16: Chapter 16 Do you want to ride me?

Zhang Yuan scratched his head and frowned, looking distressed. "This is a real headache. It looks like we can't go any further."

Hearing this, Chen Yi chimed in, "Then let's part ways here. Thank you so much for bringing me this far!"

Wait? Fengyue Canyon is still about twenty kilometers away. Are you planning to go by—"

Zhang Yuan didn't say the word "foot."

They had all seen the scene of Chen Yi riding on Lin Mengxue earlier!

Although it was a bit impolite to say so about Lin Mengxue, she was indeed a ready-made form of transportation!

And one that could fly, no less!

"Well then, we'll do as Brother Chen Yi says!"

After some small talk, Lin Mengxue flew away from the area with Chen Yi.

The four upperclassmen watched the silver-white figure disappear into the horizon, a wave of emotion rising in their hearts.

If only they could be as powerful as Chen Yi and Lin Mengxue—

"Speaking of which, Xu Yao."

Zhang Yuan said with an awkward expression, "Um... since we don't have transportation now, could you..."

Before he could finish, Lin Chen interrupted him directly.

"Impossible! Do you freaking want to die?"

"Lin Chen, look, aren't we a team? If we walk there, how much time will we waste?"

"No! I said no, and I mean no!"

Lin Chen refused decisively, leaving no room for negotiation.

One didn't even need to think to know what Zhang Yuan was thinking.

Xu Yao's Spirit Beast form was a Blazing Horse. This Zhang Yuan actually wanted to ride her Contracted Spirit Beast?

Damn it, how shameless could he be!

Xu Yao stood aside with a bewildered look, completely unable to understand the coded conversation between these boys.

---

"Brother Chen Yi, I have a question I want to ask you, and you must answer honestly!"

"What's wrong?"

"Did you intend to ride me from the very beginning?"

The corners of Chen Yi's mouth twitched slightly as he muttered to himself.

To be honest, he had touched the pair of silver dragon horns on Lin Mengxue's head last night.

The sensation was simply indescribable—the perfect balance of soft and hard!

He was allowed to touch even the most sensitive part of a Dragon-type Spirit Beast, and he had already ridden her in her human form.

There was no reason she wouldn't let him ride her in her Spirit Beast form, right?

But why did her tone sound like it carried a hint of reproach?

However, based on his experience of living with Liu Ruyan for over a year...

In this kind of situation, apologizing first was definitely the right move!

"Sorry, it's just faster this way~~"

"Honestly! If you wanted to ride me, why didn't you just say so? Senior Xu Yao and Senior Zhou Feifei kept glancing over at you just now. I feel like their intentions weren't pure!"

Hearing this, Chen Yi was momentarily stunned, feeling surprised in his heart.

What kind of answer was that?

What did she mean by 'just say so if you want to ride'?

"Wait, could it be—is Xue'er jealous? She actually didn't want me to ride with the seniors?"

Thinking of this, the corners of Chen Yi's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

He had originally thought Lin Mengxue was going to interrogate him, but he hadn't expected to discover such a cute side to her.

"So you mean I can't contract other Spirit Beasts?"

Chen Yi asked tentatively.

"No—no! That's not what I meant!"

Lin Mengxue explained somewhat flusteredly, "I want to stand at the peak of the world with you, Brother Chen Yi. Any Beast Tamer who reaches the summit is bound to be surrounded by many women! But—I don't think those two will do!"

"Oh? Why not?"

"They've already contracted with other Beast Tamers. I think Spirit Beasts who abandon their original Beast Tamers... are no good! If they do it once, they'll surely do it a second time. They're total time bombs!"

Listening to Lin Mengxue's explanation, Chen Yi suddenly burst out laughing. "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of casual person! The contract partners I choose will definitely be as beautiful and kind-hearted as you!"

Hearing this, a blush crept onto Lin Mengxue's face, and she said coyly, "Hmph~~ Brother Chen Yi, I like hearing you say that!"

What she said was indeed true.

If a Spirit Beast immediately abandoned their original Beast Tamer and threw themselves into the arms of another just because they showed extraordinary talent...

Such a Spirit Beast naturally couldn't be trusted!

However, there was one more point that puzzled Chen Yi.

Ever since he bound the system, it seemed that besides Lin Mengxue, he hadn't encountered any other Spirit Beast Girls who could trigger the contract favorability reward.

At first, he thought only Spirit Beast Girls with hidden bloodlines could trigger this reward.

But while shopping earlier, he had seen two Spirit Beast Girls with S-rank hidden bloodlines, and it still hadn't triggered.

Could it be that only a hidden SSS-rank Bloodline can trigger it?

Just as he thought of this, the system's notification sound suddenly rang out.

【To trigger the favorability conquest mission reward, the Host must meet the following three conditions!】

【First: The target has never been contracted!】

【Second: The favorability at the time of contracting cannot be lower than 0!】

【Third: The target possesses a hidden bloodline of SS-rank or higher that has not yet been activated!】

"I see—"

Chen Yi nodded. He hadn't expected to get an answer just by asking the system.

He had been foolishly trying to figure it out for so long; it was a waste of effort!

However, Chen Yi still found the first condition a bit tricky.

A Spirit Beast Girl who has never been contracted—that's a real challenge!

High-level Beast Tamers can contract multiple Spirit Beasts, while the male-to-female ratio in this world is one-to-one.

In other words, a Beast Tamer with F-rank talent might not find any Spirit Beast willing to contract with them;

But an F-rank Bloodline Spirit Beast, no matter how poor the conditions, will basically always find a higher-level Beast Tamer willing to accept them.

To find a Spirit Beast Girl who has never been contracted, Chen Yi felt he could only go and wait for those eighteen-year-old girls who had just reached adulthood—

As for the second condition—if the other party has no favorability toward you, how could a contract be established?

It wasn't like doing 'that thing' would automatically establish a contract.

Both parties must have the intention to contract while doing 'that thing' for a contract to be established.

The same logic applied to having children; only when both parties have the intention to conceive is it possible to give birth to offspring, and the higher the level, the lower the probability.

He really couldn't understand why the system would add such a restrictive condition.

---

Meanwhile.

Lin Mengxue flew south for about five or six minutes and finally arrived at the destination, Fengyue Canyon.

A few scattered Magic Beasts could be seen along the way, but they were all wiped out by a single breath from Lin Mengxue.

It felt just like the sweep mode in some mobile games—easy and simple!

However, unlike mobile games, the process of collecting materials was exceptionally troublesome.

He had to jump off the dragon's back every time and pick up the materials dropped by the Magic Beasts one by one, going back and forth several times.

Even though Chen Yi's current Constitution stat had reached 25 points—two and a half times that of a normal adult male—

He still couldn't quite handle this kind of constant exertion.

"If only these Magic Beasts would obediently gather together for Xue'er to kill—"

Chen Yi couldn't help but mutter to himself.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mengxue immediately warned, "Brother Chen Yi, there's something strange ahead!"

"Let me see."

He looked ahead in the direction of Lin Mengxue's gaze.

He saw a group of insect-type monsters gathering in one direction not far ahead.

By a rough estimate, there were at least forty or fifty of them!

【Magic Beast: Iron-skinned Centipede】

【Difficulty: Two Stars】

【Level: Rank 1, Stage 10】

【Attribute: Earth】

【Skill: Iron Armor Defense】

【Description: Possesses a shell comparable to steel, but has no other advantages besides that.】