At the bottom of the Nine Nether Yellow Spring, cold energy surged like a tide.
Xiao Fan stood before Yao Ming's enormous serpentine body, Colorless Fire burning quietly in his palm.
The soul contract had been formed.
The thirty-year agreement had also been set.
Yao Ming would use Xiao Fan to escape captivity and reclaim the Nine Nether Deep Earth Python Tribe; Xiao Fan would use Yao Ming's control of the tribe to establish a foundation in the Central Plains for the Snake-People Tribe that no one would dare touch.
This was not charity.
Nor was it a favor.
It was a transaction in which both sides remained clear-headed.
Yao Ming understood this well, so he did not ask another unnecessary question.
"Do it."
His voice was low and heavy, like stone weathered by Yellow Spring water for countless years.
Xiao Fan raised his eyes and glanced at the nine chains.
The chains were still nailed through Yao Ming's flesh and bones, while the dark golden serpent nail between his brows still suppressed his soul. If it had been anyone else, their first instinct in trying to save Yao Ming would have been to sever the chains, pull out the nail, and break the formation.
But Xiao Fan did not.
He merely raised a hand and let Bone Chilling Flame first cover Yao Ming's brow.
The cold white flame flashed and vanished, like snow falling upon an old wound, temporarily cutting off the ceaseless gnawing between the serpent nail and his remnant soul.
Yao Ming's massive serpent eyes trembled faintly.
It was not pain.
It was simply that he had gone too long without feeling "less pain."
The next instant, Colorless Fire spread down the nine chains. Its flames were so pale they were nearly invisible, yet they resembled countless