Goblin Dependency

The main reason Xia Nan decided to give up this option was the primary habitat of this wolf species—the wilderness and the desert.

Just like polar bears evolved their hollow transparent fur to adapt to the polar ice cold, and cacti opted to transform their leaves into spines to conserve water in the desert, turning their stems into water-storing organs.

Although he didn’t know what the [Western Wilderness Wolf] looked like, it was undoubtedly a creature that evolved to survive in such harsh desert environments.

However, Xia Nan was currently in a primitive forest filled with towering trees and dense shrubs.

In comparison, the Night Wolf variant, which is more adept at climbing trees and is agile and light, was undoubtedly more suitable.

With this thought in mind, Xia Nan had already made his decision.

He lightly touched the third option on the attribute panel with his mind.

"Buzz..."

The semi-transparent characters floating in the void before him instantly dissipated.

At the same time, the strange warm current that had been forcibly stagnating inside his body regained its original vitality.

It was as if guided by some invisible restraint, moving towards a few specific parts of the body under control.

The young furry body curled up into a ball.

Xia Nan only felt a warm and tingling feeling throughout his body, not painful, but rather like soaking in a hot spring after fatigue, as if his soul was also relaxing and soothing with the flow of warmth.

From an external perspective, it was evident that this suburban wolf cub on the meadow was expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just a few seconds, its size had already surpassed the best-developed wolf pup in the litter by a large margin.

Nevertheless, its appearance showed no signs of bulkiness; instead, the activation and evolution of the Temple Night Wolf bloodline in its body made its limbs longer and more agile and nimble.

The slightly rounded wolf mouth subtly elongated, adding an aggressive touch to its wolf beast form;

The gray-blue wolf eyes were filled with the unique golden hue of nocturnal creatures, enabling clear night vision even in the fog-enshrouded environment with almost negligible visibility;

The Forest Land Suburban Wolf’s brown fur began to develop a night-colored black trace from the roots up;

Only that, due to the current underdeveloped cub stage, it was hidden beneath the fluffy fur. Once a bit older, its fur color would completely change to pitch black, evolving to thrive at night.

From "dog" to "wolf."

The primal and wild blood coursed through its veins, a force far more potent than before gathering in its tighter muscles.

Xia Nan suddenly stood up!

More resilient and sharper than when just born, its wolf mouth slightly parted, instinctively letting out a low wolf growl.

He felt he had taken the most solid step on the path of evolution; up next, only if...

Just when emotions surged within and thoughts flickered in his mind.

A not-too-heavy yet noticeable force suddenly came from his rear neck.

Paws off the ground, body suspended in the air.

As if pinpointed at a vital spot, his muscles suddenly stiffened, and his longer limbs naturally drooped, with the long tail, brown with black tips, unconsciously curling up between his legs tightly against his belly.

The Wolf Mother looked warily at the boar’s corpse ahead, quickly holding her cub in her mouth, retreating towards the den.

As a normal beast, it might have witnessed the entire battle process just now but could not connect the boar’s death to her cub, nor had she any odd thoughts about the changes in its body.

The Wolf Mother acted purely on instinct, thinking the current environment might pose a threat to her young.

She directly carried the newly evolved Xia Nan back to the burrow.

...

...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the secret realm.

Deep in the desert, inside a certain burrow.

The acrid scent of blood mixed with the stench unique to corpses filled the air.

This should have been a sand rat nest.

But now, in the narrow burrow, six young rats, along with their parents, were all reduced to stiff corpses slowly cooling down.

Most of the baby rats died from bites, while the two adult sand rats were bizarrely skewered by sandy spikes piercing from the ceiling of the burrow, killed instantly.

Visible at the deepest end of the burrow, above one of the already dead sand rats, hovered a glowing blue orb quickly gathering in a certain direction.

The Gravel Scale Lizard, possessed by "Algae Scale" Dodd, slightly raised its head, feeling the unordered warm flow surging through its body as the glowing blue specks permeated it.

The body, originally covered in sand-yellow scales, was visibly expanding, with claws and dorsal scales beginning to show a metallic sheen.

Feeling his body’s changes, a very noticeable expression of disappointment appeared on Dodd’s face.

His plan actually proceeded very smoothly.

After breaking out of the shell and rapidly growing using the nutrition provided by his siblings from the same nest, he wasted not a single second, heading towards the nearest direction of the adventurer perceived within his senses.

Very fortunately, the beast the opponent possessed was just a weak sand rat at the bottom of the desert food chain.

Even though not yet fully grown, as a Gravel Scale Lizard with a challenge level of Level 2 upon maturity, it could easily obliterate them without the slightest effort, thanks to its physical strength and a bit of ability to manipulate sand.