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

At this moment, the two were on the central passage, which led directly to the slide back to the surface.

This place connected everywhere, and also linked to all parts of the underground crystal ore.

The current goal of Xiao Ye was to find the territory of the Phantom Spirit Elf Race, since the Phantom Spirit King Beast's bloodline would certainly be lodged in that territory.

Right then, a member of the patrol unit in the central passage reported up about Xiao Ye's appearance on the passage.

The execution squad's leader, the man in gray, gave the order, "Begin the kill plan!"

Once the operatives received the command, they steadily activated the setup that had been prepared.

Whoosh!

At the end of the central passage, a dense Profound Power suddenly appeared, seeping into the space itself, its aura spreading across the entire corridor.

At this moment, everyone in the central passage—Yang Junming, Jie Gangtai, Xiao Ye, and Cheng Bingxi—all felt it.

"The aura of crystal essence!"

Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi exchanged a look, then spoke at the same time.

Wherever there was crystal essence, there had to be a Phantom Spirit King Beast, so Xiao Ye made a snap decision, pulling Cheng Bingxi as they dashed toward the source of the aura.

Cheng Bingxi became a bit anxious, "Xiao Ye, isn't this maybe just the Hong Family's way to lure us in?"

"If we just barge in, it's like sending ourselves to our deaths."

Xiao Ye reassured her, "We're not going to die. On top of our life-saving equipment, we've got those two Venerable Level pieces Yang Junming gave us."

"To kill two people at the Grandmaster Realm, the Hong Family's top-level forces would only be at Great Venerable Realm. The Venerable Level stuff—Patriarch Hong's caliber—there's no way he'd personally come after two nobodies like us."

*Cheng Bingxi, clever as always, knew these things, but she still worried, what if…*

Seeing she was still a little tense, Xiao Ye teased, "I heard the meat of an Elf King Beast's tender and juicy, all fat and sizzle. When it's cooked, the grease just crackles—you don't want to catch a couple and bring 'em back for a feast?"

Cheng Bingxi was a foodie, and the mention of delicious food instantly blew her worries and nerves out of sight, her pretty face lighting up with excitement.

"I do! So let's hurry and get over there."

After hashing out their plans, they picked up speed, racing toward the source of the essence's aura.

Ten minutes later, the two had crossed nearly ten thousand meters, making their way to the deepest part of the underground crystal ore, stopping inside a vast, wild, and ruined space.

The aura of the crystal essence was emanating from a piece the size of a fist up ahead.

But there wasn't a single Phantom Spirit Elf anywhere around.

This was a setup, clearly laid as bait. Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi only needed one glance to see through it.

In the shadows, the gray-clothed Great Venerable hid himself completely, suppressing his aura. He stared quietly at Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi as they arrived, pulling out a communicator to issue his orders,

[Target personnel: Xiao Ye is in position]

[Other target personnel: Mu Qingxue has not yet appeared]

He quickly received word from a subordinate, "Target personnel Mu Qingxue is on her way."

The gray-clad man smirked. With both targets in place, the kill plan could really get going.

As for Cheng Bingxi on the scene, he'd just go over and knock her out later; it wouldn't affect the plan at all.

Xiao Ye and his companion were in no mood to just sit and wait for death.

Xiao Ye released the Elf King Beast from the Holy Spirit Secret Realm, placing it beside the crystal essence.

The Venerable Realm Muscle Elf had recovered somewhat from its injuries, and upon seeing the surroundings, lit up with delight. Ignoring the crystal essence nearby, it shifted into a phantom state, then leapt with all its might into the rock itself. This сhаptеr is pаrt оf thе соllесtiоn оn МV2LЕМР2YR.

A ring of light appeared, and Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi entered the space channel, arriving at the Heart of the Holy Spirit Secret Realm.

By the Heart of the Secret Realm a scene materialized.

It showed the Muscle Elf racing deeper into the stone.

With the halo mark of the Holy Spirit Secret Realm on the Muscle Elf, Xiao Ye guessed there was a good chance this elf would make it back to its territory and send word that the two hundred-plus Phantom Spirit Elves at the base had all been wiped out.

The man in gray in the ruined cave was startled; the target had entered the light ring and vanished.

He rushed over to where the light ring had been, but found nothing, the ring dissolving into points of light that faded away in the air.

The gray-clad man's face went dark—gone!

The target had left right under his nose. That was on him.

He whipped out his communicator and urgently issued an order,

[Target: Xiao Ye has disappeared, plan back to step one, lure target to the target location]

His subordinate replied, [Target personnel: Mu Qingxue is en route to the target location]

The man in gray twitched his lips; Mu Qingxue was just a tool, not the real target. Xiao Ye was the important one.

*He worried that Xiao Ye had already left the underground crystal ore, which would mean all their elaborate plotting was for nothing.*

Meanwhile,

The Muscle Elf, in its phantom form, shuttled through rock. After half an hour of nonstop travel, it had crossed close to a hundred thousand meters, finally arriving at a grotto heaven full of profound conceptions.

This place resembled an underground world, huge beyond imagining, with ancient palaces built of giant stone, green plants everywhere, and tiny, adorable Phantom Spirit Elves living within.

There were also patrols of brawny Elf Squads on duty.

The Muscle Elf hurried anxiously into an enormous palace. As soon as it entered, it knelt in worship, chattering away in elvish, making throat-slitting motions over and over.

On the bronze crystal-essence throne, the two-meter-tall, imposing Elf King's brow furrowed as he flew into a rage.

More than two hundred elves slaughtered by humans—utter humiliation.

Over the past thousand years, humans had mined in its territory. Normally, the phantom state Phantom Spirit Elves couldn't be harmed, and fewer than fifty elves had ever died at human hands.

But today, more than two hundred Phantom Spirit Elves had been killed in a single stroke.

He was furious and determined on revenge, to make the humans pay the price.

The Venerable Realm Muscle Elf lit up with joy at these words, clapping its hands in approval.

For camps like its own, there were nine more in the underground crystal ore, and even more smaller bases scattered below, numbering over a hundred.

Over the past thousand years, the Phantom Spirit Elves had already laid out the underground crystal ore.

Every one of the small bases and main camps had been stocked with Conception Crystal Stones or crystal essence, imbued with elven means—able to be triggered like nukes at any moment, collapsing the entire underground crystal ore and burying it whole!

The Elf King used its bloodline power to send out commands.

Immediately, at every base and main camp throughout the underground mine, the Phantom Spirit Elves who received the summons through their bloodlines all headed back, starting the total return to their territory.

This all went on in secret, unnoticed by the trainees or even the members of the Hong Family.

As time went on, more and more elves returned to Elf Territory, a steady stream pouring in.

After half an hour, the King Beast Elves from each main camp assembled in the huge palace, reported in to the Elf King one by one, and then the Elf King waved his hand grandly.