Investing in the Reborn Empress, She Actually Calls Me ‘Husband’
Chapter 290: Eighty What Is This Guy Muttering About

Dark clouds veiled the bright moon, casting an even deeper chill over the early winter night in the southern borderlands. Amidst the pitch-black darkness, the gentle glow emanating from the Mountain Lord Temple stood as the only warm hue.

Unnoticed by the two calamity beasts Xiangliu and Feiyi, who were locked in a tense standoff, Little Li Mo had quietly sprouted horns on his head, and a layer of soft white fur now covered his neck. His once-clear eyes gleamed with an even brighter, more divine light.

"Right... there's only one Celestial Jade," Feiyi muttered, scratching his head with his tail. The reason he had teamed up with Xiangliu was that two prime medicinal targets—Li Mo and the Qingluan Goddess—weren’t enough to split between four calamity beasts.

"Are you stupid? If we don’t kill this kid first, we won’t even need to worry about how to divide anything," Xiangliu retorted, two of its four heads glaring at Li Mo while the other two berated Feiyi.

"Monday, Wednesday, Friday for me, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday for you—we’ve always shared like this, haven’t we? When have I ever cheated you?"

"Fine."

Feiyi thought it over and found no fault in the arrangement.

The two calamity beasts refocused on Li Mo, ready to send him to his demise before storming the Mountain Lord Temple.

"Wait!"

"I have one last thing to say. If you don’t listen, you’ll regret it."

Little Li Mo, now resembling the mythical Bai Ze, raised his hand again.

"You talk too much."

"Any last words?"

The two beasts were confident that Li Mo and the Celestial Jade inside the temple were already theirs. The earlier cleansing of their dark emotions by the moon’s pure radiance had also kept them from acting rashly—otherwise, they wouldn’t have held back this long.

The divine light in Li Mo’s eyes faded, replaced by a hint of pity as he asked,

"Feiyi, didn’t you agree with Xiangliu that the faith energy from your shared territory would go to him on odd days and to you on even ones?"

"And when you went out on even days, didn’t Xiangliu come to guard your cave for you?"

"Right. I even asked him to. My wife gets lonely alone in the cave."

Feiyi nodded, thinking Xiangliu was quite the loyal friend.

Xiangliu’s expression shifted slightly, an uneasy premonition creeping in.

Little Li Mo sighed.

"Your wife... is she pregnant?"

"Huh? How’d you know?"

"Congratulations on the new arrival."

Li Mo coughed lightly.

"Though... it might not be yours."

Feiyi was practically the epitome of a cuckold.

Not only did he lose out on a full day’s worth of faith energy each week, but while he was out gathering power, Xiangliu had been... busy.

"?"

Feiyi’s massive head seemed to instantly turn green.

"Don’t listen to his nonsense!" Xiangliu panicked, no longer willing to let Li Mo continue.

But before it could pounce, Feiyi blocked its path.

"No rush. This kid’s dead anyway. Let him finish."

"Maybe you should go home and check right now."

Li Mo’s eyes brimmed with sympathy.

"The number of heads... might not add up."

"Beasts and beasts are different! If it’s a mutation, having two heads at birth is totally normal!"

"How’d you know it’s two heads when even I didn’t?"

"Let me explain—"

Xiangliu pretended to clarify, then suddenly blurred like a released slingshot, lunging toward the Mountain Lord Temple.

Black water surged around it, spreading rapidly.

"Don’t even think of taking the Celestial Jade before me!"

The enraged Feiyi, now realizing the depth of his betrayal, chased after it.

The four wings on its back flared open, creating an aura so intense it parched the throats of onlookers. The black water blocking its path evaporated instantly.

The two beasts didn’t immediately fight to the death, but Li Mo’s goal was achieved—they were no longer cooperating, instead consumed by mutual distrust, each desperate to prevent the other from gaining the upper hand.

That was enough.

Whoosh—

In the blink of an eye, Xiangliu abruptly halted its massive charge.

"You want to go first? Fine, be my guest!"

The black water suddenly surged, forming a raging torrent that amplified Feiyi’s already overwhelming momentum.

Before retracting his Bai Ze transformation, Li Mo sensed Xiangliu’s thoughts—it knew his strength better and was using Feiyi as a sacrificial pawn to wear him down.

BOOM—

Feiyi, now committed, unleashed the full might of a sixth-tier calamity beast. The force of its charge, amplified by the black water, could have shattered a small hill.

Yet at the same moment, Li Mo’s body shimmered with a translucent golden light, instantly enveloping him.

D-U-A-N-G—

The seemingly fragile golden radiance clashed with Feiyi, shattering its hardened scales on impact. The colossal beast was sent flying, tumbling several times and flattening a swath of trees.

"Idiot. Thought you could beat me to it."

Xiangliu sneered cruelly.

The young clan leader had warned it—Li Mo, who had disguised himself as a Mingjiao clansman, possessed a bizarre golden light that could temporarily harden his body beyond divine iron.

Now it had witnessed it firsthand.

Surely, such a technique couldn’t be used repeatedly—that would be too overpowered.

As for Li Mo’s so-called formidable strength and whatever trick he’d used to deceive other demon clans into believing he had their bloodline powers? None of that mattered.

Xiangliu was a sixth-tier calamity beast. Its bloodline alone could influence the heavens and earth.

"Kid, was that your strongest move just now?"

The four-headed serpent didn’t press its attack on Li Mo. Instead, it slithered toward the Mountain Lord Temple, its hissing voice dripping with mockery.

"While I fetch the Celestial Jade, you can try running. Let’s see if you can escape."

However—

Inside the Mountain Lord Temple, Ying Bing bit her lip, watching as the four enormous serpent heads loomed closer.

If Xiangliu breached the temple, she would have no choice but to intervene.

Her hand had just touched her sword’s hilt when—

SNAP.

Xiangliu’s body suddenly jerked to a stop, stiffening like a rope yanked taut.

Its tail had been grabbed.

"Oi, who said my strongest move was the Indestructible Golden Body?"

Li Mo held its tail firmly.

Xiangliu: "?"

It never imagined Li Mo would try to flee.

But after the kid’s earlier provocation had turned it and Feiyi against each other, forcing it to deal with another calamity beast, it had planned to retaliate—letting this so-called peerless Heavenly Flood Dragon abandon the Qingluan Goddess in a desperate escape, only to crush his hopes at the last moment.

Never in its wildest dreams did it expect—

Not only did he not run, he dared to fight back.

And now he had the audacity to grab its tail.

How?

But then—

It saw Li Mo pull out a hammer.

Huh?

Did this kid really think a puny hammer—smaller than its fangs—could do anything to it?

At least he had spine...

"Eighty."

Wait, what was he muttering?

Some kind of martial arts chant?