Chapter 79: Backlash

After confirming that his first shot had hit, Li Mochen decisively put down the sniper rifle: "Your turn!"

He was sure that his long-range sniping skills would be of little use afterward. Only because the 'Divine Sky Spirit Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda' hidden in the sword bag behind him was already in a heated state. This indicated that the shot he had fired had overloaded the pagoda, leaving it unable to continue.

Elisa did not stand on ceremony; she immediately took over the Butler heavy magic-energy sniper rifle and began aiming and firing.

Although the eleventh-level Wildfire Mammoth was dangerous, the corpse of this dark creature was also incredibly valuable. Just the pair of tusks alone was worth at least seventy-five thousand gold shields on the black market. Other materials like the hide, beast crystal, and mammoth skull were also in high demand.

So in the following shots, Elisa was not at all stingy; she loaded almost all the powerful magic-energy bullets she could use from her ammunition pouch into the chamber.

The subsequent process was nothing more than aiming, firing, and aiming again. Li Mochen's shot had not only blinded the Wildfire Mammoth but also deafened it, leaving the behemoth unable to even distinguish directions. It could only let Elisa blast it shot after shot, its body covered in blood and wounds.

Three minutes later, the mammoth collapsed to the ground like a collapsing hill.

Elisa joyfully rode her motorcycle over to the mammoth and began cutting off the tusks. What puzzled her was that although Li Mochen had also come over and was digging out the beast crystal located near the mammoth's heart, his motorcycle was still running, the engine kept idling. His expression remained vigilant, constantly observing the surroundings.

Just as Elisa was about to cut off the second tusk, her expression changed slightly, and she looked toward the southwest.

A vast pack of wind wolves appeared there, charging wildly from seven kilometers away, covering the mountains and fields. Elisa made a rough estimate and found there were at least a thousand of them.

"Let's go!"

Li Mochen sighed inwardly, knowing that this wolf pack was most likely a side effect of the wish spell. While the pagoda granted his wishes, it also brought him a certain degree of misfortune.

Without hesitation, he abandoned Elisa, got on his bike first, and carrying a twenty-kilogram chunk of mammoth meat along with the fist-sized beast crystal, sped northward.

After all, his ride was only a 'Polaris' model light motorcycle, with a top speed of just two hundred fifty kilometers per hour, far inferior to Elisa's 'Bone War Beast'. At this moment, he had no time to wait for Elisa to start together.

Elisa cursed loudly. She swiftly cut off two pieces of meat, then hoisted the two massive tusks and hurried back to her 'Bone War Beast', stomping on the accelerator.

But the next moment, both Li Mochen ahead and the cowgirl behind changed color slightly.

This was because the wind wolves on both flanks suddenly accelerated, running wildly with the aid of the wind, showing signs of circling ahead to encircle them.

...

An hour later, the two returned to Ghost City, covered in wounds.

This time, not only was Elisa seriously injured, but Li Mochen's back also had two huge claw marks, deep enough to show bone, bleeding profusely. They had to go to the church and spend two thousand five hundred gold shields to quickly heal these injuries.

Then the two tusks sold for seventy-two thousand gold shields at the Targaryen Magic Material Shop, while the miscellaneous gains from their trip to the Blazing Wasteland sold for about four thousand gold shields.

But this time, their costs and treatment fees amounted to over thirty thousand gold shields.

So when the two walked out of the material shop, Elisa was completely deflated.

"No need to be so dejected, right?"

Li Mochen couldn't help but laugh: "Today's net income is still over forty thousand, plus the Wildfire Mammoth beast crystal in my hand, that's over sixty thousand, nearly double yesterday's."

"The problem is that we took such huge risks for these things and almost died out there, okay?"

Elisa looked utterly lifeless: "And those high-level rifle bullets aren't something you can just buy anytime. I've been accumulating those treasures for a long time, and now they're all gone overnight."

Li Mochen knew she was telling the truth. Sniper rifle bullets have much higher requirements than ordinary rifle bullets—they need greater strength and higher precision, so production is scarce; high-level magic-energy sniper rifle bullets are even rarer on the market.

But when it came time to split the money, Elisa perked up a bit.

Li Mochen valued the beast crystal in his hand at twenty-four thousand gold shields, so she netted twenty thousand dollars at once. If the cost fees allocated to her were added, the gold shields she received exceeded fifty thousand.

"It's still early. How about we rest a bit and then go out for another run? With luck, we should be able to harvest about ten thousand more."

However, Li Mochen declined Elisa's proposal: "Not today. I need to get back as soon as possible. Let's do it next week. You can actually prepare in advance these days, pinpoint the locations of those high-level magical creatures. I guess you won't be going on vacation this week, right?"

The key was that the beast crystal in his hand could no longer be delayed.

To make that thing, the twenty-four hours after extraction from a living body were the golden period. Beyond that time limit, it would be essentially useless to him.

Otherwise, he could have just bought one from those magic material shops; why would he risk using the wish spell to kill that Wildfire Mammoth?

After parting with Elisa, Li Mochen first bought some materials at various shops here, then hurriedly left the Dark World. This time, he spent over 6,000 gold shields. Besides the entrance fee, the beast crystal and mammoth meat were officially appraised at 36,000 gold shields, with a 12% tax.

Li Mochen thought to himself, no wonder those magic-energy professionals liked to sell their gains in the Dark World—the federal government's taxation was too ruthless.

Previously, when he only brought out some meat, he didn't feel it much. But for this Wildfire Mammoth beast crystal, the official appraisal was clearly more than 30% higher than the market price!

In the Dark World, indeed, only large conglomerates could bargain with the government and significantly reduce taxes.

Li Mochen was eager to return to his residence and couldn't be bothered to argue. After passing through the magic-energy array back to the Light World, he hurriedly drove back to Unicorn Apartment.

He first patiently fed the little fire wyrm, then stepped into his own alchemy room.

All the equipment here was the latest, much more comprehensive than the set he had bought before. Just the small crucible furnace in the center of the room was far superior to the crucible he had used previously. The heat source was a combination of gas and fire-element crystals, capable of raising the temperature to three thousand degrees. It was more than enough for alchemy and even for refining some high-level magical tools and artifacts.

But after that, Li Mochen spent another full hour and a half rearranging and modifying the place. Only then did he send the Wildfire Mammoth beast crystal into the crucible furnace.