After catching his breath, Neji took out the contracts he had bought to tame a flying Summoning Beast. He had purchased two of them at a high price, both Master-Servant Contracts rather than ordinary Equal Contracts.
Equal Contracts were voluntarily signed after peaceful, friendly negotiations between both parties. They contained no compulsory clauses or demands and were currently the most commonly used contracts in the Shinobi World and Summoning Realm.
Master-Servant Contracts, on the other hand, were used less often. It was not that the Shinobi World did not want to use them; on the contrary, most greedy humans preferred Master-Servant Contracts, which benefited humans more. However, they had three flaws that kept them from widespread use.
The first flaw was that they were too expensive. At nearly ten times the price of an Equal Contract, they made many poor people give up immediately. Even Equal Contracts were not cheap, let alone ones that cost ten times more.
Why were they so much more expensive? Equal Contracts were signed voluntarily by both sides after everything had been agreed upon in advance, so there were no complications or fluctuations from resistance during the signing process. Master-Servant Contracts were different. They involved resistance and suppression during the process, placing far greater demands on both the contract medium and the caster's skill, which kept their prices high.
The second flaw was the risk of failure. Fierce resistance from the contracted party, insufficient mental power from the contractor, flaws in the contract itself, and many other circumstances could all lead to a failed contract.
And once it failed, not only would the expensive contract be wasted, but the contractor might even suffer backlash if he was unlucky! How infuriating was that?
The third reason was that most Summoned Beasts that were captured or defeated were not particularly strong—at least, not compared to their captors. Even if they were forcibly contracted, they would not be very useful. Why bother contracting them? It was utterly pointless!
But Neji happened to need one. He just wanted an obedient flying mount to help him travel. Whether it was strong or not was secondary! As long as it looked cool and could fly, that was enough!
Walking up to the roc, which was sprawled on the ground and still twitching, Neji took some of its blood and some of his own, signed the contract with them, then pressed one hand against the roc's head and activated the contract's power.
The contract process went fairly smoothly. The roc had already been beaten senseless and failed to mount much resistance before accepting the contract. It seemed that giving them a beating before signing a contract helped improve the success rate! He would remember that!
After signing the contract, Neji released the roc's acupoint seal. Its chakra could circulate again, easing many of its injuries, and the roc gradually regained consciousness.
Through the contract's power, Neji learned that it was a roc-type Summoned Beast called the Black-Winged Thunder Roc. It was the ruler of the skies in this region. Its intelligence was so-so, and it was raising five chicks. Thunder Rocs laid only one clutch at a time, and its mate had disappeared long ago! What an irresponsible species.
Because Neji had severely injured the Black-Winged Thunder Roc's right wing, he decided to stay for several days. He did not want other Summoned Beasts to take advantage of its weakness and eat his newly acquired Summoning Beast before it recovered.
During that time, he could also help the Thunder Roc hunt prey to sustain it and feed the young Thunder Rocs.
On the third day, under the combined effects of Neji's medicine and the Thunder Roc's own recovery ability, its injuries had basically healed. After playing with the young Thunder Rocs for a while, Neji rode the Thunder Roc into the sky.
This truly was a wondrous experience—soaring above the nine heavens and looking down upon the vast, magnificent land below! A bold ambition rose within him: the heavens were vast, the earth was vast, and Hyuga Neji could go anywhere he wished. It temporarily suppressed the gloom brought by the Caged Bird Seal, replacing it with the conviction that a tiny Caged Bird could never imprison a dragon.
With his state of mind improved, Neji was in excellent spirits. He rode the Thunder Roc around the Summoning Realm once, and through the roc's messages, he learned that the Summoning Realm had several major overlord forces, including the Three Great Sage Lands: Shikkotsu Forest, Mount Myōboku, and Ryūchi Cave! Beyond them, there were other clans and lone overlords that were equally difficult to deal with.
As a bird, the Thunder Roc could barely be considered a minor overlord in the sky. But on the ground, it was nothing special!
Still, Neji did not mind.
Seeing that the Thunder Roc could fly nearly eight hundred kilometers per hour, he was extremely satisfied. It was faster than ordinary airplanes from his previous life! After touring the Summoning Realm, Neji rode the Thunder Roc back to the Shinobi World. It took only a little over an hour to reach the vicinity of Konoha, making him marvel at the speed once again. The sports cars and yachts from his previous life were pathetic by comparison.
Following a merchant caravan, he secretly entered Konoha and returned to his residence. He dismissed his Shadow Clone, and after finding nothing worth noting, Neji rested briefly before resuming his training.
The outside world was vast. He still needed to keep improving his strength before he had the ability to conquer it!
One month later, Neji took the time to visit the base located in the Land of Hot Water. Having received word that Neji was coming, Zuo Mu, Duanlong, and the others had been waiting outside the base early. Before long, they saw a huge roc with black-and-gold feathers land before them, and only then did they see Neji jump down from its back.
Only then did Zuo Mu, Duanlong, and the others lower their guard. Cold sweat had unknowingly soaked their backs, and the fear in their hearts instantly turned into delight. They hurried forward to receive Neji, occasionally glancing at the Thunder Roc. Their shock at Neji instantly reached its peak.
In just over a year, Neji had already grown to a level far beyond their reach. They lamented their own mediocrity while also counting themselves fortunate.
Ignoring everyone else, Neji headed to the laboratory. Before him was a spacious underground area filled with large machines. Neji had bought all of them at great expense. Some of the equipment was not even available on the market; Neji had put considerable effort into hiring workers to custom-build them. It was precisely because of these custom orders that the experimental equipment had only been assembled recently. It had not been easy!
Leaving only Zuo Mu and Duanlong behind to assist him and dismissing everyone else, Neji prepared to formally begin the "Natural Energy Purification" plan.
The experimental theory was simple and consisted of three steps: absorb natural air, remove every substance from the air other than Natural Energy to achieve purification, and finally store the purified Natural Energy.
But whether the actual implementation would be as simple as the theory claimed could only be determined as problems arose!
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