"Pfft... ahahaha…"
Dai Huabin, who had been weighed down by a heavy heart, stared at Tang San in disbelief for a few seconds after his brief mental storm, scratched his head, then the corners of his mouth kept rising until he couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.
"What are you laughing at?" Tang San asked, slightly irritated.
"I'm laughing at how you've got an egg growing on your neck instead of a brain." Dai Huabin scoffed, then after laughing for quite a while, said flatly, "You? Reorganize the Shrek Seven Devils? With what? Your good looks? Don't think I don't know you've been seriously injured…"
"You!" Tang San roared in anger.
But he forcibly held back his rage. "Dai Huabin, I'm trying to discuss this with you in good faith. Your entire family is dead, and I'm all alone too. People like us can only band together—only when we're strong enough can we avenge them!"
"Who are you calling 'entire family dead'?"
Dai Huabin responded instantly, "White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
A pair of sharp tiger claws swiped straight at him.
"Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!" Tang San's eyes narrowed as he stepped back, narrowly dodging the strike. If it had landed, given that they were both Soul Elders, he'd probably be injured again...
"If we can't talk it out, then let's settle this on the stage!"
"Heh, I'll accompany you all the way!"
Several minutes later—
"Blue Silver Bind!"
Looking at Dai Huabin, paralyzed by his Blue Silver Grass, Tang San felt secretly pleased. Dai Huabin's strength was indeed impressive—worthy of being the top student of the current Shrek Academy—and certainly deserving of recruitment.
"Soul Elder? I remember you had only just awakened your martial spirit when you came to the academy," Dai Huabin's eyes flickered.
Though his body was restrained, he wasn't angry.
With his parents and brother dead, the White Tiger Duke's mansion flattened, all he could think about now was revenge against the Xingluo Emperor and the Sun-Moon Empire. Banding together was the only way, and he was actually very tempted by Tang San's plan.
Angering him earlier was merely a test of strength.
"So, are you in or out? Give me a word." Tang San said calmly.
"I'm in."
Hearing that, Tang San couldn't help but smile faintly. He thought to himself: it wasn't as hard as I imagined. As expected, I'm still the best. The plan proceeds smoothly…
As the Blue Silver Grass slowly receded underground, Dai Huabin felt his senses returning. He clenched his fists tightly, then looked up at Tang San solemnly. "But if it's just the two of us, it's not enough."
"Of course. I said I would reorganize the original Seven Devils, and I must be confident in doing so." Tang San chuckled.
"Tang San will be replaced by me. Dai Mubai, by you. Zhu Zhuqing, by Zhu Lu. Food-type Soul Master Oscar, by He Caitou. Ma Hongjun, by Ma Xiaotao. Xiao Wu, by Jiang Nannan. And the last one, Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master Ning Rongrong, by Ning Tian. I asked Elder Xuan—these are all top talents in the academy. Though there's a slight age gap, they are all from Shrek."
"Not bad. Ning Tian's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda family is rich, so she can fill our resource gap. Ma Xiaotao is backed by the academy and can get a lot of support."
Dai Huabin stroked his chin, then suddenly said awkwardly, "But did Elder Xuan tell you that Ma Xiaotao was abducted by evil soul masters, and the rest... Jiang Nannan joined the Sun-Moon Imperial Academy, and the others are exchange students. We probably won't see them for at least three years."
"I know. So we'll head to the Sun-Moon Empire to take a gamble!" Tang San looked entirely confident.
"Going there to find them in person—reviving the honor of the original Shrek Seven Devils would be worthy of history books. I don't believe they won't be moved."
Of course, part of his reason for going was that only Tang Ya knew his true identity as "Tang San," so he still felt relatively safe. Besides, going as an exchange student meant he'd have people like Xiao Hongchen as hostages.
And he had another goal—find Wang Dong, keep an eye on her, and make sure she didn't break free from his control again.
Dai Huabin: "…"
Tang San grinned. "You may be the son of the White Tiger Duke, but now that your side is in ruins and your father is dead, you're not much of a target. On the contrary, the Sun-Moon Empire might protect you just to spite the Xingluo Empire—like your little brother…"
"Don't mention him!" Dai Huabin's eyes turned bloodshot. "If I ever see him, I'll tear him to pieces. Everything happened because of him, that bastard dog born of a bitch!"
"…" Tang San stared at him indifferently.
"If you want to kill him, I'll help you. But for the next three years, you can't touch him in the Sun-Moon Empire unless it's in an official duel. And really, your true enemy should be Juzi."
"I'll kill them all!" Dai Huabin's voice was low.
"The beasts who killed my parents, and that bitch with no family—I'll kill them all. As long as you help me, I'll follow you to the death. Just like the original Dai Mubai did!"
"Our... cough, ancestor Tang San and Dai Mubai were brothers."
"Heh, call it 'brothers' if you want to make it sound nice. To put it bluntly... he was just a dog." Dai Huabin seemed to completely lose his restraint.
Tang San gave him a weird look. Mubai, oh Mubai, your descendants really are such "loyal" kids...
"Ah Cheng, since I'm giving you a back massage, can't you think of another way to save soul beasts..." Wang Qiu'er pouted while sitting on Xu Cheng's back, her long, beautiful legs swaying gently.
"What's the rush? Press lower... yes, right there. To solve the conflict between soul beasts and humans, we have to take it step by step. Trying to take shortcuts only leads to disaster." Xu Cheng lay on the couch, shirtless, directing Wang Qiu'er's soft hands to knead his back while explaining.
"But I feel Elder Cheng will be too slow." The girl pursed her lips and gently nudged Xu Cheng's body. "Isn't there a faster way?"
"There is, actually." Xu Cheng lazily enjoyed the massage while saying, "I call it 'spirit souls.' Extract the soul of a soul beast in a special way and form a contract with a soul master, allowing them to become soul rings without being hunted. In this form, soul beast souls can retain intelligence and even help in battle."
"When the human dies, the soul beast can contract with someone else and continue to live—practically immortal."
"Really? That's amazing!" Wang Qiu'er said with delight.
"Of course. But... the cost is a bit steep." Xu Cheng replied calmly.
In the original story, this method was invented by Elder Yi, later promoted by Huo Yuhao across the continent. Its original purpose was to ease tensions between humans and soul beasts. Spirit souls could be artificially created and even evolve—evolution came from soul beasts devouring one another, just like in nature. In the Ascension Platform, a defeated spirit soul could increase the year limit of an existing one by 10%.
The advantage of spirit souls was that soul beasts no longer had to die. Also, originally a soul beast could provide only one soul ring and skill—but as a spirit soul, it could offer two, three, even five or six. Soul masters used less energy when activating spirit soul skills, making them twice as effective as before.
But the downside…
Was the increasing commodification of soul beasts. Though the intention was good, over time, soul beasts were reduced to living inside humans, sold like goods, and if they became useless, thrown into the Ascension Platform to be devoured by others.
Xu Cheng even secretly suspected that Tang San subtly influenced Huo Yuhao to create spirit souls—just to boost traditional soul masters' power and resist soul tools...
Anyway, if something went wrong, blame God King Tang. Nine times out of ten, you'd be right.
"Ah... that's horrible..." Wang Qiu'er gasped, covering her mouth.
"Haste makes waste." Xu Cheng said calmly. "Elder Cheng's final products—artificial soul rings and soul bones—are the true long-term solution."
Seeing Wang Qiu'er a little down, Xu Cheng changed the topic. "By the way... the water from the Lake of Life—rumor has it just smelling it extends your life a hundred years, drinking it adds ten thousand. Is that true?"
"Mm, because a soul beast's power comes from their age. Drinking a bit raises their talent ceiling, which also makes it easier to survive the ten-thousand-year tribulation. So, in a way, yes. But for humans... it can only enhance talent or repair life force—it can't extend life." Wang Qiu'er replied honestly.
"Can you get me some?" Xu Cheng teased with a grin.
"Uh..." Wang Qiu'er hesitated for a while, then nodded slightly. As she spoke, she started to get up.
"Where are you going?" Xu Cheng asked, confused.
"To get the lake water..." Wang Qiu'er turned back, puzzled.
"Ah, I was joking! I don't need it yet. And if you leave, who'll massage me?" Xu Cheng waved her back.
"Oh, okay." Wang Qiu'er sat back on his back.
Seeing that...
Seeing this, Xu Cheng finally let out a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He really didn't want to provoke the Silver Dragon King into a rage and have her chase him down. Just imagine—raising your precious little sweetheart for tens of thousands of years, and then she goes out for a few days and comes back having been tricked by some "blond guy" into giving away her most treasured possession. Anyone would go mad.
Especially that Di Tian...
"By the way, about that soul spirit," Wang Qiu'er said hesitantly. "If I were to become your soul spirit…"
"Hey hey hey, don't say things like that! I have absolutely no interest in you!" Xu Cheng jolted, clearly startled. If he didn't already know Wang Qiu'er's personality, he would have suspected he was being set up. Outside the door, Di Tian, Xiong Jun, and the others could be lurking, ready to rush in and tear him apart at any moment.
"Of all things, why would you want to be someone's soul spirit?" Xu Cheng said, trying to reason with her.
"It's for love, of course. I've seen it in human fairy tales—didn't one of our soul beast ancestors, the hundred-thousand-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit, sacrifice herself for a human?" Wang Qiu'er mumbled, counting on her pale fingers.
"That…" Xu Cheng gulped.
He couldn't shake the feeling that this girl had read way too many novels.
"If you become a soul spirit, you'll be stuck with me forever. It's like being locked in a little black room. And if I die one day, you'll die too…" Xu Cheng did his best to point out the downsides.
But Wang Qiu'er's eyes sparkled as she nodded enthusiastically, "That actually sounds kinda nice."
Xu Cheng: "…"
"Forget it," he said helplessly. "Even though I can't form a soul spirit bond with you, there is another type of contract. It's a kind of pact between humans and soul beasts. Once formed, we become partners—our cultivation can be shared, our souls linked, and most importantly, I can summon you at any time. I can even lock onto your position like a beacon and teleport to you."
This was a form of magical contract passed down from Elder Yi—a binding spell.
And unlike the master-servant contracts used for mounts in Divine Seals, this was a more equal partnership, with no hierarchy.
"That should be good enough, right?" Xu Cheng asked.
"Sharing cultivation? Wouldn't that double our training speed?" Wang Qiu'er asked in surprise. "Why haven't you used this before? If you contract with more soul beasts, your cultivation speed would skyrocket!"
"You can only form this contract with one person," Xu Cheng replied, clearly exasperated.
"Oh… then wouldn't I be wasting your one and only slot?" Wang Qiu'er suddenly blushed.
"Well, you asked for it," Xu Cheng yawned, scratching his head.
"XU CHENG!!" Wang Qiu'er's furious shout echoed through the office building.
Buzz!
Inside the Sea of Spirit.
Wang Qiu'er crossed her arms over her chest, her pretty face tinged with annoyance. She turned her head, refusing to look at Xu Cheng—but the faint smile on her lips gave her away. After all, this was a one-of-a-kind bond. No other human girl had anything like it.
Sorry, girls. Too bad you're all just humans.
Xu Cheng kept his eyes closed.
He murmured something under his breath, and as time passed—
A five-pointed star array gradually appeared beneath his feet, rotating slowly.
The gift Elder Yi had left him included more than just undead magic and the Undead Space. It also contained various magic arrays based on his own insights—contract circles, sealing formations. But because they weren't as flashy or powerful as soul tools or martial spirits, Xu Cheng had long shelved them.
Luckily, the contract didn't require many materials, and most of them had local substitutes in this world…
"Oh ho! Forming a contract with the Auspicious Beast now?" Tianmeng popped up from the sea, amazed. "The speed of your progress impresses even your big brother Tianmeng!"
"Forming a contract with the Auspicious Beast… not bad," Bingdi said calmly, arms folded. "But I still think it would be more optimal if she offered herself up as a sacrifice or became a soul spirit. The only downside is the risk of retaliation from the Star Dou Forest crowd."
"Cold-blooded reptile, as expected," Tianmeng Ice Silkworm muttered.
"What did you say!!" Bingdi smacked the mini Tianmeng on the head. He teared up immediately, covering his mouth with both hands, a giant lump now visible on his forehead.
A few minutes later—
Under everyone's watchful gaze—
Xu Cheng slowly opened his eyes, and the five-pointed star array flared with a beam of divine light, shooting straight at Wang Qiu'er.
Wang Qiu'er couldn't suppress her smile. She closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, ready to embrace the oncoming light.
But a few seconds passed—
And she felt… nothing.
Opening her eyes in confusion, her expression slowly froze.
Right in front of her, a single dragon scale floated in mid-air—seemingly having blocked the light on her behalf.
At the same time—
In the depths of the Lake of Life within the Star Dou Forest—
A massive silver dragon slowly opened her eyes, her vertical pupils filled with confusion.
???
I was… contracted?
(End of Chapter)