Free Again, Free Again

"Open the Black Iron Treasure Chest." Xian Yu couldn't wait, silently issuing the command.

Buddha Tathagata, Jade Emperor, Guanyin Bodhisattva, ah. God, Amen...

I hope this one is worth opening...

"Ding! Opening the Black Iron Treasure Chest requires 15 Diamonds. Confirm opening?"

Xian Yu was overjoyed! o(≧v≦)o~~ Awesome!

"Open, open! Confirm opening!"

Based on the nature of pay-to-win games from his past life, although the price was a rip-off, the rewards were usually worth the cost!

Xian Yu was filled with immense anticipation!

He wasn't asking for a Super Saiyan, nor was he hoping for high-end goods like the Rinnegan or Tenseigan.

Just something simple like a boost to his chakra reserves or a Marrow Cleansing Pill to improve his physique would be fine!

Just as young Comrade Xian Yu was dancing with excitement, unable to control himself, the system's voice rang out:

"Congratulations to the host for successfully opening the Black Iron Treasure Chest. Obtained: one Three-Tailed Fox. Throwing confetti.JPG"

"...Summoned beast? A Three-Tailed Fox?" The boiling blood in Xian Yu's body suddenly went cold... cold...

"Brother Yu! Brother Yu? What are you doing?"

"Young Master Yu?"

At this moment, they finally noticed that their Young Master Yu, Brother Yu, had suddenly started dancing around for no apparent reason.

Fahai, Huihai, and Minghai all felt a jolt in their hearts!

Could it be... an epileptic seizure?

In their eyes, Brother Yu, Young Master Yu, had always been so steady. His current appearance seemed so strange.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Four bowls of tonkotsu ramen with Naruto Rolls are ready. Please enjoy." The owner smiled gently as he served the four bowls of ramen.

However, at this moment, Xian Yu had absolutely no mood to eat any ramen.

"I, I'm fine. Here is one thousand ryo. Take this to pay for the noodles; I have an urgent matter and must leave first." Without waiting for the three brothers to reply, Xian Yu dropped a one-thousand-ryo banknote and sprinted home.

Ten minutes later, back home, Xian Yu locked the doors and windows and shut himself in his room.

Looking at the lifelike Q-version Three-Tailed Fox in the third inventory slot before him.

Xian Yu's eyes were full of hesitation.

One had to know that everyone could only bond with one summoned beast in their entire life!

If this Three-Tailed Fox couldn't help him at all and was just trash, then... he would likely be finished too.

Compared to a summoned beast of unknown potential, wouldn't a Marrow Cleansing Pill or Foundation Establishment Pill have been much better?

After struggling for a long time, he finally decided that since he had already opened it, he shouldn't let it go to waste. Xian Yu gritted his teeth and chose to use it.

"Hint: The host is attempting to sign a master-servant contract with the Three-Tailed Fox. Once the Three-Tailed Fox successfully acknowledges its master, the host will be unable to sign any other summoning contracts unless the Three-Tailed Fox dies."

"Huh?" Xian Yu, who had been feeling quite pessimistic, felt his expression improve slightly upon hearing this.

Since he could kill it to replace it, if this Three-Tailed Fox was truly useless, he could just kill it when the time came for a replacement...

Thinking of this, Xian Yu said calmly: "Confirm! Begin signing the master-servant contract."

At this very moment, a certain fox suddenly felt the full malice of the world and couldn't help but shiver involuntarily.

"Please provide a drop of your blood to acknowledge the master."

"Ah? I have to use blood? It seems different from a normal summoning ritual? Fine..." Xian Yu pulled a sharp shuriken from his waist and carefully made a very, very, very small cut on his left middle finger.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully subduing the Three-Tailed Fox. Throwing confetti.JPG"

"Ding! Detected that the host has successfully subdued the first summoned beast. Summoned Beast Space opened for free."

"Free? Really free?" Xian Yu was filled with disbelief! He even felt a tiny bit suspicious, feeling as if the sun had risen from the west today...

Just then, he noticed a new "Summon" button had appeared next to the circular radar mini-map interface.

"Summon."

Dense black runes suddenly appeared on the floor in front of him, looking remarkably similar to the summoning jutsu he had seen in the Naruto anime from his past life.

The black runes covered a circular area with a radius of about half a meter. As the circular black runes fully emerged, they began to glow from the edges.

The light grew brighter and brighter. While it sounded complicated, the entire process took only about ten seconds.

A standing fox, nearly as tall as the five-year-old Xian Yu, with brownish-red fur and three tails, appeared in the center of the summoning circle.

At this moment, Xian Yu seemed to realize something.

It seemed he didn't need to perform hand seals or anything? He could just activate it with his mind using the summon button?

And it didn't consume his own chakra?

Seeing this, Xian Yu's eyes lit up, and he made a mental note.

In the future, when summoning in public, it would be better to perform some random hand seals to act as a cover and avoid drawing unwanted attention.

"Master!" The Three-Tailed Fox, standing upright and roughly the same height as Shimura Xian Yu, bowed slightly and called out respectfully.

"Holy crap! It's become a spirit!" Xian Yu, who had been focused on the black runes on the floor, looked up and finally realized...

This was actually a... Three-Tailed Fox, possessing a handsome human face, a golden-ratio physique, and draped in a brown fox-fur coat?

What was even more terrifying was that the handsome, androgynous face made it impossible to distinguish its gender...

"Master?" The Three-Tailed Fox appeared a bit cautious, calling out softly once more.

Xian Yu frowned, looking quite troubled. After a long silence, he spoke: "In this form... I'm afraid I wouldn't dare summon you in front of others! Do you know... even though most of the summoning beasts here can talk, they all seem to remain in animal form. You are far too much of an anomaly... So, if I can't summon you, what use are you to me...?"

Xian Yu was simply speaking his mind; he hadn't thought much of it.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the Three-Tailed Fox was so frightened its legs gave out, and it collapsed onto the floor!

Seeing this, Xian Yu became even more dissatisfied with this Three-Tailed Fox...

Why does it look so weak?

Can it help me fight?

Can it save me from danger when facing a powerful enemy?

Can it take a hit for me?

Comrade Xian Yu expressed serious doubt →_→

Just then, Xian Yu was surprised to see the Three-Tailed Fox, still sprawled on the floor, shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye, getting smaller and smaller.

It eventually became... a fully animal-shaped... pocket-sized Three-Tailed Fox? The kind that could fit into a shirt pocket!

Xian Yu curled his lip and muttered, "If you could shrink, why did you have to be so big in the first place? Were you trying to compare heights with your master?"

The pocket-sized Three-Tailed Fox lying on the floor shed tears of humiliation. It dared not offer the slightest rebuttal, only daring to roar toward the heavens in its heart:

This bastard master! Is he a devil? He must be a devil!

"Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock." Suddenly, a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door.

"Who is it?" Xian Yu shouted with a hint of irritation.

"Uh... Young Master Yu... it's me, Fahai." Startled by the irritable tone, Fahai spoke in a very low voice, his presence also dampened significantly...

What is wrong with Young Master Yu today? The world is so beautiful, yet Young Master Yu is so irritable. This is not good, not good...

Little did he know, upon hearing Fahai's voice, Xian Yu's eyes lit up!

He had been worrying about how to test the strength of this newly summoned beast, and now, just as he was feeling sleepy, someone had brought him a pillow.

He didn't even bother with the stairs; he grabbed the pocket-sized Three-Tailed Fox from the floor and jumped directly from the second-floor balcony to the backyard training ground.

He shouted toward the front gate: "Cousin Fahai, just come over yourself! I'm in the backyard training ground. I happen to need your help with a small favor!"

Fahai was a Chunin, after all; it only took him a few moments to vault over several walls and arrive at the backyard.

"Young Master Yu? I was a bit worried about you, so I came to check. Also, here is the one thousand ryo banknote back. The owner of Ichiraku Ramen said that since the new shop just opened, everything is free today for the promotion; he wouldn't take the money."

"Oh, good, good, good." Xian Yu didn't know why, but his mood suddenly became wonderful.

All previous unpleasantness vanished into thin air.

Do you foolish people think this young master is happy because of the two consecutive freebies? No!

That is absolutely not the case!

I, Shimura Xian Yu, with my status, how could I possibly be the type of person to covet a mere pittance of freebies?