Chapter 41: Kujo Misae, Humiliated and Furious—Is the Yan Family Moving to Seize the Treasure Chest?

...

For a moment, the entire scene fell silent.

Qin Xuehou, Zhang Yucheng, General Wu, and everyone else turned their heads almost at the same time to look at Kujo Mise.

The system panel refreshed.

Only a moment ago, Kujo Mise had been coldly issuing the others an ultimatum, telling them to prepare to collect their corpses.

Wasn’t it an absolute impossibility to defeat it?

Hadn’t they needed three powerhouses like Zhang Yucheng?

Every professional in the vicinity stared at Kujo Mise with wide eyes. The scene remained silent for a long while before someone finally muttered, “Holy crap.”

“What... exactly happened?”

“How did we clear it?”

“What does it mean that one person’s contribution exceeded everyone else’s combined total? Has anything like this ever happened during the exploration of a Primordial Dungeon?”

“Huh?”

Only then did everyone realize that Kujo Mise had not been bluffing.

It was this summoner named Li Yao who was far stronger than anyone could have imagined.

Three S-ranks and one SS-rank had actually contributed less than he had alone?

Everyone was left in disarray.

Kujo Mise, meanwhile, was practically on the verge of madness.

A Purgatory-difficulty Primordial Dungeon had appeared fewer than ten times in all of human history.

It had been successfully conquered fewer than five times.

It was not that humans lacked the strength to conquer one. The real problem was that there was never enough time to assemble such an elite team.

And now she was being told that a summoner—a summoner who had hurried over only shortly before the dungeon opened and seemed to have been brought along merely to fill a slot—had single-handedly cleared a Purgatory-difficulty Primordial Dungeon?

What kind of joke was this?

The others did not understand how dangerous it had been. But what about her?

She had personally confronted that lord-class monster. Based on her understanding, there had been no possible way to defeat it.

“Li... Yao...”

Kujo Mise ground her teeth.

A trace of mortification colored her cool, exquisite face.

She clearly remembered asking Li Yao whether he was confident of conquering the dungeon.

That man’s answer had been astonishingly decisive.

She had boasted so boldly—and had been slapped in the face within seconds.

The expressions of those professionals as they looked at her were beyond description.

When had Kujo Mise ever suffered such humiliation?

More importantly, she had withdrawn early and therefore had not even received the first-clear reward.

If it had been an ordinary Primordial Dungeon, she might not have cared much.

But this was a Purgatory-difficulty dungeon!

Even setting aside the reward, having her name recorded on the first-clear list would have been an unparalleled honor.

...

The two Dragon Kingdom professionals were clearly far weaker than she was, yet they had...

As she dwelled on it, a feeling she had never experienced before welled up within Kujo Mise.

Was it... grievance?

The little princess of the Kujo family had been utterly broken by Li Yao.

Just then, streaks of light began flashing repeatedly at the dungeon entrance.

Two figures appeared first. Immediately afterward, another figure shot out from the entrance.

Li Yao’s icy voice rang out.

“I’ll say it one last time. Hand over the first-clear chests.”

“Why should we? Everyone entered the dungeon, and everyone faced danger. Why should we hand the first-clear chests over to you?”

Yang Junfei looked around at the powerful figures surrounding him, delight flashing across his face as he shouted.

“Why? Because you contributed one percent. You hid in a corner and did nothing, yet you still want the first-clear chests?”

Did every stray cat and dog think it could take his chests?

Dream on.

He had fought tooth and nail to clear the secret realm. He certainly had not done it so that these people could reap the rewards.

Moreover, on their way here, Li Yao had looked up the rules regarding the conquest of Primordial Dungeons.

There was one particularly relevant rule:

In a dungeon designed for five or more people, anyone whose contribution exceeded thirty points had the authority to decide how the spoils were distributed.

The rule existed to prevent people from joining Primordial Dungeon expeditions merely to embellish their credentials.

Li Yao had eighty-five contribution points. Yang Junfei and Yang Feng each had one.

Song Anqing’s healing output had been high, but she had not participated in any of the boss fights, leaving her with only four contribution points.

Kujo Mise had soloed one boss, earning ten contribution points.

Li Yao would not have objected to giving one first-clear chest to Kujo Mise.

But these three brothers had done absolutely nothing and still wanted a share of the spoils?

“What do you mean, I did nothing? Didn’t I heal your summoned beasts a few times?”

Song Anqing muttered.

She had originally intended to befriend Li Yao, but with such enormous benefits before her, there was no way she could let them go.

This was a Purgatory-difficulty first-clear chest.

Whether she handed it over to her family or used it herself, her strength and status would undergo a complete transformation.

Li Yao did not even look at her. He merely said coldly, “Four points. Be quiet.”

Li Yao swept his gaze around and noticed an old man seated at the head of the gathering. He was most likely the leader here.

The old man said nothing. He only smiled faintly and nodded at Li Yao.

Li Yao immediately understood.

His own strength was lacking, and he had no powerful family backing him.

If these federal authorities decided that the first-clear chests ought to belong to Yang Junfei and the others, all he could do was swallow his anger for now, then find an opportunity to take a bite out of the Yang family in the future.

The old man’s meaning was clear: act boldly. He had nothing to fear.

When Kujo Mise witnessed the scene before her, the resentment she had felt toward Li Yao inexplicably vanished.

Well done, Li Yao.

What right did this pack of useless fools have to claim a Purgatory-difficulty first-clear chest?

Yang Junfei looked at the aggressive Li Yao, then glanced at General Wu and the old man beside him.

They were all watching in silence, with no intention of intervening.

Yang Junfei’s heart instantly turned cold.

It would have been one thing if he had never obtained the treasure. But having held it in his hands, being forced to give it up now felt like having flesh carved from his body. His heart bled at the thought.

Just then, a surge of warmth rose within Yang Junfei.

Sensing something, he looked up.

Yan Gaojie? What was he doing here?

Their eyes met. Yang Junfei steeled himself and hurled the first-clear chest directly toward Yan Gaojie.

The Yan family, to which Yan Gaojie belonged, had dealings with the Yang family.

Although both families were insatiably greedy, handing the chest to him meant Yang Junfei might still have a chance to get a sip from the leftovers.

Seeing this, Song Anqing gritted her teeth and threw her own first-clear chest as well.

It was their only option.

The Yan family was no ordinary Yang family. It was a true aristocratic household of the capital. Surely Li Yao would not dare to act recklessly against them.

The chests flew through the air.

Yan Gaojie immediately controlled a giant flaming hand and reached out to seize them.

But Li Yao was faster.

The Void Mantis, concealed within the shadows, suddenly emerged.

With one swipe for each chest, it snatched both of them back to Li Yao’s side.

At the same time, every professional present except General Wu was startled.

They had sensed almost nothing from this summoned beast that had appeared out of nowhere.

One had to understand that among them were no shortage of third- and fourth-class professionals. Yet they had been unable to detect a summoned beast that had not even reached the second class.

Several of the younger professionals, in particular, felt a chill run down their spines.

If this summoner were to appear silently behind them...

Yan Gaojie’s expression grew even uglier.

He demanded directly, “Li Yao, what do you mean by this?”

“Nothing. I’m simply taking back what belongs to me.”

Li Yao spoke lightly and began walking away.

Now that he had the first-clear chests, there was no reason to remain here.

“Boom!”

Flames suddenly erupted, illuminating the pitch-black night in crimson.

Several walls of fire rose around Li Yao, trapping him in place.

With flames clinging to both hands, Yan Gaojie spoke one word at a time.

“When did I give you permission to leave?”

...