To Take, First Give

"Knights!"

Only upon hearing this familiar term did Qian Renxue's expression soften somewhat.

There were knights on the Douluo Continent as well. According to Spirit Hall's records, knights had once enjoyed a period of glory, only to gradually decline later.

She was already somewhat curious about this entirely new continent and wanted to explore it. Her expression had darkened earlier because she had realized that she, the young master of the great Spirit Hall, had actually been mistaken for a magical beast.

"All right!"

In the end, curiosity broke through her displeasure, and Qian Renxue nodded in agreement.

As the Mountain-Guarding Elder activated the formation, they returned once more to Knight Sacred Mountain.

"This is the Holy Demon Continent. In ancient times, gods and demons coexisted, humans who attained godhood were everywhere, and the plane flourished. Then came a God-Slaying War. Seventy-two mighty humans sacrificed themselves to seal Heavenly Calamity, the Seventy-Two Demon Gods Pillars descended, and the Age of Destruction began... Even now, we're still in humanity's Dark Age. The human powers established the Six Great Temples..."

"I'm a Third-Order Knight of the Knight Temple, just one step away from becoming a Fourth-Order Grand Knight..."

After leaving Knight Sacred Mountain, Jiang Li communicated with Qian Renxue through his mind throughout the flight back to the Haoyue Branch Hall on his teacher Ye Hua's flying magical beast.

"Divine Thrones, knights, warriors, mages, priests, assassins, summoners, magical beast mounts, the Demon Race..."

One unfamiliar term after another appeared in Qian Renxue's mind, gradually deepening her interest in this world.

This world was far more fascinating than she had imagined, particularly its unique cultivation systems.

Qian Renxue keenly sensed that this world would be an enormous help to her.

Earlier, she had been thinking of dissolving that so-called contract after confirming a few things. Now, it seemed that keeping the contract for the time being might be better.

"I think it's best to clarify a few things about our relationship."

"First, let me make one thing clear. What we signed is an equal contract. With this contract, if you unexpectedly die in battle, I'll only suffer serious injuries. If I die unexpectedly, it won't prevent you from surviving on your own.

"An equal contract allows us to sense each other's locations, communicate mentally, and fight together."

"Above an equal contract, there's also a blood pact. A blood pact allows us to share spiritual power, bear injuries together, and teleport instantly."

"I won't hide this from you, either. In this world's terms, after forming the contract, you would become my mount. That teleportation formation was meant to let me contract a magical beast. I never expected to end up forming a contract with you instead."

Only when Jiang Li felt the time was ripe did he explain the crucial details.

There was simply no way to keep something like this hidden forever.

Once the right moment came, the sooner he explained, the sooner he could be assured.

"An equal contract, magical beasts, mounts."

"That really does leave a bad taste!"

Qian Renxue spoke coldly, but made no mention of dissolving the contract.

Although she had only just arrived on this continent, the fact that the power between its heaven and earth surpassed that of the Douluo Continent was enough to show that this world held tremendous opportunities.

Leaving everything else aside, if she could teleport her grandfather to this plane, he might be able to advance another step.

As for turning the equal contract into a blood pact, that needed more consideration. It was a matter for later; for now, maintaining the status quo would do.

"Once we reach your place, prepare a quiet room for me!"

Qian Renxue intended to try cultivating in this world and experience the differences before returning to the Douluo Continent.

After all, she was currently posing as the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. Staying away too long could easily lead to something unexpected.

She would wait until she was fully prepared before exploring this world further.

"All right!"

Seeing that Qian Renxue had not become angry, Jiang Li knew his gamble had paid off.

This trip to Knight Sacred Mountain had certainly yielded a rich harvest.

Although the problem with his own aptitude remained unresolved, he had at least gained a fifth-order mount. Even if she would not listen to him, he could still summon her to save his life at a critical moment.

Soon, the group returned to the Haoyue Branch Hall.

"Teacher, I'll head home first."

As soon as they landed, Jiang Li said goodbye and left. He was currently working out how to use the power of the Douluo Continent to improve his aptitude.

Beyond that, he also needed to deepen his connection with Qian Renxue. To take, first give.

Having only just established their contract, he ought to prepare a gift.

While considering this, Jiang Li suddenly felt that contracting an intelligent magical beast came with plenty of trouble in certain respects.

With less intelligent magical beasts, one could simply give orders after forming a contract. Low intelligence made them easy to hoodwink; with highly intelligent ones, there was much more to consider.

Was Qian Renxue foolish? Very.

Even after becoming a god, she had still been defeated by Tang San, a Titled Douluo. Although they were clearly enemies, she had held back at every turn.

But did she really have no brains at all?

If she had no brains, how could she have maintained her disguise in a place like the Heaven Dou Imperial Family for so long, handling everything with ease, without even an old fox like Ning Fengzhi noticing anything amiss?

It was nothing more than a disparity in perspective and information.

As for her falling in love with Tang San, Jiang Li had always found that absurd.

During the Soul Master Tournament, Qian Renxue had never harbored any unusual feelings toward Tang San. At the time, she had only wanted to recruit a genius. Then, inexplicably, she fell in love with him and proceeded to make a series of senseless moves.

Who would believe there was nothing fishy about that?

"Little brother Haochen, who was that very aristocratic-looking man just now?"

After Jiang Li and Qian Renxue left, Li Xin, who had come to greet Long Haochen, caught a fleeting glimpse of the disguised Qian Renxue.

She had never seen such a dignified, poised, and noble bearing before.

Just that single glance had inexplicably set her heart fluttering.

"Um... he's the magical beast mount my senior brother contracted."

Long Haochen looked at Sister Li Xin, who was acting rather strangely today. Although he did not understand, he still answered honestly.

"A magical beast... you're saying he's a magical beast!"

Hearing this, Li Xin's voice immediately rose, her face full of disbelief.

"Yes. Like my Haoyue, he's a magical beast summoned through Knight Sacred Mountain. He seems to have something to do with some Ancient Elves."

Long Haochen was even more puzzled. Why was Sister Li Xin so agitated?

"A magical beast? How could he be a magical beast?"

"What a shame..."

Li Xin instantly felt as though the sky had collapsed.

I finally felt my heart stir, and now you're telling me he's a magical beast.

Jiang Li knew nothing of what had happened with Li Xin. By now, he had already brought Qian Renxue back to his home.

He had bought the place with his own money: a small, two-story house with a large underground cultivation chamber.

The first floor was much simpler. Aside from the various medicinal herbs growing in the courtyard, there was a furnace and various metals piled beside it.

He usually trained his body and researched other things on the first floor, while meditating and resting on the second.

As for the underground chamber, it housed his research results and various valuables.

"There's a separate, clean room on the second floor."

Jiang Li guided Qian Renxue to a room on the second floor.

"Don't disturb me unless there's something important."

Qian Renxue spoke coldly, then entered the room and locked the door behind her.

Seeing Qian Renxue enter her room, Jiang Li headed into the underground chamber, pondering what gift he should prepare to win her favor.

The pills he possessed were not particularly high-grade, and the weapons he forged were currently only suitable for Third-Order Knights.

After some thought, Jiang Li took two books from his personal collection.

One was Rising Dragon Strike, a single-target slashing technique exclusive to Retribution Knights that could only be used by fifth-order Earth Knights. His teacher had given it to him.

The other was Holy Light Flash, which he had conceived and developed himself based on assassin skills and the inherent characteristics of knights.

It was a high-speed, explosive assassination skill that used the sacred light attribute as its guide. The instant the skill was activated, the user would merge into the light. It was one of the fruits of Jiang Li's painstaking research.

The Douluo Continent lacked little in many respects, but it did lack true combat techniques.

This was no small gift.

Most importantly, it would not cost him any money.

"This is..."

Just then, Jiang Li felt a powerful surge of spiritual power pouring madly into his body through a connecting channel in the void.

Sacred, radiant, powerful, yet gentle.

Spurred on by this power, he effortlessly broke through the bottleneck that had trapped him for so long.

In one leap, he advanced from the third-order peak into the fourth order.

Not only that, he could clearly sense his very foundation quietly changing.