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

By using Earth Element Control, one could also sense the presence of Conception Crystal Stones, but it was not as convenient as directly sensing vitality to precisely locate the Phantom Spirit Elves.

In an undeveloped area, dust swirled through the air, boulders jutted everywhere, and all that could be seen were rocks.

But Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi sensed a strong pulse of life within.

There were at least five or six Spiritual Illusion Elves present.

The two exchanged a glance, and Xiao Ye immediately used Earth Element Control, breaking open the rocks, automatically carving out a passage leading further inside.

A few seconds later, a half-meter Conception Crystal Stone appeared before them.

Six Spiritual Illusion Elves were hiding behind the Conception Crystal Stone, chattering noisily about something.

Xiao Ye was a bit surprised. The purity of this Conception Crystal Stone had already surpassed 80 percent; it was a Conception Crystal Stone up to circulation standards, yet its size was astonishingly large.

In the market, one standard-sized Conception Crystal Stone could only be bought with a Crystal Core from a Venerable, and was only as big as a fist.

The one before them, however, was half a meter in size, equivalent to several hundred of the usual standard.

"Ssst!" With a sound, Xiao Ye unleashed Earth Element Control, causing several pitch-black spikes to burst from the ground, piercing through five Grandmaster Realm Spiritual Illusion Elves.

Because it happened so suddenly, the Spiritual Illusion Elves didn't have time to shift into their Void Bodies, all being impaled clean through.

Xiao Ye silently activated the extraction function of the Template Adjuster, targeting the Rule Fragment Crystals.

As the force of extraction descended,

[Grandmaster Realm Spiritual Illusion Elf, successfully extracted three Spirit Illusion Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Grandmaster Realm Spiritual Illusion Elf, successfully extracted two Earth Attribute Rule Fragment Crystals]

The five Phantom Spirit Elves turned into shimmering motes of light and vanished into the air; only one Elf remained, squealing in panic, instantly converting its body into a Phantom State. It dived straight into the rock and dashed deeper inside.

Xiao Ye put away the half-meter cuboid Conception Crystal Stone.

Cheng Bingxi asked in confusion, "Why let it escape?"

Xiao Ye grinned, "I've already marked it with an aura imprint, which is essentially a tracker. Now, tell me, where do you think that Elf will go after it flees?"

Cheng Bingxi's beautiful eyes lit up, "Back to their main base?" The genuine article resides on M|V|L&EMPYR.

Xiao Ye nodded, "Exactly! The Elves' main base had to be far from the cave, deep in the crystal ore veins. The Elves we detected in the cave with Life and Death Conception just popped up here and there."

"But the main base is different; there'll be swarms of Elves. We can pick off a whole group in one go."

Three Spirit Illusion Rule Fragment Crystals lay quietly in the System Space, glowing with a spiritual luster that hovered between reality and illusion, hazy to the eye. They looked real at a glance, but left you doubting yourself, as if they were an illusion.

Xiao Ye walked toward the rocks, continually using Earth Element Control to open up a passage.

Cheng Bingxi followed behind.

After carving a tunnel over five hundred meters deep, they were already well inside the rock.

A sizable underground space appeared before them.

At the center of the gigantic cave, a ten-meter cuboid Conception Crystal Stone stood, with dozens of Spiritual Illusion Elves clustered around it.

"Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp!" This was a small group of Elves led by a Great Grandmaster Realm Elf.

After the Great Grandmaster "boss" Elf let out a string of chattering calls, the whole group shifted into Phantom States, fully integrating with the air.

They vanished from Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi's sight.

But Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi could still sense them present; they were still there, only their bodies had turned to Phantom State.

Invisible to the naked eye, untouchable as well!

*Whether entity or phantom, both were lifeforms—there was still life force within them.*

"Whoosh!" A pitch-black spike shot up from the ground, piercing the air, but failed to injure the Elves.

The Phantom State Phantom Spirit Elves took formation, closing in on Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi from all sides.

Bang! Void Realm Energy Bombs shot forth one after another.

The Void Realm Energy Bombs were invisible, yet packed explosive destructive force.

Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi dodged in a flash, avoiding the attacks, as the energy bombs blasted into the rocks, gouging out sizable craters.

Cheng Bingxi instantly activated [Master of Life and Death]

She manipulated life factors, directly extracting vitality.

*What was the use of Phantom State? Under a vitality drain, each Phantom Spirit Elf quickly grew weak and feeble, growing old almost instantly.*

The weakened Elves could no longer maintain their Phantom States and were forced back into their typical entity forms.

The moment they reverted, the vitality extraction continued without pause.

Dozens of Spiritual Illusion Elves were drained dry, one after another dropping with a thud, collapsing on the floor, teetering on the verge of death.

Xiao Ye activated the Template Adjuster's extraction function.

[Grandmaster Realm Phantom Spirit Elf, successfully extracted 35 Spirit Illusion Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Grandmaster Realm Phantom Spirit Elf, successfully extracted 20 Earth Element Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Grandmaster Realm Phantom Spirit Elf, successfully extracted 10 Creation Rule Fragment Crystals]

[Great Grandmaster Realm Phantom Spirit Elf, successfully extracted 2 Spirit Illusion Rule Fragment Crystals]

Spirit Illusion Type Elves could have both Spirit Illusion and Earth Attributes.

Another 37 Spirit Illusion Crystals in the bag—Xiao Ye was delighted. Counting the previous three, there were forty in total.

This round, Cheng Bingxi had nearly wiped out this little group, leaving only one Grandmaster Ten-Star Phantom Spirit Elf alive.

"This is just a small outpost, not their main base. Letting one go so it can lead the way," she reminded him.

Xiao Ye moved fast, marking the fleeing, panicked Phantom Spirit Elf with an aura imprint.

The aura imprint was a token of the Sacred Spirit Secret Realm, a Space Type imprint, able to mark even a Phantom State target and capable of directly opening a spatial channel.

The Phantom Spirit Elves didn't stay in Phantom State, hiding in rocks forever. It was impossible for them to maintain that state all the time. Their actual habitat was always a wide, underground cavern.

Looking at the ten-meter cuboid Conception Crystal Stone in the center of this huge cavern, Cheng Bingxi's pretty face lit up with joy. She said,

"Its purity is even higher than the last one, and it's even bigger. How many Crystal Cores would this Conception Crystal Stone fetch?"

She stretched out all ten slender, pale fingers to count but ended up realizing that ten fingers weren't enough.

Xiao Ye put the Conception Crystal Stone away, saying, "Don't bother counting. This one's for us—we're not selling it!"

Cheng Bingxi said, "Oh."

In a massive underground cavern more than ten thousand meters away from the two,

a squad of ten Grandmaster Ten-Star Phantom Spirit Elves had captured a man wearing a Titan Battle Suit; they were chattering away, reporting something to their Venerable Realm Spirit Illusion Elf leader.

Yang Junming looked terrified. Having only just entered the Grandmaster Realm, he could not resist being captured, let alone hope to break free and escape.

His gaze swept the area; there were at least several hundred Phantom Spirit Elves in this huge cavern.

Nearly all of them were at the Great Grandmaster Realm.

The Elf sitting high above was different from the others—muscular, tall, exuding the powerful aura of the Venerable Realm.

When the Grandmaster squad finished their report, the muscular Elf on the throne gestured a throat-slitting motion.

"Screwed," Yang Junming exclaimed.