Inside the examination room.
"Xiao Bai! Are you all right?!"
After the Crystal Scorpion King's tail stinger pierced his body, Bai Chen's body lurched violently.
Lin Luoluo, who had been lying on top of him, was caught off guard and flung away, hitting the ground hard.
But Lin Luoluo had no time to check her scraped elbows and knees. She immediately pushed herself up on her hands and feet and looked anxiously at Bai Chen.
"Xiao Luoluo, I'm all right!"
Bai Chen's voice came at once.
In fact, although the huge hole in his body looked horrifying, he felt no pain at all.
Thanks to his unusual body structure, he had begun repairing himself the instant the hole appeared.
Black slime squirmed and quickly filled the gap.
But the situation had clearly gone somewhat beyond Bai Chen's expectations.
After all, he was still only First Tier, while the Crystal Scorpion King before him was a genuine Second Tier Demon.
Not to mention the no fewer than a hundred small Crystal Scorpions crowding around it.
A huge question mark rose in Bai Chen's mind:
Had the difficulty of the First Tier Contract Spirit Master examination already gone this far off the charts?!
This wasn't a situation a newcomer could handle at all, was it!
Still, doubts aside, he wasn't scared in the slightest.
Bai Chen's entire body sprang forward, leaping more than ten meters and landing on the Crystal Scorpion King's enormous body.
Before the Scorpion King could react, several thick tentacles shot out of him.
Like tough chains, they wound tightly around the Scorpion King's eight legs and enormous pincers.
For a moment, their tremendous strength left the Scorpion King unable to move. It could only struggle in vain, letting out angry screeches.
Immediately afterward, the surfaces of Bai Chen's remaining tentacles took on a rocky sheen as they hardened in an instant.
The hardened tentacles became long black whips, lashing about like a violent storm.
They swept away every small Crystal Scorpion that tried to get around him and attack Lin Luoluo in the distance!
If Bai Chen could unleash Moon Ice Domain without holding back now, he could probably freeze all the Demons before him into ice sculptures in an instant, killing them with ease.
But this was clearly not a suitable place to expose his trump card.
The Crystal Scorpion King's naturally high physical defense was countered only by powerful magic damage,
and it just so happened to counter his current Shadow Tentacles and Hard Skin.
He had fallen into a battle of attrition.
"Xiao Bai..."
Not far away, Lin Luoluo supported herself on the gravel-strewn ground, her hands trembling slightly.
She watched the black figure fight more than a hundred Demons single-handedly, holding up a completely safe domain for her, and her eyes could not help reddening.
Was I... a burden after all?
Her seamless cooperation with Bai Chen earlier had once led Lin Luoluo to believe that his appearance could completely make up for the handicap of her paralyzed legs, allowing her to become a true Contract Spirit Master too.
But now, cruel reality had given her a resounding slap in the face.
Aside from serving as Bai Chen's power bank and supplying him with star energy, she could do nothing at all in a battle this intense.
She had even become a weakness Bai Chen had to divide his attention to protect.
Without her, Bai Chen's combat power would clearly be greater when he was on his own, and he would be freer to move.
"Wuw..."
A scalding tear rolled down Lin Luoluo's cheek and fell into the dirt beneath her.
Her palm clawed hard at the rough ground.
Sharp stones scraped her fingertips raw, drawing traces of blood, but she felt no pain at all.
For the first time, this girl, who had always been optimistic and cheerful, felt such intense pessimism and self-loathing.
The abuse her classmates had hurled at her and the pointing and whispering of her neighbors behind her back,
those taunts mingled with pity and contempt, all welled up in her heart at that moment.
"A cripple should stay at home instead of coming out and making a spectacle of herself!"
"Look at her. So what if she awakened a talent? Isn't she still a useless thing who can't even stand up?"
"How pitiful. Her whole life is ruined..."
"Am I really useless?"
Lin Luoluo asked herself silently.
But just then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Bai Chen, still fighting with all his might.
That black figure had single-handedly bound the powerful Second Tier Demon, the Crystal Scorpion King, with his tentacles.
His other tentacles formed an impenetrable barrier, firmly holding back the hundreds of densely packed small Crystal Scorpions and ensuring she did not suffer the slightest harm.
Lin Luoluo was both moved and filled with indescribable self-reproach.
Just then, words Bai Chen had once spoken to her suddenly rang in her ears.
"Xiao Luoluo, who said you were useless?
You have an S-Rank talent. The Life Skill you awaken is bound to be S-Rank, and if the two of us join forces, we'll definitely slaughter our way across the entire Demon Continent someday!"
S-Rank talent... S-Rank Life Skill...
Slaughter our way across the entire Demon Continent!
That's right, how can I give up here?
How can I doubt Xiao Bai's judgment?
I'm Lin Luoluo, a Contract Spirit Master with the S-Rank talent [Ten Thousand Arts Sovereign]!
A fierce, unyielding fire shot up from the bottom of her heart, instantly setting all the blood in her body ablaze!
Immediately afterward, she felt a burning heat in her chest, as though something were about to burst out of her body!
Lin Luoluo lowered her head and saw a brilliant mass of golden light slowly emerging before her chest, giving off a sacred, majestic aura!
This was the sign that she had successfully comprehended a Life Skill!
She... she had finally comprehended a Life Skill!
And that pure, dazzling golden light showed beyond a doubt that this was an S-Rank Life Skill!
"Xiao Bai!"
Weeping with joy, Lin Luoluo hurriedly called out Bai Chen's name!
Hearing Lin Luoluo's cry, Bai Chen's heart tightened. His first thought was that a Demon had broken through his defenses and attacked her.
He whipped his head around, and the moment his gaze fell on Lin Luoluo, he saw the golden light shining before her chest.
"This is... the light of a Life Skill awakening?!"
Bai Chen froze for a moment, then wild joy surged into his heart!
"Xiao Bai, come to me!"
Lin Luoluo grabbed the warm mass of light before her chest, and in an instant, everything about the Life Skill flooded into her mind.
The girl's long silver hair stirred without wind in the energy's aftermath, and the bewilderment, helplessness, and self-doubt in her eyes had vanished without a trace.
In their place were unprecedented resolve and confidence!
"Okay!"
Seeing that Lin Luoluo had finally comprehended a Life Skill at the most critical moment, Bai Chen was just as excited!
Lin Luoluo's talent was the S-Rank [Ten Thousand Arts Sovereign]. Its effect was overwhelmingly powerful: every Life Skill she comprehended was guaranteed to be S-Rank!
Without the slightest hesitation, Bai Chen tightened the tentacles wrapped around the Crystal Scorpion King and slammed it hard into the ground, temporarily holding it up.
At the same time, he drew back two of his defensive tentacles and quickly reached them toward Lin Luoluo.
The tentacles instantly wrapped around Lin Luoluo's waist, then pulled sharply, and a gentle force lifted her off the ground and sent her flying toward Bai Chen.
Bai Chen's body also detached from the Crystal Scorpion King at the same time, meeting Lin Luoluo in midair.
The instant their bodies touched, the golden light erupted, completely enveloping them both!
Bai Chen immediately sensed the details of the Life Skill as well.
[Life Skill: Tentacle Throne (S-Rank)] [Effect: Causes the Contract Spirit to assume an exclusive throne form, fitting perfectly with its master and becoming one with her, never to separate. In this state, the release speed of all moves with a casting windup is doubled, their attack power is increased threefold, and there is no upper limit to the length or diameter of the tentacles. Their maximum size depends entirely on the master's own star energy reserves!]
A moment later, another voice rang out.
[Beep! You have successfully synchronized with Tentacle Throne, the Life Skill of your bound target, Lin Luoluo! This Life Skill can be used independently!]
Tentacle Throne!
This was the S-Rank Life Skill Lin Luoluo had just comprehended!
Normally, a Contract Spirit Master and a Contract Spirit signed a master-servant contract.
And a Life Skill comprehended by a Contract Spirit Master could only be unleashed under the Contract Spirit Master's control.
But Bai Chen had used the system to bind himself directly to Lin Luoluo, and the contract they had signed was not a normal master-servant contract either.
The system's power allowed Bai Chen to directly share the Life Skill Lin Luoluo had comprehended!
In other words, even if Lin Luoluo was not by his side, he could still use the Life Skill she had learned!
Seeing the effects of the new Life Skill, Bai Chen was thrilled!
He could transform into a throne and never be separated from Lin Luoluo.
With that effect, what had just happened to Lin Luoluo—being flung away—would never happen again.
The other effects were outrageously powerful too.
Abilities and Life Skills with a casting windup would be faster, so when he used Hard Skin, it would cover him much more quickly!
His attack power would increase threefold! The damage he dealt by using his two abilities at once was already terrifying.
If it tripled again, even the big scorpion before him, with its maxed-out defense, definitely wouldn't be able to withstand his attacks!
Not to mention that in this state, the length and speed of his tentacles could also increase without limit.
It was outrageously powerful!
As Lin Luoluo unleashed the [Tentacle Throne] she had just learned,
Bai Chen's body began to undergo an earth-shaking transformation.
His black, slimy body rapidly reconstructed and reshaped itself.
Part of his body extended upward, becoming a broad, magnificent backrest, while another part stretched out to either side, forming armrests.
The tentacles he had used for battle also changed shape.
Some became the base of the throne.
The others coiled around its edges like thorny vines.
The entire throne was pitch-black and smooth as obsidian, while golden patterns of energy flowed constantly within it, mysterious and powerful.
Lin Luoluo was settled securely at the center of the throne,
her white hair flying as her school uniform was gradually covered by Bai Chen's body, becoming a translucent black gauze dress.
The dress covered the girl to her chest, supporting her ample assets and outlining her perfect figure to full effect.
Her two toned, goblet-shaped legs crossed, revealing a length of fair, tender leg and her feet.
Against the pure black throne and gauze dress, they were especially eye-catching.
Lin Luoluo's body fit the throne perfectly, as though she had been born to sit there.
She was no longer a girl who needed protection, but a queen who held everything in her grasp!
In throne form, their minds were connected.
All of Bai Chen's abilities could be unleashed according to Lin Luoluo's will.
Feeling the surging power within him and his unprecedentedly close connection with Lin Luoluo, Bai Chen let out a silent roar.
"Xiao Luoluo, let's go!"
"Okay, Xiao Bai, get ready to attack!"