Favorite of the Beast-world: I Got Rich Through Farming-Chapter 276 - 184: Possessiveness and the Troubles of Too Many Men
"This is for you. It’s a Crystal Stone I happened to get in Absurd City. The color is beautiful, and maybe it’ll be useful to you." He placed a reddish-gold Crystal Stone in her hand.
"You called me out here just to give me this, didn’t you?"
"Mhm." He nodded, recalling the scene, his voice still holding a hint of a suppressed gasp. "I didn’t know what this Crystal Stone was for, but a lot of people were fighting over it. It seemed like something that could make you stronger. It just so happened that they fought until both sides were grievously wounded, so I snatched it up when I had the chance."
The system scanned the Crystal Stone in her hand and instantly provided an answer.
[Mutated Crystal Stone (SSR)]
[Can reforge the bloodline of a Beastman, turning them into a rare or even unique Mutated Beast Clan. Note: Bloodline mutation can be for better or for worse, depending on the user’s constitution and willpower. Please use with caution.] 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
’So it’s basically like opening a loot box.’
’If you’re lucky, you get a good bloodline, maybe even one comparable to a King Beast. But if your luck is bad, you could end up with a bloodline worse than your original one.’
’Her body was now showing signs of beastification. Although she didn’t know what clan she belonged to yet, she could probably be considered a Beastman, right? Even though she could use this Crystal Stone, with her consistently bad luck, she didn’t dare take such a risk.’
"This Crystal Stone isn’t very useful to me, and the risk is too great." An Jin handed it back to him.
She then explained the origin and use of the stone to Ling Hong in detail, heavily emphasizing the hidden side effects because she was afraid he would use it recklessly in his pursuit of power.
"So that’s how it is." Ling Hong nodded. No wonder so many Beastmen had been frantically fighting over this stone.
Even if the Beastmen knew the stone could have side effects, they still flocked to it, risking their lives to fight over it and betting their entire futures on this one Crystal Stone.
He took back the Crystal Stone but didn’t intend to discard it. "I want to try."
"What?" An Jin almost thought she’d misheard him. ’Did I forget to tell him about the side effects?’
"Even so, I still want to give it a try." Ling Hong gave a nonchalant smile. He knew his bloodline was too ordinary. He was just a common Wolf Beast, no match for that snake, and couldn’t even compare to that seemingly useless Merfolk.
He had fought desperately to reach the Seventh Rank, but it was far from enough. With this little power, he couldn’t protect her at all. He even felt inferior standing by her side as her mate.
Now that he finally had this chance, he wanted to try—to stake half his life on this gamble.
"Alright." An Jin didn’t try to stop him any further. The connection between mates allowed her to instantly understand his craving for power.
"Wait for the deep winter season. No one will be going out then, so there won’t be any interruptions. You won’t have to lead the hunting parties either. Pick a good time to make your breakthrough," An Jin said with a smile. "I’ll be by your side the whole time."
The warmth in his chest, which had yet to cool, began to burn once more. Ling Hong wrapped an arm around her waist, lowered his head, and kissed her on the lips again. This time, he was clearly much more practiced; the gentle yet firm suction was something she even found a little enjoyable.
Catching a glimpse of a red shadow flashing through the jungle out of the corner of his eye, his gaze darkened. However, he lowered his head further, silently deepening the kiss.
After a long moment.
Ling Hong reluctantly let her go. He reached up to smooth out the wrinkles on her fleece coat and re-fastened the collar he had undone. "There are a lot of tubers nearby. They’re a bit different from the ones we had before. I think you might be interested."
He carried her to the base of a tree, brushed the snow off a rock, and set her down on it. "The snow is too deep further in the forest. You just wait here for a bit while I go dig. If there’s any danger, shout for me, and I’ll be by your side in an instant."
"Did you have fun, sneaking out to play in the snow with him?" The moment Ling Hong left, an emotionless chuckle came from behind her.
An Jin held her breath and turned her head.
Gu Yin stood behind her, his expression weary and cold. He was motionless, like a statue.
"...Aren’t you supposed to be hibernating?" An Jin felt a pang of guilt, afraid he had seen her passionate kiss with Ling Hong. She couldn’t help but change the subject.
"So you could share such a passionate kiss with him while I slept?" Gu Yin let out a low laugh. There wasn’t a trace of anger on his face; even his usually ice-cold red pupils held a faint, smiling glint. "This Wolf Beast is more cunning than I thought..." The tree trunk in his hand, however, gave a sharp CRACK and splintered in half.
