by KSY
Ryan bit the tip of his forefinger and dropped a few drops on the Dragon-serpent egg. His forefinger healed instantly after leaking a few drops of blood and Ryan marveled at the regenerative capabilities of his body.
The Dragon-serpent egg shook a little before it greedily absorbed Ryan’s blood. On seeing this, Ryan had a jubilant expression on his face, as it was clear that the Dragon-serpent had accepted him as its partner. Soon Ryan could see changes happening to the egg. It started to shine with Unholy black light, and a few glowing runes started to form on it. Similar runes appeared on Ryan’s body, after which, he could feel a connection with the Dragon-serpent, and his affinity with Fire Attribute and Death Attribute went up by a notch.
A Soul-link had formed between him and the Dragon-serpent!
Ryan was ecstatic when he felt the connection with the Dragon-serpent. The runes that had appeared on his body and the egg shell disappeared after a few minutes, but the egg shell didn’t stop shining with Unholy black light. On the contrary, the intensity of the Unholy black light increased manyfold. Ryan was happy seeing this too, as this was a sign of the Dragon-serpent’s bloodline purity increasing. Ryan didn’t know to what extent its bloodline purity would increase, but one thing was certain: the Dragon-serpent would gain a lot of Innate Abilities and its potential would also increase exponentially. The Dragon-serpent might even gain one or more Innate Abilities of his Martial Spirits that Ryan had unsealed.
“Roar!” A draconic roar rang in Ryan’s mind.
Ryan smiled hearing the roar. The little Dragon-serpent was hungry and was asking for Death Attribute Elemental Energy. Ryan started channeling Death Elemental Energy from the Death Sword via the newly formed Soul-link between them.
“Roar!”
“Roar!”
“Roar!” The little Dragon-serpent issued multiple roars of happiness as it started to absorb the Death Elemental Energy like a black hole. It was delighted by the purity of the Death Elemental Energy supplied to it, as it was the purest Death Elemental Energy it had ever absorbed. Ryan didn’t mind the little Dragon-serpent’s appetite for the Death Elemental Energy, as he had an unending source of exceptionally pure Death Elemental Energy.
Ryan placed the Dragon-serpent egg inside his newly purchased Beast pouch.
After forming an Equal contract with the Dragon-serpent, Ryan decided to deal with the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit.
“Dargar, what should I do with the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit,” Ryan asked Dargar. Ryan had purchased Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit because of Dargar’s request, and he had no idea how Dargar wished to deal with it.
“Just conjure me. I know how to deal with the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit and I might be able to convince it to form a Floral contract with you,” Dargar with determination.
A Floral contract with Plant spirits and Tree spirits is equivalent to an Equal contract with Elemental Beasts. Plant and Tree spirits can’t be bound by a Master-slave contract, unlike Elemental Beasts, so Martial Artists have only one option and that is to form a Floral contract with them.
If a Martial Artist is successful, then his or her affinity is increased exponentially in the attribute that is common to the Martial Artist and the Plant or Tree spirit, while the Plant or Tree spirit might gain one or two Innate Abilities the Martial Artist has unsealed from his Martial Spirit. The main reason Plant spirits and Tree spirits form Floral contracts with Martial Artists or other beings is to gain their protection.
Plant spirits and Tree spirits are some of the most sought-after Cultivation resources. All living beings that are capable of cultivating seek them out for their essence, but it is not easy to form a Floral contract with one. They require the Martial Artist, or any living being that wishes to form a Floral contract with them, to possess certain qualities. For example, Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirits prefer Emerald Viper or Elemental Beasts with its bloodline. If they are unable to find the desired quality, then they are unable to form a Floral contract with that being.
Once a Floral contract or an equivalent contract has been established, the Plant spirit, Tree spirit, Elemental Beast or any other living being will have the protection of the Heavenly Laws. No one including the Martial Artist with whom it has formed the Floral contract or its equivalent can exploit it for their personal gain. Its body after its death, or any part of the body that gets separated from its main body, vaporizes instantly which makes exploitation of it next to impossible. Consequently, even if it is caught by someone to make a pill out of or to extract their essence, it will be futile.
“OK,” Ryan said as he conjured Dargar, whose size had increased after Ryan’s Poison Attribute Soul Core had advanced to the Late Mortal Elite Realm. He was now three meters in length and twice as thick as before. The Poison aura around him had become many times denser which signified an increase in his toxicity. The size and strength of Martial Spirits keeps on increasing with the increase in the Cultivation Level of the Martial Artist.
The facial expression of the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit radically changed on seeing Dargar. It quickly understood Ryan’s intention, and it was thrilled and relieved with the sudden change in its situation. It could now form a Floral contract with a Martial Artist who had an Emerald viper as his Martial Spirit!
The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit was feeling giddy deep down, as this was the best thing that could have happened to it. Every Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit dreamed of forming a Floral contract with an Emerald viper but Grandura didn’t have that many Emerald vipers to begin with, which made it almost impossible for most Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirits to form Floral contracts with one. Thus, in the end, they had no choice but to form Floral contracts with Elemental Beasts with the bloodline of an Emerald viper.
Dargar and the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit were looking at each other. It was clear that they were talking to each other mentally.
“Ryan, you can remove the seals placed on the box and free the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit?” Dargar asked. Ryan followed Dargar’s instructions and quickly removed the seals on the box and opened it. It was clear that Dargar and the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit had come to an understanding.
The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit flew out of the box with a happy expression. It appeared in front of Ryan's face as it started hovering at that spot. The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit closed its eyes and started to shine with green light. A few runes appeared on its body soon after.
“Ryan, quickly drop a few drops of your blood on the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit,” Dargar said. Ryan nodded his head as he once again bit the tip of his forefinger and dropped a few drops of blood on the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit. His forefinger once again healed within a few seconds. The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit quickly absorbed Ryan’s blood and runes like the ones on its body appeared on Ryan’s body. Ryan could feel a connection with the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit and his affinity with Poison Attribute also increased by a notch. Soon the Soul-link was completed between them and the glowing runes on Ryan’s body disappeared soon after.
The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit started shining even more brightly than before after the disappearance of the glowing runes on their bodies. This signified that the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit had received an Innate Ability or Innate Abilities from Ryan’s Martial Spirits. Ryan would have to wait until the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit was done with the process before he could know which Innate Ability or Abilities it had gained.
Ryan didn’t disturb the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit as it hovered in the air.
Ryan took out a Martial Skill manual from his Spatial pouch. It was named Evil Spirit Enslaving Martial Skill, and it allowed a Death Martial Artist to enslave Evil spirits by forcing them into Master-slave contracts.
A Master-slave contract binds the soul of the enslaved being making it impo
ssible for it to the resist commands from the Martial Artist. The Master-slave contract is effective only so long as the enslaved being is weaker than the Martial Artist. If the enslaved being becomes stronger than the Martial Artist, then the Master-slave contract loses its effect and the enslaved being can revolt. The enslaved being can then try to kill the Martial Artist who’d enslaved it to totally void the Master-slave contract.
After understanding the principles of the Evil Spirit Enslaving Martial Skill, Ryan quickly started practicing it. His hands were covered in the Aura of Death as he channeled Death Attribute Spirit Power into his hands. Ryan started imbuing Death Attribute Spirit Power with Death Elemental Laws soon afterwards. After a few hours of using the Evil Spirit Enslaving Martial Skill, Ryan was able to conjure a few Runic seals, which was capable of binding the souls of Evil spirits. Ryan had a jubilant expression on his face after successfully conjuring them and continued practicing Evil Spirit Enslaving Martial Skill until he was able to conjure thousands of Runic seals in a short time. It took Ryan two days before he was able to master Evil Spirit Enslaving Martial Spirit.
In the meantime, the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit had also completed the process of gaining the Innate Ability or Abilities from Ryan’s Martial Spirits. Ryan was looking forward to knowing which one or ones it had gained.
“Hello! My name is Ryan. What should I call you?” Ryan said. This was his first time interacting with the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit. The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit didn’t know human speech, so it communicated via Mental-message transmission.
The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit sent a Mental-message transmission to Ryan. It lacked speech, so it was just simple thoughts, but Ryan was able to understand them. The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit told Ryan that it had no name.
“Are you male or female?” Ryan asked, in order to confirm one of his beliefs. The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit once again sent a stream of mental-messages.
Ryan was shocked for a second, as the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit had told him that it was male. Ryan was shocked as he’d always believed that Plant Spirits and Tree Spirits were sexless.
“Do you like the name ‘Caius’?” Ryan asked the Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit, as he regained his composure. The Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirit nodded his head vigorously, as he liked the name Ryan had suggested.
“OK. From today onwards your name is Caius,” Ryan said with a smile and Caius smiled at Ryan in return.
“Caius, what Innate Ability or Abilities did you gain from my Martial Spirits?” Ryan asked with great expectation. Caius grinned as he flew towards the table inside the Cultivation chamber. He lightly punched the table with his tiny right fist and it broke into multiple pieces the moment his fist connected with it. Ryan’s mouth was hanging wide open.
“You’ve gained Asura Physique!” Ryan said in shock. He was bewildered by this, as he’d been expecting Caius to gain Dargar’s Emerald Fog Innate Ability, but for him to gain Asura Physique was totally beyond Ryan’s expectation. Generally, the physique of Martial Spirits is not gained by Elemental Beasts or other beings with which a Martial Artist forms an Equal Contract or a Floral Contract. Ryan knew it was all because he possessed an Asura Martial Spirit that such a situation was possible.
“Well, it good for Caius. His previous lack of a strong body was his biggest weakness. Now his biggest weakness has turned into one of his strong points and he won’t have to fear anyone,” Yama said, and Ryan could tell from this that Yama wasn’t too shocked by the outcome, and in fact, it was clear that Yama had been expecting it, or something similar. Ryan was also able to tell that Yama didn’t wish to divulge much about this matter.
On seeing that, Ryan didn’t press Yama for more information, as either way, it was a good thing for Caius. He no longer had the weakness that made him a weak creature. Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirits are highly toxic and can release powerful toxins in the air that can easily kill powerful immortals, but their bodies are just too weak. Caius had been previously caught because of his weak Physique, as he he’d been unable to take even a light blow from the people who’d caught him.
“Caius, can you stand to the side for a little while, please? I am going to start forming Master-slave contracts with the Evil spirits,” Ryan said as he took out the big jar from his Spatial pouch that contained the Evil spirits. Caius nodded his head and entered Ryan’s hair. A smile crept onto Ryan’s face upon seeing this.
Viper’s Touch Immortal Plant Spirits are known for their stealth abilities. They can erase their presence which makes it very difficult indeed for others to find and catch them. For this reason, they are considered rare. Caius could stay within Ryan’s hair without detection, and he could also attack Ryan’s enemies from there, thus taking them by surprise.
Ryan opened the jar. The Evil spirits spurted out from the jar just like a volcanic eruption. They wailed like ghosts as they started flying around the Cultivation chamber. The jar had contained one thousand Evil spirits, and they’d fully spread out in the Cultivation chamber and were looking at Ryan with hungry eyes.
He was surrounded by Evil spirits on all sides! Upon seeing this, Ryan smiled. Each Evil spirit had strength and powers comparable to that of a Late Condensation Realm Martial Artist.
Evil spirits use their sheer numbers to overwhelm their victims. They can take out a Mortal Lord Realm Martial Artist or other beings with a similar Cultivation Level extremely easily.
If a Martial Artist is surrounded by Evil spirits on all sides then the situation is life threatening, but for Ryan, it was no big deal, as he had a way of dealing with them. The Evil spirits charged at Ryan from all sides wailing like ghosts.
Ryan immediately released his Baleful aura to counter them. The Baleful aura exploded out of his body, and filled the Cultivation chamber, so the Evil spirits were enveloped in it. They stopped in their paths and looked at Ryan with scared expressions, and even stopped wailing. The Cultivation chamber was suddenly deathly quiet, as Ryan’s Baleful aura had made them lose their will to fight. They were now scared stiff with no intention of revolting.
Ryan quickly formed Runic seals with the Evil Spirit Enslaving Martial Skill, which flew towards the Evil spirits, who tried resisting, but their bodies wouldn’t obey them. The Runic seals entered their bodies one by one and then embedded onto their souls.
Once he had enslaved all the Evil spirits, Ryan stopped releasing his Baleful aura. He could feel a connection with all the Evil spirits, that was weaker than a Soul-link, but had a similar function. Ryan took Death Sword out from his Soul World. He channeled his Death Attribute Spirit Power into Death Sword. A black beam was released from the tip of Death Sword and soon turned into a portal connected with the Undead Rearing Space inside Death Sword.
“Roar!” A childish and angry draconic roar rang in Ryan’s mind. The Dragon-serpent was angry because the supply of Death Attribute energy was cut-off, because Ryan had taken Death Sword out from his Soul World.
“Wait a little while,” Ryan said in a soft and loving voice, and the Dragon-serpent calmed down a little.
The Dragon-serpent’s strength and powers had grown at an extraordinary pace in the past two days. It already had a Cultivation Level of Mortal Saint Realm and it had yet to be born. The bloodline purity of one of its bloodlines had increased to either high-grade or original-grade.
If the Dragon-serpent’s Cultivation Level kept on increasing until it became an Immortal beast, then it meant that the bloodline purity of one of his bloodlines had already reached original-grade. In the case of a Hybrid Elemental Beast, only one of its bloodline is capable of reaching original-grade, while the other bloodline can only reach high-grade bloodline purity. If the Dragon-serpent failed to become an Immortal beast before his birth, then it meant both of its bloodlines had high-grade bloodline purity. All Ancient and Divine Elemental Beasts with original-grade bloodline purity are born as Immortal
beasts.
Ryan ordered the Evil spirits to enter the portal but they refused, so he had no choice but to use force to make them enter it. He enveloped all of them in his Death Attribute Spirit Power following which he shoved them into the portal. The portal closed after that.
Ryan knew that once the Evil spirits entered the portal, they wouldn’t be able to disobey him. If an Undead creature entered the Undead Rearing Space, it wouldn’t be able to escape from Ryan’s control, even if it were to become stronger than him, as Death Sword would put an even more powerful Enslaving seal on the Undead creatures, which would make it impossible for them to revolt.
Death Sword provided the Undead creatures inside its Undead Rearing Space with optimum conditions to evolve and cultivate. Ryan just had to wait patiently for some time until his wraiths were ready.
Wraiths are known for their stealth and their powerful Soul attacks. It is very difficult for Martial Artists and other beings to fight wraiths that possess a similar Cultivation Level as them, as wraiths lack presence and can become invisible, which makes it extraordinarily difficult to keep tabs on their movement. Wraiths lose this edge, if their opponent’s Cultivation Level is higher than theirs.
Wraiths possess sharp claws that can easily dice a Martial Artist into small pieces with a single slash. Wraiths also possess terrifying Innate Abilities, the most famous being Soul-devour and Death-slash. Soul-devour is a strikingly brutal Innate Ability in which the wraiths enter a victim’s body and slowly devour its soul, thus making the victim endure endless agony. Death-slash, on the other hand, is a Soul attack that destroys the soul of a victim instantly.