Deep in the dim Soul Beast Forest, Bai Lan stood before the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo, silently processing the information that had suddenly flooded his mind.
The contract was complete.
He raised his hand. The pages of the book in his palm flipped open on their own, stopping at the first page, where a line of fresh ink had appeared:
[Contract Beast: Guzhu (Ten Years)] [Status: Contracted] [Abilities: Tenacity, Photosynthesis, Growth, Healing] [Tenacity: The most ordinary kind of tenacity] [Photosynthesis: A plant's natural ability to absorb sunlight and grow, increasing its age] [Growth: Grows quickly and tall, but that does not necessarily mean its age is high] [Healing: A plant's natural ability. By absorbing sunlight and performing photosynthesis, it can slowly heal minor injuries] [Evolution Count: 0/1 (Can Evolve)] [Nine Mortal Evolution Paths: Iron Core Bamboo → Arrow Bamboo → Blood Jade Bamboo → Lightning Struck Bamboo → Biluo Bamboo → Nine-Section Green Jade Bamboo → Tiangang Bamboo → Immortal Bamboo → Primordial Chaos Bamboo...] [Ability Sharing: Inactive (Must be activated manually)]
"It really worked."
A strange, indescribable feeling welled up inside Bai Lan.
The moment the contract was completed, he had faintly sensed Guzhu's presence.
It was an extremely weak, hazy consciousness, like that of a newborn baby, its mind still unformed, instinctively drawn to him, its contractor.
Was this the Contract Book's power?
Could it not only form contracts, but also establish a Mental Link?
The next second, a white Soul Ring rose beneath Guzhu.
A white Soul Ring rose beneath Bai Lan as well.
The Soul Ring was merely symbolic.
He now possessed four abilities.
They were Guzhu's Tenacity, Photosynthesis, Growth, and Healing.
But given its age, they were of limited use for now.
In addition, his Soul Power had successfully reached level eleven.
He tried sending a simple command with his mind: sway.
The Guzhu before him remained perfectly still.
"...Well, it is only a ten-year Plant-type Soul Beast. How intelligent could it be?"
Bai Lan gave a self-deprecating smile, but wasn't disappointed.
He valued the bamboo's potential, not its current abilities.
His gaze fell on the words [Can Evolve].
"First evolution..."
He took a deep breath, focused his mind, and confirmed the evolution.
The next moment, a sudden transformation began!
The Contract Book floated out of his hand and hung in midair. Its pages burst into brilliant light, completely enveloping the Guzhu before him.
The light was warm and gentle, yet held some mysterious power.
The Guzhu began to tremble.
It wasn't trembling from the wind. The entire plant shook violently, from its roots to its tip.
Fine lines appeared across the bamboo's surface, like veins or some kind of ancient runes.
Bai Lan instinctively took a step back, but kept his eyes fixed on the changes before him.
The Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo was transforming.
Crack!
With a soft snap, the old outer layer of the bamboo began to split and peel away, revealing fresh new segments beneath.
The new segments were a pale silver-gray, gleaming like metal and reflecting cold points of light in the sun.
The bamboo was growing.
One segment, two, three...
The Guzhu, which had originally stood only as tall as a person, rapidly shot upward before his eyes, finally stopping at roughly twice that height.
Its stalk was thicker than before, and each segment was even and compact. Faint silver rings encircled the joints, like natural metal bands.
Its leaves had changed, too.
The broad leaves had become long and narrow, their edges sharp as blades, and their veins had a metallic, threadlike texture.
A breeze stirred. The leaves clinked against one another, producing a delicate metallic ringing, clear and pleasant to the ear.
The light faded.
The Contract Book slowly settled back into Bai Lan's hand, its pages now updated:
[Contract Beast: Iron Core Bamboo] [Age: One Hundred Years] [Status: Contracted] [Abilities: Iron Bone, Photosynthesis, Growth, Healing, Bamboo Leaf Flying Knife] [Photosynthesis: A plant's natural ability to absorb sunlight and grow, increasing its age] [Growth: Grows quickly and tall, but that does not mean its age will increase at the same rate] [Healing: A plant's natural ability to slowly heal minor injuries through photosynthesis] [Iron Bone: Greatly increases the hardness of the bamboo stalk, making it comparable to refined iron. Can be used for close-range blocks and blunt strikes] [Bamboo Leaf Flying Knife: Can control up to nine bamboo leaves at once, detaching and launching them over a range of thirty meters] [Evolution Count: 1/1 (Maximum reached. Must reach level 20 to unlock the next evolution)] [Ability Sharing: Inactive (Must be activated manually)]
A hundred years?!
Bai Lan's pupils contracted.
One evolution had directly taken the Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo to the hundred-year level?
The Iron Core Bamboo's Soul Ring, and the one around him, had also changed from white to yellow.
A Yellow Soul Ring, the mark of a hundred years.
His Soul Power Level hadn't increased.
But that wasn't a big problem. It was only a hundred-year Soul Ring, after all. That was understandable.
Bai Lan raised his hand and activated Sharing with a thought.
In an instant, a strange power flowed into his body.
His bones felt a little heavier, and a faint silver-gray metallic sheen appeared across his skin, then vanished in a flash.
Iron Core Bamboo's Iron Bone ability had activated, strengthening his physical defenses.
He bent down, picked up a stone, and forcefully scraped it across his arm.
Only a shallow white mark remained on his skin before it vanished.
"Not bad." Bai Lan's lips curled into a smile.
He turned his gaze back to the Iron Core Bamboo and tried to control its leaves.
At the thought, nine leaves detached themselves from the bamboo's tip and hovered in midair, their points aimed at a stone where he was looking.
Go!
The nine leaves transformed into silver streaks and shot forward!
Thud, thud, thud!
Nine muffled impacts rang out. All nine leaves sank into the stone, leaving behind nine narrow cuts, each two fingers deep.
Bai Lan went over to inspect it. The leaves had pierced through the stone and landed on the ground behind it. The leaves themselves were completely unharmed, still as sharp as before.
"Impressive penetrating power."
"If those hit someone..."
He pulled out a leaf and rolled it between his fingers, feeling its cold, metallic texture.
He didn't let himself think further, but the light in his eyes grew brighter.
This was the Contract Book's power.
Other Soul Masters could only have one Martial Soul in their entire lives and attach at most nine Soul Rings to gain nine Soul Skills.
A good Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring could give them a few more, but not that many.
For most people, nine was all they would ever have.
Some couldn't even get nine, because they never reached the Titled Douluo level.
Self-Created Soul Skills and Soul Bone Skills didn't count.
He was only counting Soul Ring Skills.
But he could contract one Contract Beast every ten levels, and each Contract Beast could evolve independently, gaining entirely new abilities and forms.
By the Titled Douluo level, he could have nine Contract Beasts, each evolved nine times. Even if each gained only two abilities at minimum, that would still give him eighteen!
And he could share their abilities, too!
What did that mean?
It meant he was an army all by himself!
"No wonder this Martial Soul is called the Contract Book..." Bai Lan murmured. "Contract all things and make them serve me."
Just as Bai Lan gathered his thoughts and was about to leave, a low growl sounded behind him.
He stiffened and slowly turned around.
In a thicket about fifty meters away, a pair of eerie green eyes stared fixedly at him.
It was a gray wolf beast as large as a calf. Drool dripped from the corners of its mouth, and it crouched low, poised to pounce at any moment.
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