The next morning, they awoke to a thunderous noise.

Huai Shi alertly got up from the ground and looked towards the cave entrance, only to see a gray sky and lightning coursing across the Sky Dome.

Soon, along with the howling gale, a barrage of raindrops the size of beans fell from the Sky Dome. They shattered on the ground, making a series of deep, rumbling sounds.

In an instant, the downpour became a deluge.

The river's water level surged dramatically, and the murky currents carried a massive amount of mud washing down from the mountain, forming new tributaries on the ground. Had the cave not been situated on higher ground, would it perhaps have been filled with mud?

In the earth-shattering roar, beyond the distant mountains, countless streaks of lightning slashed down, as if to rend the world outside this shelter into pieces.

The whole world seemed to have turned savage.

"Which fellow Daoist is transcending a tribulation here?"

Huai Shi instinctively wanted to shout, but then Fu Yi kicked him on the head. He immediately realized: How could they hunt an Elite Monster in this ghastly weather?

"Need a rest?" he asked.

"We agreed to pioneer through this together, rain or shine, no hesitations, let's go!"

Fu Yi lifted her little paw, pointing ahead, full of high spirits.

Huai Shi thought for a moment. With great effort, his dog face squeezed out a serious expression. "This isn't a game."

"I know," Fu Yi nodded.

"When necessary, make sure you get out quickly, got it?" Huai Shi added a word of caution. "Don't worry about me; I'm a Sublimator, much tougher than you are."

"Got it, don't worry," Fu Yi assured. "I'm decked out in divine gear; what's there to fear?"

"Alright… shall we go then?"

"Let's go!"

Thus, in the face of the violent storm, the big dog and the little hedgehog set off.

「Two hours later」

"HACK... PTUI!!!"

Huai Shi struggled to poke his head out of the mud, spitting out the dirty water from his mouth, and looked around in a daze. "Fu Yi, Fu Yi, where are you?"

"Right here."

The little hedgehog sat atop a rotten log, rowing over as if in a boat. "Just ahead, I can already see it on the map…"

"I can see it too…"

In the midst of the storm's fury, Huai Shi gazed despairingly at the rolling, murky current in the distance. A river had suddenly formed, cutting off their path. In the muddy waters, huge logs and rocks of various sizes bobbed, rushing downstream.

Forget about wading through. If he fell in and managed to crawl back out, he might as well be renamed 'Dogfish.'

"Don't move recklessly."

Huai Shi paddled vigorously and turned back to instruct Fu Yi. Then, he stretched his neck, opened his mouth wide, and gripped her between his teeth, baring his own in pain from her quills.

This time it really was a dog biting a hedgehog.

"It stinks! Why don't you brush your teeth?" Fu Yi lay between his teeth, curiously tugging at his lips. Her small paws pulled a couple of times, causing Huai Shi to grimace in even more pain.

"Don't move around."

He shook his head and tried hard to paddle, climbing onto a mudflat. From there, he surveyed the nearby shallow water and the brutal river farther off.

About two hundred meters. Not bad, not bad.

He took a deep breath, and steam snorted from his canine nostrils. He crouched down, his four paws stomping the mud below as he limbered up.

"What are you planning to do?" Fu Yi blinked in surprise.

"What else?"

Huai Shi lowered his head, readying himself in a coiled stance as the muscles on his hind legs twitched madly. His body temperature soared, stirring up the rainwater and turning it into a faint mist.

"Of course, it's—to CHARGE—!" He never finished the shout. As the sound of "CHA—" ripped through the air, the Husky's figure on the mudflat blurred, the concluding "—RGE!" already left far behind him.

In the blink of an eye, his legs stamped into the mud, causing a spray of muddy water amidst the loud noise. The mud flew up, spattering in the air, mingling with the falling rain.

And the Giant Wolf had already dashed forward.

Roaring Outburst!

—Yu Step! Amidst the profound roar of the surging murky stream and pouring rain, a sudden sound of metal friction emerged. Huai Shi ran on the water's surface, rushing forward.

His paw pads struck the water as if they were hammering on stone, resounding with a bang.

Under this incredible burst of power, the water seemed to crack open with fleeting gaps, as if marble were shattering under the pounding of an Iron Hammer. Then, amidst the roaring, it roused layers upon layers of ripples.

The Giant Wolf broke through the rain and soared through the air. He continuously used the bobbing trees, rocks, and even other animals as stepping stones, trampling them deeper into the flood as he dashed forward.

It was as if he were soaring in the rain.

In an instant, he crossed the distance of more than two hundred meters. He flung Fu Yi ahead and then, unable to control his momentum, took a rough tumble.

By the time Huai Shi managed to pull his head out of the mud, he lay exhausted in the mire.

He had to rely on Fu Yi to poke his nostrils open with a branch; otherwise, he would have suffocated in the mud.

"Next time, don't ever ask me to pioneer again…"

He breathed wearily.

After reaching Level Five evolution, his physical abilities had completely surpassed those of the animals in the Current Circumstances, stepping into the realm of exotic beasts. Despite that, he still felt incredibly drained.

If the river were any wider, he wouldn't have been able to make it across.

Now all four of his limbs ached faintly. If he had to do that again, he'd probably be committing suicide by throwing himself into the river.

Fortunately, they were no longer far from the location of the wolf pack, sparing him another arduous journey.

While Huai Shi lay sprawled on the ground, panting and resting, Fu Yi volunteered to dive into the storm to conduct an Investigation.

After about ten minutes, Fu Yi hurried back, jumping in front of Huai Shi. "It seems we are too late."

"What?" Huai Shi stared, dumbfounded. "What do you mean 'too late'?"

"Someone else started the fight," Fu Yi said. "They had the same idea as us."

From afar, amidst the rumbles of thunder, Huai Shi heard a massive Thunderbolt crash.

"—MOO!!!"

A chilling sensation shot up to the sky!

A series of fine vibrations came from a distance, causing the mud beneath Huai Shi's feet to tremble. Huai Shi instinctively wanted to tuck his tail and run. If Fu Yi hadn't pricked him, he almost wouldn't have realized what he was doing.

Instinct.

He—no, the instinct of the beast he had become—was being suppressed. It sensed the imminent danger, realized the fearsome enemy ahead, and subconsciously wanted to flee.

"Why aren't you affected at all?" he asked Fu Yi, looking dazed.

"Affected by what?"

Fu Yi tilted her head in confusion. "My ears are just a bit sore from the roar, but you've been zoning out this whole time. Is a dog's hearing really that good?"

Whatever it was, it definitely had nothing to do with hearing.

Huai Shi looked at the faint, barely visible protective shield surrounding Fu Yi and couldn't help feeling a pang of bitter envy. A GM account is really something; even the shield is smart and can be activated at any time...

As he, carrying Fu Yi, finally approached the direction of the roaring, they peered out from the towering, rain-drenched grass that now resembled a paddy field. Huai Shi felt waves of bone-chilling coldness, and then he saw the bull, dyed red with blood.

A gigantic bull.

It seemed cast from black iron. When its hooves stamped the ground, they set off a deep, drum-like Roaring Outburst. Even more shocking, the accumulated rainwater and mud under its trampling spread apart to reveal layers of ghastly frost, frozen solid.

The topographical impact of the torrential rain was completely negated; in fact, it had turned into a powerful enhancement for the bull. Just watching the creature, enveloped in temperatures like those of an icehouse, made Huai Shi click his tongue.

"Damn, everyone's showing off, whether they're human or ghost."

He looked at Fu Yi, his face a mask of confusion. "Am I the only one who's not a pay-to-win player?"

"Yes, that's right, it's just you. Keep it down; they've started fighting."

Fu Yi tugged Huai Shi's ear, signaling him to focus on the situation in the clearing. She whispered, "A Level Eight bull, and... the Elite Monster is already Level Seven."

"That quick!" Huai Shi's eyes widened in shock, but he soon realized why. With so many underlings, hunting efficiency must be soaring, like taking a flight. Anyway, as long as the underlings captured rabbits and pheasants and left them barely alive for him to land the killing blow, it was good enough.

A Level Seven wolf pack was entirely different from when they were at Level Five. Their numbers alone had already exceeded thirty—thirty bloodthirsty Gray Wolves, creatures rarely seen in the Current Circumstances. If a pack like this were in the Current Circumstances, the local forestry department would be scared enough to call the military in panic.

"Thirty-four, with seven already at Level Four, and the rest are Level Two or Level Three..." Fu Yi looked down at her plugin data. "In any case, added up, they're definitely not much worse off than that bull."

Far from it.

This wasn't one of those fantasy novels where being one level behind meant instant death. The gap in levels, aside from size and stamina, just meant a few extra evolution points.

At least for now, quality would certainly struggle to make up for the difference in numbers...

With another roar like thunder, the bull trampled the frozen ground beneath its feet and charged towards the wolf pack. Its bloodstained horns still held gruesome chunks of flesh. Just one charge pierced the wolves' formation.

Two unlucky wolves were kicked to death, and another, even more unfortunate, was impaled on the horns, obviously not long for this world.

After breaking the formation in a single rush, the Ice Frost Giant Bull violently shook its head, flinging the dying wolf from its horns, and then charged at the wolf pack once more.

Meanwhile, in the bushes, Huai Shi was already sneaking about stealthily.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

"Landing the killing blow, duh!" Huai Shi nudged Fu Yi onto his head and carefully moved toward one of the downed wolves. "Even a mosquito is meat, you know. A thief shouldn't leave empty-handed, right?"

The tall grass completely concealed his form. Under the cover of the pouring rain, even their scent was hard to detect.

After all, if Huai Shi's canine nose couldn't smell them, he figured the others wouldn't either—it wasn't like they had the Astronomical Society's official plugins. At this crucial stage of the battle, who would notice a couple of 'Voldemorts' hiding sneakily on the side?

With the aid of Fu Yi's Illusion Technique, they stealthily made their way nearby. Huai Shi lifted his paw, and as one claw popped out and pointed forward, Fu Yi, understanding perfectly, launched a spike.

It missed, veering off.

"COUGH, COUGH. Let me enable aim assist. Wait up for me, yeah..."

Fu Yi rummaged through her plugins. After a moment, she flicked again, and a spike, sharp as an arrow, silently flew out and penetrated the forehead of the unlucky wolf.

Experience points gained! Check!

"Ahead, ahead, there's another one!"

Once Fu Yi discovered the joy of landing killing blows, she became even more eager than a League of Legends player farming in Dota, her eyes gleaming. "A few more and I'll be Level Five too!"

"You got it!"

Huai Shi willingly complied.

Beyond the fierce struggle not far off, they began harvesting the fruits of others' labor in the shadows.

More thrilling than stealing vegetables!

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