NOVEL WEB Chapter 113: The Contract with Yue Liang
Jian Dan's face was cold, not showing the slightest hint of concern. Her voice was calm, measured, and detached.
"I don't mind forming a karmic bond, but a master-servant contract, with her as the master and me as the servant—do you think I would agree to that?"
The Raccoon Beast Zhēnzūn's eyes flickered slightly, but he did not refute her.
"My bottom line is a contract of equality. If one day Yue Liang wants to leave me, I won't stop her. But for you to scheme like this today, trying to trap me into a master-servant bond with her—you're welcome to try and see if such a thing can succeed on the grounds of the Heavenly Sword Sect."
Jian Dan said no more. Her stance was clear. She didn't mind blowing things out of proportion if needed. This was the territory of the Heavenly Sword Sect, after all. They had no right to force her hand, and even if she had to lose, she wouldn't lose in posture.
Meanwhile, watching through the Water Mirror, Jian Wu Zhēnjūn from the Discipline Hall nodded in approval. "This young one's not bad. She has a presence."
Jian Jun Zhūnzhǔ smiled as he leisurely waved a folding fan and said to Jian Fan beside him, "She's careful and principled. If she passes the final test, we can assign her some manageable missions to temper her. She could prove quite useful in the future."
Jian Fan nodded, then waved his hand over the Water Mirror, reviewing Jian Dan's performance from the start of the selection process. After observing everything, he gave another approving nod.
"Not bad. Worth cultivating. I think that Tao Chengfeng from the Jian Zhen Peak is decent too. Honest fellow, just a little stiff. As for that Qi Hua, is she here to join the selection or just looking for someone to spar with? She doesn't hold back at all."
"The seedlings from Tiāndú Peak's inner sect are a bit too pampered. Please show them some patience," said Jian Wu Zhēnjūn awkwardly, raising his hand in salute to the other Zhēnzhūn and Zhūnzhǔ. The elders could not help teasing him in return.
Back with Jian Dan, the old ancestor of the Raccoon Beast clan eventually agreed to her terms, allowing her to form an equal contract with Yue Liang.
This time, Jian Dan took the lead. She didn't trust that old raccoon for a second. Earlier, when she had cautiously probed Yue Liang's condition with the thinnest thread of spiritual power and divine sense—no thicker than a hair—it had immediately triggered a hidden contract inscription within Yue Liang's body, as if it had been lying in wait just for Jian Dan. The contract script clung to her divine sense and spiritual power like a trap.
Sensing danger, Jian Dan had instantly severed the strand and withdrew before the contract inscription could fully take hold. That was the scene that had unfolded earlier.
Now, she was taking no chances. She retrieved a contract array disk from her storage space, one specifically designed for beast contracts.
The octagonal array disk, about the size of a palm, flared to life with Primordial Chaos energy. In an instant, Jian Dan and Yue Liang were enveloped in its light. Yue Liang floated from her crouched posture into the air before Jian Dan.
The array drew a drop of blood from each of their foreheads. The two drops merged within the script of the contract, then split apart and shot back into their respective brows.
As the contract took hold, Jian Dan felt her divine sense establish a clear connection with Yue Liang. The little raccoon blinked her round, black eyes and curiously stared at her.
The array disk completed its task and returned to Jian Dan's hand. She flipped her palm and sent it back into the bamboo house inside the magnolia space.
Jian Dan stroked the small raccoon gently and said, "You're leaving Medicine Peak with me now, and your homeland too. Go say goodbye to your mother and brother."
Yue Liang stood upright on Jian Dan's shoulder, placed her front paws together in a respectful gesture, then was set down on the ground. She padded slowly toward her mother.
"Partings are always bittersweet," sighed the Raccoon Beast Zhēnzūn.
"A farewell now only means a better reunion later. Isn't this the outcome you calculated so carefully for?"
This time, the Raccoon Beast Zhēnzūn gave no response. He simply beckoned to Xīngxing with a paw, calling him to his side.
On the surface, it had seemed like Xīngxing had acted impulsively and drawn human cultivators to them, but in truth, every move had been tacitly permitted.
The raccoon clan had prepared for both outcomes. If they managed to secure a master-servant contract between Yue Liang and a human cultivator, it would give them bargaining power to negotiate better terms. If not, and they encountered someone as cautious as Jian Dan, they could still settle for an equal contract. No matter the result, it meant at least one member of their clan could leave Medicine Peak.
The raccoons weren't being overly paranoid. Human cultivators were known to be cautious. They would not allow potential threats to grow too close. That was part of the reason why Medicine Peak only opened once every thousand years—not just to give the spiritual beasts and plants inside time to recover, but also to limit their development.
However, this time the Discipline Hall's selection included a task that required leading a spiritual beast off the peak. That, in itself, was a signal. Rather than suppress the beasts indefinitely, perhaps it was better to allow them a proper way out.
Jian Dan didn't mind being part of their scheme, because in the end, she benefited. Yue Liang was different from an ordinary raccoon beast. As a mutated variant, she had drawn more energy from her mother during gestation, leading to a difficult birth.
Aside from sharing the common traits of her kind—speed like lightning and a cry that could attack the sea of consciousness—Yue Liang also had the ability to injure a cultivator's very soul.