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

"Your template mutated too?" Yunxi asked, shocked.

*Is template mutation like cabbage these days? So easy that suddenly there are two around?*

"Mutated?" Cheng Bingxi finally reacted, realizing the Dean didn't know about Xiao Ye's ability to upgrade templates. "Oh, yeah, just yesterday my Nine-tailed Celestial Fox template mutated too, and after the mutation, I felt way stronger—I could punch out two of my old selves with one blow!"

She showed off her fair, rosy biceps with pride.

Yunxi said enviously, "That kind of mutation is no joke. You got real lucky."

*Even though she had stepped into the Quasi-Saint Realm, she still deeply coveted this sort of mutation.*

*But you couldn't force a template mutation. There were countless possible directions—some mutations would ruin you, others would make you stronger, but nobody could guarantee it would always be a good thing.*

Quasi-Saint, meant turning your own body into an attribute body. Once the body was fully transformed, you could step into the Saint Realm. After that, you could harness Rule Power. Quasi-Emperor was about turning your own body into a Rule Body, and once that was complete, you'd be at Emperor Level.

Right now, from her perspective, Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi's bodies looked just like Rule Bodies, filled with profound mystery and enigma.

Every move they made stirred up Rule Power, but neither of them knew how to use it—or rather, they just didn't have the ability yet.

Xiao Ye wasn't aware of her thoughts.

But Mythical Level templates had been upgraded from SSS-level templates, using 150 Rule Fragment Crystals to evolve.

Nine-tailed Celestial Foxes were born with life and death mastery—they controlled Life and Destruction factors.

Five-Clawed Golden Dragons were born with Five Elements mastery—controlling the elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Cheng Bingxi laughed and said, "It was all thanks to Xiao Ye that we managed to mutate successfully."

"All the credit goes to Xiao Ye."

Xiao Ye?

Suddenly Yunxi's beautiful eyes locked onto him, making Xiao Ye's heart thump nervously. This version is sourced from MV3L3MPYR.

"Dean, we agreed on five liters. I'm not giving you any extra. I'll deliver them to you in batches this month," Xiao Ye said, stepping back.

"Five liters it is," Yunxi replied, looking away with the tiniest blush on her ears.

*She had actually just considered wanting to form a contract with Xiao Ye. If she did, maybe her template would mutate successfully too.*

*A lifeform on par with Emperor Level—she wanted that!*

*But the moment the thought was born, she shot it down.*

*Impossible.*

*If she formed a contract with Xiao Ye, what about Yun Bing?*

*There's no way both of them could form a contract with Xiao Ye, right?*

*No way. She couldn't do it, and Yun Bing couldn't do it either.*

*Yunxi felt a bit frustrated, rubbing her temples, and said, "We've gutted the Elf Territory. The Hong Family will definitely come asking. You two keep participating in the training, and actively walk into the kill zone. When the time is right, I'll expose it on the spot as evidence to confront the Hong Family."

*If we just went straight to the Hong Family with nothing but talk, they'd deny everything. What kill zone? As if.*

*But if caught at the scene…*

*You killed my students, so I kicked over your Elf Territory. What are you gonna do about it?*

"Dean, thank you," Cheng Bingxi said, so touched by her thoughtfulness that she nearly cried.

"Didn't you want some Golden Blood? I'll bleed for you right now!"

With that, Cheng Bingxi raised her pristine wrist, preparing to cut herself to draw blood.

Xiao Ye's mouth twitched. He quickly stopped her, snapping, "I'll do the bleeding. What are you doing? You're not bleeding for anyone, got it?"

Cheng Bingxi obediently gave up, letting out an, "Oh," as she glanced apologetically at Yunxi. "Sorry."

Yunxi's pretty face turned dark. *Ugh, are you two seriously flirting right now?*

"Ahem, it's fine, I'll send you into the Underground Crystal Ore now—just do your training as usual," Yunxi said, waving her hand and activating Spatial Teleportation, sending the two straight to the core passage of the Underground Crystal Ore.

Yunxi had also noticed the abnormality of the Conception Crystal Essence and Conception Crystal Stone, so she instantly used Spatial Imprisonment, locking down all the tricks the Elf King had left inside.

She decided to release the restriction only after Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi finished their training.

Meanwhile…

The Hong Family's mission operatives, scattered throughout the Underground Crystal Ore, were running around in circles, growing frantic. After over an hour of searching, none of them had found Xiao Ye.

The mission leader, a gray-robed man, frowned so hard it looked like a river cut across his brow.

The tool, Mu Qingxue, had already reached the destination cave, cultivating and absorbing insights from the Crystal Essence he'd planted there—for over an hour now.

But their main target, Xiao Ye, had vanished, still nowhere to be seen.

"Guess this mission is going to be a bust," the gray-robed man sighed. Young Master Hong Tao had trusted him with this important task, but he just couldn't get it done, and it gnawed at him.

He glanced at the colorless, odorless, aura-less Venerable-Level Hehuan Powder in his hand, then stored it back in his spatial storage—it was useless now.

As for why Xiao Ye had left, he honestly didn't know, but he wasn't worried at all. He did not believe for a second that Xiao Ye could know their plan, or realize this was a kill zone.

When it came to mission secrecy, the gray-robed man was confident.

Just as he was about to report the mission's failure to Young Master Hong Tao, his communicator beeped with a new message.

[Target Xiao Ye spotted, location: Core Passage, Node 108]

"What?"

The gray-robed man was overjoyed. Node 108 was the last node on the core passage—it was the farthest, and the most hidden spot. No wonder the others hadn't found him.

[Go time. This time, only success, no screw-ups.] he ordered.

[Copy that][Copy that][Copy that]… the mission operatives replied.

At Node 108 in the core passage,

the two appeared on the ground. After scanning their surroundings, Xiao Ye instructed, "Bingxi, about template upgrades—besides my Contracted Beast Maiden, don't tell anyone. And don't let anybody take your blood either."

"Not even the Dean?" she asked.

Xiao Ye shook his head, "Nope."

Cheng Bingxi: "Oh."

After giving that reminder, Xiao Ye and Bingxi started strolling through the core passage.

At that moment, waves of fluctuating Profound Power rose from the core passage ahead.

It was the aura of Crystal Essence.

The two exchanged grins. *No doubt the Hong Family released this on purpose, trying to lure him into the kill zone.*

*Knowing full well it was a kill zone, neither of them was the least bit nervous or scared. Instead, they charged headlong toward the source of the aura.*

*With Dean Yunxi watching from above, the two didn't have to worry about safety.*

After a wild dash, Xiao Ye and Cheng Bingxi found themselves in a tumbledown cave.

Besides a fist-sized chunk of Crystal Essence, the only thing inside was a slender figure, kneeling with both legs folded beneath her.

"Weird, what's she doing here?" Xiao Ye wondered, confused.

*But damn, the Hong Family was so stingy! This kill zone, and all they put here was a fist-sized lump of Essence? Did they really think such a small piece would lure him over?*

*He had almost five thousand tons of Essence stored in his System space.*

With a loud rumble,

the cave entrance was blocked by a massive boulder.

Cheng Bingxi's vision went black and she pitched forward.

Xiao Ye hurried to steady her and, after checking, realized she'd taken a hit from some sort of Sleep Skill—she was just knocked out for now.

He intended to wake her up immediately, but for some reason, his body suddenly grew feverish.