Chapter 315

Finally got rid of them…

Maintaining his conspirator persona, Li Ang kept his hands behind his back and stared coldly as the Dream Realm sealed shut; only after all twenty thousand Wealth Goddesses had vanished completely did he finally exhale a deep, genuine breath.

The Clearance Bureau's work is truly unfit for humans—even Senior Emma, with her top-tier skills, was crushed, and even when she dragged Senior Tang Mu, another Level One, to rescue her, they nearly perished together at the hands of the Descending Wealth Goddess.

Hmm…

Or maybe it wasn't originally this dangerous, but the sheer bad luck of me and Senior Tang Mu—two beings the World's Will despises—clashing together doubled our misfortune, summoning a Wealth Goddess who shouldn't have come at all.

After silently warning himself to avoid hanging around Senior Tang Mu in the future, Li Ang hurried to Senior Emma's side, unfastened the top button of her collar to ease her breathing, then slung her onto his back and struggled up toward the valley's peak.

…

"Wake up!"

"Slap! Slap!"

"Senior Tang Mu! Wake up!"

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

"Ugh…"

Woken by the sharp pain on his cheeks, the pale, lethargic young man blinked, looking utterly bewildered:

"I…"

"You passed out."

After uttering a useless remark, Li Ang, who had just violently slapped Tang Mu awake, pointed toward the half-buried trident with a serpent's tail in the valley and replied vaguely:

"The Wealth Goddess seems to have run into trouble and suddenly stormed into the Dream Realm… Forget her for now, let's get out of here. Have your bones regrown? Can you move yet?"

To avoid the risk of the Wealth Goddess still being nearby and hearing his explanation, then suddenly turning back to kill them, Li Ang didn't reveal what had just happened.

The lethargic young man, having regained consciousness, strained to lift his neck, but quickly collapsed back, shaking his head in frustration:

"Not yet… your bandages are still too slow. My leg bones haven't moved at all—only a bit of my coccyx has regrown."

"…"

"Ugh… by the way, why does my face hurt so much? And my lips…"

"Uh… I called you for ages with no response, so I had to resort to physical methods. Sorry…"

Looking at the lethargic young man's swollen cheeks and the three or four fingernail marks on his philtrum, Li Ang apologized:

"Senior Emma's injuries are too severe—she won't wake up anytime soon. I had offensive silver charms and pendants, but the Wealth Goddess confiscated them all. My current defensive options are insufficient.

Outside, besides the Scale Gold Cult's followers, there are probably eighty to ninety cult personnel and at least two Hierarchs. If I just carried you both out directly, I don't feel safe. So I thought I'd wake you up first and ask if you have any ideas."

Do I have any ideas?

Looking at his own body, stripped of every bone and joint, the lethargic young man groaned:

"I've lost every bone and joint in my body—only my mouth and neck can move. Oh right, now I've got a butt too… With this state, what possible solution could I have?

By the way, didn't you pick up all those shell coins? Why don't you try saving Emma the same way you saved me?"

"I already tried. It didn't work."

Hearing this, Li Ang shook his head, helpless:

"Senior Emma's condition is complicated. The sword wound in her heart is a soul injury; both her arms have been petrified by the 【Emerald Dream】; and the Serpent Spirit bought over three hundred of her lives. These three injuries are intertwined—you can't buy just one. The shell coins aren't enough.

Also, unlike buying back your bones, 'injuries' can't exist independently of the body. To buy off Emma's injuries, someone must take them on."

Raising his right hand, Li Ang showed Tang Mu his emerald-green fingernails and added, still shaken:

"My contamination value… uh… my Li Ang value… is far too low compared to hers. In physical condition, soul strength, and resistance to anomalies—we're not even on the same level.

For her, these are serious injuries; for me, they'd all be fatal. If I took even less than one-tenth of her wounds, I'd be shattered—my soul torn apart by the sword in her heart, turned into a motionless emerald statue."

"Then don't buy them…"

Looking at Li Ang's emerald-green fingernails, the lethargic young man pondered—this situation was indeed troublesome.

Though the Wealth Goddess had inexplicably vanished, granting them a lucky reprieve, the Scale Gold Cult's followers still waited outside.

According to the Scale Gold Cult's gathering protocol, each of the three branches sends one Hierarch. After you killed one, there should still be two Hierarchs left, plus dozens of purified core followers with special abilities.

Though the Scale Gold Cult is a secretive sect not known for combat, their Hierarchs are pitifully weak—barely Level Two Clearance Officers, even worse than scouts like Jerry. Not hard to handle.

If either you or Emma were normal, killing those two Hierarchs would be effortless—probably under thirty seconds. But now Emma's unconscious, you're paralyzed, and Li Ang—the only one intact—has lost his main anomaly weapon. He might not be able to handle these cultists at all.

If I survive the True God only to die at the hands of a few pathetic Hierarchs, I'd never close my eyes in death…

…

"How about… you just stab me to death?"

"Huh?"

"Don't worry—it's my trump card."

Amid Li Ang's bewildered expression, the lethargic young man explained:

"When we first entered, didn't I set up three rituals beforehand?

The first two have already triggered: the first, using five metals, was to steal money from the Scale Gold Cult's cat spirit; the second, using mercury, sulfur, and salt, neutralized the Serpent Spirit's secret shrine's influence. The third ritual was meant for resurrection."

"Resurrection?!"

"Yes. That ritual's effect is resurrection—or rather, it activates automatically after I'm killed, restoring me to the exact moment the ritual was set up."

Glancing at Li Ang's stunned face, the lethargic young man spoke with pride:

"The six materials of the Return Ritual form three pairs of opposites: matches and amber represent eternal stasis and fleeting ash; a child's fingernails and an elder's last letter signify bodily growth and final decay; horns and tails stand for beginning and end—each pair achieving perfect balance.

If I'm killed, it means the match of my body is extinguished, the elder of my soul has departed, and my life has reached its end—the single-sided balance is shattered. Then, the other half of each symbol activates and begins to reconstruct me.

Afterward, my body becomes eternal like amber, my soul sprouts anew like a child's, and my life, having ended, begins again—I am resurrected."

"I'm telling you, this is my most brilliant ritual—I survived the True God because of it. So just stab me already. One thrust, and I'll be back on my feet… wait—"

Seeing the blood-red wolf tooth club studded with backward spikes in Li Ang's hand, the lethargic young man flinched in terror and instinctively pulled in his newly regrown coccyx.

"Wait… I told you to stab me, but you're gonna use THIS?"