Chapter 166: A Million Magic Crystal Bounty

After slashing them to death with a flurry of blades and going through the routine soul-search and body-search, Lord Nai Ge Li Si said helplessly, "Everyone the Chaos Temple sends out is this kind of small fry — are they really here to cause chaos? At this level, one pinch and they're dead. How could they cause any chaos?"

Nobody paid it any attention. The little angel held up a stick and chased the bugs around, whacking them — smack, smack, one after another.

The little zombie ran all over the place, and wherever it saw a bug it stomped right over it with its big foot — one stomp, one kill, one stomp, one kill.

The bugs weren't interested in them. The little angel was actually quite "tasty," but once it summoned Holy Light, the bugs lost their appetite for it.

Nai Ge Li Si's voice drifted over from somewhere: "They probably aren't small fry, right? If it were any other adventurer, accurately locating the target in the middle of such a massive insect plague, fighting their way here, and then retreating unscathed — that would be incredibly hard. But Lord Seeing Ange only needs to stomp around a few times, and the bones all over the ground can tell him everything. Maybe we're just too strong."

"Makes sense, we're too strong. Forget it, let's see what we got first. One torn sack, with some junk jewelry inside. One spatial ring — huh, not locked? Let me dig around. Torn sack, torn sack, torn sack — three bags, all full of junk jewelry. Why does this Exorcist keep picking up this kind of stuff?"

Lord Nai Ge Li Si said with distaste. From the items on a person's body, you could roughly gauge their level. The torn-clothes female mage had dropped a Spatial Mage's Handbook, the contents of which were so insane even Lord Nai Ge Li Si couldn't understand them — which was why her strength was terrifyingly lethal.

Someone covered in luxury goods like this, or only picking up this kind of jewelry, was very likely a nouveau riche.

The memories Seeing Ange searched confirmed Lord Nai Ge Li Si's guess.

"Hiss, age twenty-three, a pauper, worshipped Hermeltos for three years, became an Exorcist only two months ago, and wiped out the Heishan Duchy with its thousand-year legacy. They're small fry, but what made them advance so fast isn't — humans and elves are really in trouble now."

A pauper who had just become an Exorcist two months ago, suddenly gaining the ability to command huge swarms of bugs, naturally wouldn't have any grand ambitions.

Seeing Ange slid into the pit. Perfect — the hammer-wielding statue had corroded all the way through and broken apart, and the Earth Sacred Hammer wrapped in its burial shroud clattered to the ground.

Seeing Ange picked it up, lifted off the shroud — clatter! The Earth Sacred Hammer suddenly became incomparably heavy, far beyond what Seeing Ange could bear. It slipped from his hands and slammed back onto the ground.

"Ouch, this is trouble now," Lord Nai Ge Li Si, a step behind, said urgently:

"Great, just great. How are we going to wrap it up again now? The seal on it is an Earth seal, same principle as the demons' Earth Monument. Although it boosts its earth-type destructive power, it also binds it to the earth. Unless we can flip up a huge swath of ground nearby, it'll be very hard to lift."

Seeing Ange refused to believe it, reached out and tried to lift it — he nearly pulled his lumbar disc out. The Earth Sacred Hammer didn't budge an inch.

Nai Ge Li Si refused to accept it either, reached out and tried to lift it — he pulled his own form apart into scattered pieces. The Sacred Hammer still didn't move a hair.

Seeing Ange stood before the Earth Sacred Hammer again, twisted his waist, kicked his legs, got his joints back into their optimal position, then planted his feet in a horse stance, gripped the hammer handle tightly with both hands, and hauled upward with all his might.

Creak, creak — you could clearly hear the joints all over Seeing Ange's body groaning. Soul flames blazed up around him, Xiong Xiong.

The Earth Sacred Hammer moved — half a finger's width off the ground — then didn't budge again.

"%#…@##*@……" A string of draconic words, as if from the remote antiquity, deep and indistinct, roared out from Seeing Ange's soul.

The golden dragon scale wedged in his ribs actually seemed to melt, seeping into Seeing Ange's bones, dyeing a large patch of his ribs gold.

Then suddenly, golden scales burst out from his ribs, rolling outward in all directions, transforming Seeing Ange into a three-meter-tall golden giant — dragon head, dragon horns, dragon scales, human body.

The immovable Earth Sacred Hammer was forcibly hoisted overhead by the golden dragon giant.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was scared silly. Even when Seeing Ange transformed into Jian Gu Luo Ke, he hadn't been startled. Even if Seeing Ange transformed into Brucek, he wouldn't be startled — because Brucek's scales had originally been swindled out of him by him.

But now he was startled, because Seeing Ange hadn't transformed into Brucek, but rather —.

"Dragon God transformation, Dragon God transformation — how could this happen? How is it possible? It's not possible, he doesn't have a dragon bloodline!" Lord Nai Ge Li Si muttered like a frightened little bird.

The golden dragon giant holding the Earth Sacred Hammer aloft paused for a few seconds, then suddenly swung the hammer down. Where the hammer face landed — BOOM — a tremendous crash. The earth became soft like a lake's surface, rippling outward in concentric rings that spread away.

Those fragile beetles met their doom. Individually they were already very fragile — their numbers were their only advantage. The earth's ripples slammed into them like a wall, splattering them into bug juice with a smack.

The Earth Sacred Hammer was reputed to be capable of turning everything within a radius of over ten meters into dust, but this strike from Seeing Ange sent ripples spreading a full thirty to forty meters. Everywhere they passed, all earth and stone was pulverized into powder that settled down — the entire temple shrank by a level.

The pillars lost their connection to the foundations, standing alone to support the roof. It was only because the temple's construction quality was decent that it hadn't already collapsed.

Amidst the sky-filling dust, the golden dragon giant slowly shrank, returning to Seeing Ange's appearance. A careful count showed that from transformation to recovery, Seeing Ange held on for fifteen seconds — longer than when he transformed into Jian Gu Luo Ke.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was in no mood to care about anything else. He flew over, his little short claws pinching here, pinching there — pinching Seeing Ange's bones, then pinching his ribs — and asked urgently, "What did you do? How did you do it? The scales? Where are the scales?"

Seeing Ange looked down and only then realized that the scale belonging to Brucek, which had been wedged in his ribs, was gone — and the patch of ribs there was noticeably brighter, as if dyed by the scale. Clearly, the scale had fused into his ribs.

"How did you do it? Dragon God transformation — why can you do Dragon God transformation? What did you do? Tell me, tell me!" Lord Nai Ge Li Si was so anxious he started shaking Seeing Ange, making all his bones rattle and clatter.

"I didn't do anything. I was transforming into Jian Gu, and it moved. I took a look and saw a bronze-colored person with dragon horns," Seeing Ange said in halting bursts.

"It" refers to the scale. When Seeing Ange used the Ultimate Transformation Art to try to become Jian Gu Luo Ke, the scale let him see the golden dragon giant — or rather, the bronze dragon giant — and then a string of draconic words appeared in his mind.

Seeing Ange understood draconic. He'd learned it back when he was raising a young dragon. He recited along, and for some reason, he just turned into a bronze dragon giant.

Seeing Ange's explanation naturally couldn't resolve Lord Nai Ge Li Si's confusion. The little guy was so anxious he was scratching his horns and cheeks. Dragon God transformation — the legendary Dragon God transformation that could atavistically return one to a Dragon God — something the dragon race had pursued for countless years without achieving, was suddenly presented right before his eyes.

Although Lord Nai Ge Li Si still didn't dare confirm that the bronze dragon giant was the Dragon God, no matter what, it looked exactly like the image passed down in the bloodline.

But there was also something that left Lord Nai Ge Li Si feeling sour: Seeing Ange had actually held on for fifteen seconds, while transforming into Jian Gu Luo Ke he only held on for ten. Didn't that mean Jian Gu Luo Ke was stronger than the legendary Dragon God?

Impossible. Something must have gone wrong somewhere.

Just then, dust billowed up in the distance. From the ash-covered ground, the little angel fluttered its wings and flew up — the air currents from its wings kicked up the dust on the ground.

The little zombie also crawled out nearby, covered in dust, and let out "Awoo-awoo" cries at the little angel.

The little angel immediately flew over, circling around the little zombie, constantly adjusting its flight angle, kicking up dust that blew straight at the little zombie.

"Awoo!" The little zombie angrily pointed at it.

"Awoo!" The little angel flew a bit higher and kept kicking up dust.

While the two little ones were roughhousing, all the dust on the ground got kicked up, revealing some golden things.

Lord Nai Ge Li Si glanced over in passing and muttered, "Looks like we just got rich — we've dug up a treasure vault. How exactly did you do it? Any other details? You don't have a dragon bloodline — just one scale from Brucek, and you can do Dragon God transformation? Uh, it's not exactly Dragon God transformation, it's using the Ultimate Transformation Art to become a Dragon God. Is that reasonable? Shouldn't you have transformed into Brucek instead?"

Even a basement full of gold couldn't draw Lord Nai Ge Li Si's attention right now.

Crash! With a tremendous noise, a figure smashed through the roof and tumbled in. Mid-air, it slashed backward over its head, cutting something, and just before hitting the ground it flipped nimbly, landing steadily on its feet.

No sooner had it steadied itself than another tremendous crash — a second figure smashed through the roof and fell. Then halfway down, the figure suddenly lurched to a halt, caught by something, and hung suspended in mid-air.

"Help me, Lili, I'm stuck!" the figure hanging in mid-air cried urgently for help.

Lili, who had just landed steadily on the ground, sighed helplessly, covered her mouth and nose, and tossed two iron shards backward — slicing through the rope that had caught the figure.

"I told you not to follow me. You're just in the way."

"No way. Something this dangerous — I can't let you go alone. Even if we die, I'll die with you."

"I don't want to die with you at all. I'm definitely going to get the Earth Sacred Hammer, get back safely to claim the reward, and then use the bounty to buy lots and lots of food."

"Fine, fine, fine, we'll go back together. If there's danger, just let the bugs eat me, and you run."

"You're insane."

"Yeah, I'm insane — you're my nerve. Without you, I'd be sick."

From the moment they crashed in, the Little Angel and the Little Zombie stopped their squabbling, but the dust they kicked up was so thick that the two of them never noticed anyone else in the room.

From their conversation, Nai Ge Li Si learned that these two were bounty hunters; someone had posted a reward for the Earth Saint Hammer on the black market, and whoever obtained it would receive a million demon crystals.

Retrieving the Earth Saint Hammer from the center of the insect plague outbreak made many tremble at the mere mention, but these two gold hunters possessed a special technique: they had wings, and double-seated ones at that.

Their companion carried them as they flew over Heishan Wang Ting from the sky, jumped down, deployed their parachutes, and landed accurately on the Wang Ting.

Besides that, they also carried insect-repelling powder; sprinkled on their bodies, it ensured no insects would dare approach for a short time.

"Insect-repelling powder? There's such a thing? Humans have quite a few ways to deal with insects," Nai Ge Li Si murmured, then poked Seeing Ange: "Hammer, put it away quickly."

With the transformation effect gone, Seeing Ange could no longer carry the hammer, but with all his strength, he could still lift it a little; that little bit was enough to wrap the burial shroud around it, one layer at a time, and quietly retreat to the corner while holding the hammer.

The Little Zombie and the Little Angel also quietly retreated and hid.

The two bounty hunters searched the room for a long time but naturally could not find the hammer; they only found the vault.

"What do we do? We can't find the hammer, and the insect-repelling powder is about to wear off."

"Let's go; take a gold brick each, that's enough to buy quite a bit of food," Lily said firmly.

"I really want to take all these gold bricks," the mentally unstable man said reluctantly.

"Don't be greedy; it's too heavy, the wings can't fly with it. Take another one for Xiao Ai and the others."

Grabbing another handful, the two climbed to the roof, lit a tinder cord, covered it with their hands, then released and covered it again.

Before long, two winged gliders swooped low; they grabbed the dangling ropes and flew away.

"Knows how to choose and discard, not greedy, just too careless; we had so many people and still didn't notice," Nai Ge Li Si complained.

Luo Ge popped out, shaking a bag.

"Insect-repelling powder? How did you get it?" Nai Ge Li Si asked in surprise.

Luo Ge said disdainfully: "They were too weak; I could have stripped their underwear and they still might not have noticed."

"We'll study it later; let's leave here first and claim the reward," Nai Ge Li Si said excitedly.

"Reward?"

"Didn't those two little ones say it? The Earth Saint Hammer is worth a million demon crystals; we take the fake hammer to claim the reward and collect the bounty."

"But Anthony said to put it back where it was," Seeing Ange shook his head.

"Uh, okay, okay, but leaving it there probably won't last long; given the situation, there might be other bounty hunters eyeing the hammer. Don't let it happen that we leave and someone else takes the fake hammer. What if those people don't claim the reward? Ask Anthony again, explain the situation, and he'll probably change his mind."

Seeing Ange contacted Anthony through his soul; after a short while, he said: "He agrees; claim the reward."

Nai Ge Li Si wore an expression as if he had expected it all along, pouted, and said: "Of course he agrees; that guy needs the fake hammer to appear, not for the hammer to go missing. If someone actually takes the fake hammer and hides it, his plan will be in vain."

After gathering the treasures from the vault, the group left the Wang Ting and walked down the mountain; to avoid drawing attention, the Little Angel removed its wings, the Little Zombie retracted its soul armor, Seeing Ange put on a straw hat, stuffed the Huang Tong Dragon back into the Palace of Rest, and then projected it onto Seeing Ange with his will.

"Insect-repelling powder really works; sprinkle it on your body, and insects keep their distance," they verified the powder's effect along the way, then stored the remainder to analyze its main components upon return.

Heishan Duchy was a very small country; standing on Heishan Mountain, one could see the entire nation at a glance. To the northeast of Heishan Mountain stood a city called Dongcheng, and to the southwest stood a city called Xicheng.

Dongcheng had already fallen; only Xicheng remained holding out. From the mountain, they could see Xicheng of Heishan Duchy in the distance, covered by a layer of translucent protective shield that enveloped the entire city.

Occasionally, small swarms of insects crashed into the protective shield, splat-splat-splat, shaken into insect juice.

In the southern part of Xicheng, countless large sacks were piled by the roadside, filled with strongly scented insect-repelling powder; nearby were burning fires, and people occasionally threw insect-repelling powder into the fires, the thick smoke rising causing insects to retreat dozens of meters.

Relying on these sacks of insect-repelling powder and the fires, humans carved out safe zones one by one; linking them together formed a lifeline. Occasionally, people escaped here through the lifeline, and some supply caravans also used it to transport supplies into the city.

Seeing Ange and the others blended in with the refugees and approached the city gate.

The city guards were conducting searches, patting down everyone's clothes very carefully to prevent anyone from smuggling insects into the city.

A one-eyed soldier searched Seeing Ange first but found nothing, since everything had been stuffed into the Palace of Rest; this made him somewhat unwilling, and he muttered under his breath: "Pauper."

Then his attention shifted to the Little Angel, and his single eye suddenly brightened.