“Ouch!”
She cried out in surprise and fell to the ground. The branch in her hand flew out and snapped with a sharp crack.
The red and yellow figures in front of her suddenly burst with an intense white light. Immediately after, a white light also erupted from her body, and the three glows began to clash.
Jiang Lu froze in place, not daring to move. What on earth was this?
In the end, the light became too intense. Unable to withstand it, she instantly blacked out and collapsed onto the ground.
“S-Something's not right!”
The snake and the bird cried out in shock at the sight, and both lost consciousness as well.
Just before passing out, a single thought flashed through their minds: How could this happen?!
The light surrounding the human and the two beasts continued to flicker. As the light from the beasts gradually weakened, a gentle aura emanated from Jiang Lu like a warm embrace. The light surrounding her flickered a few times, and two totems appeared on her arms before instantly vanishing.
An ancient voice echoed, filling the entire cave:
“Master-Servant Contract—established!”
The bright light in the cave slowly dissipated, but the human and two beasts lying on the ground remained unconscious.
A long time later,
the red bird let out a soft whimper and slowly opened its eyes. It shook its head, its gaze gradually clearing.
Seeing the unconscious snake nearby, it immediately fluttered its wings and ran over, shaking the snake's body repeatedly while calling out to it.
“Stinky dragon, wake up! Wake up!”
Its wings kept flapping against the snake's body, knocking loose a few yellow scales. The bird paused, kicked the scales aside with its claw, and then kicked up some dust to cover them.
The snake slowly opened its eyes. Why did its body feel so sore?
Before it could figure out why, its entire body was pulled into a chubby embrace.
“Waaah, stinky dragon, I'm so glad you're okay!”
Seeing that the snake was awake, the bird hugged it tightly and spoke with excitement.
It couldn't bear to be left here all alone in this unfamiliar place. If it got caught and turned into soup, it wouldn't even have anyone to keep it company.
Hearing this, the snake was deeply touched. Feud aside, it hadn't expected this stinky bird to care so much about it. It must be because they only had each other to rely on now.
Sniffle, sniffle...
From now on, it would never curse this stinky bird in its mind again.
“I feel like something's wrong!”
“Me too!”
They suddenly spoke in unison. The two beasts stared wide-eyed at each other, a mutual understanding flashing between them the moment their gazes met.
Sensing the strange connection within their bodies, both beasts suddenly shrieked.
“Aaaah!”
The Master-Servant Contract was supposed to make them the masters and the human the servant! Why were they the servants now?!
What on earth was going on?!
“Stinky bird, what... what do we do now?” the little snake stammered, looking at Jiang Lu with terror.
“What do we do? How should I know?!”
The red bird gritted its teeth, its already puffed-up feathers puffing out even more. Since they were the servants, they couldn't cancel the contract at all!
If they tried to cancel it with their current strength, they would surely suffer backlash, a consequence they couldn't afford to bear.
The two beasts exchanged a glance and cautiously nudged closer to Jiang Lu, who was still fast asleep with her eyes tightly shut.
The little snake gently nudged Jiang Lu's arm with its tail, but she still didn't wake up.
Emboldened, it grew daring, patting her hand one moment and poking her face the next.
“She doesn't seem like anything special, does she?”
How did she manage to reverse-contract them?
They were divine beasts, for heaven's sake! To be contracted by a tiny human in the lower realm... Let alone others not believing it if they told them, even the two of them could hardly believe it themselves.
Could this human even withstand the bloodline power the two of them brought?
“Are we really bound by a Master-Servant Contract?”
Even now, the red bird couldn't believe it had been contracted just like that.
The little snake nodded, a look of utter numbness practically visible on its yellow face.
The two beasts sat back-to-back, their heads drooping in complete despair.
A Master-Servant Contract...
Waaah...
It was the very first in its clan to be bound by a Master-Servant Contract. If the other dragons found out, where would it hide its face?
Just wait until it found the bastard that ambushed them. It would make that thing wish it were dead!
“Ugh...”
Jiang Lu opened her eyes and climbed up from the ground, rubbing her dizzy head. Once her mind cleared, she finally noticed the two figures sitting back-to-back.
They were slouching listlessly, looking utterly despondent, as if they had lost all will to live.
Weren't these the two beasts she saw right before she passed out? They had even rushed toward her. What happened to them? Why did they look like deflated balloons?
“Hey, what's wrong with you two?”
Jiang Lu cautiously stood up, wanting to leave. But since the two of them were blocking the exit, she could only gather her courage to ask.
The bird and the snake turned their heads at the same time, forcing awkward smiles. Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in the little bird's head. Supporting its round body on its two claws, it stood up, put on a haughty look, and declared smugly:
“Ahem! We are your masters.”
Jiang Lu: Did she look like an idiot?
Snake: Brother, you've got some serious guts.
Jiang Lu stared straight at it. This little beast was clearly lying. Under her intense gaze, the red figure grew increasingly guilty.
“F-Fine... You're our master.”
After saying this, it tucked its head straight into its feathers, its entire body radiating gloom.
“We're contracted?”
Jiang Lu looked utterly dazed. Recalling the bright light she saw before passing out, could it have happened then?
She had actually contracted two spirit beasts of unknown grade?
But what spirit beast would willingly initiate a contract? And looking at their current depressed states, they certainly didn't seem willing.
She then picked them up, one in each hand, and examined them closely.
As she sensed the connection with the two contracted beasts, the contract's information gradually manifested in her mind.
Suddenly, her grip loosened. Her eyes widened, her pupils reflecting a look of utter despair, as if her world had ended. The two beasts dropped straight to the ground with a soft splat.
What did the information in her mind mean?
Whether it was a Master-Servant Contract or an Equal Contract, a cultivator could only contract a maximum of two spirit beasts in their lifetime.
If they broke the bond, they would have to pay a corresponding price.
This was precisely why so few people contracted spirit beasts. For one, they might not be suitable, and for another, they wanted to avoid being unable to contract stronger spirit beasts if they encountered them in the future.
She!
Her two precious opportunities!
Had both been taken up by these two tiny, mysterious spirit beasts!
Completely taken up!
They—
Waaah...
For a moment, Jiang Lu didn't even know what to say. Although she could cancel the contract, even with a Master-Servant Contract, she would suffer backlash if she did so at her current level of strength.
Right now, even though these two spirit beasts were only Tier One spirit beasts, she was only at the Qi Condensation realm. If she wanted to cancel the contract, her strength would need to be at least two realms higher than theirs.
Therefore, she would have to wait until she reached the Golden Core realm to dissolve the bond without harming herself. This was the Heavenly Dao's impartial law for all living things.
She looked at them. A bird, a snake... wait, a snake with claws? Was this a lizard?
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