9: Where did that bastard go?

[Leader: Shagu Devouring Hounds]

[Grade: B-Grade]

[Attributes: Strength: 35, Agility: 32, Physique: 40, Spirit: 37, Intelligence: 9]

[Traits: Devour, Bloodline Suppression, Shagu Charge, Taotie Bite, Demonic Aura Domain...]

A stream of golden data surfaced in Lin Ye's consciousness, concise yet blinding.

B-Grade!

Based solely on the attributes of this single leader ferocious beast, its combat power was enough to crush all the familiars of the vast majority of third-year high school freshmen.

Lin Ye's consciousness hovered above the firmament, overlooking the dense army of ferocious beasts submissively kneeling below, and a very faint arc finally curled upon his cold lips.

One year.

Other people's familiars were still cautiously being fed and growing slowly.

As for him, he had already raised a true army of ferocious beasts imbued with demonic aura.

"Not enough, this is still not enough..."

Lin Ye murmured softly, cold glimmers surging in the depths of his eyes, showing not a shred of satisfaction.

One hundred and one devouring hounds and one B-grade leader might seem to have taken initial shape, but placed in a game among true geniuses, it was still far from enough.

Xiao Qingwu was born possessing fifty SS-grade Ice Luan, and Ye Feng held eighty A-grade Thunderstorm Berserk Rhino in his hands; those were high-tier combat forces bestowed by birth.

His ferocious beasts had crawled out of muddy bones through sheer force.

Wanting to completely crush these favored sons of heaven, and thinking of Ye Feng's vicious gaze, the current army was still far, far away.

At this moment, deep inside the Ye family villa in Cangnan City.

Inside the gloomy room, the curtains were tightly drawn, and the light was dim.

Ye Feng pinched a card suffused with dark red ominous patterns between his fingertips. The card was entwined with violent invading spiritual energy, exuding the eerie aura of illegal contraband.

The butler in front of him bowed his head respectfully, saying, "Young Master, the highest-specification contraband on the black market—the Divine Kingdom Forcible Link Card, has been obtained. The cooldown has ended, and it can be activated tonight."

Ye Feng rubbed the card with his fingertips, a distorted and vicious smile curling on his face while the killing intent in the depths of his eyes boiled.

"Lin Ye."

"I left you one night of breathing time to barely survive."

"Tonight, I will personally crush your Divine Kingdom and cripple your divine rank."

"I want to see what you have left to act so aloof in front of me without a Divine Kingdom or familiars."

Slowly withdrawing his consciousness from the Divine Kingdom, Lin Ye opened his eyes, the coldness condensed from demonic aura lingering in the depths of his pupils.

He pushed open the iron door of the training room, and outside was still the dim and dilapidated grocery store.

"Settle the Shagu crystals."

Lin Ye raised his hand, placing ten chilling D-grade Shagu crystals neatly on the counter. The pitch-black crystals emitted a faint demonic aura under the dim light.

The old man glanced at the crystals, casually swept them across the testing instrument, confirmed that the quality was correct, and directly cleared out the one million loan without leaving a single cent of debt.

"Paid off." The old man put away the crystals and looked at him indifferently. "I'll say it again, turn back early. The wasteland can never raise a true dragon; no matter how persistent you are, you will end up with nothing in the end."

Lin Ye did not answer.

Others could not understand the Taotie bloodline or the ancestral beast divine authority, so there was no use saying more.

He pocketed his remaining eighty-four thousand credit points, walked out of the grocery store, and stood in the damp and cold black market alleyway.

The damp wind mixed with the smell of blood rushed into his face. Lin Ye lowered his eyes to look at his phone balance and calculated calmly.

The reproduction speed of the tribe was already maximized now, but the biggest shortcoming had surfaced—a scarcity of high-tier resources.

In this Source Realm, credit points seemed universal, but in reality, they were pitifully cheap.

Ordinary supplies, low-level monsters, and mortal consumables could be purchased with credit points.

But wanting to purify the ferocious beast bloodlines, unlock high-tier evolutionary routes, and solidify the Divine Kingdom rules required faith and divine grace materials.

(Note: Ten thousand points of faith = a wisp of faith, a wisp of faith = a drop of faith, and the same conversion rate applies afterward.)

These hard currencies might not necessarily be bought even with money.

He urgently needed a sum of high-tier resources to help the Shagu Devouring Hounds break through their bottleneck and evolve toward A-grade, while simultaneously applying bloodline purification buffs to the tribe in batches.

He would not trust ordinary people, nor would he borrow from them.

In this cold and unfamiliar city, apart from his deceased parents, there was only one person he could open his mouth to ask for help without any defense.

Wang Hu.

Childhood friend, same age different classes, growing up together through thick and thin since they were little.

The other party's father was the original host's father's life-and-death comrade-in-arms. The two of them did not know how many times they had saved each other's lives. When Lin Ye's father entered the Different World for exploration last time, Wang Hu's father Wang Guo did not go because he was injured. Now he survived in the world, a down-to-earth true god powerhouse.

With a prominent family background and a wealthy family fortune, several billion credit points were nothing more than running pocket change to his family.

In this world, the offspring of a true god was inherently a walking privilege card.

Wang Hu's personality was straightforward and hot-tempered, valuing relationships and righteousness, while also carrying a somewhat unpolished and comical nature.

Ever since the day the original host's parents died in battle, this seemingly carefree brawny man had always silently taken care of the reclusive and cold Lin Ye.

Across his past and present lives, Lin Ye's personality was cold and unyielding. He never owed favors, nor had he ever proactively asked Wang Hu to borrow anything.

Even during the most difficult times when he couldn't afford nutrient paste, he clenched his teeth and stubbornly carried on.

But this time, he had no choice.

Ye Feng's malice was like a sharp blade hanging overhead, which could fall at any time.

He must push the ferocious beast army to the point of crushing peers within the shortest possible time.

Sliding his fingertips across the contacts list, that pinned number nicknamed [Silly Tiger] was clear and eye-catching.

Lin Ye did not hesitate, pressing the dial button.

Beep—beep—

The call was connected in almost a second, and a rough, irritable, and anxious loud voice instantly burst out from the receiver.

"Lin Ye! Where the f*ck did you die?!"

Wang Hu's roar had extremely strong penetrating power, numbing eardrums even across the receiver. His tone was both angry and anxious, mixed with unhideable lingering fear, "You disappeared directly after Awakening Day, not answering calls or replying to messages. Do you want to scare me to death?"

"Isn't it just a lousy F-minus rating? What a big deal! I can afford to raise you!"

"I fu*king sent you seventy-eight messages and made twenty-three calls, and you stubbornly didn't reply to a single one! Did you think you were wasted and plan to hide and shut yourself in?"

Straightforward, rude, without any embellishment, yet hiding the most burning sincerity.

A gentle breeze swept through the alleyway, and Lin Ye's cold, stiff profile softened imperceptibly for a fraction of a second.

The whole world regarded him as a useless god, as a joke.

Everyone was pitying him, looking down on him, and mocking him.

Only this Silly Tiger never cared about any ratings or talents.

He only cared about whether he was living well.

"I'm fine." Lin Ye's voice was somewhat light, shedding the bone-chilling coldness he showed to outsiders and gaining a rare trace of gentleness, "Something came up and I forgot in the busywork."

"Fine? You disappeared for three whole days and you're fine?"

A clatter came from the other end of the phone, sounding like Wang Hu slapping his own forehead. His tone remained irritable, but slowed down a bit, "I'm telling you Lin Ye, don't split hairs on me! So what if it's F-minus?"

"My dad is a true god, and our family fortune is deep! Even if you don't awaken a divine rank in this lifetime, I can support you for the rest of your life! If anyone dares to laugh at you, I'll personally bring people to block their school gate!"

Comical yet domineering and straightforward words, simple and crude, yet incomparably heartwarming.