7: Chapter 7: The Contract, the Azure-Scaled Serpent!

Lin Fan turned around and ran toward that Armor Beast supply store.

Ten minutes later, he returned holding the Spirit-Soothing Grass.

Xu Ziyan was still standing in the same spot, holding the Snow Spirit Fox with a look of anticipation.

"Lin Fan, how do I use this?"

Lin Fan looked left and right, then pointed to a small park by the roadside.

"Go over there."

The two walked into the park and found a secluded bench to sit down.

Lin Fan took out the Spirit-Soothing Grass and followed the method shown in the ten thousand armor beast record.

He crushed the leaves, squeezed out the juice, and dripped it into the Snow Spirit Fox's mouth.

Then he looked at Xu Ziyan.

"Stretch out your hand."

Xu Ziyan obediently stretched out his right hand.

"Not that one, the one for the contract."

Xu Ziyan switched hands.

On his right wrist was a faint white pattern, the outline of a fox.

"And then?" Xu Ziyan asked blankly.

"And then..."

Lin Fan recalled the information shown in the book.

"Concentrate. Imagine something flowing out from your palm and into its body."

Xu Ziyan did as he was told.

After a few seconds, he shouted in surprise.

"I feel it! Something is really flowing out!"

Lin Fan watched the Snow Spirit Fox.

The little fox's tightly closed eyes suddenly twitched.

Then, it opened its eyes.

A pair of pale blue eyes met Lin Fan's gaze.

Xu Ziyan was stunned.

"It's... it's awake?"

He looked down at the Snow Spirit Fox in his arms, his eyes reddening again, this time from excitement.

"It's awake! It's really awake!"

The Snow Spirit Fox moved, lifted its head, and stuck out its tongue to lick Xu Ziyan's hand.

Lin Fan leaned against the back of the bench, looking at his pathetic display, feeling a bit like laughing.

"Alright, stop crying. If you keep crying, it'll think you're having an episode."

Xu Ziyan looked up, sobbing.

"Lin Fan... thank you... really, thank you... How... how did you know how to treat it?"

Lin Fan thought for a moment and casually made up an excuse.

"The old man at my house repairs Armor Beasts; I've seen a lot of it."

Xu Ziyan didn't doubt him and nodded vigorously.

"Then... then I owe you a favor! If you need anything in the future, just say the word!"

Lin Fan looked at him and suddenly remembered something.

"Right, the money for the Spirit-Soothing Grass..."

Xu Ziyan waved his hands hurriedly. "You helped me save Little Snow; I should have been the one to pay for it anyway!"

Lin Fan nodded.

It was Xu Ziyan's Armor Spirit after all; it was only natural for him to pay for the medicine.

But that was just the start.

He cleared his throat.

"Um... Xu Ziyan, we need to talk about the treatment fee."

Xu Ziyan was taken aback, then nodded repeatedly.

"Right, right, right! Look at me, I almost forgot! You helped me cure Little Snow, I have to give you money!"

Saying that, he pulled out his wallet, took out all the remaining cash, and stuffed it into Lin Fan's hand.

Lin Fan looked down—good heavens, it was another three or four thousand.

He took the money, counted it, then looked up and stared at Xu Ziyan with a serious expression.

"Xu Ziyan, let me ask you, how much did you buy this fox for?"

"One hundred and eighty thousand," Xu Ziyan answered honestly.

"One hundred and eighty thousand."

Lin Fan nodded.

"Then if I hadn't saved it, wouldn't that hundred and eighty thousand have gone down the drain?"

Xu Ziyan thought about it and nodded. "Yes..."

"Then my treatment fee, logically speaking, should be calculated according to that proportion, right?"

Xu Ziyan continued to nod. "Yes..."

"Then logically, how much money should you give me?"

Xu Ziyan was stumped.

He scratched his head and began to think seriously.

"According to the proportion... a tenth of one hundred and eighty thousand is eighteen thousand... a fifth is thirty-six thousand... a third is sixty thousand..."

Lin Fan's eyelid twitched.

Was this kid truly stupid or just pretending?

"Alright, alright, stop calculating."

He quickly interrupted. "I'm a person who values my conscience most; I don't cheat people."

Xu Ziyan blinked and looked at him with a sincere face.

Lin Fan cleared his throat and said solemnly.

"How about this, a flat rate: twenty thousand for the treatment fee."

"Twenty thousand?"

Xu Ziyan's eyes widened. "So little?"

Lin Fan's mouth twitched.

Little?

Rich people really are insufferable...

"It's not little."

Lin Fan pulled out his phone with a straight face and clicked to receive the payment.

"We're deskmates after all, so I'm giving you a discount."

Xu Ziyan looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Lin Fan, you're such a good person."

Lin Fan: "..."

A good person?

He had just taken twenty thousand from the guy; was that called being 'good'?

Was there something wrong with this kid's head?

Lin Fan patted Xu Ziyan's shoulder in a good mood.

"Alright, the transaction is complete, we're even. If anything else happens to your fox in the future, you can still come to me, but I'll have to charge extra then."

Xu Ziyan nodded vigorously. "Okay!"

Lin Fan stood up, took two steps, and then turned back.

"Right, that fox of yours has good Aptitude. Raise it well."

Xu Ziyan nodded hard and stood up holding the Snow Spirit Fox.

"Then I'm leaving, Lin Fan. Thank you!"

He turned and ran out of the park, and after a few steps, he turned back to wave at Lin Fan.

Lin Fan stood in place, looking down at the stack of cash in his hand.

Twenty thousand in large bills.

"Hehe, this was a massive profit."

In the evening, Lin Fan returned home with an extra stalk of Moonlight Grass.

He dragged the cage out from under the bed, opened it, and cupped the Green-Scaled Snake in his hands.

The snake was still the same, motionless.

If the panel hadn't shown it was still alive, he would have thought it was a dead snake.

He crushed the Moonlight Grass and, following the method in the ten thousand armor beast record, dripped the juice into the snake's mouth, then placed his left hand against the snake's body.

[Please mobilize Origin Spirit Power to catalyze the medicinal effect.]

Lin Fan closed his eyes and concentrated.

A wave of warmth came from his left palm as something slowly flowed out and entered the snake's body.

The Green-Scaled Snake shuddered all over.

The dullness on its scales began to fade, and bits of green slowly emerged.

Lin Fan continued to channel the energy. After an unknown amount of time, a sudden burning sensation came from the back of his hand.

He opened his eyes.

The Green-Scaled Snake had opened its eyes.

A pair of dark green vertical pupils were staring at him.

Lin Fan locked eyes with it, not daring to breathe.

Then, the Green-Scaled Snake moved.

It slowly raised its head, flicked its tongue, and then crawled up Lin Fan's arm, wrapping around his wrist in a coil.

On the back of his hand, a golden light appeared.

[Contract conditions met.]

[Form contract with Green-Scaled Snake?]

Lin Fan took a deep breath.

"Contract."

As soon as he spoke, a sharp pain came from his left wrist, as if something had burrowed into his skin.

He looked down; there was now a green pattern on his wrist, the outline of a snake.

At the same time, the text on the back of his hand changed.

[Host: Lin Fan]

[Rank]: Level 3 Armor Warrior

[armor apertures: 2 (Left Eye - Uncontracted; Left Hand - Contracted with Green-Scaled Snake)]

[Contracted Armor Beast: Green-Scaled Snake (high-grade mortal spirit, Evolvable)]

When contracting an Armor Spirit for the first time, the Armor Spirit would feed back some energy to help the host achieve a Breakthrough.

He hadn't expected to jump three levels at once; those six thousand-plus coins hadn't been spent in vain.

Lin Fan looked down at the green snake-shaped pattern on his wrist, and the more he looked at it, the better it seemed.

"Brother, you're quite impressive."