Building the Spirit Network

Tian Meng extended a tiny paw and swiped it through space. A pale blue glow appeared, forming a deep blue contract in the air. He then explained, "This is the Soul Contract I drafted. Once you sign it, we can begin."

Leng Xiyue took it and looked it over, finding no problems. Basically, it said she could not discard him after using him, betray his trust, or trick him into sacrificing himself. Nor could she stop treating him as a beast afterward and enslave him like mad, and she also had to help him find a wife and such. Since Leng Xiyue had never intended to do those things anyway, it was practically a freebie.

After all, Tian Meng had a rather likable personality. Who would turn down such an adorable little silkworm? If she had the chance in the future, she would certainly try to find the Ice Empress and Snow Empress. As for whether anything would come of it, that depended on whether Tian Meng could capture the Ice Empress's heart.

After signing her name without hesitation, Leng Xiyue felt a sudden stir in her soul, which she had previously been unable to perceive. A thread of soul power separated from it and bound itself to the portion of Tian Meng's soul already on the contract, as though a bond had formed between them. If Leng Xiyue violated their agreement, she would suffer a backlash from the soul Tian Meng had left on it. This was one of the rare ways Tian Meng could actually hurt someone.

Of course, most people would never sign something like this with Tian Meng. He was at the very bottom of the food chain, after all. Who would genuinely negotiate with him?

Xiao Bai had not stopped Leng Xiyue from signing the Soul Contract with Tian Meng. Once the two finished, she shed her earlier domineering CEO demeanor, flew over to Tian Meng, and stroked his large head. "All right," she said with a smile. "Since you've made up your mind, we're family from now on. Begin the sacrifice."

Tian Meng took a deep breath, feeling incredibly nervous. After all, this was a momentous event that could happen only once in a beast's life!

Still, sacrificing himself was like an innate ability. Although he had never done it before, he was remarkably proficient. Soon, he established a connection with the Soul Mark on Leng Xiyue's forehead and began the sacrifice.

Leng Xiyue sat cross-legged on the ground, equally nervous. No matter how pathetic Tian Meng's fighting ability was, this was still a Million-Year Soul Ring. Having never experienced anything like this, she felt a weight of pressure.

Xiao Bai stood behind her and patted her shoulder, soothing her. "Relax. I'll guide him through the sacrifice. All you need to do is receive the Soul Ring and Soul Bone."

"Mm." Leng Xiyue nodded, then looked toward Tian Meng.

Tian Meng could no longer speak. A snow-white Soul Ring traced with golden patterns and a gleaming golden Head Soul Bone emerged from his body, flew toward Leng Xiyue, and merged into her.

Having lost his Soul Ring and Soul Bone, Tian Meng lost consciousness completely and collapsed helplessly to the ground, like a corpse.

Normally, absorbing a Soul Ring beyond one's limits was excruciating for a Soul Master. Even with a sacrifice, there was a risk of being burst apart if the bond was not close enough, whereas a Soul Bone could be absorbed however one pleased. With Leng Xiyue, however, the situation was completely reversed. After Tian Meng's Soul Ring entered her body, Xiao Bai guided it into her soul space, and nothing happened. His Soul Bone, on the other hand, inflicted pain unlike anything she had ever experienced.

"Aaaah!!!" Leng Xiyue could not endure the searing pain. It felt as though her brain was about to burst. Under such agony, she could not stay seated at all. Clutching her head with both hands, she rolled across the ground, hoping to lessen the pain that way.

Tian Meng's Soul Bone was relatively gentle, but the system seemed to have seized this opportunity. Using the power of his Head Soul Bone, it began expanding Leng Xiyue's brain capacity through extremely brutal means, constructing an entirely new domain founded on mental power.

"System, have you gone mad? She's so weak right now, and you're already building her a Spirit Network?" Seeing Leng Xiyue suffer like this, Xiao Bai lost her composure inside the soul space. No longer caring about handling Tian Meng's Soul Ring, she hurled abuse at the sphere of light overhead.

Faced with Xiao Bai's accusations, the sphere of light actually replied, "When the mission was first issued, you should have anticipated this from the reward. But rest assured, this system knows its limits."

Xiao Bai knew the system was telling the truth, but this was not suffering Leng Xiyue should have had to bear at this stage. In her eyes, the road ahead had already been paved. Who could have guessed that the system would keep pulling things like this?

Oh well. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. She needs to get used to pain now, too. Otherwise, if she meets a troublesome enemy later, she can't start howling the moment a hit hurts. She's still a long way from being immune to pain.

Xiao Bai sighed, then went to handle Tian Meng's Soul Ring.

Congratulations to the host on completing the breakthrough. New mission activated: raise your Psionic Energy level to thirty.

Mission reward: Shield Generator.

The current mission reward has been delivered to the Storage Space. Host, please select what you wish to redeem.

After an unknown amount of time, Leng Xiyue slowly woke.

She remembered passing out after being tormented for a while.

As soon as she opened her eyes, Leng Xiyue saw Xiao Bai's slightly worried face. At that moment, she seemed to be resting her head on Xiao Bai's lap.

"Xiyue, you're awake? How do you feel?" Xiao Bai hurriedly asked when she saw Leng Xiyue regain consciousness.

"Mm... pretty good?" Leng Xiyue took stock of herself and found that her mind felt clearer than ever before. Many things she had previously failed to understand now seemed to fall into place. In plain terms, her IQ had probably gone up.

However, she could not sense Tian Meng's Soul Bone. By rights, his Head Soul Bone should have given her at least one skill.

Sitting up from the ground, Leng Xiyue finally realized she had been lying on an incredibly soft pillow. Xiao Bai sat beside her, and not far away was a boy who looked about fourteen or fifteen.

The boy had short golden hair and brownish-gray eyes. He wore a white silkworm-themed outfit with golden patterns. He was short and looked like a cute little boy-the sort who seemed easy to bully.

At that moment, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding two pieces of ten-thousand-year cold marrow, seemingly cultivating.

"As long as you're all right." Xiao Bai breathed a sigh of relief before explaining, "Tian Meng's Soul Bone shouldn't have caused anything like this. But the system took it upon itself to make use of it, building a linking framework in your mind that we Protoss commonly use. In ancient times, this framework was still incomplete, and it wasn't standardized across the tribes. Later, a Protoss High Executor united all the tribes and rebuilt these links, giving them the collective name of the Spirit Network. Not only does it let you communicate with others, it also allows commanders in the army to control the Protoss units under their command. It's indispensable to you, too."