Equal Contract

Huh?!

Seeing the figure slowly shuffling out from behind the boulder, the human and three beasts froze on the spot.

Jiang Lu looked at the black figure, then at the three little ones.

No wonder none of them had noticed it; who would spot a tiny figure only the size of a palm?

Seeing Jiang Lu staring at it, the black figure's cheeks flushed red, and its ears twitched gently.

Sensing no malice, it hopped and skipped over to Jiang Lu.

Finally, it curled up into a ball at Jiang Lu's feet, looking up at her with its large, wide eyes.

Jiang Lu thought, Oh no, this one's coming right for me!

Aww! o(╥﹏╥)o

A fluffball! What a cute little fluffball!

Jiang Lu squatted down, feeling a bit excited.

Sensing Jiang Lu's emotions, the three little ones thought, Oh no! This one's coming for us! It's here to steal her affection! How despicable!

“What kind of spirit beast are you?”

Jiang Lu scooped it up into her palm. Before it could even react, she began nuzzling it against her cheek.

“Wow~”

^_^*

“Will you be my beast companion? (づ￣3￣)づ╭❤～”

“I'll give you whatever you want to eat!”

Jiang Lu said in a gentle voice, her affection written all over her face.

“Hmph, hmph~”

Hearing this, it nuzzled Jiang Lu's palm.

It felt that the scent on this human was so fragrant!

And what did she just say? She would give it whatever it wanted to eat!

Squeee~

Finally, someone was willing to adopt a beast!

But...

Its large eyes filled with curiosity. It couldn't form a contract with this human; it had just sensed the power of two Master-Servant Contracts on her.

If only they could be severed.

A sharp gleam flashed in its eyes.

Chi Li and Cang Chen felt a sudden chill run down their spines.

They felt like they were doomed!

Then, it tilted its head to look at Chi Li and Cang Chen before shifting its gaze to Mengbao. This one...

Then it turned its head back, lowering it slightly to glance at Jiang Lu's fingertips.

What a pity. Their strength was close to its own, so it couldn't forcibly sever their bonds. Could they be divine beasts as well?

Racking its brain, it shook its head. Then, its eyes widened as it stared at the two of them in disbelief. Could they be a dragon and a phoenix?

Only the aura of the Four Ancient Auspicious Beasts was similar to theirs. No wonder it felt a strange sense of familiarity.

If that was the case...

The black figure blinked. It seemed forming a contract wasn't entirely out of the question.

The Four Ancient Auspicious Beasts were: the dragon, the phoenix, the Qilin, and the turtle.

Dragon: The leader of all scaled creatures, capable of summoning clouds and rain, a totem of imperial power, possessing countless transformations.

Phoenix: The king of all birds, adorned with five-colored feathers. Its appearance brings peace to the world, symbolizing benevolence, virtue, and good fortune.

Qilin: A benevolent beast with the body of a deer and the head of a dragon. Its single horn is blunt, and it never steps on living creatures, appearing only when a sage king is born.

Spirit Turtle: Possessing a lifespan of ten thousand years, it understands the mandate of heaven and can divine good and bad luck.

The four auspicious beasts were all auspicious beasts of the mortal realm. If they appeared together, it represented supreme fortune.

At this thought, it rejoiced!

It always knew it was the smartest beast! It could remember everything in its inherited memories!

It attempted to guide its consciousness into Jiang Lu's sea of consciousness.

Sensing that aura, Jiang Lu froze slightly.

“Cang Chen, do you think this little thing wants to form a contract?”

Chi Li had a look of bewilderment. What kind of spirit beast was this? How could it be so brave?

“Hehe, then it's just daydreaming.”

Cang Chen swept its tail and laughed.

The positions of Master's left and right protectors had to be theirs!

However, they were quickly proven wrong.

When Jiang Lu's divine sense came into contact with it, a connection suddenly formed, and a lotus pedestal appeared within her divine sense.

As the aura drew closer, the lotus pedestal gradually split into four.

The contract powers of Chi Li and Cang Chen were tightly bound to two of the lotus pedestals, transforming into their respective phantoms—a dragon and a phoenix. Both possessed proud expressions as they coiled upon their pedestals.

The other two lotus pedestals remained empty, radiating waves of desolate stillness.

As time passed, the black figure's divine sense slowly entered one of the lotus pedestals, and Jiang Lu felt a connection form with it.

Her mouth fell open in shock.

A third figure appeared upon the lotus pedestals!

The Equal Contract—was established!

Feeling her connection with it, Jiang Lu stood frozen on the spot. Wasn't it said that a cultivator could only contract two spirit beasts?

Then what was going on with her?

Sensing that familiar aura, Chi Li and Cang Chen widened their eyes!

The divine beast Qilin!

So that was it!

The four great auspicious beasts shared a common origin. If it were any other spirit beast, a contract might not have been possible. But for the four of them, it was indeed a special case.

It was just that ordinary cultivators could never have the luck to encounter the four great auspicious beasts, so there were naturally no records of this.

Though this little thing was just a tiny ball now, once it grew up, it would be incredibly majestic.

Chi Li and Cang Chen exchanged a look. Seeing its current form, they wanted to cry but had no tears. Boohoo~

Their status was no longer secure!

It took Jiang Lu quite a while to figure out the situation. She was instantly overjoyed. Did this mean she could contract one more Spirit Turtle?

Hahaha—

This trip was definitely worth it!

It was absolutely worth it!

Before she could celebrate, she felt the surrounding air tremble and immediately stuffed them into her pouch.

Had she really stayed here for that long?

It clearly felt like only an instant!

The battle in the sky seemed to have ended, and the divine beast Qingluan had probably been claimed by Liu Qingqing, but...

Before she could think further, she was thrown out.

“Quickly report to the sect! The Liuyun Sect has obtained the divine beast Qingluan!”

As soon as Jiang Lu emerged, she heard countless noisy voices echoing in the sky.

She silently thought that Liu Qingqing truly was the child of fortune. Now, the news of her possessing the divine beast Qingluan would surely spread in all directions.

Another legend would surely be added to her title as a favored daughter of heaven.

Disciples were flying around in chaos, but they were all trapped within the barrier.

Jiang Lu turned to look and saw elders near the barrier collecting tokens and resources.

She squeezed through the crowd and looked at the basket in front of the elder.

“Place your token on top of this basket, then put your resources inside. Once your resources meet the standard, the token will glow, and you may leave.”

The voice echoed around her. Following the instructions, Jiang Lu placed her token on top, then retrieved the resources she had obtained during her trial from her storage bag, including spiritual plants and demon beasts.

Perhaps because the grades of the demon beasts and spiritual plants were not low, the token quickly began to flash.

Before Jiang Lu could react, a stamp was pressed onto her arm. With a flash of light, she was ejected.

She originally planned to head to the spiritual boat to return to the sect with the other disciples, but the spiritual energy in her body was showing signs of an imminent breakthrough. She could no longer suppress it!

She then retrieved a teleportation talisman from her space.

With a flash of the talisman, Jiang Lu vanished on the spot. Cheng Xin and the others who walked over looked puzzled. Hadn't Junior Sister Jiang been right here?

How did she suddenly disappear?

Could her eyes be playing tricks on her?

“Senior Sister Cheng, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I saw Junior Sister Jiang Ye as well,” said the disciple behind Cheng Xin, dodging to the side a few times. “It's just that so many people rushed past her just now, so it's entirely possible she was swept away to somewhere else. Why were those people running so fast? They almost sent me flying. Poor Junior Sister Jiang Ye must have been knocked away by them like that.”

Thinking of Jiang Lu's strength, Cheng Xin nodded. That seemed to make some sense.

Thus, she sent Jiang Lu a spiritual message and returned to the spiritual boat.

Since they were already out, many disciples would choose to train outside, as long as they kept track and reported it in advance. She would make a note of it for Junior Sister Jiang first.