The more the woman spoke, the more shocked Su Mo became.
“What? All these spiritual stones here, and he’s been hoarding them all for himself?”
“To be precise, two people.” The woman’s eyes grew deep. “Iris’s strength is probably already close to A-rank by now.”
“Iris?”
“Iris is her name, and mine is Cloud.” The woman said softly, “We both belong to the Celestial Demon Tribe. In human terms, you could say we’re aliens, I suppose.”
“Huh?” Su Mo scooted sideways to put some distance between them. “Wait, no…”
She was a bit tongue-tied. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say or even what to ask.
How did aliens suddenly come into this?
Her guard went way up, ready to strike at any moment.
Cloud gave her a contemptuous look and said impatiently, “Relax. We’re a civilized race. We don’t like fighting and killing, and we’re very peace-loving too.”
Su Mo’s mind was a bit of a mess right now.
The Demon Stone belonged to Cloud. By damaging it and taking it, Su Mo had made Cloud angry.
Cloud and Iris were from the same tribe. Logically, they should stick together. But instead, Cloud chose to betray Iris and spill her secrets to Su Mo, a human.
Iris was so beautiful and so powerful. Why would she fall for someone like Mr. Sato? She must have used some kind of trick, just pretending.
Also, this volcanic ruin seemed to be the private property of Mr. and Mrs. Sato. The higher-ups of the island nation didn’t even seem to know it existed.
Su Mo couldn’t figure out what the three of them were really up to, so she decided to stop thinking about it.
She turned her gaze to the spiritual stones inside the mine. Jackpot!
She clearly remembered Nangong Xuan saying that everything she gained from this mission was hers to keep. No need to turn anything in.
Hehehe, I’m rich…
With these spiritual stones, wouldn’t she and Qing Yi be able to break through to the Haoran Realm effortlessly?
Just as she was thinking about that, she suddenly felt a chill. She turned her head and saw Cloud staring at her with icy eyes. “I’m talking to you! Are you even listening?”
“I’m listening, I’m listening…” Su Mo felt a bit guilty.
“Hmph, I don’t mind telling you straight. If you really piss me off, I won’t hesitate to take the Demon Stone back from you by force. The only reason I’m cooperating with you right now is that I’m still being reasonable.”
Su Mo sneered internally. Either you’re not confident you can win, or there are some limits holding you back. And here you are, pretending to be all noble. Yeah, right.
On the surface, she agreed enthusiastically, then took the chance to ask, “You brought me here to show me that the man-eating monsters are actually the Volcano Clan being controlled by the Satos. But there’s probably something else, isn’t there?”
“Correct.” Cloud didn’t deny it. “This place belongs to you now. Do whatever you want with it. But you have to help me kill Iris.”
Su Mo was shocked again. “Aren’t you from the same tribe? Why are you trying to kill each other?”
“Humans kill each other too. What’s so strange about that?”
Su Mo paused. “Huh… I guess that’s true.”
Then she asked, “But I’m only C-rank. Are you sure I can help you kill Iris, who’s close to A-rank?”
“You’re C-rank, sure, but your actual combat ability is comparable to B-rank. Especially that freakishly overpowered black flame of yours—it’ll definitely come in handy.” She paused for a moment, then smiled. “Oh, and by the way, Iris’s goal in doing all this is to make the Celestial Demon Tribe descend upon Earth. In a sense, you have no choice but to cooperate with me.”
“I thought you were a peace-loving race. Why are you trying to invade Earth?” Su Mo said sarcastically.
Cloud didn’t answer right away. She was silent for a moment before slowly saying, “Invade? We just want to come home and take a look.”
Su Mo’s mind buzzed. Come home and take a look???
That was huge!
She wanted to ask more, but Cloud cut her off with a cold glare and said sharply, “Hurry up and take what you want. You don’t have much time. Iris has definitely sensed we’re here already. We still have to fight later.”
“Why didn’t you say so sooner!” Su Mo lunged at the spiritual ore pile like a madwoman. She prioritized packing the highest-purity stones, but no matter how much she packed, she couldn’t take it all. So she started absorbing them as she packed.
So much pure fire-attributed energy—it would be a real waste not to absorb some.
But while absorbing, she also hid tiny traces of Yin Fire inside the spiritual ore. She moved very discreetly, making sure Cloud wouldn’t notice anything.
About ten minutes later, accompanied by a violent fluctuation of energy, Iris appeared inside the mine.
“Cloud, so you did escape. And you even brought someone to destroy my ruin!”
“Your ruin?” Cloud sneered. “It won’t be yours for much longer.”
She called out to Su Mo in the distance, “Come on! Help me take her down first. You can collect your stuff later.”
Su Mo reluctantly left the pile of spiritual stones and walked toward the two of them. She moved very slowly and very cautiously, staying alert around both of them. “Coming.”
When Iris saw that the person stealing her spiritual stones was Su Mo, she narrowed her eyes and said with interest, “So it’s you. I should have guessed.”
Su Mo grinned, her face beaming like a spring breeze. “Surprised? Didn’t see that coming? Exciting, isn’t it?”
Faced with Su Mo’s provocation, Iris didn’t take it to heart. Her real enemy was Cloud.
The two of them had been fighting ever since they arrived on Earth. Eventually, Iris found a way to trap Cloud inside the Demon Stone, making her gather the power of desire. But then, someone had let her out.
The battle between the two powerful fighters was about to erupt. Su Mo stayed on the sidelines, stirring the pot. She pretended to help Cloud fend off Iris’s attacks.
As an observer, she could clearly tell that Iris was slightly stronger than Cloud. Still, both of them seemed to be at peak B-rank. Neither had crossed that gap. Otherwise, the fight would have been completely one-sided.
Seeing that Su Mo wasn’t putting in any real effort, Cloud suddenly said to Iris, “She’s the one who set me free. And she absorbed all the power of desire I’d been collecting for so long. The Demon Stone is in her hands now.”
Hearing this, Iris’s face darkened. “So it was you pretending to be Watanabe that night!”
Su Mo’s eyes went wide. She silently cursed, then said pitifully, “Here you are, a mighty B-rank, bullying a little C-rank nobody like me. Does that make you happy?”
Then she turned to Iris and said passionately, “Cloud is clearly trying to make you focus on fighting me so she can take you down. Don’t fall for it!”
“That night, she used some kind of weird black flame to damage the Demon Stone. Watanabe couldn’t have done that,” Cloud added.
Iris watched the two of them go back and forth like a debate. Suddenly, the corner of her mouth curled up. “Chiba Mako. If you help me defeat her, I’ll trust you.”
Su Mo’s eyes lit up. “Deal!”
With that, she joined Iris and started attacking Cloud.
Even though Su Mo was fighting half-heartedly, with her help, Cloud quickly found herself losing.
“She’s using you! Can’t you see that?” Cloud said seriously. “Once I’m defeated, you’ll be next!”
Su Mo looked like she had just realized something. “Sister Cloud has a point! I’ll help you!”
She switched sides again, helping Cloud fight Iris until Iris was gradually suppressed.
This time, it took a little more effort.
Iris said, “If I lose, Cloud will never let you go!”
Su Mo: “Sister Iris, I’m coming to help you!”
Clang, clang, clang…
Cloud: “Once she defeats me, you’re her next target!”
Su Mo: “Iris, that wicked woman, trying to drive a wedge between us! Sister Cloud, I’m back!”
Clang, clang, clang…
Right now, Su Mo was like this: up close, a person; from afar, a blade of grass—just swaying wherever the wind blew.
