A piercing, crystal-clear wolf howl rang out, filled with indescribable joy and exhilaration.