All Things Are Contracts

Seeing the corpse of the man in black, Zhanyue was a bit troubled. After some thought, he still used the man’s steel blade to dig a simple grave for him. Zhanyue shook his head, finding his own behavior ridiculous. He clearly knew this was an illusion, and everything would eventually dissipate, yet the corpse before him seemed so “alive”.

“This dead eunuch is dead, the bandit leader is dead, Yunmo Village should be safe now. I should go back to find Huang Xueqing first,” Zhanyue thought as he set off, pondering along the way. The difficulty of this trial was terrifyingly exaggerated. Although he seemed to have dealt with Eunuch Cao easily, in reality, if he hadn’t accidentally met Huang Xueqing and obtained the extremely potent poison, he wouldn’t have been a match for this top expert from the palace with his strength. “Without poison, I probably could only have fled with Yu Dayou. But since it’s a trial, there must be a solution. Just like this time there was the man in black as a temporary ally. Perhaps there are other ways to pass that I haven’t found.”

“The top expert from the palace, the palace, a remote mountain village, General Yue… I wonder what secret this place is hiding. The next task should still be in this world. It definitely won’t end so simply.”

Soon, Zhanyue found Huang Xueqing. This girl had really waited for him here. The night was deep, and it was very cold. Her slender figure made Zhanyue feel a bit sorry for her, after all, they had both lost their cultivation now. But then he remembered that drop of blood. Just one drop of blood on the wine cup, which Eunuch Cao touched and then contacted his wound, could directly cause him to die from poison. It was too terrifying. This woman… was truly extraordinary.

“You’re back? How did the task go?” Huang Xueqing was like an immortal under the moonlight. Her coarse cloth clothes couldn’t hide her extraordinary beauty. Her beautiful eyes looked at Zhanyue. She had stayed here alone, not afraid of anything. Though appearing to be a weak woman on the surface, she was not without means to protect herself.

“Perfectly completed, all thanks to you this time,” Zhanyue sighed. “By the way, what medicinal herbs do you still need to find? I’ll accompany you tomorrow. Tonight, we’ll probably have to spend the night in the wild.”

Huang Xueqing nodded, “It’s a type of ginseng called Blood King Ginseng. I’ve found all the other herbs, just missing this one to complete the task. It seems my task might be simpler compared to yours.”

Zhanyue’s pupils contracted slightly as he asked, “Is that Blood King Ginseng transparent like crystal and red?”

Huang Xueqing continued to nod, “That’s right. The task says it’s only in this Yunmo Mountain, but it’s not easy to find. There are some places I can’t reach. Now with you as a helper, it should be much easier.”

Without saying much, Zhanyue took out the box he got from the eunuch’s body. Inside the box lay a blood-colored ginseng.

“This…” Huang Xueqing’s beautiful eyes trembled, not expecting to complete the task so easily. “Where did you get this from?”

Zhanyue briefly explained. Huang Xueqing’s herb-gathering task seemed simple, but in reality, it might have been even harder than his task. This ginseng was on Eunuch Cao’s person, so naturally, one would have to confront Eunuch Cao to obtain it. If it weren’t for his task coincidentally intertwining with hers, allowing him to obtain the Blood Ginseng when poisoning Eunuch Cao, it would have been very difficult for Huang Xueqing to complete her task. If Eunuch Cao had eaten the ginseng at some point, she would have naturally failed her task.

“Thank… thank you. You really are my lucky star,” Huang Xueqing smiled like a flower. It seemed that whenever she met Zhanyue, good things happened. She had just gathered some herbs, and her task was already completed. “However, after my task is completed, we might have to part ways. I’ll really miss you.”

They had just met, yet they might have to separate soon.

“Is that so? Not necessarily,” Zhanyue felt these tasks weren’t that simple. They were likely chain tasks. If they were chain tasks, then Huang Xueqing would still have to stay in this world, and as long as they didn’t fail their tasks and reset, the two would probably still be synchronized.

The moment Huang Xueqing obtained the ginseng, a familiar voice came from her identity token.

“Task completed. Completion level: Perfect.

Task reward: Cultivation restored to Spirit Contract Realm. You can choose to restore one battle technique or divine ability. Perfect evaluation, your contract object has been restored. You can use it now.”

Huang Xueqing was very happy. Although the increase from ordinary person to Spirit Contract Realm was just a small step, it was still a world of difference. Plus, she could restore a battle technique, giving her an extra trump card.

“Second phase task initiated. You need to rush to the northern border and cure General Yue Feipeng before he dies of illness.

Task pass condition: Cure General Yue Feipeng;

Perfect pass condition: Cure General Yue Feipeng while resolving his chronic ailment.

Task failure condition: General Yue Feipeng dies.”

“Uh…” Huang Xueqing was stunned. The second task was still in this world. With her identity as a divine doctor, curing and saving people shouldn’t be difficult, but this General Yue Feipeng seemed to be guarding the northern border, very far from here.

“How is it?” Zhanyue asked with concern.

Huang Xueqing didn’t hide anything from Zhanyue now and told him about her task.

“General Yue again?” Zhanyue frowned. This General Yue seemed too active, he had heard about him from various people.

“It seems our worlds are still synchronized, not separated. Tomorrow, I’ll go to Yunmo Village to see Yu Dayou, and I should be able to complete the task,” Zhanyue said.

They found a small cave, just big enough for two people to rest, and crawled in. They gathered some wood and lit a campfire.

“Um… what’s the deal with the poison in your body?” Zhanyue couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s innate. Even though this trial secret realm sealed our cultivation, it didn’t change this constitution,” Huang Xueqing said, a bit dejectedly.

“I was born in the Hundred Flowers Secret Realm, seemingly abandoned by my parents. Later, my master who came to explore the secret realm found me and brought me out to raise. But because my blood has deadly poison, I was well-protected since childhood, never getting bumped or bruised, and learned a set of defensive skills to avoid injury,” Huang Xueqing recalled.

“I see,” Zhanyue nodded. “You mean there are people living in the Hundred Flowers Secret Realm?”

“Yes, the secret realm is very large, with indigenous inhabitants, but they can’t come out. The Hundred Flowers Secret Realm produces all kinds of medicinal herbs, it’s the foundation of our Green Crane Valley,” Huang Xueqing explained.

“Besides blood, are other things in your body also highly toxic?” Zhanyue asked again.

Huang Xueqing nodded heavily, “Yes, blood is the most toxic, but other body fluids, like saliva and sweat, are also poisonous, just not as terrifying as blood. So I rarely have contact with people. My master has always taken care of me, and even so, she’s been poisoned a few times. Fortunately, her cultivation is profound, and she’s a very skilled physician herself. However, this doesn’t really affect me much, it’s more like a protection. The male disciples in the valley never dare to get close to me, so I enjoy some peace and quiet.”

Zhanyue nodded. Someone as beautiful as Huang Xueqing couldn’t possibly have no admirers, but unfortunately, her body was full of deadly poison, making it impossible to get close. But he was an exception. He only needed to recover a bit of his strength, and with his ability to retract his state, no poison would mean anything to him.

“Sigh…” Huang Xueqing suddenly let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Zhanyue looked at her puzzled.

“Have you… been intimate with other girls?” Huang Xueqing suddenly asked.

“Uh,” Zhanyue hadn’t expected her to ask this. He nodded.

“The desire between men and women is human nature, but I’m afraid I’ll never be able to experience it in my lifetime,” Huang Xueqing sighed about this matter.

Zhanyue hadn’t expected her to be so bold, willing to talk about these things with him. “We cultivators shouldn’t be burdened by love and emotions, right?”

Huang Xueqing gave Zhanyue a side-eye, “Hypocrite. You’re ambiguous with that Baizhi girl and the Holy Maiden, yet you say these things. Isn’t that disgusting?”

“Alright, male-female love is human nature. I’m just following my heart,” Zhanyue honestly admitted.

The two chatted about many things, all past interesting stories, really talking about everything until dawn broke.

“Let’s go. I should go complete my task and see what the next task is,” Zhanyue was somewhat looking forward to how things would develop.

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