Sathius

Zhao Nan walked slowly, since he needed to find the exact location.

A little over three hours later, Zhao Nan finally found the hill with the deep cavern.

He first glanced at the magical beasts far away from him, not bothering to pay them much attention.

High above, the Fire Dragon, Green Dragon, and the other magical beasts saw what Zhao Nan was doing and were all shocked.

After all, he was heading straight for what they knew as a forbidden place.

At the sight, countless magical beasts let out roars before slowly dispersing.

They clearly believed Zhao Nan would meet his end as soon as he entered the forbidden place.

After entering the underground cavern, Zhao Nan did not hurry.

He was familiar with the place. After resting for a moment, he set off toward the depths of the cavern.

A winding but very wide passage ran through the underground cavern. It was more than ten meters across.

The depths of the cave were spacious but extremely dim. Before long, he was walking in complete darkness.

He had not gone far when a glimmer appeared in Zhao Nan's eyes. The light, however, was red.

Through his soul perception, Zhao Nan sensed a creature ten meters long and nearly three meters tall. Its body was covered in tightly packed, orderly rows of dark scales, each no larger than a palm.

Sharp spikes, each thirty centimeters long, also lined its back.

They extended from the base of its tail all the way to its forehead.

Its eyes were a dark gold.

It was the Armored Spined Dragon that had sucked Linley's blood: Sathius.

Sathius did not sense Zhao Nan's arrival. After all, Zhao Nan was a Saint-level expert, while Sathius was only a Level Nine Magical Beast.

Sathius had not seen Zhao Nan, but Zhao Nan walked into the cave.

"Sathius?" Zhao Nan's sudden voice startled the dragon, who had been resting on the ground.

"Who are you?"

Sathius fixed his dark-gold eyes on Zhao Nan, his gaze cold.

But Sathius was only a Level Nine Magical Beast, so he did not speak in ordinary words. Instead, he used Soul Transmission.

"You can call me Zhao Nan." Zhao Nan introduced himself, then looked Sathius over and nodded with satisfaction. "As a Level Nine Magical Beast, you must have been pursuing the chance to reach the Saint-level.

"I can give you that chance, but you'll have to give something in return!"

"What chance?"

Sathius's eyes were cold, but a hint of urgency shone in them.

Zhao Nan waved a hand at Sathius. "Become one of my disciples' contracted magical beasts."

As soon as Zhao Nan said this, Sathius's eyes filled with boundless fury.

Seeing the anger in Sathius's eyes, Zhao Nan hurriedly explained, "You should know that the dragon race—in fact, all dragons—is proud and arrogant.

"And the Armored Spined Dragon is an outlier among dragons, even prouder and more arrogant than the rest.

"So, if you want to reach the Saint-level, you'll have to cast aside your pride and arrogance.

"My request that you become my disciple's contracted magical beast will gradually wear down that pride and arrogance.

"By the time that happens, you'll have become a Saint-level Magical Beast."

After Zhao Nan finished speaking, Sathius fell silent.

Seeing Sathius remain quiet, Zhao Nan continued, "Don't worry. I'm only asking you to become my disciple's contracted magical beast under an Equality Contract.

"Besides, my disciple has the potential to become a god."

Sathius had still been silent, but when he heard that, he suddenly snorted with laughter.

Even when the terrifying head laughed, Zhao Nan could barely tell.

"You're only at the Saint-level, yet you claim your disciple has the potential to become a god?"

Hearing this, Zhao Nan knew Sathius would never believe him just because he said so.

But Zhao Nan had another way. He opened his palm slightly, and a terrifying force of spatial pressure slammed Sathius into the ground.

This was a technique Zhao Nan had comprehended from Doehring Cowart's spatial pressure.

It had not yet developed into a distinct ability of its own, so when Zhao Nan used it, it worked much like Doehring Cowart's Gravity Space, pinning the target in place.

After pressing Sathius into the ground, Zhao Nan said, "All right. Now tell me whether you agree."

Sathius felt the immense pressure weighing down on him. He circulated his energy, trying to break free of Zhao Nan's restraint.

But no matter how hard he struggled, he could not lift himself even a fraction of an inch off the ground.

As a proud dragon, Sathius could not possibly accept defeat like this. He roared and unleashed his energy once more.

Unfortunately, even this burst of energy had no effect.

Sathius understood now: the difference between them was enormous. Zhao Nan could kill him without the slightest difficulty.

If Zhao Nan had come in and mocked or provoked him, Sathius might have self-destructed to defend his dignity.

But Zhao Nan had spoken to him politely from the moment he arrived. Even when asking Sathius to submit, he had offered him an Equality Contract.

So although Sathius felt humiliated, he was not as resolute as he had been when fighting the Purple-Striped Black Bear in the original story.

Of course, Zhao Nan's promise to help him reach the Saint-level had also played a part.

So Sathius lowered his head and said nothing, simply holding his ground against Zhao Nan.

Zhao Nan frowned at the sight.

To be honest, Zhao Nan had planned to have Sathius become Ace's contracted magical beast under an Equality Contract, then take Sathius as his own disciple.

It wasn't that he wanted to share any of Sathius's abilities. It was just that Sathius's evaluation in the system was actually SSS-ranked.

Although Zhao Nan only wanted to have the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind affinities himself, taking on more disciples would increase the system's cultivation speed!

The system's acceleration was currently only at Level Three. If he took Sathius as a disciple, it would reach Level Four.

But Zhao Nan had not expected Sathius to be so stubborn.

If Zhao Nan had not wanted to take him as a disciple, he could have used any number of methods to force him to submit. But since he wanted Sathius as a disciple, many of those methods were off the table.