Volume 1, Chapter 56: Naturally, the First Wife Has the Obligation to Protect the Junior Wife

Inside the grand treasure hall, Lin Yao did not delay the main objective of his trip and directly plunged into the task of gathering treasures.

He soon returned to the depths of the treasure hall, accompanied by the Crimson Flame Empress.

On the way to rendezvous with Xia Mengying and the other two alongside the Crimson Flame Empress, Lin Yao quietly calculated his upcoming plans in his mind.

"The objective for entering this small pocket dimension has basically been achieved."

"Zhihan and most of the shadow-wolves have reached level 13, Mengying has been rescued here, and I've contracted the Crimson Flame Empress. Next, as long as we eliminate the criminal elements like Qin Tanlang, we can safely head out."

As he calculated, Lin Yao quietly circulated his [Shadow Beast Taming] talent.

Pitch-black shadow energy condensed silently around him, and in the blink of an eye, the 34th shadow-wolf beast materialized.

The Crimson Flame Empress had previously seen the shadow-wolves under Lin Yao's command and had even curiously asked him a few questions about them.

However, seeing a shadow-wolf appear out of thin air right in front of Lin Yao with her own eyes, her pretty eyes still widened in undisguised shock.

Her breathtaking face wore a rare expression of utter astonishment, a sight that secretly filled Lin Yao with a sense of pride.

Lin Yao's [Shadow Beast Taming] talent was a special ability acquired only after unlocking a hidden class.

Moreover, his hidden class was unique.

This meant that Lin Yao was probably the only [Shadow Beast Tamer] in the entire world.

Even an ancient powerhouse like the Crimson Flame Empress, who had returned across the river of time, had never seen a [Shadow Beast Tamer], let alone understood their various techniques.

The Crimson Flame Empress stared closely at the shadow-wolf for a long while before finally asking, "I admit you have some skills, but where did this shadow-wolf beast come from?"

Lin Yao smiled faintly, shook his head, and said, "This is my secret and cannot be told to you just yet."

The Crimson Flame Empress raised an eyebrow and persistently pursued, "Then when will you tell me?"

Lin Yao had never actually seriously considered this question.

Seeing her look at him with a stubborn expression, he pondered slightly and answered with a smile, "When the Empress completely accepts the relationship between us, I'll tell you about the shadow-wolves."

Upon hearing this, the Crimson Flame Empress stopped asking.

In her view right now, the only thing about Lin Yao that made her look at him twice was his shadow-wolf technique; his other skills were not particularly special.

To truly win her approval, Lin Yao at least needed to demonstrate strength surpassing that "teacher" of hers whom she hadn't even paid much attention to.

Walking side by side in silence for a while, the Crimson Flame Empress suddenly spoke up, "I want to negotiate with you."

Lin Yao was slightly startled upon hearing this and asked curiously, "Negotiate what?"

He knew very well in his heart that even now, the Crimson Flame Empress had not truly submitted to him.

The fact that she took the initiative to propose a negotiation now indicated that the relationship between them had progressed significantly compared to before.

The Crimson Flame Empress parted her lips slightly and said earnestly, "I plan to sweep away all the resources in this place."

"All the resources here that I obtain by my own ability will belong to me."

"As for the resources I help you secure, I will only take ten percent. How about that?"

The Crimson Flame Empress's words were not overly greedy; she did not intend to take too big a share of the benefits from Lin Yao.

With such reasonable conditions, Lin Yao naturally had no reason to refuse.

After all, the Crimson Flame Empress was quite familiar with the details of this treasure hall. Cooperating with her could be described as a win-win situation where both parties would reap rich rewards.

After reaching an agreement, Lin Yao soon reunited with Zhu Zhihan, Xia Mengying, and Xia Yumeng.

Xia Yumeng's gaze darted between Lin Yao and the Crimson Flame Empress, and she couldn't help but huff, "Did nothing really happen between you two? You must have been whispering in secret while we were away!"

Hearing this, Xia Mengying exasperatedly raised her hand and gave Xia Yumeng a light knock on the forehead, chiding, "Even if you're Lin Yao's minor wife, it's not like he has to tell you everything, right?"

Xia Yumeng puffed out her cheeks and muttered, "That logic makes sense, but I'm still so curious. What on earth did husband Lin Yao just say to Empress Sister?"

In private, Xia Yumeng always referred to Lin Yao as "Old Monster Lin Yao."

Therefore, whenever she spoke without thinking, she would occasionally accidentally blurt out this nickname.

At this moment, Zhu Zhihan also quietly sidled up to Lin Yao, timidly raising her head to say softly, "Zhihan wants to whisper with big brother too~"

Lin Yao couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to stroke Zhu Zhihan's soft hair as he explained, "What secrets could the Empress and I possibly have? We were just discussing a cooperation."

With that, his expression turned serious as he looked around at everyone and reminded them, "Next, we will head to various parts of the treasure hall to collect treasures. All of you need to prepare for battle."

As soon as Lin Yao's voice fell, Xia Yumeng's face instantly collapsed into a miserable expression.

She coquettishly grabbed one of Lin Yao's arms, pressed it tightly against her chest, and whined, "Husband, I don't want to fight at all!"

Xia Yumeng had mediocre talent and, aside from watching the drama and gossiping, had no interest in anything else.

Her life goal had always been that of a "saltfish" content to just lie flat.

In the future, she would accept family arrangements, marry some random stranger arranged for her, and then coast through life.

Now that she had finally managed to cling to a reliable big shot like Lin Yao, she discovered that following him still wouldn't allow her to live a leisurely life of doing nothing.

Seeing this, Lin Yao turned serious and decided to take the opportunity to have a proper talk with Xia Yumeng about improving her strength.

"Although you don't need to fight in person when you're by my side."

"It's impossible for you and your sister to stay glued to my side forever. Your sister is considered a top-tier beast tamer among her peers, while you have almost no self-defense capability. If you encounter danger while away from me, what will you do?"

Unexpectedly, Xia Yumeng seemed to have genuinely thought about this question.

Before Lin Yao's voice even faded, she popped up without hesitation to give her answer.

Xia Yumeng chuckled, skipped over to Xia Mengying, hugged her sister's arm, and said righteously, "When husband isn't around, the main wife naturally has the duty to protect the minor wife!"

Xia Mengying was both amused and exasperated, gently pinching Xia Yumeng's pretty face.

Toward this eccentric and clever younger sister of hers, she felt both helpless and somewhat admiring.

However, upon second thought, she also felt that Lin Yao's suggestion to improve Xia Yumeng's strength was entirely correct.

Thus, Xia Mengying immediately nodded to her sister, "I completely agree with Lin Yao's view this time. Although you usually don't need to participate in battles, you still need to improve your own strength as much as possible. Having a bit more self-defense capability never hurts."

"Ouch!" Xia Yumeng wailed exaggeratedly, her little face scrunching up into a ball. "You guys are too much! Now even Mengying sister is teaming up with old monster Lin Yao to bully this minor wife of yours!"

Before Xia Yumeng could continue complaining, the Crimson Flame Empress suddenly retrieved a stream of light from her hairpin-shaped spatial artifact.

With a colorful flash, a crystal-clear giant clam beast emitting a seven-colored radiance appeared in her palm, and the Crimson Flame Empress handed it directly to Xia Yumeng.

"Your aptitude is not lacking," the Crimson Flame Empress said calmly. "It's just that you haven't found a beast that suits you until now. I bestow this seven-colored pearl clam beast upon you. From now on, you must cultivate diligently and strive to grow."

Lin Yao truly hadn't expected the Crimson Flame Empress to make such an assessment of Xia Yumeng and casually gift her an extremely rare beast.

At this moment, a strong wave of curiosity welled up in his heart, and he immediately activated his beast tamer talent to check the detailed profile of the seven-colored pearl clam beast.