Starting with SSS-rank talent, I contracted the Forbidden Ferocity.

When the first mutated black stone wolf pounced, Shen Ye did not retreat.

Instead, he charged forward.

There were too many wolves.

Staying put and defending will only lead to being surrounded and killed.

We must first tear open a hole.

"Netherfire".

The Netherfire Raven soared into the sky, and a ball of dark flame crashed down.

The three black stone wolves at the forefront were engulfed in flames, their fur not charred, but the red light in their eyes dimmed instantly.

Their souls were burned by the ghost fire, and their movements immediately slowed down.

Shen Ye passed between the three wolves.

A series of short sword slashes.

A single cut to the throat.

A stab to the eye.

One scalpel pierces the skull.

Three black stone wolves fell to the ground.

[Gained Evolution Points: 20.]

[Gained Evolution Points: 20.]

[Gained Evolution Points: 20.]

System notifications kept ringing.

Shen Ye didn't pay attention to it.

Using the wolf carcasses as cover from the attacks from behind, he quickly turned towards the dense area of ​​black stone pillars.

The open space was disadvantageous to him.

The stone pillar area is the best place to counterattack.

The wolf pack caught up.

They have been polluted and have lost the instincts of ordinary ferocious beasts to seek advantage and avoid harm.

Even when their own kind perished tragically, they did not pause for a moment.

A black stone wolf pounced from the side.

Shen Ye ducked to avoid the attack, but three bloody scratches appeared on his shoulder from the wolf's claws.

The pain made his eyes even colder.

He stabbed the wolf in the belly with a backhand motion, and the ghost fire surged into it along the blade.

The black stone wolf convulsed and collapsed to the ground.

The Fire Ravens darted through the air.

A surprise attack from the shadows.

Netherfire.

Soul burning.

With each strike, a Black Stone Wolf falls.

But there were too many wolves.

Soon, Shen Ye had several more wounds on his body.

His vital energy is being depleted.

Mental energy is also being depleted.

But his gaze remained steady.

He wasn't killing indiscriminately.

He's calculating.

Calculate the attack intervals of the wolf pack.

Calculate the angle of obstruction by the black stone pillars.

Calculate the gaps after each of the Darkfire Raven's skills.

More importantly, he was waiting for the wolf king to make a move.

As long as the wolf king lives, the wolf pack will not disperse.

"Aww!"

Deep within the black fog, the wolf king finally moved.

Its speed far exceeds that of a regular Black Stone Wolf.

The three-meter-tall body crashed down like a black boulder, snapping two stone pillars in its path.

Shen Ye's pupils contracted slightly.

This attack cannot be taken head-on.

He flipped over a wolf carcass and narrowly avoided it.

The wolf king's giant claws slammed down.

boom!

The ground cracked.

Shards of stone flew up and hit Shen Ye's face, leaving a bloody mark.

The Netherfire Raven swooped down from mid-air.

"Soul burning."

The ghostly light fell into the wolf king's eyes.

The wolf king paused, but only for less than half a second.

A large amount of black mist surged from the crack on its forehead, which actually managed to counteract the burning of its soul.

Shen Ye's eyes narrowed.

The forces of pollution are protecting its soul.

Let's break through the core of the pollution first.

"Attack the crack in its forehead."

The Netherfire Raven let out a low cry, its figure turning into a black shadow.

The wolf king seemed to sense the danger and suddenly raised its paw to strike the Netherfire Raven.

Shen Ye grabbed a broken crossbow bolt from the ground, infused it with his blood and qi, and hurled it.

The crossbow bolt pierced the wolf king's left eye.

The wolf king was in pain, and its attack missed by an inch.

The Darkfire Raven seized the opportunity and viciously tore at the wolf king's forehead with its sharp claws.

Stab it!

The crack on his forehead was torn open.

Black mist surged forth wildly.

The wolf king roared to the sky, and the surrounding wolf pack became even more ferocious.

Shen Ye's eardrums were stinging from the sound waves.

But he smiled.

The crack has appeared.

Weaknesses exposed.

"Pour in all the hellfire."

The Netherfire Raven spread its wings, and a line of dark flame condensed, precisely striking the crack on the wolf king's forehead.

Zizizi!

The black mist and the ghostly fire collided violently.

The wolf king writhed in agony, its massive body crashing through several stone pillars.

Shen Ye seized the opportunity to rush forward.

He leaped up from a raised black rock, gripped his knife in both hands, and fell from mid-air.

The dagger pierced the crack.

"die!"

Netherfire erupted from his palm.

The Netherfire shared by Shen Ye, along with the flames of the Netherfire Crow, surged into the Wolf King's head simultaneously.

boom!

The wolf king's body suddenly stiffened.

The next second, the crimson light in its eyes went out inch by inch.

The massive body crashed to the ground.

[Slay the mutated Blackrock Wolf King.]

[Gained Evolution Points: 300.]

[Extract Talent Shard: Shadow Affinity Shard 1.]

[Obtained Special Material: Contaminated Core Fragment.]

With the wolf king dead, the remaining wolf pack finally descended into chaos.

The corrupted beasts remained ferocious, but without a wolf king to lead them, they began to charge at each other.

Shen Ye did not let the opportunity slip by.

"Clear the area."

The Darkfire Raven took flight.

Dark flames flickered continuously within the black mist.

After half an hour.

The last Black Stone Wolf fell at Lin Jin's feet.

The foggy area quieted down again.

Shen Ye sat down against the stone pillar, his chest heaving violently.

His combat uniform was tattered, and he was bleeding from multiple places on his body.

But his eyes were very bright.

In this battle, he killed thirty-seven mutated black stone wolves.

With the addition of the previously killed ferocious beasts, the first task of the system mission has been completed.

The watch points have also skyrocketed.

Current points: 1680

Current ranking: 1

Zhao Mingxuan, who was originally ranked first, has disappeared from the list.

Outside the secret territory.

North Gate Square.

The moment the leaderboard was refreshed, everyone was stunned.

"The first one has changed!"

"Shen Ye, 1680 points?"

"How is that possible? Didn't he only have a little over four hundred just now?"

"Where's Zhao Mingxuan? Why is Zhao Mingxuan's name gone?"

Zhou Xuan's expression changed drastically when he saw the list.

In the secret realm, there are only two possibilities for a name to disappear.

Voluntarily withdraw.

Or die.

However, Zhao Mingxuan has no record of quitting.

Zhou Xuan immediately looked toward the entrance to the Black Stone Secret Realm.

"Something's happened in the Black Fog Zone."

The city lord's official frowned: "Vice President Zhou, the Black Stone Secret Realm has not yet closed. Forcibly interfering will affect the fairness of the assessment."

Zhou Xuan gave him a cold look.

"Is the assessment fair?"

"If an SSS-level genius dies inside, how will you explain it to the provincial government?"

The official's face stiffened.

Zhou Xuan ignored him and immediately gave the order.

"Prepare the rescue team."

"Those of rank two and above, follow me into the secret realm."

Within the secret realm.

Shen Ye rested for ten minutes.

He took out the healing medicine, treated the wound simply, and then put away all the beast cores and materials.

On the system panel, the evolution points have surged to over 1,300.

【Netherfire Raven】

[Level: Late Stage 1]

[Potential: S-rank]

Evolution Points: 0/1000

Bloodline Awakening Level: 3.8%

When the area was cleared just now, the Netherfire Raven had already reached the late stage of Tier 1.

Shen Ye himself was also benefited.

Qi and blood levels reached 3.9.

His mental strength surged to 26.

A typical late-stage Tier 1 martial artist usually has between 3 and 4 health points.

Shen Ye had only been awakened for three days when he caught up with them.

He also has the ability to share beast-taming skills.

Invincible among its peers, this is not just a slogan.

Is the truth.

Shen Ye stood up and looked at the wolf king's corpse.

There was a black crystal the size of a fingernail in the crack on its forehead.

This is the core fragment of the contamination.

When Shen Ye took it out, the surrounding black mist noticeably thinned out.

A system notification sounded.

[One of the sources of the anomaly in Blackrock Ridge has been detected.]

[Contamination Core Fragment: 1/3]

[Continue collecting data; this will help locate the core anomaly within the secret realm.]

That's not all.

Shen Ye's eyes darkened slightly.

The changes in the Blackrock Secret Realm were more serious than Zhou Xuan knew.

Just then, the communication jade pendant in his arms suddenly vibrated.

It's not his.

It was the one that was found on Zhao Mingxuan.

Shen Ye took out the jade pendant.

A middle-aged man's voice, suppressing his anger, came from inside.

"Mingxuan, is everything done?"

We can't get in touch with Zhao Sen either.

Answer me.

Shen Ye was silent for a moment, then spoke:

He couldn't answer.

The other end of the jade pendant fell silent instantly.

A few seconds later, the voice turned cold.

"Who are you?"

Shen Ye said calmly:

"Shen Ye."

The breathing at the other end of the jade pendant became noticeably heavier.

"Shen Ye, what did you do to Mingxuan?"

Shen Ye glanced at the corpse not far away.

"Kill him."

boom!

The sound of tables and chairs shattering came from the other end of the jade plaque.

"You're asking for it!"

Shen Ye's tone was flat.

"He sent people to kill me first."

"I'll keep the evidence."

"If the Zhao family wants revenge, then let them come."

The middle-aged man laughed in anger.

"Okay, okay, okay!"

"An orphan with no connections, do you really think that just because you've awakened an SSS-level talent, no one will dare to mess with you?"

"You wait."

"I'll show you that when a genius dies young, they're no different from an ordinary person."

Shen Ye crushed the jade tablet directly.

The threat is enough.

There's no need to waste time.

The next moment, a system notification sounded.

[Main Quest Item 2 Completed: First Place in Dungeon Points.]

[Main Quest Progress 3: Investigation into the Source of the Anomaly]

[Stage rewards distributed.]

[The second contract slot is available ahead of schedule.]

Shen Ye's eyes lit up.

Second contract position.

Normally, a beast tamer needs to reach the second rank to reliably handle a second beast.

And now, he's starting ahead of schedule.

This means his combat power is about to surge again.

Just then, a faint friction sound came from deeper within the black fog.

Unlike wolves.

It doesn't resemble an ordinary ferocious beast either.

The Darkfire Raven instantly became alert, its feathers ruffling slightly.

Shen Ye looked up.

From the depths of the black mist, a pair of cold, vertical pupils slowly opened.

The system panel flickered.

[A contractable target detected.]

Shadow Bone Serpent

[Level: Peak Tier 1]

[Potential: Grade A]

[Status: Severely damaged, corroded by pollution, on the verge of spiraling out of control]

[Hidden Information: After consuming the fragments of the polluted core, a mutation occurred, and a trace of the Netherworld Dragon-Serpent bloodline remains within its body.]

[Can unlock the Mythical-level Evolution Branch: Nine Nether Candle Dragon.]

Shen Ye looked at those vertical pupils, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up.

The second beast.

coming.