Contracting a Bear Cub

The little bear cub hugged half a jar of white sugar, licking the sugar crystals, with no time to spare Jiede a glance.

"Heaven and Earth, Mystical Yellow—Second Soul Skill: Spirit-Feeding Pellet."

A purple Soul Ring rose beneath Jiede's feet, and a fiery red pill appeared in his palm.

The moment the Spirit-Feeding Pellet appeared, the little bear cub suddenly froze, its tiny eyes snapping toward the item in Jiede's hand.

That look was like a kitten spotting catnip. It tossed aside the sugar jar, scrambled onto all fours, and charged over.

Jiede jumped. This thing worked way too well, didn't it?

He made up his mind that he absolutely could not use this second Soul Skill in the Soul Beast Forest again.

Jiede raised the Spirit-Feeding Pellet high. "Want to eat it?"

The little bear cub nodded frantically and even clasped its paws in a pleading gesture.

At that moment, Jiede pulled out a Beast-Taming Orb and pressed it against the little bear cub's forehead.

A stream of spiritual power entered its mind.

The little bear cub instinctively resisted.

"Don't move around. As long as you agree, you'll have all the Spirit-Feeding Pellets you can eat from now on. Eat whenever you want."

The little bear cub fell into hesitation.

Should it agree to him?

The thing in his hand smelled so good. It was definitely something that could increase its strength.

Memories of the past few years flashed through its mind.

"Those of my kind and those Soul Beasts who bullied and humiliated me, just you wait.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—never mock a poor bear cub!"

The little bear cub let out an angry roar and agreed to the Beast-Taming Orb's contract request.

The next second, a flash of light enveloped the little bear cub and drew it into the Beast-Taming Orb.

Jiede hurriedly sat cross-legged, Soul Power surging through his body.

A pale white, nearly transparent Soul Ring floated around Jiede, while a spiritual connection belonging to the little bear cub appeared in his mind.

The Beast-Taming Orb that had contracted the little bear cub floated before Jiede.

Meanwhile, the little bear cub struggled inside the Beast-Taming Orb, filled with grief and indignation.

It had fallen for this two-legged beast's huge scam.

Why did this seem completely different from what it had imagined?

A few minutes later, the Soul Ring solidified.

Its skill was to summon the contracted beast into battle, and the latter could never betray him for life.

If the tamed beast died in battle,

the damage it had suffered and the extent of its death would gradually be repaired through Soul Power until it was fully revived.

"It comes with resurrection. Not bad, but it's a shame there's no feedback mechanism.

"I still don't have any direct means of fighting."

As Jiede considered the Soul Skill's effects, the little bear cub began protesting inside the Beast-Taming Orb, sending spiritual complaints into Jiede's mind.

"Let me out! I want out..."

Jiede immediately summoned the little bear cub.

Based on the current situation, as long as the tamed beast stayed within one hundred meters of its contractor, it would not be forcibly recalled.

The Soul Power expenditure also occurred only at the instant of summoning, as a one-time cost.

"Here."

Jiede tossed the Spirit-Feeding Pellet to the little bear cub.

The little bear cub hugged the pellet and sighed faintly. "Since it's come to this, I might as well eat first."

After swallowing one Spirit-Feeding Pellet, it stared eagerly at Jiede. "More!"

Jiede gave it five Spirit-Feeding Pellets in a row before the little bear cub finally stopped. It let out a full belch, sprawled on the ground, and promptly fell asleep.

The fur on its body changed along with it. Its golden color gradually deepened, while its body slowly grew larger.

Jiede quickly summoned the Beast-Taming Orb's first Soul Ring.

In only that brief time, the transparent Soul Ring had already become solid, taking on the white color of a Ten-Year Soul Ring.

"Phew, great. It worked."

The weight in Jiede's heart finally lifted, and he let out a breath of relief.

Spirit-Feeding Pellets could not only increase the strength of contracted beasts; they were effective for humans as well, though the effects differed.

When Beast Martial Soul Masters consumed one, it could raise the compatibility between the Soul Master and Martial Soul to its absolute peak.

Moreover, its all-around enhancement to strength, speed, Soul Power, defense, attributes, spirit, and more would receive an additional ten percent increase.

That effect was already terrifying.

Other Soul Masters, however, did not receive such benefits. At most, the pellets could fill their stomachs, and even Jiede himself was no exception.

Countless plans instantly formed in his mind.

For example, he greatly coveted the super Soul Beasts deep within the Star Dou Forest and the Far North.

"Sigh, I'll take it slow. There'll be plenty of chances in the future."

However, he already had a target for his second contracted beast.

It was not far from him, near the back mountain of his old home—a creature with a special bloodline, low strength, and easy enough to subdue.

It would just take some planning. He could not subdue it anytime soon.

The next day, Jiede went to the academy to arrange for leave.

He learned from Wang Sheng

that Yu Xiaogang had taken Tang San to hunt for his second Soul Ring, though no one knew what Soul Skill he had obtained.

After the master and disciple returned, Yu Xiaogang entered the infirmary. Rumor had it that he had been poisoned and needed to rest and recuperate for some time.

Jiede stroked his chin and fell into thought.

Could it be that history's inertia had caused Yu Xiaogang to be poisoned by a Mandrake Snake after all?

Had Tang San still absorbed a Mandrake Snake's Soul Ring as his second Soul Ring?

Jiede truly could not understand why they were so obsessed with poison.

In battles between low-level Soul Masters, poison was indeed useful and could tear through opponents with ease.

But once one reached the later stages and entered high-level battles, poison became far less effective.

Although Blue Silver Grass's first ring had been Green Bamboo, a Ten-Year Soul Ring, it was still a plant-type Martial Soul and relatively pure. As long as Tang San continued absorbing plant-type Soul Beasts, there was still room to save it.

Yet Tang San had absorbed an animal-type poisonous Soul Beast instead, directly contaminating the Blue Silver Emperor's bloodline. The loss outweighed the gain.

Tang San had once been three levels ahead of Jiede, but Jiede had now overtaken him. Instead, the latter was walking at the forefront.

Jiede was happy to see it. This way, Tang San's rate of improvement would be slowed.

The conflict between him and Tang San had long since become irreconcilable. Sooner or later, they would fight.

Jiede had nearly finished reading all the books in the academy.

Every afternoon, he would sit at Lu Cheng Clinic, seeing patients, refining pills, and gaining experience.

Three days later, one afternoon,

Jiede once again came to Lu Cheng Clinic to see patients, only to find a scene of people causing trouble at the clinic.

Three men were blocking the clinic entrance.

One of them was pale and weak, with a vicious scar across his face.

The other two had yellow and red hair respectively, supporting him from either side.

"Doesn't your clinic claim it can cure every illness? Why can't you heal my big brother's injuries?"

"That's right! What right do you have to throw us out? My big brother is in this condition. If anything happens to him, I won't let you off!"

The clinic entrance was now surrounded by people, all talking at once.

Some criticized the clinic, while others disapproved of the three men causing a scene. Most were simply there to watch the show.

Lu Cheng stood at the entrance, looking troubled.

He would rather fight Soul Beasts than deal with this kind of trouble.

"Heh, so you're here purely to make trouble?"

Jiede saw through their intentions. Folding his arms, he stepped in front of the three men.

"Kid, what's this? Looking for a fight?"

Yellow Hair scoffed disdainfully. Soul Power surged through him, and one white and one yellow Soul Ring appeared beneath his feet as the phantom of a Lone Wolf emerged around him.

Red Hair released a cleaver Martial Soul. He too had one white and one yellow Soul Ring.

"Oh? Soul Masters?" Jiede clicked his tongue.

"What, scared now?" Yellow Hair looked arrogant.

"Get lost already. I don't hit kids."

Nearby, Huo Yan watched the show while Huo Wu frowned. She wanted to step forward and help, but he stopped her.

"Be careful. Don't let them mistake us for his bodyguards."

Huo Wu opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

Jiede ignored the petty middle-aged man and asked Lu Cheng,

"Senior Brother, what exactly happened?"

"His big brother was poisoned by Brand Poison, and his condition is severe. The antidote requires three-hundred-year-old Snow Ginseng as a medicinal catalyst to neutralize the poison."

Lu Cheng sighed. "You know how rare herbs of that age are. How could our little city possibly have something like that?"

Jiede frowned and looked through the crowd toward Yu He Clinic across the street.

Yu He sat in a reclining chair at the entrance, drinking tea. His gaze occasionally drifted this way, his eyes filled with amusement.

Jiede's expression darkened.