Dao

The contract binding the two together was handed down from ancient times. Concrete principles about how it worked was unknown. However, no breach of contract ever occurred. Once a party signing the contract died, the other party would definitely die no matter how high the other party’s cultivation level was. However, the “one-sided” covenant Shiao Chen mentioned was the inequal form of it.

In other words, if Shiao Chen’s soul perished, the beauty would die. However, if the beauty died, Shiao Chen wouldn’t suffer from any loss. The contract was, to some extent, a master-servant contract without specifying submission. The privileged party couldn’t issue orders to the underprivileged one. The beauty frowned and was slightly hesitant on hearing the words, seeming to be considering the gain and loss of saying yes to the proposal.

“Friend shall get my proposal right. Signing the contract will do no harm to you as long as you don’t bear evil intentions in your mind.” Shiao Chen glanced at the beauty and said lightly.

“Humph, you are just a bottom-class cultivator at Qi Refining. You would lose your life at any time if you encounter a cultivator at a higher level. Those people can be found everywhere. And if you are killed, I would die with you.” The beauty was unhappy to think of this. After all, if she signed the contract, she and Shiao Chen would be bound then. They shall live and die together.

Shiao Chen replied lightly without any expression, “Since we haven’t come to an agreement, I will leave soon. May god bless you and hope there will be someone coming here to save you. Goodbye for now and see you later.” Finishing his sentences, Shiao Chen strode forward without hesitation.

Despite favorable conditions, he wouldn’t waste his time on them if safety was not ensured.

“Wait…I say yes!” The beauty stared at Shiao Chen directly with a cold face, thinking of peeling off his skin, plucking out his sinews, grinding his bone and then scattering the powder if she recovered, even if these could only be realized on the condition of degraded cultivation after her breach of the contract! Shiao Chen turned around with a poker-face and said, “Since you’ve agreed, let’s begin.” The beauty’s stare was totally ignored by him.

“Fine!” The beauty answered with her teeth gnashed and eyes stared. She then murmured in her mouth a segment of complex incantations. And Shiao Chen bit his finger and shed a drop of blood. The blood unexpectedly floated in the air. However, as incantations went, it was divided into two and went directly into the place between the eyebrows of Shiao Chen and the beauty respectively.

Shiao Chen then felt a slight cold in his divine sense. He concentrated and saw in his divine sense that the half a drop of blood became a mini version of the beauty with her eyes closed, manifesting a successful contract signing. Once Shiao Chen died, his divine sense would vanish with the mini version of the beauty ruined. And then the beauty’s body and her divine sense would be destroyed thereby.

The completion of the contract was a great relief to Shiao Chen. With the contract, the beauty was bound with him. Even though she might know his secrets later, she wouldn’t disclose them for her own safety. What’s more, the beauty was mysterious and her power was beyond measurement. She was probably a big shot surviving the ancient times. She might know how to break his current bottleneck and help him break through to the next level of Foundation Establishment. In other words, with the guidance from the beauty, it could be much easier for Shiao Chen to upgrade his cultivation level in the future.

“Haha, since we’ve completed the contract signing, friend, you can come and reside in my body now.” Shiao Chen said with a smile for he had realized his goals.

The beauty stared at Shiao Chen into his eyes. However, she suddenly smiled and said in a soft voice, “Chen, I’m looking forward for your attentiveness and consideration since I’m going to reside in your body for long.” Then she winked at Shiao Chen and became a ghost which found its way into Shiao Chen’s body.

Though she was just a ghost now, under her sudden deliberate act, Shiao Chen was tempted for seconds and then forced a wry smile after coming to himself.

“We’ve achieved an agreement now. How about giving me the treasures you’ve promised?” Shiao Chen asked in his divine sense with a faint smile.

“Oops, my soul suffered from a great damage. My memory was messed up. If you do require the treasures, I can first offer you a piece of cultivation method. However, if things go wrong, I’m not going to be held responsible.” The beauty’s giggle echoed in Shiao Chen’s divine sense and Shiao Chen’s face froze for a second.

“Hehe, there’s no need to worry, friend. You won’t die even if something goes wrong. There will be at most some minor changes of your body, such as a tail or a horn. Never mind.”

Wry smiles occurred in a row on Shiao Chen’s face. Though he knew the beauty said these on purpose, he still didn’t dare to take risk. Since she had suffered losses in the deal with him, she wouldn’t mind teaching him a lesson. After all, there was a long time ahead. Shiao Chen didn’t take her words seriously.

“I’m Shiao Chen. What’s your name? We will inevitably communicate with each other in the future. And I think you need a name for me to call you by.” Shiao Chen asked with a light smile.

“I’m Yu Ji. Bear it in mind, Chen.” A sweet and soft voice came with a sense of weariness. “I’m tired and going to have a rest. Chen, I’ll talk to you then after I wake up.”

Finishing her words, she fell into a deep sleep to convalesce.

“Yu Ji?” Shiao Chen shook his head, not knowing whether it was a fake name, though he didn’t care it at all.

“Check the place first and see whether there would be treasures left behind.” Seeing the ruin in front, Shiao Chen was a little bit excited. The people once appeared here such as the plump middle aged, the old woman, Corpse Rider, and the beauty were all with super high cultivation level. Anything left behind by them would possible be a treasure.

Shiao Chen then scanned the hall with his divine sense. Suddenly, he walked directly to a pile of debris with his face changed slightly. He cleared debris away with a wave of sleeve and found a broken gourd treasure. However, lots of bumps and hollows appeared on its surface. Apparently, it was greatly eroded. The spirit contained was gone and it became a waste.

Though it was a pity that the treasure was completely useless now, it was still made of good raw materials. Shaking his head, Shiao Chen collected it and put it into his storage bag. In the next hour, Shiao Chen carefully searched the place and found remains of three treasures and several storage bags. The storage bags of the three Gold Core cultivators brought him not bad gains. To Shiao Chen’s surprise, the low grade spirit stones totaled almost a hundred thousand.

“It seems that all possible treasures have been identified.” After carefully collecting the broken blood-streak jade plate under Yu Ji’s body, Shiao Chen scanned the place again with his divine sense and was about to leave.

“Hmm, it doesn’t feel right. What’s this?” Shiao Chen’s divine sense stung for a second after a random scanning. He became slightly cautious.

After clearing debris away, there appeared a decimeter-level skeleton. It was complete, delicate, and mysterious with obscure blood streaks covering all over it.

“Unexpectedly!” Shiao Chen stunned for a moment and became ecstatic. It was the treasure the old woman used to fight with Corpse Rider. He just didn’t expect that this treasure was still completely intact after the fight.

Shiao Chen held it in hand carefully, studied it in detail for a while, and put it into his storage bag.

Though Shiao Chen found nothing after the skeleton, he was not disappointed. All in all, he was the biggest winner. Enough is as good as a feast.

After about half a day, a light signaling the travelling trace rose amid mountains. The light slightly stopped in the air for direction identification and then headed to the horizon in a flash.

Two days later, Shiao Chen landed in a mortal town hundreds of meters away. He didn’t return to the Sect directly. Instead, he wanted to have some rest and sort out what he had gained first.

Shiao Chen took a blue robe out of the storage bag and put it on. Though the robe was not eye-catching, it was rare and made of the silk produced by wild silkworms. With it on, one felt warm in winter and cool in summer. However, he forgot it was in which storage bag that he got this robe. Shiao Chen was born with a comely face and taught by his father on how to read and write since young, for he was weak and not suitable to practice martial arts. Thereby he was with a thick aura of bookishness. What’s more, he grew fast since his cultivation began and he looked like a young student at this moment.

Entering the mortal town along the crowd and seeing the bustling streets, Shiao Chen stood alone in a daze. It had been long since he saw a lively scene last time. He spent almost all his time this year in closed door trainings.

Walking into a restaurant at will and greeted by the pleasant food smell, Shiao Chen was surprised. He looked up to check the plaque and saw “Immortal Reception House”. The name was indeed impressive.

The restaurant was very busy. It was just about the dinner time and the first floor was already full of guests.

Shiao Chen then stepped towards to the second floor.

Tables set on the second floor were not many. There were a few vacancies left. Shiao Chen chose a seat by the window.

“Dear guest, what do you want, meal or accommodation? Right behind our restaurant lies our inn. It is quiet and secluded, suitable for reading and writing.” The waiter served Shiao Chen a cup of tea first and touted the inn, for Shiao Chen looked like a scholar.

“I want both meal and accommodation. Serve some light dishes and a bottle of good wine first.” Shiao Chen smiled and said. He found that the restaurant did enjoy a favorable environment after his observation.

Thinking of the commission he would get, the waiter beamed with joy and said, “Please wait for a moment, dear guest, I’ll go and fetch your dishes.”

Shiao Chen threw a piece of silver on the table with a smile. Fetching the silver quickly, the waiter was overjoyed and went away happily to get things done.

Before long, all dishes were served and Shiao Chen began to eat. The dishes were indeed delicious and the wine was with a distinctive taste though not famous at all. A few moments later, there came a burst of noise from the head of the stairs, mixed with waiter’s flattering words.

“Dear guests, the second floor is indeed full now. I’ve tidied up seats in the first floor. Therefore, I suggest you eating downstairs.” There were dozens of youths climbing stairs with a woman in red cool cloth leading the team. She scanned the second floor with her long narrow eyes and was disappointed to find no vacancy was left.