Chapter 710: Shell Coins and Tricks (Part 1)

Master Tang Mu?!!!

Seeing the lazy young man instantly incapacitated, Li Ang was stunned and hurriedly reached out to support him, then unleashed his strongest control technique toward the mysterious woman whose origin was unknown—

"Bow to me!"

With Li Ang's shout, a large mass of brilliant silver Zhou silver split in two: half surged toward the 【Infected Blood Band】 lying on the ground, while the other half exploded midair, transforming into countless sharp needles that rained down like a storm upon the mysterious woman.

Though I don't know who she is, if she can incapacitate Master Tang Mu in an instant, she's clearly an opponent I can't handle alone—right now, the only chance to turn the tide is to force her into a bow first, then seize back the 【Infected Blood Band】 and save Master Tang Mu from death!

"Hmm, an interesting demand."

The 【Traveling Thrush Prince】 Li Ang had placed his hopes on failed instantly; the mysterious woman who had crippled Master Tang Mu laughed, then raised her palm and waved it lightly—both masses of Zhou silver vanished at once, becoming several peculiar, polished shells in Li Ang's hand.

【Name: Anbula Shell Coin (Sacred, Currency)】

【Appearance: A petal-shaped shell roughly polished, with two small circular holes drilled through the center for threading with cord, its inner surface inscribed with Anbula script carved by stone tools, meaning "a sheaf of rice."】

【Ability: True God Rank, Forced Exchange】

【Cost: Use requires permission from the Goddess of Wealth and Trade, and after the transaction is completed, you lose all ownership of this anomaly.】

【File: The currency used by the Original Nation of Anbula, one of humanity's oldest coinage types, completely abolished in the middle period of the Anbula Kingdom. After being personally sanctified by the Goddess of Wealth and Trade, it became a high-rank special anomaly, often used by her to reward devout followers.】

【Evaluation: A special anomaly capable of forming binding agreements with any target below True God rank, forcing an equivalent exchange. Its ability is decent, but it is a single-use item requiring sufficient quantity to be effective, so it's not particularly difficult to handle.】

【But if the user is not a fanatical follower of the Scale Gold Cult, but instead a woman in her mid-thirties with short, neat hair, a clear face, and a sharp demeanor… then you should be careful.】

【Contamination Level: 3 (5. )】

"…"

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

…

"Our Goddess!"

In the instant Li Ang's pupils shrank, the "black-and-white earthworm" inside the glass bottle had already prostrated itself on the ground, bowing in fervent yet respectful reverence.

"Pathetic."

Glancing at the serpent spirit, then at its head still smeared with two small clumps of dried chicken droppings, the mysterious woman said with three parts annoyance and seven parts disgust:

"At your level, if you'd just stayed quietly in the Dream Realm instead of wandering around, even if you couldn't defeat that man, you wouldn't have lost so badly.

Yet you had to be clever—afraid you'd suffer in his hands, you fled at the first sign of movement, only to be caught red-handed! If I hadn't arrived in time, you'd be keeping that stupid toad company!"

"Our Goddess… I… am ashamed…"

"If you're ashamed, then remember this lesson well—stop playing your petty tricks!"

After scolding the serpent spirit as if no one else were present, the mysterious woman looked up at Li Ang, whose expression had frozen. Her gaze lingered for an instant on his 【Holy Spirit Pendant】, then she said with a faint, ambiguous smile:

"Li Ang Lyen… I've wanted to meet you for a long time. Do you know that?"

"…" Looking at the silent Li Ang, the mysterious woman suspected to be the Goddess of Wealth and Trade slightly softened her smile, her expression turning cold:

"After you killed that stupid toad, I went through great trouble to the Death Realm and redeemed part of its soul, hoping to use those soul fragments to reshape a Holy Spirit with the same authority.

But I discovered that the soul fragments that fell into the Death Realm had lost their affinity with the Wealth Authority—they no longer believe all things have value, and are completely useless… Tell me, how did you manage that?"

"…"

That toad…

If my judgment is correct, it collapsed originally because it discovered something—this "Badge System"—that couldn't be measured by value, and thus its authority's foundation shattered.

Then… what about this Goddess of Wealth? Will she, too, collapse like that toad?

As this thought crossed his mind, Li Ang's fists clenched unconsciously; his cheek muscles twitched slightly, then he asked coldly, expressionless:

"If you want to know the reason, why don't you just 'buy' it yourself? Your Scale Gold Cult trades lifespans—buying a 'secret' shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"Indeed, forcibly purchasing secrets from someone's mind isn't difficult for me."

The woman with short, neat hair… the Goddess nodded, then fixed her gaze on Li Ang's eyes, her expression tinged with curiosity:

"But my intuition tells me you're actually hoping I'll do exactly that… May I assume, then, that if I forcibly 'purchase' this secret from you, my fate will be the same as that stupid toad's?"

?!!

"So it really is like that… at least, you believe it is."

Watching Li Ang's pupils contract slightly, the Goddess of Wealth mused:

"To be honest, I'm genuinely uncertain now—do you hold such a strange notion because of ignorant arrogance, or do you truly possess some special trump card?"

I've been exposed!!!

Feeling chilled by her gaze, as if it could pierce his soul, Li Ang inwardly cursed himself for revealing too much, forced himself to suppress the strange urge to kneel, and held up the dying Master Tang Mu with stiff resolve:

"I don't know what you're talking about. If you want to know what happened to that toad, go buy it yourself!"

As he spoke, Li Ang slightly lifted his sleeve, subtly aligning his polished cufflink toward the 【Infected Blood Band】 beneath the woman's feet—the young Hound within was ready to strike.

The Director said Master Tang Mu and Master Emma were both elite Level-One Cleaners, nearly equal to a Deputy Director's level—even if they couldn't match a True God's physical manifestation, they shouldn't be utterly defenseless.

Moreover, if she were truly that powerful—strong enough to subdue Master Tang Mu with a single gesture—why bother buying the 【Infected Blood Band】 from me to prevent me from healing him?

Taken together, there's only one answer.

That is, she isn't as strong as she appears. Her effortless takedown of Master Tang Mu was likely due to surprise, and she's deeply wary of his abilities—if I can save Master Tang Mu, I might still turn the tide!

…

So… you still want to struggle a little more?

Watching Li Ang force himself to meet her gaze with a blank expression, yet his eyes still brimming with hope, the Goddess of Wealth shook her head slightly—then, sensing the Mirror World's fluctuation, she lifted a finger and gently hooked it toward his cufflink.

You're right—I lost too much power forcibly manifesting, so I'm wary of the unpredictable "Dice King," which is why I ambushed him, and even dared not kill him outright, fearing he might trigger some vile survival ritual.

But no matter what, I am a True God. The infamous Dice King is one thing—but you, a Level-Three Cleaner who can't even conceal the tremors of your soul, how dare you think you can play tricks in front of me?

(End of Chapter)