The Year-End Pact

Stunned.

A little further away.

Another martial arts expert, shaken out of his wits by the scene, muttered aloud:

"I heard my father tell a story when I was a child...

A scholar traveling through the mountains in a foreign land encountered a thousand-year-old Tree Demon Knight that could understand and speak human language...

It was regarded by the locals as a strange tale of the wilderness...

Now... I find myself inside this very tale..."

A thousand-year-old tree demon, a black bear spirit writing.

Although the two seemed vastly different.

To this martial arts expert, they were both supernatural occurrences of the same nature.

"Indescribably strange..." Two others nearby who heard his muttering looked at the Senior Black Bear still writing, and nodded in unconscious agreement.

However, one of them seemed to feel these words were inappropriate, so he hurriedly tugged at his sleeve, signaling him to stop.

But.

Chen Guan had exceptional hearing and naturally caught what he said.

"A thousand-year-old tree demon? A tree demon that can speak human language? That sounds more impressive than me."

Chen Guan knew his own limitations.

At best, he was a human to begin with, which is why he understood human speech and had "awakened his intelligence."

Therefore, compared to those monsters who had cultivated true Taoist attainments and were Demon Cultivator in the literal sense.

He wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

But for now, he had used these supernatural rumors to intimidate these people.

This was a good thing.

With this.

Chen Guan became even more determined to find secret manuals, wanting to command these martial arts experts to help him gather some.

He would see which ones he could practice later.

A moment later.

After about a dozen lines were finished.

Chen Guan put away the branch and, with a natural smile, looked at the man who had just mentioned the thousand-year-old tree demon.

It was his thousand-year-old tree demon story that made many people fear him even more.

He was a contributor in disguise.

"Senior..."

When the Tree Demon Knight saw Senior Black Bear looking over with that eerie smile, he immediately offered a dry, cupped-hand salute, knowing his earlier remarks had been overheard by Senior Black Bear.

Although he hadn't meant anything by it, but rather had been moved by the scene to recall that bizarre past event.

But man and bear were different paths; what if Senior Black Bear misunderstood his intentions? What would he do then?

Everyone had thoughts, and naturally, they had complex and shifting minds.

Fortunately.

The Tree Demon Knight noticed that after Senior Black Bear glanced at him, he didn't say anything more.

"Scared the life out of me..."

After letting out a long sigh of relief, he immediately looked at the handwriting of Senior Black Bear on the muddy ground.

It was a sprawling text of nearly a hundred characters.

It roughly read: "I have some interest in martial arts techniques and cultivation manuals. Do you all have any? Can you find them?"

After reading it.

The group of martial artists looked at one another.

Finally, they all cupped their hands toward Chen Guan in unison.

At the same time, the Tree Demon Knight, as if trying to make amends for his previous slip, was the first to speak: "This junior will return to town in these next few days to search for you, Senior!"

No sooner had his voice fallen.

A martial artist with somewhat large ears immediately followed up: "Grandpa Bear, I possess a secret manual I have been cultivating myself, called the Cloud Treading Skill.

This method is a light-footwork technique.

I will write it out for you."

As he spoke, he scanned his surroundings, happened to see an ink block carried by another martial artist, and immediately tore open a bundle to use as paper, preparing to write it down on the spot.

"Great Black Bear Immortal!"

Another languid Tree Demon Knight spoke with some uncertainty:

"If the Great Black Bear Immortal does not mind, my ancestors left behind a cultivation technique called the Water Forest Technique.

I am returning home in a few months and can retrieve it for you.

However, no one in my family has been able to cultivate it, and I do not know if the technique is genuine."

As he spoke, he explained the origin of this manual, which belonged to a cultivator:

"My ancestors said that hundreds of years ago, a cultivator stayed at our home and, seeing that my ancestors treated him with courtesy, bestowed it upon them..."

Having finished, he looked at the Great Black Bear Immortal with trepidation.

He was eager to befriend this "Demon Cultivator who seemed to have a good personality."

Perhaps one day, the incident where the knight-errant bear saved an old man and a child would happen to him as well.

More connections with experts meant more paths to take.

However, the others who remained silent looked at Chen Guan with fear.

They had come lightly equipped to hunt the demon and carried no books related to secret techniques.

Of course, they could write them down like the big-eared knight-errant.

But they feared that diagrams of human meridians and the like might be described inaccurately.

Up ahead, Constable Yan used his shallow internal energy to stop the bleeding from his wounds.

Being a man of action, he quickly took a manual titled Gale Blade from his bosom.

He carried it with him because he read and practiced it every day.

It was precisely because of this that he progressed rapidly, becoming what others called a minor Houtian expert at the prime age of thirty-seven.

"Senior!"

Constable Yan stepped forward and handed over the manual.

He still had the original at home.

This was a faithful hand-copied version.

Whoosh.

Seeing Constable Yan hand over the manual, Chen Guan first cupped his fists before taking it.

However, his paws were too large and the manual too small, making it truly difficult to hold.

At this moment, a knight-errant who was good at reading the room stepped forward.

Swish, swish, swish.

He opened the bundle on his back, took out his dry rations, and then grabbed the empty cloth bag to hand to Chen Guan.

"Grandpa Bear, if you don't mind, please use this junior's cloth bag to carry it; there is no need to use your magic power to hold it."

He felt that Grandpa Bear must possess magical arts, but those arts consumed mana.

Now, being able to carry it in a convenient bundle was certainly for the best.

The others felt the same way.

They saw the vines tied around Chen Guan's waist, hanging with items that looked like treasures, which clearly suggested he preferred to save effort.

"Grandpa Bear's magic power is profound; even if he hangs his treasures on the outside, he isn't afraid of anyone trying to snatch them..."

They believed that Chen Guan's "flaunting of wealth" was a sign of confidence in his own strength.

In reality, Chen Guan only had a bottle of medicine, a tattered cloth amulet from his younger sister, and a sachet.

They were all ordinary items.

It was just that in the eyes of outsiders, with the status of a Great Black Bear Demon, they assumed the trinkets on Chen Guan's body were all treasures.

Seeing their behavior and realizing they were being kind to him, Chen Guan did not explain; instead, he was happy to let them indulge in their wild imagination.

Chen Guan's strength was currently too weak, and since he wanted to reap some benefits, he could only act like a heartless man who accepted whatever came his way.

Once I become powerful, I will repay these favors if I can. After all, this is a world of gods and ghosts; if there is truly such a thing as karma, then today I have planted the seeds of it.

Chen Guan looked at the manuals in the bundle and the big-eared knight-errant writing nearby.

Constable Yan, the Tree Demon Knight, and these others all seemed like decent people.

If he could repay them, he naturally would.

Chen Guan memorized their faces; they were all in the prime of their twenties or thirties, clean-shaven and very young.

"The tiger skin, I have no use for it..."

Chen Guan acted on his thoughts and turned his gaze toward the tiger's carcass.

The tiger skin and some of the meat can be given to them.

Since this tiger weighs several hundred catties, I cannot finish it all myself.

It would only go to waste if left here.

Dusk.

They departed with the awakened old man and over two hundred catties of tiger meat and the tiger skin.

"To have seen a Bear Demon today..."

"It was truly miraculous... simply miraculous..."

"So, the legends of gods and ghosts are all true..."

In the woods as they left, the Tree Demon Knight and the others were still stirred by what they had seen and heard today.

"Such a tiger skin is a rare sight; Great Bear Immortal is a being of true character, so generous..."

Two other knights were examining the relatively intact tiger skin, liking it more the longer they looked.

They did not intend to sell it, but rather planned to use this wondrous experience as inspiration to cut the skin into several small vests.

Then, each of the brothers would take one as a memento of today's events.

"It is best not to reveal the location of Senior Black Bear."

Constable Yan was much more composed; he looked at the group and cautioned them carefully, "And do not disturb the quiet cultivation of Senior Black Bear."

As he spoke, he calculated the time.

"Once you have retrieved the secret manuals, we shall gather in Little Liuzi Town at the end of the year, five months from now.

At that time, bring the manuals and some New Year goods so we may pay our respects to Senior Black Bear together."

"Indeed, indeed..."

"Agreed! We shall follow Brother Yan's lead!"

"Haha, the New Year's appointment with Senior Black Bear and this gathering with all you brothers—I shall certainly be there!"