Goblin Dependency

"Roar!"

A roar filled with anger erupted in the slightly sparse forest, startling a few birds perched at the treetops.

As the apex predator at the top of the food chain, this large carnivorous feline once had the moniker "King of the Beasts."

Nowadays on the Aifala Continent, perhaps the presence of magic particles has allowed many terrifying demons possessing incredible powers to occupy higher positions in the food chain.

But for those ordinary beasts lacking supernatural powers, as well as the vast majority of ordinary people, creatures like the tiger are still synonymous with "danger."

Often, even when still far away, the inexplicable terrifying roar coming from the forest is enough to chill one’s spine and make hands and feet sweat.

It’s the same now.

Though the Ritual Secret Realm, apart from adventurers, lacks any other high intelligence beings, that strong penetrating roar still caused many small creatures in the surrounding forest to flee in panic.

However, these low-intelligence wild creatures clearly did not perceive the distinct and indescribable emotion in the tiger’s roar compared to usual.

"Drip."

Warm, sticky blood slowly dripped from the surface of shredded flesh where fur curled back, staining the soil below a dark red.

This was a Brown striped Tiger, medium in size, commonly found in forest and hilly regions.

Its body length was close to three meters, with dark brown stripes covering its entire body, explosively strong muscles hidden deep under thick fur and fat, propelled by feline-specific reflex nerves that drove its robust and powerful physique like lightning.

Its furry paws, almost larger than an adult’s face, needed only slight exertion to easily pin prey to the ground, after which it would crush their neck and throat, converting them into complete nourishment.

Honestly, faced against such ferocious beasts, even those who just obtained their Professional Level not long ago, low level adventurers, would not dare to be overconfident in a one-on-one situation.

After all, who can guarantee that their flesh and blood body will truly withstand the tearing and biting of sharp claws and teeth?

Without encountering genuine demons or other troubles, this tiger evidently became the master of this nearby forest, viewing all prey within its marked territory as exclusively its food.

But now, the state of this adult Brown striped Tiger seemed far from good.

Three parallel claw-like deep wounds extended from its shoulder to its chest, its thick fur instantly slashed open, revealing underlying fat particles and crimson flesh.

Blood was uncontrollable, seeping continuously from them.

Undoubtedly, if not timely nursed and treated, this would be a life-threatening, thorough injury in the wild.

As for the culprit causing such harm, it was now standing opposite the Brown striped Tiger, with a shoulder height of 1.5 meters, its length almost equivalent to the Tiger Beast—a massive Winter Wolf.

Its immaculate, fluffy fur contrasted the surrounding green, appearing particularly striking, its sleek limbs lightly touching the ground, claws still bearing traces of blood and flesh.

Now, five days had passed since Xia Nan chose the evolution branch.

He had tracked his target all the way from the depths of the dense forest to the hills.

Through absorbing nutrition and energy from vast feeding, the bloodline of the Temple Night Wolf had been entirely overshadowed by the higher Winter Wolf.

The snow-white fur covering his entire body, along with the crystalline ice mist escaping from his wolf mouth and nostrils, served as evidence.

And he used this time to completely adapt to his Winter Wolf physique.

Undeniably, the Winter Wolf’s attributes panel boasting over ninety points of compatibility proved genuine when he chose the path.

Utilizing this body to unleash Teeth Hunting felt even smoother and more fluent than when he was human.

Additionally, combining experiences from his human form, the attack techniques of Heavy Tide and Gravity Etching became increasingly fluent.

The blending of battle skills almost seemed to form subconscious behavior, intuitively employed without needing to divert extra attention during combat.

Xia Nan was unsure why such transformation occurred, but evidently this was beneficial for both the wolf body and his human body in reality.

He didn’t ponder much about it, simply regarding it as a natural phenomenon from gradually improving skill levels.

The only disappointment was that the wolf’s body seemed truly unsuitable for using Vortex Slash, even though it evolved into a Winter Wolf, the gesture and exertion movements of swinging claws remained awkward.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, he could simply swipe and instantly knock the opponent’s brain flying, granting no opportunity for the Tiger Beast ahead to react.

Aside from that, the genuine gain for Xia Nan during these five days.

Was leveraging the perception ability of Sarisa, who transformed into a sparrow, to identify two more ritual participants.

And upon confirming they were not allied, he converted them into numbers on his skill level panel.

The process was not difficult, being able to use battle skills and having completed Second Evolution, facing those ordinary beasts without even possessing Challenge Levels was essentially a dimensional strike.

And before him now, was the third adventurer he found during this time.

To be precise, it was the corpse of the third adventurer.

Evidently, judging by the gaze and spirit of the Brown striped Tiger on the open space ahead, this was merely an ordinary beast most commonly found in the Secret Realm.