"—Pursuant to the principle of 'Spellbook Sovereignty Over Contract Rights,' Contracting Party A (Zheng Qing) shall exercise spellbook sovereignty... Party A requires Contracting Party B (Jidu) to fulfill its Branching Obligation as agreed... strip away three strands of Spiritual Origin and Differentiate Three Clones (hereafter referred to as 'Jidu Branching Guns') to be held by the three Party A contractors... the Jidu Branching Guns may, under the constraints of this contract, borrow the power of the Jidu Gun Main Body... the Jidu Branching Guns may retain a certain degree of spirituality... the Jidu Branching Guns must completely obey the will of the relevant contracting parties..."
"—Supplementary Contracting Party A signature: Jiang Yu."
"—Supplementary Contracting Party A signature: Su Shijun."
"—Supplementary confirmation signature of spellbook beneficiary: Zheng Qing."
Zheng Qing set down the brush in his hand.
The contract was complete.
The spellbook flipped open without a breeze, its pages rustling before the young wizards. The inked words that had just fallen onto the paper slowly rose amid a faint glow of spells, transforming into three long, slender black chains that wrapped around the Jidu Gun, which was still writhing wildly on the table.
Snap!
The knotted barrel suddenly straightened. The Jidu Gun's body trembled violently, and the single eye at its sight flew open, yet it made not the slightest sound. Only fine, spiderweb-like cracks spread across its surface, branching like vines as flecks of purple fluorescence seeped from between them and silently dissolved into the air.
At the same time, three more lines of inked words rose from the spellbook. Like three slender black dragons, they twisted through the air and shot toward the three contractors.
Zheng Qing raised his hand solemnly and spread his fingers.
The two witches copied him, raising their hands and spreading their fingers as