Relic of the Goddess of Beauty

"The Goddess of Beauty?" A hint of bewilderment showed on Bouvard's face, as if he did not grasp the meaning of those words. After a few seconds, something clicked in his memory, and he ventured, "The Goddess of Beauty from the mythical tales?" With his eyes closed, Zhang Yuanqing could not hear any response from the Elf Queen, but she had likely nodded. Bouvard's voice rose, rife with suspicion and astonishment: "My dear Elf Queen, I'm not a simple-minded elf living in the woods like you. I'm a bounty hunter. I possess rich worldly experience, courage, and a cool head." As the words fell, the twang of a bowstring rang out, followed by a groan of pain from the Elf Queen. *Ah, this is just like the ancient cultivation sects of the Second District. If they heard that Empress Wa, who was said to have shaped humans from clay, truly existed, they probably wouldn't believe it either. A historical gap lies between mythology and ancient practitioners, and the First District is no different!* Zhang Yuanqing understood Bouvard's mindset, but as a Spirit Realm walker, he believed it. Could the relic of the legendary Goddess of Beauty truly be hidden inside a B-grade dungeon? Though a B-grade dungeon wasn't low, the rewards were extraordinarily generous! "Everything I said is true! This is a secret passed down through generations of elves!" Fear laced the Elf Queen's voice as she desperately tried to prove herself. "According to the legends of our tribe, when the Goddess of Beauty passed over this forest, her enemy, the God of Light, struck her neck with an arrow. Her necklace plummeted into the woods below, lost forever. "That necklace is the treasure guarded by our clan for generations. It provides us with a steady stream of divine power. Every child born in the forest is naturally born an elf, blessed with a gorgeous face and an alluring figure. "Yet one year ago, it suddenly 'awakened.' It began releasing an aura far more intense than ever before, blanketing the forest. Only by constantly finding men to copulate with and offering pleasure as sacrifices could we appease it. "If we cannot find men, the power of desire tortures us with excruciating agony. Once three days pass, we lose our minds and unconditionally submit to any male creature." *What kind of Kuroinu plot is this? Desire is even more depraved than the evil classes...* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled internally. However, he believed the source of the aphrodisiac vapor was definitely not as simple as the Goddess of Beauty's necklace. If the necklace alone were the root cause, he would have already "uncovered" it by now. The main mission was to "uncover the source of the aphrodisiac vapor," not to "obtain" or "subdue" it. Logically speaking, he should have been able to leave the dungeon and return to reality right then. Yet he hadn't. This indicated that a deeper cause lay behind the generation of the aphrodisiac vapor. After hearing the Elf Queen out, Bouvard fell silent, pondering for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, the voice of one of his subordinates came from behind: "Rhodes Lev, haven't you ever bedded a woman before? Keep your lower half in check. It's almost dark; let's get them out of the forest first." Blindfolded, Bouvard heard Rhodes Lev's heavy panting: "The lads outside haven't come in yet anyway. Without horses, how are we supposed to haul these elves out of the forest? This female beast has completely hooked me. The colder she acts, the harder I want to take her—I can't wait another second. "I'm taking her back to keep by my side as a slave, at my beck and call. I'll shatter her pride until I'm sick of her body, and then I'll sell her off. "I can't wait to do her right on the dining table." Bouvard made no move to stop him. Although the sun had dipped behind the mountains, lingering afterglow clung stubbornly to the horizon. It would still be a while before complete nightfall. Their companions outside the forest had not yet entered with the horses. Since Rhodes Lev wished to indulge with an elf and it wouldn't disrupt their mission, he saw no reason to intervene as their leader. Bounty hunters pursued wealth and freedom; they despised strict rules and authoritarian control the most. He had to allow his subordinates a measure of leeway. Blindfolded, Bouvard "looked" toward the Elf Queen and said in a heavy voice, "Where is the necklace of the Goddess of Beauty?" The moment the question left his lips, shouts of surprise, warning cries, and the rustle of daggers being drawn and bowstrings tautened broke out behind him. Bouvard's heart skipped a beat. He hastily tore off the cloth strip and turned around to look. A strikingly beautiful and seductive young woman sat perched on the edge of a table, dangling Rhodes Lev's severed head in her hand. A headless corpse lay at her feet, blood splattered across half her body. She wore a cheerful smile, swinging her legs idly like an innocent, carefree maiden. She was both bewitchingly eerie and brutally bloody. A bounty hunter brandished his dagger and lunged at her. Before he could even draw near, his head snapped around with a sickening crack. Another bounty hunter drew his bow and loosed a fierce arrow, yet the projectile vanished into thin air, reappearing from behind to pierce straight through his heart. *Crack! Snap! Crack...* The sounds of snapping neck bones echoed continuously. The bounty hunters collapsed one after another. Before Bouvard could even react, all fifteen of his men were dead, without a single survivor. Bouvard's face drained of color. He instantly swung his bow, notched an arrow toward the maiden, and released the string. He didn't bother wondering why the elf tribe harbored such a powerful young woman, nor why an elf could command ghosts. Casting aside all distracting thoughts, he threw himself wholly into the battle. The arrow shot forward and vanished in an instant. Bouvard had distorted the object's trajectory, directing it to strike the maiden straight in the chest. Yet the vanished arrow truly disappeared, never to reemerge. He froze, wondering if the girl cultivated the same divine power as he did. Zhang Yuanqing retrieved Little Red Riding Hood, shook out a yin corpse, and commanded it to charge at Bouvard. Separated by over ten meters, the yin corpse closed the distance in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, the straight-charging corpse swerved to the left—its sense of direction had been distorted. Bouvard snorted coldly, drew a dagger, and slammed it viciously into the back of the yin corpse's skull. With a twist of the hilt, he scrambled the corpse's brain, destroying the internal spirit talisman arrays. The yin corpse collapsed limply to the ground. Bouvard immediately flipped his dagger into a reverse grip, glared at the maiden, and puffed out his cheeks, gathering intoxicating liquor breath. Right then, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. His limbs went limp and weak, foul sweat trickled from his armpits, and his body gave off the putrid stench of a terminal disease. His mind began to deteriorate, and his focus slipped away. It was as if he were an ailing old man lying in bed awaiting death. Never having encountered such a technique, Bouvard panicked, and the thought of fleeing instantly crossed his mind. Then, he saw a miniature sun rise behind the maiden's head. A blazing sun sigil materialized on her forehead, her bright, beautiful dark eyes turned into golden irises, and her skin was coated in a layer of dark gold. Bouvard felt the divine power inside his body rapidly dissipate. Along with it, the fatigue and stench brought by the sickness quickly faded as well. Zhang Yuanqing slammed into Bouvard like a beam of golden light, driving a straight punch directly into his face. *Boom!* Bouvard's facial bones shattered, his entire face caved in, and the colossal impact sent his body flying backward. Zhang Yuanqing reached out, caught the man's arm, yanked him back, and drove another fist forward. This blow pulverized Bouvard's head, splattering bone fragments and brain matter in all directions. *A bit weak. Even for a level 7 B-grade dungeon, he shouldn't have been this easy...* Zhang Yuanqing muttered. Then, he realized: this was a dungeon centered on the Desire profession. The Desire profession inherently lacked formidable direct combat prowess, relying entirely on charm and seduction. Bouvard had actually been quite formidable; an ordinary practitioner of Desire would never have managed him. He didn't bother searching Bouvard's corpse, as everything on the man was mundane and held no loot value. Zhang Yuanqing walked over to the Elf Queen and asked, "Are you all right, Clan Leader?" With two arrows embedded in her abdomen and thigh, and still half-drunken from the liquor, the Elf Queen sat crumpled on the ground like a helpless, frail maiden. Trembling, she stammered: "Y-You... are you Alice?" "I'm not. I am an inner demon possessing Alice's body," Zhang Yuanqing replied coolly. "If you don't want to end up a corpse like those bounty hunters, take me to see the relic of the Goddess of Beauty." Having already been broken down by the bounty hunters' intimidation, the Elf Queen abandoned all resistance. She proved remarkably cooperative, her soft, melodious voice trembling as she said, "In... in the valley to the west of the forest. T-Two-headed wolves guard that place." Zhang Yuanqing glanced toward the west. "You're coming with me." He scooped up the Elf Queen and took flight toward the west. The sky deepened into darkness as the twilight afterglow faded away completely. Carrying the Elf Queen, Zhang Yuanqing flew above the canopy, the mountainous woods undulating with the terrain below. After about seven or eight minutes, a valley appeared ahead. Its sun-facing slope was lush and green, while its shaded side featured craggy, jagged rocks. A small stream wound through the valley floor. From a distance, Zhang Yuanqing spotted several wolf pups frolicking. They were about the size of ordinary dog puppies, but each possessed two heads. Prowling the valley were several massive wolves as large as oxen, with pointed ears, long muzzles, and fierce vertical pupils set in ice-blue eyes. The Elf Queen murmured softly, "Those are magical beasts raised by our clan to guard the relic of the Goddess of Beauty. I... I can take you past them. The relic is inside a cave in the valley." Zhang Yuanqing said calmly, "Wait until full dark." The Elf Queen hesitated, but kept her silence. Time slipped by swiftly. Soon, night fell completely, and scattered stars began to dot the sky. A cloying scent capable of stirring primal lust abruptly drifted out from the valley, scattering on the evening breeze and slowly permeating the forest. The two-headed wolves within the valley were the first to be affected. The savagery in their ice-blue eyes turned into raw mating desire. The males and females paired up spontaneously, launching into frantic copulation. Those males left without mates fought madly to steal partners from their kin, battling until one side dropped dead. "Mmh..." A soft moan from the Elf Queen reached Zhang Yuanqing's ears. Her delicate face flushed crimson, a drunken blush washing over her porcelain skin. Her limpid eyes turned hazy, and she gently bit her plump lip, exhaling fragrant breaths. "A-Alice..." The Elf Queen rubbed her thighs together unconsciously, her voice dripping with sweetness. "Your fingers are so pretty..." *Want to sample my Two-Finger Zen?* Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory, pulled out a slender bamboo twig, and delivered a sharp *smack* across the Elf Queen's shapely buttocks. The glamorous Elf Queen cried out in pain. The lust in her eyes evaporated instantly, leaving her mind clear and vacant. "Lead me to the cave," Zhang Yuanqing said. He had chosen to wait until dark precisely to verify whether the relic of the Goddess of Beauty was genuinely in the valley. Now, it was confirmed. Having regained brief clarity, the Elf Queen felt waves of shock ripple through her heart. This demon claiming to possess Alice's body was not only immune to the relic's influence, but had also restored her sanity. The dread in her heart only deepened. Her sole wish was for this demon to leave as soon as it achieved its goal. *Damn, the charm from this Goddess of Beauty relic is ridiculous. Even the female wolves are starting to look cute, let alone the Elf Queen!* Zhang Yuanqing muttered under his breath. One after the other, they touched down in the valley. The magical wolves completely ignored them, wholly consumed by their mating frenzy. The little pups, however, were unaffected and came scampering over to lick the queen's ankles. The Elf Queen picked up a pup and guided Zhang Yuanqing across most of the valley toward the craggy rocks on the shaded slope. Hidden among the bare rocks of the mountain face was a pitch-black cave. "It's inside," the Elf Queen said, looking at Zhang Yuanqing. Seeing his impassive expression, she set the wolf pup down. Swaying her shapely hips and stepping forward on her long, pale legs, she led the way into the cavern. Inside, the cloying aroma grew even heavier. Relying on the unique traits of the Day Wanderer and Nullifier, Zhang Yuanqing forcibly suppressed the impulse to mate. His eyes pierced the darkness, surveying the cavern at will. After walking for a few minutes, a stone bed appeared ahead. Resting upon the bed was a severely decomposed skull, vaguely discernible as female. Draped around its neck was a lustrous strand of bright white pearls.