"Human, you actually think you can contract with me?" The voice exploded directly in his mind, seething with anger. "You've got some nerve!"
At that, Xiao Mu didn't back down at all, though his eyes were full of surprise. This Soul Spirit was far higher quality than he'd expected.
"Big words." He planted his feet amid the scorching flames of his spiritual power. "Who do you think you are, the Sun Star God?"
"You humans really do talk big. You're not the first to try contracting with me, either." The crow's tone remained haughty. Golden markings surged through the void, scorching the space around it.
"A king without territory—what right does he have to call himself a king? You're nothing but a fallen beast."
The Three-Legged Crow fell silent, its dark feathers still in the void, its eyes holding an indescribable emotion.
Then it made the first move. Its feathers flared open, golden markings blazing like flames as it charged straight at Xiao Mu.
Xiao Mu didn't dodge. If he did, he'd lose his chance to form a contract.
He raised his hand and met it with a punch. His strength was astonishingly great, sending the crow staggering back several feet.
"Contract with me," Xiao Mu said, his voice steady in the trembling spiritual space. "Then you can grow stronger. A hundred years, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand—and perhaps even a million years in the future. We can try."
"Human, prove your strength first!" The Three-Legged Crow had changed its mind a little.
Before the words had even faded, it swooped at him again. This time it was faster, trailing a long plume of fire like a falling sun.
Xiao Mu charged forward. Fist and claw collided in the spiritual space, each clash sending golden ripples surging outward.
"Not bad. You're much stronger than those useless trash who came before! Since I can only stay in one place anyway, I suppose I'll follow you." The Three-Legged Crow was still arrogant, with a hint of reluctance.
The next moment, white light flashed.
Xiao Mu opened his eyes and returned to reality.
The Three-Legged Crow before him glimmered faintly with golden light.
At first, the glow was dim, like the first ray of dawn breaking through the night. Then it suddenly blazed. Its dark feathers melted away in the light, and its golden markings became countless tiny specks, swirling and rising before finally condensing into a streak of light that shot straight into Xiao Mu's brow.
The room remained quiet for a long time.
It had worked? No, wait—he'd actually managed to contract such an arrogant Soul Spirit?
Li Jing watched it all without a word, though his thoughts were bustling.
That hot potato had finally been dealt with.
Xiao Mu stood where he was and closed his eyes.
Flames sprang up around him, and the temperature in the entire room rose sharply.
After an unknown length of time, Xiao Mu opened his eyes. Deep in his pupils, a golden marking flickered and vanished.
At his feet, a deep yellow Soul Ring had appeared, pulsing slowly like a breath.
"Not bad. It can change the direction and magnitude of any force."
He took out a piece of black gold and activated his first Soul Skill. A terrifying force tried to tear the metal apart.
But Xiao Mu wasn't strong enough to do much. He only managed to rip the metal into dozens of pieces.
His original idea had been to apply force to every particle. What a waste of a Soul Skill. It couldn't even decompose the metal?
That was one tough piece of metal.
Its radius was only ten meters, though it would increase as his strength grew.
After all, he could use classical mechanics on people, too. As long as he had enough force, he could give someone the sleep of a baby.
Besides that, there was another piece of good news: he now had a source for the high-temperature flames he used to smelt alloys.
"How does it feel? Can you tell me the name of your Soul Skill?" Li Jing asked.
"Not bad." Xiao Mu nodded, then said, "Soul Skill: Royal Authority."
"Since we're done, let's settle the bill first." Li Jing nodded without asking anything further, then took out the bill.
Soul Spirits didn't come cheap. Xiao Ming glanced at the figure on the receipt without the slightest change in expression and paid by card.
By the time the two of them left the Spirit Pagoda, it was late, and the sun was setting.
The neon lights of Eastsea City lit up one after another in the distance, like a sea of stars turned upside down.
Clearly, Xiao Mu had spent an especially long time absorbing the Soul Spirit.
Xiao Mu raised his hand, and a golden flame appeared in his palm. Jiang Nannan's Soul Spirit was the Rouge Soft-Muscle Python, which had learned Jiang Nannan's abilities.
As for him, he could use part of his Soul Spirit's abilities directly.
But none of that mattered. What mattered was that he'd be able to conduct better experiments from now on.
"Is that flame one of your Soul Spirit's abilities?" Xiao Ming noticed it and also knew that Xiao Mu's first Soul Skill controlled the direction of force.
"Yes. I can use my Soul Spirit's abilities directly. It doesn't count as a Soul Skill." Xiao Mu admitted it frankly. He could use this True Fire.
"I see. Then let's head straight back." Xiao Ming didn't ask any more questions. He got into the car and prepared to drive home.
The time it had taken to fuse with the Soul Spirit had far exceeded his expectations.
It was time to go home for dinner. More importantly, he knew his wife's cooking all too well. He'd watched her put vegetables into the pot, and the moment the water boiled, it had turned purple.
Maybe that was her talent.
The car drove on toward the seaside villa. The setting sun slanted through the windows, casting alternating patches of light and shadow across Xiao Mu's face.
But he wasn't looking at the breathtaking scenery outside.
He closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank into his body, into his inner world. The Three-Legged Crow had already carved out a golden space in his spiritual world, where it was perched.
"Your place is pretty shabby, huh?" Xiao Mu looked around.
"Tch. That's because your spiritual world is completely empty," the Three-Legged Crow said disdainfully.
"This is my spiritual world, so I'm the god of this world." Xiao Mu raised a hand, and an ancient tree sprouted in the space before him.
He raised his hand.
The space before him began to twist, swell, and grow. Its massive trunk rose from the void, sturdy as black jade, while layers of branches unfurled and spread. Golden leaves filled the canopy, dense as flowing clouds.
Silver patterns wound around the trunk. Its roots coiled across the ground, and a soft glow covered its entire form, with spiritual energy shimmering between the branches.
An ancient tree now stood at the center of the golden space.
The Three-Legged Crow was stunned. It took off from the branch and circled the ancient tree, looking quite delighted.
"You can actually do something like this!" There was less arrogance in its voice now, and something else besides.
"Because this is my Sea of Consciousness," Xiao Mu said, lowering his hand. "I'm its sole master. With what I know, why wouldn't I be able to imagine a tree?"
The crow landed on a branch, its dark feathers set against the golden leaves in surprising harmony.
"Tell me, what do you want?"
Xiao Mu smiled. "I wanted to ask your name. I can't just call you Old Crow."
"You may call me Cun Wu," said the Three-Legged Crow.
"Hmm..." Xiao Mu thought the bird was a little full of itself, though he knew the name also had another meaning.
"That doesn't do your strength justice. I'll give you an honorific title!"
"Speak!"
"True Monarch of the Radiant Divine Court, Ruler of the Dawn Wheel, Burner of the Void, Brilliant Light of All Creation, Suppressor of Demons and Exorcist of Evil, Manifestation of the True!"
Cun Wu took it all in. "That title sounds good. When I get underlings, I'll make them call me True Monarch like that every day."
Suddenly, the car braked hard.
The screech of tires cut through the dusk. Xiao Mu opened his eyes, a puzzled look in them.
Several figures blocked the road ahead. Seven or eight people wore garishly colorful jackets, and their hair was dyed every color of the rainbow. Their sense of style was still ahead of its time.
They formed a circle, with a smaller figure huddled in the middle. Xiao Mu couldn't make out the person's face, only a corner of a white skirt trembling in the wind.