454: Chapter 454 Trying to outdo each other in acting, huh?

Evil Venerable Huangmei held the dark golden heaven-swallowing bag with both hands, slowly extending it toward Chen You.

His eyes were filled with reluctance, humiliation, and a trace of deeply hidden greed.

Chen You stood where he was and nodded in satisfaction.

"Old Huang, that's right." Chen You extended his right hand, preparing to take the heaven-swallowing bag. "Harmony brings wealth."

Just as Chen You's fingertips were about to touch the edge of the cloth bag.

A terrifying glint of ferocity suddenly erupted from Evil Venerable Huangmei's previously lowered eyes.

He instantly pulled back the heaven-swallowing bag with his left hand and gripped the air with his right, causing that short staff stained with the blood of countless living beings to appear out of thin air.

The violent demonic power of a mythological-grade Lord was poured into it without reservation, and the short staff erupted with a blinding blood-red light.

"Fool! Go to hell!"

Evil Venerable Huangmei let out a deafening roar, gripped the short staff with both hands, and smashed it fiercely toward Chen You's crown with the power to destroy the heavens and earth.

He had been planning this strike for a long time.

The heaven-swallowing bag couldn't do anything to his opponent, but as long as he closed the distance and caught him when his guard was down, a full-force strike from a mythological-grade entity would be enough to smash him into a pulp.

Those gold coins, and that terrifying flying sword, would all be his for the taking!

The short staff landed solidly on top of Chen You's head.

"Bang!"

A dull impact echoed through the great hall, and the rolling airwaves blew away all the surrounding blue bricks.

The hideous grin on Evil Venerable Huangmei's face froze instantly.

Chen You's head didn't even wobble.

He stood where he was, not even a hair out of place.

A highly insulting number floated slowly up from above Chen You's head.

[ - 1! ]

The air suddenly went quiet.

The wild wind in the great hall stalled.

Evil Venerable Huangmei widened his eyes, his dark green slit pupils contracting violently.

He looked at that glaring "- 1", then looked at Chen You's unscathed head, completely dumbfounded.

He was a level 50 mythological-grade Lord!

A full-force strike, and he hadn't even broken this human's skin?

Chen You sighed and raised his hand to touch his hair.

"I already gave you money, why do you still want to hit me?"

There was a hint of helplessness in Chen You's tone.

With his current defense of over 50,000 and 220,000 HP, a pure physical sneak attack like this didn't even count as scratching an itch.

A clucking sound came from Evil Venerable Huangmei's throat; he wanted to retreat, but his body was frozen.

"No... this is impossible..."

"In your next life, try being a monster who keeps their word."

Chen You pressed his right hand's fingers together like a sword and waved them casually.

The yuhuang sword hovering in mid-air let out a clear, resonant hum, transformed into a streak of light, and instantly pierced through the center of Evil Venerable Huangmei's forehead.

First-strike double damage, plus a critical hit—instant kill.

Evil Venerable Huangmei's massive body collapsed with a crash, turning into a sky full of data light points.

[Ding! Congratulations on killing the mythological-grade Lord Evil Venerable Huangmei, gained EXP + 5000!]

[Quest 'Western Border Demon Purge' progress: 81 / 81.]

Chen You ignored the system notification, his gaze fixed intently on the spot where Evil Venerable Huangmei's corpse had disappeared.

That dark golden heaven-swallowing bag had also turned into specks of starlight following Evil Venerable Huangmei's death, dissipating into the air.

Chen You froze.

He walked up quickly and rummaged around on the ground, but there was absolutely no sign of the heaven-swallowing bag.

"Damn it!"

Chen You cursed loudly.

"Symbiotic magic treasure? The master dies and the treasure vanishes?"

Chen You looked at his empty hands, his heart aching so much he couldn't breathe.

That was a mythological-grade spatial magic treasure!

Just like that, it was gone.

Chen You pulled a long face, collected the gold coins on the ground into his inventory, summoned the yuhuang sword, and soared into the sky.

...

Cangxing City, Supreme Tower.

Chen You kicked open the heavy door of the Supreme Tower.

In the lobby, the NPC Hill was standing behind the counter, stacking gold coins like an arhat.

Hearing the commotion, Hill looked up and revealed her signature professional fake smile.

"Yo, Boss, you're too fierce! Back so soon!" Hill put down the gold coins in her hand and crossed her arms on the counter. "It seems those 81 Lords didn't cause you any trouble."

Chen You strode to the counter and slammed the cyber merit wooden fish heavily onto the table.

"Cut the crap." Chen You pulled over a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs. "I lost a fortune on this crappy quest!"

Hill's smile didn't fade. "Lost? Boss, you are the man who is about to obtain a mythological-grade pill that instantly boosts you to level 50."

"This is a one-of-a-kind honor for the whole server, something countless Adventurers can't even dream of getting."

Chen You sneered.

"Honor my ass! Do you know how high a price I paid to complete this quest?"

Chen You started counting on his fingers.

"Mental distress fees, lost wages, flying sword wear-and-tear fees, and that mythological-grade magic treasure of mine that got swindled away!"

Hill raised an eyebrow. "A mythological-grade magic treasure that got swindled away?"

"Yes!" Chen You said righteously. "That monster named Huangmei in the final stage had a heaven-swallowing bag in his hand."

"I thought the thing was pretty good, so I planned to pay money to buy it and turn it in... buy it for my own use."

"But the moment he died, the bag just vanished!"

Chen You slapped the table, filled with righteous indignation.

"This is a design flaw in your system! It's fraud! You must give me an explanation!"

Hill was stunned for a moment; she hadn't expected such a "robbery" kind of logic.

"Boss, symbiotic magic treasures dissipating upon the master's death is a basic law of the Source Realm. You cannot count your failed greed as a system flaw."

"I don't care." Chen You activated his scoundrel mode.

He knew well that reasoning with capitalists was a dead end; he could only fight magic with magic.

"If it weren't for this crappy wooden fish of yours giving me bad directions, would I have had to risk my life fighting that weasel?"

"I don't care, you have to compensate me with a heaven-swallowing bag, or I'm not turning in this quest."

Chen You sat in the chair, legs crossed, his toe bobbing up and down.

He crossed his arms, assuming the posture of a deadbeat who was determined to "stay right here if you don't pay me."

Behind the counter, the professional fake smile on Hill's face froze.

She looked at the cyber merit wooden fish on the table that had been slapped until it cracked, then looked at Chen You's righteous face, her mouth twitching uncontrollably.

"Boss." Hill took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly. "You are making things difficult for me."

"So what if I am making things difficult for you?" Chen You snorted coldly. "Do you understand the Consumer Rights Protection Law?"

"I spent money, accepted the quest, and even ran all those unnecessary miles following your wicked directions, only to finally find the target and fight to the death."

"And what was the result? The loot was blacked out by the system! Where can I go to reason this out?"

Hill didn't retort immediately.

She lowered her head, her shoulders starting to shake slightly.

Chen You frowned.

Is this NPC about to power up? Or is she getting ready to call for backup?

The next second, Hill snapped her head up.

Her originally meticulously styled blonde hair was now somewhat messy, and her eye sockets were actually rimmed with bloodshot red.

"Do you think I wanted to give you bad directions?!" Hill suddenly raised her volume, grabbed her own collar, her chest heaving with it.

"Do you think I designed this crappy quest?!"