Chapter 308: 307 Shell Coins and Tricks (Part 1)

Senior Tang Mu?!!!

Looking at the listless youth who had been heavily injured in an instant, Hearing Li Ang hurriedly reached out to support him, then aimed his strongest control skill at the mysterious woman of unknown origin—

"Bow to me!"

Accompanying Li Ang's shout, a large mass of resplendent cursed silver instantly split in two — half pounced toward the Plague-Tainted Blood Belt thrown on the ground, while the other half detonated midair, transforming into countless sharp thin cones that rained down toward the mysterious woman.

Although he didn't know her background, the fact that she could heavily wound Senior Tang Mu in an instant meant she was an opponent he couldn't handle. Right now, his only chance of turning things around was to first force her into a bow to control her, then seize the opportunity to pick up the Plague-Tainted Blood Belt and pull Senior Tang Mu back from the brink of death!

"Heh, what an interesting request."

The Royal Thrush Prince that Li Ang had pinned such high hopes on did not activate. The mysterious woman who had grievously wounded Senior Tang Mu in an instant let out a laugh, then raised her palm and waved it. The two masses of cursed silver, each with its own purpose, vanished in an instant, transforming into several oddly polished shells in Li Ang's hand.

Name: Ambla Sacred Coin

Appearance: A petal-shaped shell polished by some crude method, with two small round holes pierced through the middle for threading with cord. The inner side bears Ambla script carved with a stone tool, meaning "a bundle of rice stalks."

Ability: True God Rank, Forced Transaction

Cost: Use requires the permission of the Goddess of Wealth and Trade, and upon completion of the transaction, ownership of this anomalous item will be lost.

Archive: The currency used by the primordial nation of Ambla, one of humanity's oldest coin types. It was completely abolished in the middle period of the Ambla Kingdom, and after being personally sanctified by the Goddess of Wealth and Trade, it became a special anomalous item of extremely high rank, often used by her to reward devout believers.

Evaluation: A special anomalous item capable of forming contracts with all targets below True God rank, forcibly achieving equivalent transactions. Although the ability is decent, it is a one-time-use item and requires a sufficient quantity to take effect, so it is not all that difficult to deal with.

But if the one using it is not a fanatical Chengjin Sect believer, but rather a woman with a delicate face, capable bearing, and short-to-medium hair who looks about thirty-six or thirty-seven years old… then you need to be careful.

Corruption Value: 35.2

"……"

This description… wait! Could it be?!!!

……

"My Goddess!"

The instant Li Ang's pupils contracted sharply, the "black-and-white earthworm" in the glass bottle had already prostrated itself on the ground, performing a kowtow with fervent yet reverent devotion.

"Truly useless!"

Glancing at the snake spirit upon hearing this, and after looking at its head still stained with two small clumps of dry chicken droppings, the mysterious woman said with three parts displeasure and seven parts disdain:

"At your level, if you'd stayed properly in the Dream Realm and not run around, even if you weren't that person's match, you wouldn't have lost this badly.

Yet you had to be clever, worrying you'd suffer at his hands, and the moment you sensed any movement you ran — only to be caught red-handed by the other party! If I hadn't arrived in time, you'd be keeping that stupid toad company!"

"My Goddess… I… am ashamed…"

"If you're ashamed, then properly remember this lesson, and stop playing your little tricks!"

After casually lecturing the snake spirit for a moment, the mysterious woman raised her head and looked toward Li Ang, whose expression had gone rigid. Her gaze lingered for an instant on the Holy Spirit Pendant at his chest, then she said with a half-smile:

"Leon Lane… I've wanted to meet you for a very long time. Did you know that?"

"……"

Glancing at the silent Li Ang, the mysterious woman — suspected to be the Goddess of Wealth and Trade — slightly restrained the smile on her face and said with an unfriendly look:

"After that stupid toad was killed by you, I went through great hardship to the Realm of Death to redeem part of its soul, wanting to use those soul fragments to reshape a Holy Spirit with the same authority.

Yet I discovered that the soul fragments it shed into the Realm of Death had lost their affinity with the authority of wealth — they no longer firmly believed that all things have a price, and were completely ruined… Tell me, how exactly did you accomplish this?"

"?"

"……"

That toad…

If his judgment was correct, the reason it had collapsed back then was because it discovered the existence of the "Badge System" — something that could not be measured by value — and so the very foundation of its authority simply crumbled.

Then… what about the Goddess of Wealth before him? Could she be the same as that toad?

Thinking of this, Li Ang, whose fists had unconsciously tightened, felt the muscles of his cheeks twitch slightly, then asked expressionlessly:

"If you want to know the reason, why don't you 'buy' it yourself? Your Chengjin Sect can even buy and sell lifespans — purchasing something like a 'secret' shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"Indeed, forcibly purchasing the secrets in another's heart is no difficult matter for me."

The capable woman with short-to-medium hair… the goddess nodded upon hearing this, then fixed her gaze intently on Li Ang's eyes and said with a strange expression:

"But my intuition tells me you seem to be looking forward to me doing exactly that… So may I make this assumption — if I forcibly 'purchased' this secret from you, my fate would very likely be the same as that stupid toad's?"

"It seems that really is the case… At the very least, that's what you should believe."

Looking at Li Ang, whose pupils had contracted slightly, the Goddess of Wealth said thoughtfully:

"To be honest, I'm truly uncertain now whether this bizarre notion of yours stems from the shallowness and arrogance born of ignorance, or whether you actually have some special trump card."

I've been seen through!!!

Being stared at by a gaze that seemed able to see straight through people's hearts made Li Ang's hair stand on end. While secretly cursing himself for having been too obvious, he forcibly suppressed the strange urge to kneel before her and, propping up the barely-breathing Senior Tang Mu, forced himself to say:

"I don't know what you're talking about, but if you want to know what happened to that toad, then go ahead and buy it yourself!"

After speaking, Li Ang slightly raised his cuff, secretly aiming the polished cufflink at the Plague-Tainted Blood Belt beneath the woman's feet — the young Ha inside was already poised to strike.

He remembered the Director saying that Senior Tang Mu and Senior Emma were both elites among first-rank Cleansers, with strength approaching that of a small bureau's Director. Even if they couldn't match a True God who had descended in the flesh, they shouldn't have been completely unable to fight back.

Furthermore, if she were truly extremely powerful — powerful enough to take down Senior Tang Mu with a casual wave — why bother buying the Plague-Tainted Blood Belt from him to stop him from healing Senior Tang Mu?

Putting it all together, there was only one answer.

That was: she wasn't as powerful as she appeared. The fact that she could easily take down Senior Tang Mu was likely mostly due to a sneak attack, and she was also extremely wary of Senior Tang Mu's abilities. As long as he could save Senior Tang Mu, there might still be a chance to turn things around!

……

So… you still want to struggle a bit more?

Looking at Li Ang, who was doing his best to maintain an expressionless stare but whose eyes still brimmed with hope, the Goddess of Wealth couldn't help but shake her head slightly. Then, the instant she sensed a fluctuation from the Mirror World, she raised her hand and gave a small hook of her finger toward Li Ang's cufflink.

Although your guess is correct — because forcibly descending cost me too much power, I truly am wary of the endlessly resourceful "Dice Emperor," which is why I took him down with a sneak attack. I even didn't dare to take his life directly, fearing it might trigger some vicious life-preserving ritual.

But no matter what, I am still a True God. Setting aside the famously formidable Dice Emperor of Misfortune, you — a third-rank Cleanser who can't even conceal the fluctuations of your soul — what makes you think you can pull tricks right in front of me?

(Note: The original line numbering ends at 【58】; 【59】 appears to be a continuation of the previous line's thought, but per the source it is presented as a separate fragment. Treating it as the closing beat of the goddess's speech.)