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

The plan got canceled, the whole operation fell apart, and Hong Tao was feeling absolutely miserable.

The three-hundred-pound Contractor waddled over, noticed his sour expression, and asked what was up.

Hong Tao spilled everything and said, "We'll let him go this time, and look for another chance later."

"Later?" The three-hundred-pound Contractor's face darkened, "Hong Tao, you useless piece of shit, you can't even kill a low-level punk without dragging your ass—you're seriously getting worse and worse."

Hong Tao pondered, "I'll go see Venerable Kunpeng myself and buy some Life and Destruction Materials. Xiao Ye's got ties to two Venerable-level powerhouses, I can't take this lightly."

Buying Life and Destruction Materials, he had already braced himself for bleeding money.

The Contractor's face finally eased up a bit, "Hmph, whatever, do what you want."

Phew! Hong Tao let out a breath of relief.

The assassination plan was canceled, and the operatives stationed in the Underground Crystal Ore also started getting the word, wiped all traces, and left.

In a cave not far from the main slide passage, Cheng Bingxi glanced around nervously, making sure no one was nearby before holding out her right hand.

Her pale-white index finger tapped gently in her palm, and in an instant a circular halo floated up, hovering two meters in front of her. Then it suddenly expanded, turning into a two-meter-wide white ring of light.

A spatial tunnel quietly formed inside the ring.

Already inside the Spirit Secret Realm, Xiao Ye sensed it and stepped through the Heart of the Secret Realm, entering the space tunnel in a flash, then stepped right out through the circular halo.

The sound of a single step echoed as Xiao Ye landed—he had arrived at the Underground Crystal Ore.

Cheng Bingxi was clearly nervous, but her pretty face quickly relaxed, breaking into a smile as bright as a flower in bloom.

Xiao Ye nodded and grinned, "Smuggling mission accomplished! So next up, we—"

Suddenly, Xiao Ye's face turned hard. He immediately lashed out, grabbing at the crystal ore wall next to him.

With a thunderous crash, the wall was smashed through, and a small, adorable elf got snatched up in his hand.

"Jeejeejeejee!" The tiny elf's arms and legs flailed madly in panic.

Cheng Bingxi curiously asked, "So this is the Phantom Spirit Elf?"

Xiao Ye realized his grip had grabbed thin air.

The little elf's body went incorporeal and slipped free like mist, vanishing straight into the crystal ore to make its escape.

A Grandmaster-level Spiritual Illusion Elf, with the innate skill of freely switching between corporeal and ethereal forms.

Xiao Ye's mouth twitched, "I should've just crushed it straight away."

Cheng Bingxi protested, "It was so cute."

Xiao Ye looked at her incredulously, "Don't tell me you feel sorry for it."

Cheng Bingxi shook her head, "No, I think it'd be even better to drain all its life force so it ages to dust and then crush it after."

Xiao Ye, "..."

Footsteps echoed in the cave, and a five-foot-three man came hurrying over.

"Xiao Ye, what are you doing here!" Jie Gangtai exclaimed in shock.

He'd rushed over after hearing the crash, thinking it was Mu Qingxue causing trouble, but instead, ran right into Xiao Ye.

Thud, thud, thud! Jie Gangtai instinctively backed away a few steps.

Cheng Bingxi's brows shot up, "It's you!"

Xiao Ye cracked his knuckles and strolled forward, a huge, cheerful smile stretching his face, "What a coincidence—just got here and run into you. Perfect, let's have a little practice match."

*Xiao Ye definitely hadn't forgotten how smug and arrogant Jie Gangtai had been at the entrance test. If he hadn't run his mouth so much, would Xiao Ye have needed to use the Spirit Secret Realm to sneak in?*

A flicker of fear flashed in Jie Gangtai's eyes, "I'm the son of the City Lord's Mansion's first commander, you'd better not do anything stupid, or else…"

Xiao Ye didn't let him finish, smashing a punch straight at his face and nailing him right on the nose.

Crunch—bones caved in and snapped as Jie Gangtai went flying like a cut string kite.

A bloody scream tore from him as he slammed into the wall.

Cheng Bingxi stepped forward and kicked him twice, snorting, "I've wanted to do this for ages."

Xiao Ye noticed where she kicked and involuntarily felt a chill in his crotch.

Jie Gangtai wailed in pain, "Mercy, Lady Hero! Xiao Ye, spare me!"

"Spare me!"

"Even though I'm the first commander's son, I swear I'll walk the long way anytime I see you guys from now on."

Seeing how quick he caved, Cheng Bingxi suddenly found it boring—she'd been hoping to kick him a few more times.

"Hand it over." Xiao Ye extended his hand.

Jie Gangtai was confused, "Hand what over?"

Xiao Ye punched him in the gut, "Your life money, if you don't wanna die."

Jie Gangtai belonged to the City Lord's Mansion and was the first commander's son; a beating was fine, but killing him would bring the City Lord's wrath and a mountain of trouble.

So, teaching him a lesson—and some mental compensation—would be enough.

Jie Gangtai struggled to climb out of the wall, fish out a Venerable-level attack weapon from his storage ring, and put on a fake smile, "Brother Xiao, here ya go!"

Xiao Ye rolled his eyes, snatched the whole storage ring, forced it open, and pulled out every resource and piece of equipment inside.

Then he tossed the storage ring back and grinned, "Left you a little something."

Jie Gangtai peeked inside, his face instantly dropping.

Now the storage ring only had his personal clothes and items—every resource and weapon had been taken.

Xiao Ye inventoried his haul—dozens of Venerable Crystal Cores, several hundred Grandmaster Crystal Cores, a Venerable-level attack weapon, a Supreme-level piece of defensive gear, and some Grandmaster-level medical potions. Note from the editor: Always check MV2LEMPYR for corrections.

"Since you're so damn generous, I'll let you go this time," Xiao Ye said with a smile.

Jie Gangtai replied through gritted teeth, "Thanks a lot."

Xiao Ye patted him on the shoulder, "You're great—come challenge us again anytime."

*Jie Gangtai was about to cough up blood from rage. Are you kidding me? You want a next time?!*

*What, you addicted to robbing me now or what?!*

"There's not gonna be a next time." Jie Gangtai blurted that out and bolted, even forgetting to put on his fallen shoes, running barefoot and scrambling over rocks and shards in panic, as if Xiao Ye might chase him down any second.

Xiao Ye touched his own cheek, "Am I really that scary?"

Cheng Bingxi snorted with laughter.

The two of them then picked a direction to head deeper into the Underground Crystal Ore, ready to harvest Rule Fragment Crystals and hunt Elf King Beasts.

Clang!

Jie Gangtai, running in a panic, crashed into someone. Scared out of his mind, he thought Xiao Ye had blocked his way and begged without looking up, "Xiao Ye, have mercy, I'll go the long way right now."

"Xiao Ye?" The gray-clad man he'd bumped into grabbed Jie Gangtai and asked, "You saw Xiao Ye here?"

Hearing that unfamiliar voice, Jie Gangtai realized it was someone else. He finally took a deep breath and relaxed a little.

The gray-cloaked man asked again, "You saw Xiao Ye in this Underground Crystal Ore?"

Calmed down now, Jie Gangtai looked him up and down, his usual arrogance returning as he sneered, "Who the hell are you, blocking the way and making your grandpa here hurt? Gimme some medical potions as compensation!"

Jie Gangtai pointed to his collapsed nose and said, "See? Look what you did to me!"

"And my shoes—god knows where you knocked those off to!"

"Pay up medical potions first, then maybe I'll answer your question."

The Ops Team leader, the gray-clad man, smirked. As someone at the peak of the Great Venerable Realm, it was the first time anyone had ever tried to pull a scam on his own turf.

*Interesting. Way too interesting.*