Hearing Xuan Zi swear upon his Martial Soul, Lu Ren frowned slightly.
"Not enough. You haven't specified a date. When after the tournament will you deliver it to me?"
"What if you play word games and drag it out for decades, until you're about to die?"
Xuan Zi's expression darkened.
The oppressive Soul Power he had just reined in abruptly doubled, crashing down on Lu Ren like the raging waves of a furious sea.
The walls on either side of the corridor groaned under the strain. Plaster rained down, and the crack in the floor that had yet to close deepened further.
Lu Ren's legs began trembling violently.
His knees bent, his bones grinding and creaking like bamboo poles bowed beneath a heavy weight, liable to snap at any moment.
He clenched his teeth. Veins bulged at his temples, and beads of sweat slid down his cheeks, dripping onto the shattered flagstones and instantly evaporating.
But he did not fall.
"You little bastard." Xuan Zi's voice was low, like muffled thunder squeezed from deep within his chest. "I've tolerated you time and again because you're talented, a promising seedling. Yet you keep taking a mile when given an inch?"
He took a step forward, and the pressure grew heavier.
"Countless people would love to make a deal with me sworn upon our Martial Souls, and I wouldn't spare them a glance. Yet you have the nerve to nitpick?"
Lu Ren raised his head.
There was no fear in his eyes, not even pain, only an almost obsessive calm, like the eerie stillness at the eye of a storm.
"Then..." His voice trembled slightly, but remained clear. "You're planning to play word games? Who would have thought everyone from Shrek was as despicable as you?"
Xuan Zi's pupils contracted slightly.
"No wonder," Lu Ren continued, every word seeming to squeeze through his clenched teeth. "Back when I was hunting soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, your students tried to use their numbers and strength to steal my things. So their teachers and elders are no good either. Naturally, the students they teach are no good."
The instant his words fell, the pressure surged again.
This time, Xuan Zi made no attempt to conceal it. The imposing might of a Titled Douluo poured down like the heavens collapsing and the earth splitting apart. The air compressed into something solid, giving off a piercing shriek.
The flagstones beneath Lu Ren's feet shattered with a crash. His knees slammed into the ground, rubble piercing his flesh as blood streamed down his trouser legs.
He lay on the ground, both hands braced against the shattered flagstones, his fingertips digging into the cracks. His nails split, leaving smears of blood.
Xuan Zi looked down at him from above. His cloudy eyes held no pity, only cold scrutiny.
"Ready to submit?"
Lu Ren did not answer.
He pushed himself up with both hands, bit by bit, inch by inch. His arms trembled, his back bowed, and his bones groaned beneath the unbearable burden.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, dripping onto the rubble and blooming into red flowers.
But he stood up all the same.
His legs shook, but his back was ramrod straight. He stood on that shattered floor, amid pressure sufficient to crush any Soul Master, like a blade of wild grass battered again and again by fierce winds yet still refusing to break.
Until death, unyielding.
Xuan Zi's pupils contracted sharply.
In all his years, he had seen countless geniuses, countless prodigies, countless youths who unleashed astonishing potential in desperate straits.
But he had never seen a Soul Ancestor, a Soul Ancestor with only four rings, force himself to his feet under a Titled Douluo's pressure.
Talent alone could no longer explain this.
This was something in his bones. A stubbornness carved deep into his soul, preferring death to bending.
Xuan Zi fell silent.
The pressure, vast as mountains and seas, slowly withdrew. Air flowed through the corridor again, and the rubble stopped trembling.
He stood there, looking at Lu Ren, his gaze as complicated as a pool of muddied water.
"Fine."
He finally spoke. The sharpness had left his voice, replaced by a trace of something indefinable:
"I rather like that temperament of yours."
He paused, seemingly weighing his words.
"Gathering a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone takes time. Of course, I don't think I'll lose, either."
He waved a hand, his tone returning to its offhand casualness.
"One year. One year from now, I'll put the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone in your hands, provided you win."
Lu Ren nodded.
Without hesitation, he raised his right hand, palm upward, his fingers slightly spread.
Soul Power flowed around his fingertips, forming a wisp of red flame. Within it, faint patterns of surging blood could be seen, like slender blood vessels pulsing.
"I, Lu Ren, swear upon my own Martial Soul: if I cannot lead the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to defeat Shrek Academy at the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament, I will unconditionally join Shrek, obey any demand made by Shrek Academy, and never go back on my word."
As his words fell, the wisp of flame abruptly contracted and sank into his palm, leaving a faint blood-red pattern beneath his skin before vanishing.
"That should do it."
Steadying his emotions, Lu Ren said calmly:
"The contract between us is sealed. A promise made."
"Of cour-"
Xuan Zi's unfinished words caught in his throat.
An invisible force surged out of the void, winding around his heart like countless icy iron chains.
It was as though... an invisible hand had seized the very source of his life.
Xuan Zi's expression changed.
He had seen countless deals sworn upon Martial Souls and experienced countless contracts with Martial Souls as collateral.
But this time was completely different. That force did not come from the laws of heaven and earth, but from the youth before him.
It had neither form nor substance, yet it clung like an abscess to the bone. The more he struggled, the tighter it wound around him.
"What's going on?"
Xuan Zi muttered to himself, instinctively circulating his Soul Power to break free.
The invisible iron chains restraining him did not budge.
"I imagine you don't understand." Lu Ren's voice came from opposite him, carrying a faint weariness and a barely perceptible hint of amusement. "Our wager has now been established. From this moment on, a binding vow exists between us."
"A binding vow?" Xuan Zi's brows knitted tightly.
"This is one of my Martial Soul's abilities." Lu Ren raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. "It's similar to swearing upon a Martial Soul, but more absolute. A Martial Soul oath relies on a Soul Master's essence and the laws of heaven and earth, leaving room for loopholes. A binding vow directly binds the existence of both parties."
He pointed at his own brow, then at Xuan Zi's chest.
"The oaths we just swore upon our Martial Souls were merely the trigger for the binding vow. Now, by revealing this information to you, I'm paying the price of sharing information to further reinforce it."
"The more clearly you hear it, the more thoroughly you understand it, the stronger the binding vow becomes."
Xuan Zi's pupils contracted slightly.
Sure enough, the force binding his heart grew heavier.
He could clearly sense a strange connection forming between the source of his life and the soul of the youth before him.
It was neither a master-servant connection nor a symbiotic one. Rather, it was like two iron chains welded fast, entwined with each other. Prosperity for one might not bring prosperity to both, but harm to one would certainly harm both.
"Once the agreement is broken..." Lu Ren's voice was as calm as though he were reading an instruction manual. "For instance, if you delay delivering the Soul Bone after the tournament, or if I refuse to join Shrek after losing, the penalty for breaking the agreement will erupt instantly. Even I am no exception."
"What happens when it erupts?" Xuan Zi asked through clenched teeth.
That invisible pressure grew more and more terrifying, like a blade suspended above his soul. He could neither see nor touch it, yet he could clearly feel its chill.
In all his years, he had never experienced anything like this.
A Level 98 Super Douluo had actually been driven to this point by a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.
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