Chapter 182: Token Gestures and Words

"This is for my sake, Yang. I do not wish to burden myself with the idea that I have done wrong to you," Rei said. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Tell me, have you managed to collect a good number of beast cores while you were in the mountains?"

"I don't think I owe you any answers in regards to that," Li Yang said.

Rei and Setsuko blinked at his response.

"... Hah, it's been quite some time since you've been here, but you're the same as ever." Rei stifled a laugh and shook her head. "You're still as rude as the day I first met you."

Setsuko glared at Rei. "Well, he's right. He doesn't owe you anything, and you're the one prying."

"For the love of all things godly and good, it was a harmless question!"

"Regardless, I won't say anything." Li Yang said.

"So it's either you went there and got a single core, or have too many to mention." Rei stared him up from head to toe. She took in the sight of him garbed in robes and with no single appearance of any bags. "Although there's none on your person right now."

Neither of them had seen a singular beast core in Li Yang's hands, and Setsuko even found him on the Frostborne Mountain Peaks.

While he told the High Priestess Rhelea that he and Setsuko gathered beast cores to help the Kin Hunters, nobody from the group even saw one beast core from him.

Li Yang shrugged. "I'll leave those assumptions with you, but I'll be heading inside now. Let's go, Setsuko."

Setsuko's expression flickered. "Oh, about that..." As much as she wanted to go inside their room now and relax after their talk with the High Priestess, she needed to prepare for the competition. While it seemed insignificant after all that happened, she still promised to take part.

"I think Setsuko here needs to attend her classes." Rei pointed out with a shrug of her own. She gave Setsuko a smile. "You can leave now."

"For someone who's trying to apologize, it doesn't seem like you're very sorry." Setsuko told Priestess Rei. "But, fine… let me just say goodbye."

Without waiting for another second's delay, she reached up and seized Li Yang's face and promptly landed a kiss on his lips. After a couple of moments, Setsuko pulled away and scurried away.

Her cheeks were tinged a bright red while she ran off to head to her classes and left Li Yang.

Priestess Rei rolled her eyes and muttered, "Show off."

The kiss caught him off guard, but it wasn't unpleasant. Quite the opposite, actually. He could still feel the lingering taste of her lips on his. It made him smile slightly as he watched Setsuko disappear into the hallway.

It was enough to ease his nerves a bit from the tense situation with the High Priestess earlier.

Li Yang stepped inside of his room and promptly looked back once at the green-haired Priestess. "I have to get going, but I accept your apologies. I still need to prepare the beast cores for High Priestess Rhelea's inspection, so I'll see you around."

"I meant what I said!" Priestess Rei reached out and grabbed ahold of his sleeve. "I want to make it up to you."

"That's unnecessary. I already got what I wanted, thank you." Once he tugged his robe's sleeve away from Rei's grip on him, Li Yang shut the door.

When the door was shut, the look on his face seemed to shift. It was like a switch had been flipped. Li Yang's expression turned blank and his eyes narrowed as he headed over to the table with his few belongings on top.

Li Yang's business suit and shoes were carefully folded and a stark reminder of what he left behind.

No matter how pleasant some things were here: Being free from the Heavens constantly parading him with Missions and his newfound connection with Setsuko... he still needed to get back.

Already, Li Yang knew the Panda was out searching for him, so maybe it was better to beat the creature back on earth.

Even if he were to return, at least it would be on his own terms.

Just that slight difference made it easier to walk back to hell when it was out of his own volition.

Li Yang opened up his Inventory and took the beast cores out, stacking each of them up based on their appropriate size. Their current element affinity mattered little—which was all frost—because he just needed the energy of Ao condensed in each of them.

[ Inventory ]

[ Beast Core Small x 48 ]

[ Beast Core Medium x26 ]

[ Beast Core Large x 13 ]

[ Beast Core Titan x 7 ]

"This isn't enough for the World Warper… but it's too much to show either during the inspection. Maybe just five cores are enough? I doubt they expect me to bring that much?" Li Yang said to himself.

Even though Li Yang didn't want to admit it, he should have taken out some beast cores last night for the Priestesses to see.

At least it wouldn't make people question where he carried said beast cores... but surely if Mashiro Temple's Sacred Forest had pocket dimensions, then a bag of holding wasn't strange?

Excuses were to be made.

It was better that the Priestesses consider him weak, and he still considered himself as weak. He hadn't even been able to complete the System's Achievement task while he was in the mountains.

The screen in front of him was a grim reminder.

[ Rampage of a Beast - II ]

Go on a killing spree and defeat two-hundred fifty enemies. Host has killed ninety-four enemies. (94/250)

Maybe ninety-four was a good number, and he collected other items from the creatures and monsters he killed... but it still wasn't good enough.

Li Yang sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He counted off ten beast cores, all small ones, enough for him to carry in his hands.

The rest were left inside of his Inventory for later absorption.

He returned to the grand hall of the High Priestess for the inspection.

A tiny gesture to assuage their fears. But it was nothing but a token at most.