The Shadow Wolf King stood at the spot where Chen De had previously killed the Spirit Leap Hound.
Now, in this place, besides him, all other demon beasts were prostrate on the ground.
Just a moment ago, they were happily gnawing on the Spirit Leap Hound's corpse.
For many of these demon beasts, it was their first time eating demon beast meat of this caliber.
But just as they were enthusiastically devouring the Spirit Leap Hound,
the Shadow Wolf King returned and caught them red-handed.
These demon beasts were immediately scared and dared not eat anymore.
When the Shadow Wolf King returned and saw this scene,
he didn't make a move, nor did he fly into a rage.
He just stood there, calmly looking straight ahead, not saying a word.
Following the Shadow Wolf King's gaze, a corpse lay on the ground.
It was what remained of the Spirit Leap Hound that had been tasked with monitoring Chen De.
Once majestic in the Vortex Forest, it was now a tattered corpse sprawled on the ground.
Its fur was torn to shreds, all internal organs were gone, and its bones were mostly exposed.
Its eyes were wide open, with a hint of disbelief and confusion in its expression.
It likely didn't even know how it died.
Not far from it, there were two more severely damaged demon beast corpses.
They had terrifying death poses, as if they had suffered immense pain before dying.
After a while, the Shadow Wolf King turned his head and scanned the demon beasts in the area.
Feeling the Shadow Wolf King's gaze, the demon beasts all lowered their heads and trembled in fear.
The scene fell into a deathly silence.
At this moment, the Shadow Wolf King finally spoke,
"Who did it?"
He hadn't spoken, but once he did, his voice carried a terrifying pressure that bore down on the demon beasts.
The demon beasts in the area still dared not speak, and some even soiled themselves.
Seeing that no demon beast replied, a fierce glint flashed in the Shadow Wolf King's eyes, and the pressure of his Demon Origin Realm steadily intensified.
Under heavy rewards, there are bound to be brave men; under severe punishment, there are bound to be cowards.
Sometimes, it's not that the methods are ineffective, but that they aren't ruthless enough!
As the Shadow Wolf King increased the pressure again, a demon beast finally couldn't bear it and jumped out.
"I know!"
The Shadow Wolf King looked towards the source of the sound, only to see that it was a monkey-like demon beast, a Golden Shadow Monkey.
This Golden Shadow Monkey was a Demon Qi Realm triple-stage demon beast, considered upper-middle tier among the demon beasts.
Although not the highest tier, at lower realms,
the intelligence of monkey-type demon beasts was indeed much higher than other demon beasts.
The Shadow Wolf King gestured for him to continue, and the Golden Shadow Monkey immediately replied,
"Lord Wolf King, I did not personally see who killed Lord Spirit Leap Hound."
"Hmm?"
"Are you playing games with me?"
Seeing signs of the Shadow Wolf King's anger, the Golden Shadow Monkey immediately felt his life was in danger and quickly spoke again to add,
"However, Lord Wolf King, when we arrived here after smelling blood,
there was indeed only the corpse of Lord Spirit Leap Hound, and nothing else was present."
"But, there was a sky-blue rat that clearly seemed to have been ambushing.
It immediately launched a sneak attack, severing the Achilles tendons of the two strongest demon beasts among us, using extremely cruel methods."
"I also heard that recently, a demon beast has been relentlessly hunting demon beasts in the forest, always by sneak attack, with ruthless, lethal strikes that kill with one blow."
"This is extremely similar to the death of Lord Spirit Leap Hound, and putting all these factors together,
I can assure you, even if this matter wasn't done by that blue rat, it's definitely related to it."
After speaking, the Golden Shadow Monkey immediately knelt on the ground, stating that he had only lost control and been momentarily possessed because he hadn't eaten demon beast meat, especially such high-grade meat, for too long.
He begged Lord Wolf King to spare his life!
Other demon beasts followed suit, begging the Wolf King to spare their lives.
The Shadow Wolf King watched them silently for a while, until the demon beasts felt a chill in their hearts.
Seeing that the time was right, he closed his eyes, waved his paw, and said, "You may go."
The demon beasts, relieved, scattered and fled in all directions.
Any demon beast living in this territory, if the Shadow Wolf King wanted it dead, it would never see the sun of the next day.
Without the Shadow Wolf King's command, they dared not run.
"How dare someone touch my people!" the Shadow Wolf King muttered, his voice incredibly calm, betraying no emotion.
He didn't care about the Spirit Leap Hound's death; he had many subordinates like that.
But regarding this matter, he had to do something.
Because as the king of this territory, he absolutely could not tolerate such a provocative act.
Otherwise, if all demon beasts followed suit, how could he guard the north?
Moreover, he had a big event to attend to soon and absolutely could not leave such an unstable factor.
Previously, he had thought it was sent by the demon beasts guarding the other few areas to cause him trouble.
He had originally intended to drop a hint to the Silver Scale Rhino King, but in the end, for the sake of the big event, he didn't dare to speak.
Furthermore, the Shadow Wolf King also harbored thoughts of using the other party.
Now it seemed that such arrogance clearly wasn't from those few demon beasts; wasn't this just giving him an excuse?
This time, he intended to personally investigate.
Letting those demon beasts go was also preparation for the big event later.
Those demon beasts could die; the Shadow Wolf King didn't care, but they couldn't die by his, the Shadow Wolf King's, hand.
Moreover, if the culprit wasn't sent by the others,
then the identity of that demon beast made the Shadow Wolf King very curious.
"Who exactly could so easily deal with the Spirit Leap Hound? Could it be sent by humans?" the Shadow Wolf King pondered to himself, his steps growing more urgent.
Then he thought, 'That's impossible, they were just...'
The Shadow Wolf King ran forward while observing the surrounding environment and movements.
Suddenly, he felt a ripple of combat not far ahead.
From a distance, he could even see a sky-blue light flash by.
So the Shadow Wolf King accelerated, rushing towards that direction at an unimaginable speed for a Demon Qi Realm being.
His speed was so fast that he left afterimages!
...
"Run, you cripple, run!"
Chen De's two paws and hind legs were almost smoking as he sprinted forward.
But the red dot representing the Shadow Wolf King was getting closer and closer to him.
Chen De felt a sense of despair.
This time, he hadn't even thought of a sneak attack!
The difference was so vast that even if the other party stood still and let him hit, he wouldn't be able to do any damage.
Didn't they say that the Shadow Wolf King, the demon beast guarding the north, was only of the Demon Origin Realm?
How could this be?
Why hadn't Chen De been so anxious before? It was precisely because if it was only Demon Origin Realm,
Chen De could still contend with him using the system map.
But just now, Chen De heard the system notification and almost peed himself!
Demon Spirit Realm!
Oh my god!
The demon beast chasing him was a Demon Spirit Realm demon beast!
How was this possible?
Chen De knew very well what this meant; this was not a demon beast that should appear in such a place.
This was completely abnormal; there must be something going on!
Yes, no one knew.
Including the Silver Scale Rhino King, he didn't know, nor could he have imagined.
The Shadow Wolf King was actually able to break through to the Demon Spirit Realm in such a dangerous and resource-scarce place.
Moreover, the Silver Scale Rhino King would absolutely not allow any other clan besides the Mystic Rhinoceros clan among his subordinates to reach this level of demon beast.
This would directly threaten his rule!
It could be said that among all the demon beasts under the Silver Scale Rhino King,
all the other few demon beasts combined would not be a match for the Shadow Wolf King.
Therefore, when he learned that Chen De might not be sent by the others to cause trouble, he still maintained an indifferent attitude.
His previous thought of reporting to the Silver Scale Rhino King was merely to see if he could cause some trouble for the other few guarding demon beasts.
Soon, the Shadow Wolf King caught up with Chen De.
Seeing the Shadow Wolf King gradually approaching him, Chen De immediately released his ultimate skill, the Heavenly Light Aurora Mark.
Luminous sky-blue runes appeared on the Shadow Wolf King's body.
But they glowed and faded quickly; the Shadow Wolf King was only slowed for a fleeting moment.
This brief moment was not something Chen De could capitalize on.
In just an instant, Chen De was captured by the Shadow Wolf King.
Chen De struggled with all his might, but couldn't break free.
The Shadow Wolf King looked at Chen De, who was struggling in his grasp, but didn't kill him directly.
Instead, he tried to persuade Chen De to surrender, saying, "If you are willing to become my subordinate, I can spare your life."
Just a moment ago, the Shadow Wolf King had intended to directly kill Chen De.
But it was Chen De's skill that piqued his interest; it could even slow him, a being of his level, for an instant.
What about other realms?
Would the effect be even better?
Considering the big event coming soon, trading a Spirit Leap Hound for a more useful Chen De might be very worthwhile.
Chen De had already decided to sacrifice himself for righteousness, but suddenly hearing such good news, he agreed on the spot.
How could he not agree to such a thing? And Chen De was so moral.
Agree, must agree, emphatically agree!
After the Shadow Wolf King put Chen De down, Chen De didn't stand; he knelt first.
He bowed his head in submission and uttered a long string of words expressing his loyalty.
"I have admired Lord Wolf King for a long time, and today I finally get to meet you and be taken in as your subordinate. It is truly a blessing of three lifetimes; my admiration for you is like a surging river..."
In short, two words!
Loyalty!
Lord Wolf King spared his life today!
Lord Wolf King's kindness was endless!
Seeing that the atmosphere was sufficiently built up, Chen De gritted his teeth, deciding to go all out and deepen their bond.
This was all something he should endure for his future ability to benefit the world.
As the saying goes, a great man is not constrained by trifles!
Just a bit of hardship!
So he clasped his hands and said sincerely,
"I actually admire you endlessly, Lord Wolf King. Killing those demon beasts was just to get your attention as quickly as possible. I hope one day I can serve you, Lord Wolf King!"
Then he knelt on the ground and continued,
"I have drifted for half my life, only regretting not meeting a wise lord. If Lord Wolf King does not abandon me, I am willing to become your adopted son."
After speaking, he prostrated himself, bowing deeply!