All Things Are Contracts

Zhanyue’s inability to perform targeted soul searches was actually beneficial, as he primarily obtained what the Ghost Shark elder considered most important.

“The Ghost Shark clan is extremely powerful. Their royal court is located in the depths of the Thousand Falls Sea in the Myriad Spirits Main Domain (Old World). Within the royal court, there’s a powerful aura no weaker than yours, sister. They have special secret techniques to cross the Sky’s Veil to our Myriad Spirits Border Domain (New World), though it seems not many can come. The Crocodile-Headed Divine Turtle that originally guarded the entrance to the Human Realm had its head cut off and limbs bound, imprisoned in the Ghost Mist Sea. The Ghost Shark clan has extremely skilled formation grandmasters who set up a grand formation on the Ghost Mist Sea, making it impossible for ordinary people to reach Ghost Island through normal means,” Zhanyue shared all the information he had obtained with the Illumination Goddess without reservation.

“That formation is incredibly powerful. The human side doesn’t have formation masters of that level. Even Spirit God Realm experts like you, sister, can’t forcibly enter the formation to reach Ghost Island. By restraining the divine turtle and setting up the formation to isolate it, the Ghost Shark clan has taken over the Human Realm that belonged to humans.

However, the entrance to the Human Realm is also protected by restrictions that only allow humans to enter. Even the Ghost Shark clan’s formation grandmaster can’t break it. They guard a treasure vault without the key, so they came up with the idea of letting human youths go to Ghost Island for trials, allowing humans to enter and bring out treasures. To obtain resources from the Human Realm for a long time, they didn’t choose to exhaust everything at once, but used a gentler approach of bartering. Things that are extremely rare or extinct on our side can all be found in the Myriad Spirits Main Domain (Old World), after all, that’s the world’s original state. When the myriad races hastily retreated, they left behind countless resources.”

“I see. It seems that the disaster back then didn’t greatly affect the Ghost Shark clan, allowing them to multiply in the original world and become masters of the Old World. They even found a way to cross the Sky’s Veil to reach us and took over the Human Realm, continuously extracting human wealth,” the Illumination Goddess sighed. However, she didn’t think about reclaiming Ghost Island, firstly because no one could break the formation, and secondly, as Zhanyue said, there were beings in the Ghost Shark clan no weaker than her. Now was not the time to make enemies with the Ghost Shark clan.

“In any case, this Ghost Shark elder’s plan has completely backfired, and he doesn’t dare to come for revenge. If the Ghost Shark clan found out he leaked their secrets, he’d be the first to die. What that elder fears most now is being associated with me, so I’m safe for the time being. By the way, sister, I also obtained a technique called ‘External Incarnation’ from his memories,” Zhanyue said, looking at the mysterious purple wood on the ground. This item took the Ghost Shark elder a hundred years to refine as an essential material for the external incarnation, but now it had fallen into Zhanyue’s hands.

“I know something about external incarnation. It requires your soul strength to be sufficient. Since you haven’t entered the Profound Realm yet, I don’t recommend you cultivate it. When you enter the Profound Realm, relying on techniques like the ‘Sun Shining Scripture’ that enhance soul strength, you should barely meet the requirements to cultivate it,” the Illumination Goddess advised.

Zhanyue nodded, understanding the principle of not biting off more than he could chew. External incarnation wasn’t easy to cultivate. Forcibly creating an external incarnation with his current soul strength would only split his soul. Zhanyue had to put away the purple wood, considering it again after breaking through to the Spirit God Realm.

“Sister, what happened in my soul world earlier? Why did it feel… so comfortable?” Zhanyue recalled the previous events.

The Illumination Goddess was stunned, then said sternly, “Don’t ask about this again, and don’t mention it.”

Zhanyue was bewildered, not understanding why the Illumination Goddess suddenly became angry. “Alright, I won’t ask. We should head back.” Zhanyue smiled. On this trip, he not only learned many secrets, but more importantly, he learned from the elder’s memories how to cross the Sky’s Veil back to the Old World, though the conditions were extremely harsh for anyone outside the Ghost Shark clan.

Walking out of the dilapidated basement, Zhanyue realized how far the Ghost Shark elder had taken him. The elder’s strength was truly remarkable, able to bypass all the restrictions of the Academy Town with just an external incarnation and forcibly abduct him. If his target had been the Holy Maiden, even MuMu Lixi might not have been able to defend against it. Fortunately, his target was Zhanyue, and the Illumination Goddess was always guarding him. The Ghost Shark clan’s power was truly terrifying.

“I was just boasting to MuMu Lixi about how powerful I am wearing the Silver Moon Armor. It’s laughable. In front of truly strong beings, I’m just an ant wearing armor, still just an ant,” Zhanyue said self-mockingly.

“Don’t belittle yourself. That was a Ghost Shark elder who knew countless secrets. How old are you to think about competing with him?” the Illumination Goddess comforted. She had directly confronted the Ghost Shark elder’s soul, so she knew his strength was far beyond what Zhanyue could currently handle.

“So many years have passed, and I still haven’t entered the Profound Realm,” Zhanyue was indeed getting impatient. No matter how others praised his genius, he knew talent and strength were not the same thing.

“Haste makes waste. With me protecting you, you’ll certainly grow strong in the future. Why rush for temporary realm advancement at the cost of your future path?” the Illumination Goddess quickly advised, fearing Zhanyue might become too eager for quick results.

“You’ve helped me resolve so many dangers, sister. If one day you’re not by my side, I really don’t know what I’ll do. You’ll always protect me, right?” Zhanyue suddenly felt insecure. The Lord-level Nightmare in the ancient castle, the curse from the original owner of the demon sword, and this Ghost Shark elder were all terrifying beings Zhanyue couldn’t possibly deal with. If not for the Illumination Goddess’s protection all along, he would have died countless times already. But he couldn’t be sure the Illumination Goddess could always protect him.

“Of course. After all, I’m considered your contract object. Why are you suddenly saying these things?” the Illumination Goddess sensed the pessimism in Zhanyue’s tone.

“I have a feeling that something big is about to happen,” Zhanyue expressed his inner unease. The feeling was so strong that even being protected by the strongest being in the world couldn’t restore his usual sense of security. “What could it be?”

“Let’s go back first. Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to prop it up. Why worry so much when you haven’t even entered the Profound Realm?” Hearing Zhanyue’s words, a hint of unease also appeared in the Goddess’s eyes. She knew Zhanyue’s intuition was usually accurate, but for now, she needed to calm his emotions.

In the southwest of the Academy Town, in the principal’s office, Wind Lord deployed a domain to isolate everything. Within the domain, besides Mi Hongchen, there were several middle-aged men, all at least at the Sun Profound Realm level.

“We’ve pretty much figured it out. The target was the key to the ‘Book World’. The principal… he died protecting the key,” a man in white said. The principal he referred to was naturally the deceased former principal, Gu Weicheng.

“Although we don’t know who the enemy is, at least the key was protected. The enemy probably didn’t expect Principal Gu to swallow the key instead of hiding it in his storage ring. Even though the enemy took the storage ring, they likely miscalculated,” the man in white continued. They found the ‘key’ in Gu Weicheng’s stomach after an autopsy.

Wind Lord Mumuxingyun looked at a copper ball in his hand, engraved with eight mysterious runes, his eyes full of sorrow. “Old Gu, you can be considered to have died gloriously. At least you protected this item.” Mumuxingyun and Gu Weicheng were close friends in their youth. He wanted to investigate the truth behind Gu Weicheng’s death. Now they knew the enemy’s goal, but who was behind it? What was the purpose of stealing this key? After all, a key is only useful on a door, and opening the door wasn’t easy. Just stealing a key alone was meaningless.

“Continue the investigation. Being able to silently kill a Spirit God Realm expert like Principal Gu within the academy, it’s likely no ordinary force. Be careful, if you sense any danger, stop immediately,” Wind Lord told the group.

Mi Hongchen, as the royal representative, participated in this secret meeting throughout.

“Lord Wind, now that the key has been recovered, can the door to the Book World be opened?” Mi Hongchen asked after the others left.

“Of the eight key figures, we currently have six. We’re still missing the Kun Earth position and the Li Fire position. I’ve secretly sent messages to various forces, asking them to help find talents in these areas. Since someone has set their eyes on the key to the Book World, it means the secret of the Book World can no longer be kept. We need to hurry,” Wind Lord sighed.

Zhanyue, of course, knew nothing of Wind Lord’s discussions. He returned to his courtyard, heavy-hearted. But as soon as he entered, he felt his soul plunge into an icy pit. A strange man in black sat in the courtyard, drinking alone, seemingly having waited for Zhanyue for some time. Zhanyue had never seen this man in black before, but his face and his entire skin were terrifyingly white, even whiter than a corpse.

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