236: Chapter 236 Do you have to have something happen between us for you to be satisfied?

The emerald-gold flames on Qin Canglan's body burned brighter and brighter.

Cao Kun took two steps back naturally.

The modification process didn't require him to watch over it; this thing was just like a System automatic update, he just needed to wait for the progress bar to finish.

Taking advantage of this gap, he smoothly pulled up the System panel.

[Beast Tamer Rank: Special Grade Beast Tamer (840/1000)]

[Jade Beast Quantity: 11/12]

[task points: 46900]

Cao Kun looked at these few lines of data, his brows slightly furrowed.

11/12.

There was only one empty slot left.

But there was already more than one person waiting in line outside to get in.

Empress Yue Chan, Murong Xue, Goddess Ye Qingqiu.

It was like being surrounded by a pack of wolves; there were too many wolves and not enough meat.

No, that metaphor was wrong.

It should be: too few holes and too many radishes.

Cao Kun took another look at the gray prompt below.

[task points required to unlock the next Jade Beast slot: 80000]

His head throbbed even more.

But the slot problem had to be solved.

Empress Yue Chan's SSS-Rank task reward was too tempting.

Fifty thousand task points plus the legendary Cultivation Technique "Thunder Emperor's Myriad Laws," and a direct promotion of his Beast Tamer Rank to Grandmaster.

Just the fifty thousand task points alone were enough for him to expand the next slot and still have some left over.

Moreover, upgrading to the Grandmaster Rank would definitely unlock additional slots.

Cao Kun did a quick calculation in his mind.

If he took down Empress Yue Chan first, the subjugation reward would directly credit 50000 task points.

Adding the 46900 on hand, that would be a total of 96900.

Subtracting 80000 for opening a new slot, he would still have 16900 left.

Left hand to right hand, making something out of nothing. Perfect.

"Take Empress Yue Chan first."

"Then Murong Xue and Goddess Ye Qingqiu can queue up to enter."

Cao Kun completely settled this in his heart.

Listing Empress Yue Chan as the next priority target, with the others behind her.

In the face of absolute profit, any coyness or playing hard to get was just fleeting clouds.

That Empress of Great Yan probably couldn't even dream of it.

In Cao Kun's eyes, she was never a partner from beginning to end.

But rather a top-tier Jade Beast that had been tagged with a price and was waiting to be taken away.

Every time Cao Kun thought of Empress Yue Chan's high-and-mighty face, and how cute she looked when she was forced to grit her teeth while being bossed around by Liu Rumeng while disguised as a secret guard, yet had to swallow her anger, his heart surged with excitement.

...

Ancient God Ruins.

In a narrow valley enclosed by dark red rock walls.

A dozen Disciples of the Penglai Immortal Palace were sitting scattered among the rubble, adjusting their breathing.

Mo Yao leaned against a broken rock, her expression normal, her arms crossed over her chest.

But if one looked closely, one would discover her sitting posture was obviously unnatural.

Her legs were slightly pressed together, her body weight shifted to one side, and she adjusted her position from time to time.

Gu Yao leaned half-against the rock wall opposite her, covered in blood, with deep purple bruises on his face left from being slammed into the stone wall.

He had just swallowed a Medicinal Pill to heal his wounds and recover a bit of spiritual power, barely able to move.

But compared to the injuries on his body, he was more concerned about another matter.

"Junior Sister." Gu Yao lowered his voice, his expression serious.

"Tell me the truth."

"What exactly did that Cao fellow do to you?"

This was already the fourth time today he had asked this question.

Every time, Mo Yao would change the subject.

But the more she did so, the more uneasy Gu Yao felt in his heart.

Mo Yao's brows furrowed.

"Gu Yao! I've told you almost a hundred times!"

"We were just having a normal sparring exchange!"

"That guy is just a shameless bastard, a big pervert! What could I possibly have happen with him?!"

Gu Yao swept a complex glance at Mo Yao's sitting posture and muttered suspiciously.

"A normal sparring exchange?"

"Does a normal exchange require knocking all of us unconscious?"

Mo Yao's pretty face flushed red, as if she remembered something.

"That... that's because he was afraid you guys would launch a sneak attack!"

"Oh." Gu Yao nodded, seemingly accepting this explanation.

But the next second.

"Then Junior Sister, why is the way you walk different from before?"

"And... why is there such a strange Aura on you? It doesn't seem like your own."

Mo Yao glared at Gu Yao in shame and anger.

"I said there's nothing, so there's nothing! Are you annoying or what?"

"Do you really need something to happen between us to be satisfied?"

Gu Yao was choked speechless by this sentence.

He looked at Mo Yao's flushed cheeks, her evasive gaze, and her overly intense reaction.

The last shred of hope in his heart shattered.

If nothing had really happened, she wouldn't need to be this agitated.

An innocent person's reaction when misunderstood should be to explain calmly, not to hysterically deny it.

"Junior Sister, don't be afraid."

Gu Yao's voice became much gentler; he subconsciously reached out his hand, wanting to pat her shoulder to comfort her.

"If he really forced you... even if Senior Brother has to risk his life, I will definitely..."

However.

Before his hand touched Mo Yao's shoulder, Mo Yao took a big step back as if by reflex.

"Stay away from me!"

She shoved away Gu Yao's reaching hand with a face full of resistance.

That wasn't disgust towards Gu Yao, but an instinctive rejection.

It was as if ever since she had been touched by that man, her body had automatically erected a wall around her, isolating all males except that person.

Gu Yao's hand froze in mid-air.

The wind in the valley whistled past, blowing his blood-stained robes.

He stood there, frozen.

Watching Mo Yao's subconscious movement to protect her body as she retreated, and her evasive gaze.

Everything no longer needed to be confirmed.

The goddess in his heart had been plowed by that Cao fellow.

Gu Yao's heart shattered into a QR code. Scan it, and it's all cracks.

"... I'll go outside to patrol." Gu Yao's lips moved, and in the end, he only left behind this one sentence.

He turned around and walked out, limping.

His back view was indescribably desolate and lonely.

Mo Yao stood in place, watching the direction he left in.

In her mind, that damn handsome face of Cao Kun unconsciously emerged again.

And that nonchalant remark he made when he threw the Transmission Stone to her before leaving:

"Remember to keep in touch often～"

Mo Yao opened her eyes in irritation and took out that Transmission Stone from her Storage Ring.

She looked at it for a few seconds.

Then hurriedly stuffed it back.

"Who wants to keep in touch with you..." She muttered in a low voice.

But the voice couldn't even convince herself.

The mark of the fallen holy grail within her body was faintly heating up.

There were less than five days left until the next deadline.

...

Deep within the Ancient God Ruins.

In a hidden underground palace.

Goddess Ye Qingqiu was half-undressed, lying enchantingly on a soft couch covered with dark purple velvet.

Her purple-black long hair was scattered casually.

Her slender legs were crossed, and on her ankles still remained the faint red marks left from when she fought Cao Kun earlier and he had gripped them.

Not only did she not treat them, but she would also look down at them from time to time.

A water mirror floated in front of Goddess Ye Qingqiu.

The image in the mirror was exactly the battle footage from Blood Crystal Valley.

Those were the visual fragments remaining before the evil spirit died, which Yin Tianzheng had helped her extract and restore before projecting into the water mirror.

Under the seven-colored Lightning Tribulation, Cao Kun stood alone in the center of Blood Crystal Valley.

Chaos Qi and heavenly lightning intertwined and wrapped around his entire body.

The yin-yang dharma robe fluttered in the wind, and the dragon patterns on the golden cloud crown flowed.

The magnificent Aura of the Five Emperors Origin True Body crushed everything.

He just casually waved the chaos divine sword, and dozens of evil spirits were wiped out into ashes.

That natural-born dominance and composure made Goddess Ye Qingqiu more and more excited the more she watched.

"Amazing..." Her face was flushed, her breathing becoming faster and faster, her beautiful eyes staring hazily at Cao Kun's figure in the water mirror.

"Too perfect..."

"He has become stronger again!"

Goddess Ye Qingqiu gripped the velvet under her, flipped over, and lay on the soft couch, her feet swinging back and forth behind her.

Like a young girl's infatuated look when seeing her favorite idol.

But the words she spoke made one's scalp tingle.

"Last time when he choked my neck, the force was really so comfortable..."

Goddess Ye Qingqiu raised her hands and gently stroked her own neck.

"No, just choking the neck isn't enough."

"I have to think of a way to capture him alive."

"Raise him in a cage and taste the Chaos Qi on his body every day."

She muttered to herself for a good while.

Suddenly, Goddess Ye Qingqiu's nose twitched slightly.

"This Aura..." Although separated by who knows how many miles, she would never mistake that unique charm.

"It's him!"

"It's his Chaos Qi!"

Goddess Ye Qingqiu was trembling with excitement.

After a long while, she finally recovered from that suffocating scent.

Can't be rushed.

She suffered a loss in their last direct confrontation.

She must change her strategy.

Mo Yao