Before Su Ping could even react, he once again experienced the sensation of being pounced onto, right there on the soft grass.
Then came the licking.
At this moment, Old Sha bore absolutely no resemblance to the martyr who had just faced death with grim resolve.
Hah. Pet Beasts.
Wiping the sticky saliva from his face in mild disgust, Su Ping activated Eye of Truth once more and looked at the overly excited Old Sha:
[Forest Wolf (Wild)]
[Current Level: Commander Rank, Stage 2]
[Racial Potential: Elite Rank, Stage 10]
[Skills: Sunlight Absorption (Perfected), Vine Bind (Mastery), Self-Healing (Proficient), Accelerated Growth (Mastery), Wolf King (Beginner), Heart of Wood (Beginner)]
[Heart of Wood (Beginner): Passively enhances the power, effectiveness, and casting speed of wood-attribute abilities. Can absorb wood-element energy to rapidly recover itself.]
Just as expected!
Excitement flashed through Su Ping's eyes.
Not only had Old Sha awakened Heart of Wood, his overall level had also risen by an entire stage!
Did the addition of Wolfsmoke Grass really cause such a miraculous qualitative change in the Heart of Wood potion?
Su Ping did not understand it.
The shallow fundamentals of breeding science he had learned at school were clearly insufficient to explain what had just happened.
But he knew exactly what this result meant.
To be blunt—
A normal Forest Wolf cub was worth at most 800,000 to 1.2 million.
But a Forest Wolf that had awakened Heart of Wood?
Its value could easily increase by three to five times!
If its aptitude was good, if it trained diligently, and if its skill proficiency rose quickly, its price could climb even higher.
It might even rival the value of some lower-end Commander-potential Pet Beast cubs.
The Heart of Wood skill was simply too powerful.
Skills that enhanced elemental attributes—even if they were not so-called super-tier skills—were often far more practical than offensive super-tier abilities.
Even at the Beginner level, with Heart of Wood supporting him, Old Sha's combat strength had increased by at least thirty to fifty percent.
If he fought in forests, jungles, or grasslands?
The boost would be even more terrifying.
And precisely because of that, skills like Heart of Wood were extraordinarily rare and difficult to obtain.
Yet now, with the assistance of the Myriad Spirits Codex, the original Heart of Wood potion had undergone a qualitative transformation simply by adding one extra ingredient.
Su Ping's gaze burned with excitement.
At that very moment, a new notification appeared in the log at the bottom of the Forest Wolf Codex—the only entry currently lit:
[Successfully enabled an associated Pet Beast to acquire the skill "Heart of Wood" and increase its rank. Codex experience +30!]
Su Ping froze, then looked again at the lit Forest Wolf Codex:
[Codex: Forest Wolf]
[A special wolf race proficient in wood-attribute abilities, possessing extremely strong vitality. Most adult Forest Wolves are Elite Rank. Common skills include: Sunlight Absorption, Vine Bind, Self-Healing, Accelerated Growth, etc.]
[Current Codex Level: 1 (152/500)]
One hundred and fifty-two points.
If he had not spent 285 experience points earlier to perfect the Heart of Wood potion formula, he would be just over a hundred points away from raising the Codex to Level 2.
Looking at it this way… leveling the Codex doesn't seem that hard after all.
However—
Su Ping's gaze quickly shifted past Old Sha, toward the Forest Wolf pack that had become extremely obedient.
Clearly, if he wanted to raise the Codex level quickly, quantity mattered.
The more Forest Wolves he interacted with—and the more that reached the required intimacy—the faster the Codex would level up.
Old Sha had been with him for many years and was practically family. That went without saying.
Xiao Qing was bound to him through a soul contract—naturally even more so.
But these twenty-plus Forest Wolves?
Although he had fed them together with Old Sha before and they were familiar with him, the Codex clearly judged that their intimacy was still insufficient.
If he wanted to level up the Codex quickly, increasing the number of Forest Wolves that met the intimacy requirement was the top priority.
So how did one raise intimacy?
Daily interaction. Feeding. Training.
All of that worked—but it was slow.
Su Ping glanced at Old Sha, who was so excited that his tail was wagging wildly.
And in that instant, Su Ping understood.
If he could strengthen these little fellows—boost their abilities, raise their power—and do it in a way that was practically effortless for them…
Then intimacy would naturally skyrocket.
Thus, Su Ping made up his mind once more.
Continue brewing potions.
But before that—
He wanted to test Old Sha's changes.
"Old Sha, use Vine Bind on that tree!"
Old Sha's green eyes instantly lit up.
He never would have imagined that something even Su Ping's grandfather had failed to accomplish—and that Su An'yong had long since given up on—
Would be achieved, almost miraculously, in Su Ping's hands.
He had known it.
The little master he had watched grow up would never harm him.
Old Sha focused his gaze on a massive tree within the forest.
The next instant—
Dark green vines and branches either burst directly from the soil or condensed seemingly out of thin air.
They wrapped tightly around the towering tree chosen as the target.
Each vine was as thick as a bowl, incredibly tough, with even a faint metallic sheen along their surfaces.
As they continued to coil and constrict, Su Ping quickly noticed something else—
Sharp barbs began to emerge along the vines.
The killing power increased dramatically.
With just a brief tightening, massive jagged cracks—like saw marks—appeared across the thick trunk of the ancient tree.
The activation speed.
The sheer destructive force.
They were on a completely different level compared to before.
Even a Commander-rank opponent of the same tier would likely be drained dry and shredded to pieces if caught in this vine-strangling web—blood everywhere, flesh torn apart.
Even Su Ping could not help but inhale sharply.
Meanwhile, Xiao Qing—who had been quiet until now—suddenly perked up.
Its gaze locked onto those entwining vines, as if it had suddenly realized something.
Come to think of it, after forming the contract, Xiao Qing had advanced to Ordinary Rank Stage 2 in just one day.
That speed was already impressive.
But so far, it only possessed the Forest Wolf's most basic skill: Sunlight Absorption.
It reduced food consumption and accelerated growth—but offered little combat ability.
Su Ping had not been in a rush.
Yet now, seeing this scene, something felt… different.
Sure enough.
Xiao Qing lightly leapt from his arms and landed in front of him.
It opened its mouth slightly and let out an extremely immature cry:
"Awuuuu…"
In the next instant—
Several thin vines, no thicker than yarn, burst from the ground!
They were delicate—but unlike ordinary vines, their color carried a faint purplish tint.
Su Ping blinked, staring at his Pet Beast in disbelief.
It learned it just like that?
Normally, Forest Wolves gradually learned their racial skills during growth.
Vine Bind was their primary combat method—it was only natural.
But the true measure of a Pet Beast's talent lay in how quickly it learned and mastered skills.
Just yesterday, in the class group chat,
Class Monitor Zhou Shuchen had proudly announced that his Crimson Fang Tiger had mastered one of its core combat skills—Flame Pounce—in just half a month.
That was already considered excellent.
But Xiao Qing?
It had simply watched Old Sha use Vine Bind once—and learned it on the spot?
Su Ping quickly activated Eye of Truth on Xiao Qing:
[Mutated Forest Wolf (Contracted)]
[Attributes: Wood, Poison]
[Current Level: Ordinary Rank, Stage 2]
[Racial Potential: Elite Rank, Stage 10]
[Skills: Sunlight Absorption (Beginner), Poison Vine Strangle (Beginner)]
Wait.
Su Ping froze.
Not Vine Bind.
But—
Poison Vine Strangle?
He looked at Xiao Qing with a strange expression.
Could it be that his father's so-called "carefully selected" Forest Wolf—
Which, in reality, had probably been found by sheer dumb luck—
Not only possessed poison-attribute potential…
But also extraordinary aptitude to match?