Chapter 18: The Ancient Divine Beast Belonging to the Original Female Lead

"Chapter 18: The Ancient Divine Beast Belonging to the Original Female Lead"

"As expected of the young master! With him leading, clearing a mere resource instance is a walk in the park!"

"Indeed, our young master is one of the primary heirs of the Chen family. With him around, the Chen family is bound to prosper even more!"

"Miss Su, our young master has been nothing but sincere toward you."

"That's right. This time, the young master even brought his two strongest squads to help you secure resources.

The leader of that Shadow Squad you're in, Shen Qingci, has so many rules—he’d never bend the rules like this for you."

"Exactly, why put up with Shadow Squad's restrictions? Just join our young master instead."

Su Mo set her jaw. "I'm not the kind of person who relies on others. If I want resources, I’ll earn them myself.

Chen Yuanlang, if you’re thinking of forcing me, you’ve got another think coming!"

Chen Yuanlang glared fiercely at the speaker. "Scram! Who gave you the right to speak to Mo Mo like that?

Mo Mo, they’re just crude men, but they see how deeply I care for you. Why not give me a chance?"

Seeing that everyone here was under his command, Chen Yuanlang couldn’t resist trying to get handsy with Su Mo.

Su Mo wore an expression of steely determination, refusing to yield even at the cost of her life. "Chen Yuanlang, who do you think I am?

If you dare force me, I’ll die right here in front of you!"

Not daring to push Su Mo too far, Chen Yuanlang fumed. "Mo Mo, if you have no feelings for me, why'd you team up with me in this dungeon?

Why not ask Shen Qingci to accompany you?"

Su Mo’s eyes welled up with tears as she gnawed at her lower lip. "Chen Yuanlang, what are you implying?

Do you think I’m just using you!?"

Chen Yuanlang quickly shook his head. "No, that’s not what I meant."

Su Mo counted up the crystals she’d obtained today—most were low-grade gray and blue, with barely any green or orange, let alone red.

She remembered how she’d stormed off after their fight with Shen Qingci, vowing to earn crystals on her own.

Yet now, not only had she failed to secure any decent crystals, she’d almost been taken advantage of by Chen Yuanlang.

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she turned away, lips trembling.

Seeing the woman he worshipped so distressed, all his lecherous ideas fled as he hurriedly tried to console her:

"Mo Mo, I was wrong, truly wrong.

I’m a piece of work, it’s all my fault. If not for someone’s provocation, I’d never have entertained such disgusting ideas.

Right! It was that guy just now—men! Rip out his tongue for speaking out of turn!

Mo Mo, I’ll punish him to make it up to you!"

As the screams of the tongue-ripping echoed, Su Mo’s smoldering anger began to dissipate slightly.

However,

She still wasn't quite satisfied, "Yuanlang, how come such a big loot instance stopped at just the fifth level?

And the resources from this dungeon are so trash-tier. I’d be insulting my S-tier gear with this garbage.

Hell, my B-tier stuff would laugh at these junk crystals."

Chen Yuanlang knew Su Mo had been pampered since childhood—she’d seen it all—and better.

Strangely enough, even if the earlier levels of the dungeon didn’t yield great resources, why did the final level still only drop useless scrap crystals?

Unless...

Chen Yuanlang suddenly remembered, "Wait, where’d those Blaze goons go?

Other than the very beginning, we haven’t run into them since."

"Boss, they went the other way from the start.

At first, we could hear Wu Chong’s Gatling spray on their side, but now, it’s dead silent."

Chen Yuanlang frowned, "The hell?"

But Su Mo had a strange feeling, as if something that was rightfully hers had quietly slipped away without her knowing.

Su Mo said, "Could it be... they found another path inside the dungeon?"

She turned to Chen Yuanlang, "Is it possible that the route Blaze took is the actual loot route?"

"But this dungeon’s map is straightforward. Several teams have already cleared it—just a single path from start to finish, no alternate routes."

Su Mo snapped at the speaker, "Who the hell are you to talk back?"

The mere thought that Wu Yue might have obtained the crystals that should have been hers with Blaze’s help made Su Mo fume, and she spoke sharply to anyone who doubted her.

Chen Yuanlang kicked the doubter hard, "Shut up! Know your damn place!

Mo Mo is the most beautiful woman in the apocalypse—how dare street trash like you speak to her?

Come on, Mo Mo, let’s follow those Blaze goons and see what shady shit they’re pulling!"

Su Mo nodded, "Yeah."

The further they walked back the way they came, the faster Su Mo’s heart raced, like something was pulling her in, waiting for her.

....

Wu Yue and Wu Chong locked eyes, quietly signaling two teammates who were about to carry more crystals further away.

"You two, head out and notify the entrance—be ready to retreat at any moment."

The two, battle-hardened and highly disciplined, no words needed—just a nod, and they turned to leave.

Then—

All hell broke loose in the crystal cavern.

A piercing shriek tore through the air, like fingernails down a chalkboard, tearing through everyone’s eardrums.

The Blaze members all looked up—only to see a bizarre, three-legged bird looming over the crystal cavern.

Wu Yue gasped in disbelief, "Three-legged Golden Crow! The guardian of these golden crystals is actually a fragment of the soul left behind by an ancient divine beast—the Three-legged Golden Crow!?

But isn’t the Three-legged Golden Crow a symbol of the sun? How could its soul be trapped in this small crystal cavern?

And in such a state—shrouded in malice and agony!"

Wu Chong exclaimed in surprise, "Moon, how do you know all this?"

Wu Yue snapped impatiently, "Pick up a book sometime! And now isn’t the moment for this!"

The sight of the Three-legged Golden Crow hit Wu Yue like a lightning bolt, and she suddenly realized:

The challenge realm they were currently in was the very one that had utterly reshaped Su Mo in the early stages of her previous life!

Because, from beginning to end, Wu Yue had never known about Su Mo obtaining the golden crystals—she only knew that after a certain point in time, all of Su Mo’s tools had grown significantly stronger.

But this Three-legged Golden Crow before her, Wu Yue did recognize, because this very Golden Crow would later be claimed by Su Mo.

Once the malice clinging to the Golden Crow was purified, Su Mo—by chance alone and with Wu Chong’s mediation—would summon—with the Wu Clan’s aid—the true form of the ancient divine bird, the Three-legged Golden Crow!

While ghosts and monsters may brave flames, they all, to some degree, dread the light of the sun.

From that day onward, Su Mo would be crowned the Sun Goddess—a title of unmatched glory. And on the very day the Three-legged Golden Crow appeared,

the entire Wu Clan—men and women, young and old—would all become sacrifices,

its first meal upon arrival in the mortal world.

And so, the Wu Clan’s downfall began.

The arrogant, naive young master, stripped of his powerful protection,

fell from grace—irrevocably.