Strangely enough, the giant wolf's focus was on Dahei, as if it had never paid Zhao Hao any attention from start to finish.
Zhao Hao was happy to go along with this. Taking advantage of the two beasts going head-to-head, he found an opening and slashed his blade across the giant wolf's lower back.
Based on the knowledge he'd picked up from reading novels, wolves had iron heads, steel tails, and tofu waists—this swing was bound to work wonders.
Clang！
A sharp sound like hitting an iron plate rang out. Zhao Hao's tiger mouth stung from the impact, and the machete almost flew out of his hand.
The sturdy 18-inch chopper now had a gash in it.
And on the giant wolf's back, only a faint scratch appeared—clearly just a flesh wound.
A thousand alpacas stampeded through Zhao Hao's mind. None of the tricks from the novels were working！
“Awoo！”
Furious from the pain, the giant wolf spun around and lunged at Zhao Hao.
At that moment, Zhao Hao activated his hidden talent.
Few people know that Zhao Ritian, as a swingman, is best at playing the 1 position, which is the point guard, also known as the playmaker. An excellent point guard often possesses outstanding court vision, able to see all four directions and hear all eight sides in the heat of the game, making the right judgment at critical moments to turn the tide and defeat the enemy.
At the critical moment, Zhao Hao faked a move to shake off the opponent, and the Eighteen Chop fiercely stabbed into the injured hind leg of the giant wolf.
"Awooo... woo woo！"
The giant wolf let out a heart-wrenching scream, its body suddenly halting, twitching and trembling uncontrollably.
Da Hei seized the chance, bit down on the giant wolf's neck, and forcibly flipped the silver wolf onto the ground.
Zhao Hao didn't idle either, putting all his strength into plunging his knife into the giant wolf's soft belly.
He gave it a vicious twist, then whipped out the blade, turned around, and ran.
As it turned out, his reaction in that instant was incredibly wise.
“Roar！”
The giant wolf's howl turned into a bloodthirsty, savage roar, and a surge of mystical power exploded from its body, sending Da Hei, who had been biting its neck, flying backwards.
The enraged giant wolf glared at Zhao Hao, who had retreated over ten meters away, and recklessly chased after him.
Blood gushed from its abdomen like a stream; after running just seven or eight meters, even its intestines spilled out — a gruesome sight.
Da Hei pounced again, seized one of the intestines dragging on the ground, and pulled hard backward.
In the blink of an eye, that wolf intestine was yanked out five meters long, and finally snapped with a crack.
The giant wolf writhed on the ground in heart-wrenching agony, rolling nonstop.
Nearby, sand and stones flew everywhere. The ground by the spring was gouged into a large pit by the wolf's thrashing, and the seeping spring water was stained a glaring blood-red.
The giant wolf's death throes carried terrifying lethal force, and Da Hei was sent flying by one swipe of its claw.
“Da Hei, stop！”
Zhao Hao had been watching from a distance and shouted to call off Da Hei, who was about to attack the giant wolf again.
Hearing his master's command, Da Hei crouched a few meters away, ready to lunge again at any moment.
The giant wolf howled miserably for nearly half an hour, its voice gradually weakening, and the blood from its abdomen slowly dried up.
Only then did Zhao Hao run over and land a few vicious finishing blows.
The moment the giant wolf breathed its last, an incredible scene unfolded.
A translucent thing drifted out of the wolf's head, hovering eerily in midair.
That translucent object looked like a thin booklet, with a strange-shaped battle blade depicted on its cover.
A sudden inspiration struck Zhao Hao; he reached out and grabbed it, and the translucent little book immediately burrowed into his palm.
Then, he miraculously gained an inner vision ability, discovering a small book floating in his sea of consciousness. The book emitted an endless killing intent, exactly like the savage murderous aura of the silver giant wolf. The moment Zhao Hao's consciousness touched the small book, he felt a shudder in his soul.
"Obtained Evolution Battle Technique. Do you want to fuse？"
"Yes！"
The moment Zhao Hao made his decision, the small book in his sea of consciousness dissolved, turning into countless specks of light that merged into his body.
"Successfully fused Battle Technique <Crazy Blade Art>！"
"Crazy Blade Art: E-rank Battle Technique, can evolve. Current evolution energy: 0/100."
Zhao Hao entered a mysterious state, swinging his 18-inch chopper, naturally executing a set of blade techniques.
The blade techniques were fierce and domineering, each move exquisite, unleashing an overwhelming fighting spirit.
At that moment, if an outsider were watching, no one would think Zhao Hao was a rookie who didn't know martial arts. Anyone seeing this would believe he was a master of bladesmanship. The blade techniques he displayed actually gave off the vibe of Hu Yidao and Fu Hongxue from martial arts movies.
Once, twice, three times... With continuous practice, Zhao Hao's blade technique became increasingly proficient.
Da Hei retreated over thirty meters away, curled up on the ground, staring in terror at Zhao Hao with his violent aura.
After finishing the third round of practice, Zhao Hao snapped out of that mysterious state.
"Killing wild beasts drops battle techniques？"
"This... kind of feels like getting skill books in an online game？"
Zhao Hao murmured to himself, a strange expression on his face.
He was full of deep questions about this mysterious evolving world.
Composing himself, he dragged the giant wolf's corpse out of the leaking pit.
With tremendous effort, Zhao Hao dug a silver-white crystal the size of an egg out of the wolf's head.
“A crystal this big, must be pretty badass, huh？”
Zhao Hao was overjoyed. Just as he was about to put away the giant wolf crystal, Da Hei trotted over all excited.
Da Hei kept rubbing against Zhao Hao's pant leg, wagging his tail and wiggling his butt in a flattering way, his eyes fixed dead on the crystal in Zhao Hao's hand.
From Da Hei's increasingly human-like eyes, Zhao Hao saw an intense craving.
“You want this？” Zhao Hao asked.
“Whimper...” Da Hei quickly nodded, letting out a whimpering, cute-begging sound.
“Take it.”
Hearing Zhao Hao's voice, Da Hei gulped down the silver-white crystal in one bite.
Bam！
With a dull thud, Da Hei collapsed to the ground, as if knocked unconscious.
Zhao Hao was startled. Instinctively, he reached out to check on Da Hei.
Bam！
Another muffled bang, and Zhao Hao was blasted away by an invisible force, landing in a grimacing heap.
From Da Hei, he sensed a violent, ferocious aura, very similar to the giant wolf's.
“Could this be how animals evolve？”
Zhao Hao recalled what Bi Dejin's diary said—that beasts devouring other beasts could gain power.
Judging by what was happening, Da Hei seemed to be refining the giant wolf's crystal.
But an animal's refining method was different from a human's—more like a form of 'digestion.'
Sensing that Da Hei's breathing was normal, Zhao Hao felt relieved and began dealing with the silver wolf's corpse.
The crackers and canned food in his hiking bag would last at most half a month. Zhao Hao had long thought about stockpiling food. He decided to save the long-shelf-life dry rations for emergencies and just grill wild beast meat to fill his stomach on a daily basis.
The dead giant wolf's body had weakened significantly. Zhao Hao performed his first-ever animal dissection.
He imitated the scene from the movies, used branches to make a simple grill, gathered some dry branches nearby to start a fire, took out seasonings like salt and chicken bouillon from the iron box, and started his first BBQ in the evolutionary world.