Contract Failure

Chu Zeming was still conscious.

Watching the twelve lingering wills surround him, he struggled to raise his eyes.

This... was also a reward arranged by the elders?

As if sensing what the young cultivator in dark robes was thinking, the phantom of the woman in a dress bent down. Her hand hovered over Chu Zeming's black hair as she said gently, "No. This is the reward the Divine Tree has given you." As she spoke, her hand suddenly scattered like specks of starlight, slowly flying into the black-haired young man's body, who looked as though he had been drenched in blood.

At the same time, her figure began to gradually fade away.

Yet she did not seem to mind her own disappearance. Gazing kindly at Chu Zeming, she murmured, "Your enemies in the future will be very powerful. Do not disappoint my expectations of you."

As her body gradually vanished, the other eleven lingering wills also came before Chu Zeming.

Dazzling golden light flickered like fireflies, dancing around the black-haired young man. Gentle yet powerful strength entered Chu Zeming's body along with the golden radiance. The pain throughout his body faded away, and his skin, flesh, and bones began to be reforged.

By the time all the light had dissipated, Chu Zeming's injuries had completely healed. The twelve lingering wills had also all vanished between heaven and earth.

An ancient voice sounded in his mind. "Your body is too weak. I have temporarily sealed the inheritance within you. I hope you cross tribulation soon and obtain the power we have bestowed upon you..." The voice grew weaker and weaker before finally disappearing.

Although the power of the inheritance had been sealed, after his body had been cleansed by those specks of golden light, Chu Zeming could still feel a terrifyingly powerful force.

Only then did Chu Zeming understand that what he had received was the inheritance originally hidden within the Divine Wood Realm.

He simply did not understand what the lingering will had meant by saying that his future enemies would be very strong.

Chu Zeming was full of doubts, yet there was no one left to answer him. The statues of ancient mighty figures atop the twelve stone pillars had suddenly vanished. The pillars no longer carried their ancient, mysterious aura, standing quietly like ordinary stone columns.

Chu Zeming picked up the Luminous Glaze Sword from the ground, strode forward, and retrieved the Immortal Residence. Feeling the primitive ancient aura emanating from its pitch-black body, Chu Zeming curled his lips in delight.

The Immortal Residence possessed the awareness to choose its own master.

Not just anyone could form a contract with it.

Chu Zeming sat before the stone tablet, absorbed the Luminous Glaze Sword into his body, took a deep breath, and quietly extended his divine sense toward the Immortal Residence.

Sure enough, he encountered a slight obstacle. The Immortal Residence did not seem to approve of Chu Zeming, keeping its doors tightly shut and refusing to accept him as its master.

Chu Zeming stared intently at the Immortal Residence. "You really won't open the door for me?"

The Immortal Residence did not move.

Without question, this secret treasure had dared to reject even a great senior in the Body Integration Realm like He Wuwei. It was proud and temperamental.

It was not an egg, but a defensive dwelling-type magical treasure. Threatening to smash it was useless, because that simply could not be done.

Chu Zeming sighed. With no other choice, he could only stuff it into his storage space for the time being.

Outside the Forbidden Pavilion, Fu Hongchen was still pressing his hands together and exerting force, striving to break through the restriction. Hearing footsteps, he could not help opening his eyes—then he saw Chu Zeming, covered in blood, walk out of the Forbidden Pavilion.

Fu Hongchen looked at Chu Zeming in astonishment. "You actually didn't die?"

Chu Zeming raised a brow. "Not only did I not die, I even gained the Immortal Residence's acknowledgment."

Gripping the tree cage, Fu Hongchen smiled at Chu Zeming. "I don't believe you. How could a mere Jindan Stage cultivator like you possibly obtain the Immortal Residence?"

Chu Zeming crouched down to look at Fu Hongchen and sighed. "Young Master Fu, you're already locked in a cage. Why are you still so arrogant? I'm leaving now. If you still refuse to beg me, I'll leave you here and won't take you out."

As he spoke, he waved the Teleportation Jade Token in his hand.

Fu Hongchen's expression immediately turned ugly.

That was right. He was trapped in a cage now, without a jade token, and could not leave.

Perhaps he could wait in the cage for cultivators who would later reach the tenth floor, but Fu Hongchen was not sure they would be willing to take him out.

His mind raced. After weighing the gains and losses, Fu Hongchen humiliatingly chose to lower his head to Chu Zeming.

Glowering viciously at the bloody beauty before him, Fu Hongchen mumbled, "Please take me out."

Chu Zeming shook his head. "Not sincere at all."

Fu Hongchen: ...Bastard!

"Please, I'm begging you!"

Chu Zeming smiled and nodded. "That's more like it. But I'll treat my junior brother first. Young Master Fu, wait for now." With that, he ignored Fu Hongchen and turned his gaze toward Yue Lian, who lay on the ground.

Fu Hongchen gritted his teeth, his face immediately turning somewhat red.

From anger.

Chu Zeming helped Yue Lian up from the ground, his lips stained with blood.

He seemed to have suffered severe injuries and had yet to awaken. Still, Yue Lian was much more pleasing when he kept his eyes closed and said nothing.

His eyelashes were long and curled, his skin fair and delicate without the slightest flaw, and his features so perfect that they seemed like Heaven's finest masterpiece—sacred and pure...

It had to be said, Chu Zeming really had a weakness for that face.

If Yue Lian had been a woman, he would surely have brought calamity upon nations.

No... even as a man, he had already ruined plenty of men and women. If Chu Zeming had not been straight as a steel pipe, he would definitely have fallen for him.

Chu Zeming withdrew his gaze and shook off the jumble of thoughts in his mind. He gathered the spiritual energy around him, but before he could treat Yue Lian's injuries, he heard a soft whimper. Then, as if in slow motion from a movie, Yue Lian slowly and beautifully opened his eyes. "Senior Brother, it hurts so much."

Chu Zeming: "..."

He had woken up by himself. There was no need to treat him.

Dropping Yue Lian, Chu Zeming said with a heart of stone, "Then hurt to death."

Fu Hongchen in the tree cage beside them nearly vomited.

This woman-faced guy was really disgusting.

"Can't you act like a man? He's covered in blood and hasn't even complained about pain, yet you're whining like this."

Yue Lian got up from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, and smiled at Fu Hongchen. "You're locked in a cage, yet you're still so arrogant? I'm in pain. What business is it of yours?"

Fu Hongchen: "..."

He quietly shut his mouth.

Again and again, these two martial brothers stabbed right at his sore spots. Neither of them was human.

That was right. He was in a cage now.

And that woman-faced guy had locked him in here. He had no face to criticize him at all.

Hugging his knees as he looked toward the sky, Fu Hongchen began to miss home and his master.

At the teleportation entrance on the first floor of the Divine Wood Realm, two elders with white brows and beards, youthful faces, and crane-like hair sat atop the back of a massive white tiger.

They had been waiting here for several days, responsible for sending disciples who crushed their jade tokens out of the Divine Wood Realm.

The competition had lasted nearly ten days, and more than a hundred disciples had already been teleported out.

Seeing another flash of white light rise from the teleportation formation, both men wore regretful expressions.

It seemed another disciple had failed to seize a treasure and crushed their jade token.

The white tiger rose, carrying the two elders toward the formation. Yet after the white light fully faded and they saw the disciple appearing within the array, strange expressions appeared on both elders' faces.

The disciples teleported back this time seemed somewhat different.

The first thing they noticed was an emerald-green tree cage wrapped in vines, with a... person inside.

To the left of the tree cage stood a striking young man in dark robes, covered in blood. To its right stood a young man in white, spotless as though he had returned from a vacation. The person in the cage wore white clothes and had black hair, with only half his profile visible. His appearance could not be clearly seen, and at first glance, he looked rather like a monkey.

Feeling the two elders' curious gazes as though they were watching a monkey, Fu Hongchen silently buried his head even deeper.

This was truly humiliating...

After studying the strange group of three for a moment, one of the tiger-riding elders finally spoke.

"Which floor did you fail on? And what is the matter with this tree cage...?"

Chu Zeming's eyes curved as he smiled brilliantly. "We did not fail. We returned from the tenth floor, so the three of us should count among the top three. As for this tree cage, Young Master Fu offended Elfkind on the fourth floor and was locked inside."

They had not failed? They had returned from the tenth floor?

The two elders froze, their expressions turning odd.

It had not even been ten days. This secret realm should have taken around half a month. The three of them... had cleared it?

Looking at Chu Zeming, one elder asked suspiciously, "Did you see the Immortal Residence treasure?"

Chu Zeming nodded. "I saw it. I obtained it."

The elder's expression became even stranger.

This dark-robed young man covered in blood... was a Jindan Stage cultivator, right?

How could he possibly have obtained it?

Thus, one elder cautiously asked Chu Zeming, "Did you gain its acknowledgment?"

Chu Zeming said profoundly, "Almost."

"Almost?" The two elders exchanged glances, the corners of their mouths twitching.

When forming a contract with a secret treasure, success was success, and failure was failure. They had never heard such an answer before.

Neither failure nor success—almost...

After a moment of silence, the two elders decided that the dark-robed young man was talking nonsense.

Among the disciples who had crushed their jade tokens and emerged from the secret realm, there were plenty who had gained nothing yet could not bear the embarrassment, forcing themselves to lie to the two of them. But such people could only save face with their words, because Elder He had long since placed secret arts upon every treasure. After the Joint Grand Tournament ended, those who obtained secret treasures would be displayed on the scroll in the plaza as examples to encourage everyone.

Once they regarded Chu Zeming as someone merely talking big, the two elders' expressions calmed considerably. "For Elfkind's tree cage, go to the Guiyuan Sect and ask Elder He to undo it after leaving the Divine Wood Realm." After that, neither spoke further. They carried out their duty and sent the three away.

After the three figures left the Divine Wood Realm.

One elder suddenly frowned as though recalling something. Turning to the person beside him, he said, "Old Liu, did you notice that person in the cage just now... looked a little like the Kongtong Sect old man's precious beloved disciple?"

"No way. You saw wrong."

"But he really did look a little like him..."

"He's a genius. He must be going after the Immortal Residence. How could he be locked in a cage like a monkey? You definitely saw wrong."

"..."

After leaving the Divine Wood Realm, Chu Zeming tossed Fu Hongchen to the Kongtong Sect disciples waiting at the entrance to the secret realm.

The Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples were also at the Divine Wood entrance. Seeing Chu Zeming emerge covered in blood, their faces filled with worry. After reassuring them, Chu Zeming instructed them to continue waiting there for Xuan Mo and Ling Tian, then tucked the Immortal Residence away and returned alone to Cangzhou City.

With an ancient secret treasure on him, he could not feel at ease for even a moment before forming a contract with it.

He released Xiao Hei, whom he had forcibly shut inside his spirit beast consciousness before entering the tenth floor, and returned to the inn where the sect was resting in the city with the snake. Finding the beast stable behind the inn where the traveling spirit beasts of various sects were housed, an overpowering stench of dung washed over him. Pinching his nose, Chu Zeming took out the Immortal Residence.

Frowning at the square black block, Chu Zeming said in a low voice, "I heard you possess your own awareness."

The Immortal Residence did not move, like a black turtle.

"You can hear me, right?"

"I know you aren't afraid of attacks."

"If you refuse to accept me, I'll throw you into this beast's dung pit."