181: Contract Mystery

Upon realizing this thought had arisen within him, Xu Yan immediately understood that his heart already leaned towards a choice regarding Xuan You's request.

Xu Yan didn't feign modesty. He looked into Xuan You's eyes, seeing the sincerity and determination within them, and said with a smile, "In that case, Xuan You, welcome to the team. Let me reintroduce myself: I am Xu Yan, a Monarch-level Beast Tamer and Breeder, and a prospective sophomore at the Third Academy."

After receiving Xu Yan's clear affirmative, a joyful expression appeared on Xuan You's face as it replied, "Xuan You, a Monarch-level Spirit Beast. In the future, please guide me."

After reintroducing themselves and confirming that Xuan You was ready, Xu Yan concentrated his spiritual power between his brows, and a Contract Array condensed from it, flying towards Xuan You's head.

Xuan You showed no resistance or evasion towards the Contract Array flying towards it, allowing it to land on its forehead.

A mark appeared between its brows; the contract was formed.

As the Contract Array merged into Xuan You's body, a close connection formed between Xu Yan and Xuan You, along with the changes each of them experienced after forming the contract.

Under the contract's feedback, Xu Yan could feel his strength, which had only recently broken through to the Monarch Rank, rapidly increasing once again.

Moreover, Xu Yan also felt a gentle yet profound power appear within his body. Under the influence of this power, Xu Yan's defense, endurance, flexibility, and various recovery abilities all received a significant boost.

In addition, his control over the Power of Heaven and Earth of water and earth became even stronger. The moisture in the surrounding air and the ground beneath his feet subtly resonated with Xu Yan.

Xuan You's reaction, however, was even more extraordinary. After forming a contract with Xu Yan, because Xu Yan had only just broken through to the Monarch Rank, Xuan You hadn't held much expectation for the contract's feedback to itself.

However, it was immediately proven wrong. Feeling the changes in its body, Xuan You didn't even have time to continue interacting with Xu Yan. The entire turtle fell into a mysterious state, its eyes tightly shut, its limbs and head seemingly losing all strength, and its entire body slumped to the ground.

Xuan You's sudden change startled Xu Yan. Surely, signing a contract with him couldn't cause problems, could it? Was this a scam?

Fortunately, the contract between them informed Xu Yan that Xuan You was perfectly fine. On the contrary, its current state was excellent; the entire turtle's spiritual power was extremely active, and it was in a state of enlightenment.

Relieved after learning the reason, Xu Yan then used the contract to check Xuan You's information.

Name: Xuan You

Race: Black Tortoise

Attributes: Water, Earth (Underworld Tendency)

Level: Monarch Rank 7

Bloodline Level: Overlord High Grade (Quasi-Sacred Spirit)

Talents: Divination/Precognition (Avert Misfortune, Seek Fortune), Black Tortoise Spirit Breath (Resonates with surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth, increasing all personal recovery speeds by 300%, and reducing final damage taken by 30%)

Skills: Water, Earth Basic Skills, Water Shield (Forms a water shield to block damage, immune to three control effects during shield duration, restores 10% of its own health when shield breaks), Earth Shield (Earth shield, blocks damage, stands on the ground, continuously absorbs energy from the earth, accelerating recovery speed), Hydrotherapy, Winter Storage

Taunt, Retaliation Armor (20% ratio, adaptive damage), Power Exchange (Selects beneficial/detrimental states between two parties for exchange, can exchange beneficial for detrimental, or detrimental for beneficial)...Power of Heaven and Earth · Water/Earth, Domain · Black Tortoise Descent (Temporarily evolves into a Black Tortoise, gaining partial power and authority)

Even with prior preparation, Xu Yan was still somewhat shocked when he actually saw Xuan You's information.

With Innate Talents for recovery and damage reduction, and a skill set consisting of various shields, healing, and damage reduction, coupled with taunt, retaliation, and all sorts of flashy support skills, combined with Xuan You's natural vitality and defense, it could only be said that future opponents who encounter Xuan You would be in for a treat.

A thought inexplicably arose in Xu Yan's mind: Should I practice fleeing or Beast Tamer close combat abilities? I have a feeling they might come in handy in the future.

After roughly reviewing Xuan You's information, the latter remained in a state of enlightenment.

Looking at Xuan You, slumped into a blob, Xu Yan couldn't help but recall what it had said earlier.

Xuan You might not know what happened at that half-year mark, but Xu Yan had some guesses.

That time point was roughly when he inherited the Mandate of Heaven from the Black Bird, obtained the mission scroll, and submitted it along with the information about the invasion from another world. The subsequent alert status in Huaguo was also due to gathering personnel to confront the outer realm head-on.

The mission scroll, counterattacking the outer realm, new mythical slots, the integration of the outer realm into Azure Planet, and the possibility of other outer realms appearing in the future—this series of events, for Azure Planet and all living beings, could certainly be called a great change.

So, what kind of scene would the upcoming Golden Age be? And would he be able to participate in it, and what role would he play?

As he thought this, a sense of urgency inexplicably arose in Xu Yan's heart, and he began to attach more importance to the upcoming school team selection and the University League that would follow.

Looking at Xuan You, still in a state of enlightenment with no signs of waking up anytime soon, and thinking that it was in his dorm area so there would be no danger, Xu Yan, urged by his sense of urgency, didn't wait for it to wake up.

After instructing the Black Cat Attendant to find a construction team to build a rain-sheltering pavilion around Xuan You, Xu Yan took Zhu Yan and the others and, with even greater diligence, threw himself into training.

Under abundant resources and high-intensity training, in the following period, Xu Yan and his three Spirit Beasts became more proficient in controlling their own strength, and their power also saw some improvement.

Xuan You, meanwhile, remained in its slumped, enlightened state. Xu Yan would check on it daily after finishing his training, but it still showed no signs of waking up.

With one week left until the start of the semester, Xu Yan, after finishing a day's training, once again received a special visit request.

This time, the visitor was neither human nor Spirit Beast.

It was a remnant soul.