Animal-eared Girl Era: Start by Forming a Contract with an SSS-Class School Belle

The sneaky way these two were inspecting the Heart of the Secret Realm was perfectly reflected in the golden, lantern-like vertical pupils of the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon up above.

Their actions made it obvious to anyone—they were looking for some kind of heavenly treasure.

*Nangong Siyao was speechless, thinking,* So we worked our asses off to lure away the Alligator Turtle Demon Beast Group, and now you two want to swoop in for the scraps?

The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon let out a cold snort and swooped down, its fifty-meter-long dragon head looming right in front of Jie Gangtai. It said coldly,

"You, the guy who couldn't even bother with the Alligator Turtle Demon Beast Group, didn't you say we were a nuisance? So why are you trying to snatch the rewards now?"

Jie Gangtai, with a handsome face and just about five-foot-seven, was stunned by the giant beast, then looked a little embarrassed and said, "Don't make it sound so ugly, okay? I put in some effort too."

"You think you could've scared off the whole Alligator Turtle Demon Beast Group by yourself? Xue'Er and I did our part too!"

"Isn't that right, Xue'Er?" He looked at her, hopeful.

Mu Qingxue scoffed, saying with disdain, "Like hell we did. All bark and no bite, King of Talking Big?"

"Ugh!" Jie Gangtai's expression froze, and he was left speechless.

*He was losing it inside,* Xue'Er, whose side are you on?! We're supposed to be on the same team here, damn it. *

He didn't dare say those words out loud, but Jie Gangtai stared straight at the dragon's massive head, wanting to argue back. Yet when he met the Golden Dragon's awe-inspiring golden eyes, his heart shuddered hard, and though he opened his mouth, the words just wouldn't come out!

Watching Jie Gangtai get put in his place, Nangong Siyao couldn't help but snicker, her mood instantly lifting.

The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon returned to the sky, still keeping a close eye on all their moves.

Xiao Ye was pretty curious too. What exactly were those two looking for? There was nothing on the rocks, but they kept poking around here and there.

Mu Qingxue and Jie Gangtai kept moving over the rock formations.

Their detection tech, made with post-apocalyptic materials and expert craftsmanship, worked kinda like a metal detector. They had to scan each area, and if it found something, it would beep an alert.

After a long search, Mu Qingxue stopped and declared, "There's nothing here."

The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, a bit curious, asked, "What are you looking for?"

Mu Qingxue replied, "Just some kid—"

The moment the words left her mouth, she cut herself off. The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon was downright a primordial beast, massive, imposing—damn, nothing about that thing was "small."

*Calling him "kid" really didn't fit.*

So she changed her tune and said, "Even if I told you, you wouldn't get it, so there's no point."

Then she and Jie Gangtai left the rock formations, getting farther away. They were off to search the next spot for the Heart of the Secret Realm.

Jie Gangtai's cheerful voice drifted back, "You take your high road, we'll take our little wooden bridge."

"See ya, kid!"

The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon watched the two leave. Nangong Siyao rolled her eyes, *As if I'd ever want to hang out with them in the first place.*

*Xiao Ye, on the other hand, felt like things weren't that simple.*

*Both of them came from the City Lord's Mansion. Judging from their goals, it looked like they weren't here to slay Demon Beasts and harvest life materials, but for something else. But what in the Secret Realm could be more tempting than life materials?*

*He couldn't figure it out, so he had to put it aside for now.*

The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon soared into the sky, heading towards the region where the Lighthouse Jellyfish lived.

Half an hour later,

the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon arrived above a stretch of sea. The sounds of fierce fighting were echoing from within the water.

The Alligator Turtle Demon Beast Group was at war with the Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beast Group.

The Alligator Turtle Demon Beasts generally had a higher Realm than the Lighthouse Jellyfish.

The Lighthouse Jellyfish were weaker attackers, smaller in size, and the Alligator Turtle Demon Beast Group seemed to know their habits and weaknesses pretty well—utterly overwhelming the Jellyfish, leaving them almost no chance to fight back. It was a total beatdown.

Xiao Ye couldn't help but be shocked. There were more than twenty Great Venerable Realm beasts in the Alligator Turtle group, five of them at the very Peak. Their defensive power was nuts, with those tough shells.

Good thing the Golden Dragon hadn't picked a fight with them. Otherwise, before he could even get fifty Crystals, he'd have to crush his teleportation device and bail out to save his own skin.

There were way more Lighthouse Jellyfish than Alligator Turtles, but their combat power just wasn't there—their specialty was using electricity.

As the Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beasts' death count climbed, Xiao Ye immediately activated the Template Adjuster's extraction function.

[Grandmaster Realm Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beast, successfully extracted 30 Life Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Venerable Realm Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beast, successfully extracted 90 Life Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Venerable Realm Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beast, successfully extracted 60 Creation Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Grandmaster Realm Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beast, successfully extracted 40 Thunder Attribute Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Great Venerable Realm Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beast, successfully extracted 3 Life Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Venerable Realm Alligator Turtle Demon Beast, successfully extracted 30 Life Rule Fragment Crystals]

The number of Crystals he'd just pulled made Xiao Ye downright giddy.

Sourced directly from MV6LEMP6YR.

In no time at all, he'd scored 153 Life-type Crystals, 60 Creation-type, and 40 Thunder Attribute ones.

Way more than the fifty Life-type he actually needed.

And down below, both beast groups were still locked in a bloody brawl.

Both sides were taking losses.

So, he wasn't just extracting from the Lighthouse Jellyfish Demon Beasts' corpses.

In the hundred-meter-deep waters, the King Leader of the Alligator Turtle Demon Beast Group—currently fighting two Peak Great Venerable Realm Lighthouse Jellyfish—was keeping a close eye on both enemies and allies. Suddenly, he noticed: Alligator Turtle Demon Beasts or Lighthouse Jellyfish that had just died, or were mortally wounded,

seemed to be swallowed up by some unspeakable horror, convulsing, their bodies decaying and rotting, a stench pouring out, then those corpses flattened and crumbled, drifting apart as silvery dust in the seawater.

The Alligator Turtle King Leader was furious!

These Lighthouse Jellyfish corpses were his spoils of war—an offering for the returning emperor.

The Alligator Turtle bodies, too—nobody else could touch those.

"You've got some nerve! Daring to mess with the property of the Alligator Turtle Race."

His whole aura flared, blasting away the two Peak Great Venerable Realm Lighthouse Jellyfish. The terrifying power of his Realm flooded the battlefield, hell-bent on hunting down the culprit behind the scenes.

Then Xiao Ye triggered the Template Adjuster's extraction again.

A vast power of extraction swept through.

The Lighthouse Jellyfish and Alligator Turtle Demon Beast corpses that had just died in battle began to rot and decay all over again, ultimately turning to dust.

The Alligator Turtle King Leader was dumbfounded. He watched his trophies being wiped out, but he just couldn't sense any trace of power. It felt like the bodies turned into powder all on their own—no external force at all.

As for the one pulling strings, he didn't have a clue!

"Hiss!"

The Alligator Turtle King Leader sucked in a cold breath. *That kind of terrifying stealth could only belong to a Supreme, or even something beyond Supreme!*

Right then, a majestic voice echoed from above,

"It was me. Don't panic—just keep hunting down the Lighthouse Jellyfish clan."