When Jason emerged from his three-day seclusion, he discovered that a Moonshadow Flame Cat had joined Veronica's regular dinner guests.
"You're sure she just comes by for free meals and doesn't mean us any harm?" Jason looked at the Moonshadow Flame Cat across from him.
"Meow~~~"
"She really doesn't mean any harm. She's a Level Nine Magical Beast, and we can't beat her anyway, so we can only be good and cook for her." Veronica was quite calm about it.
There was another "person" at Jason's side: Lumba, Jason's contracted undead and the strongest undead under his command.
After strengthening his undead squad a little, Jason had brought Lumba to the Yulan Continent.
This was Lumba's first time being summoned to the Yulan Continent, and he was very interested in his surroundings. It would have been even better if he hadn't run into a Level Nine Magical Beast as soon as he left the cave.
Undead had sharper instincts than magical beasts, especially when facing creatures stronger than themselves. Lumba had seen at a glance that the little cat before him was a powerhouse he couldn't afford to provoke, so he obediently crouched in a corner of the cave.
As for the dual-sword skeleton, its fight with Veronica had left it with bone loss, so Jason had sent it back to recuperate.
"Wulu, wulu." The Moonshadow Flame Cat made contented noises as she ate roast squab.
But the sound made Jason's hair stand on end. He was afraid the Moonshadow Flame Cat would work up an appetite and eat him for dessert.
"Meow!"
"What did she say?" Hearing that his lordship the Moonshadow Flame Cat wanted something, Jason immediately tensed up.
"Maybe she's thirsty and wants some soup." Veronica brought over some bone broth, made with the Bloodthirsty War Boar bones left over from a few days ago.
Jason nervously drank a bowl too, as though keeping his superior company.
There were quite a few small springs in the valley, and there seemed to be a large underground river beneath it, so there was no shortage of water.
"Meow, meow, meow!"
Jason looked at Veronica again and saw that she looked just as puzzled.
"Is it too bland? Do you want salt?" Veronica asked tentatively.
"Meow!"
Jason and Veronica looked at the food before them, thinking hard about what was wrong.
"Meow." The Moonshadow Flame Cat scratched Veronica with her paw.
The sudden attack put both of them and the undead on edge.
Jason pulled out a magic scroll. The Moonshadow Flame Cat had weak defenses, and if the scroll in his hand hit her, it should be able to seriously injure her, though collateral damage would be unavoidable.
The Moonshadow Flame Cat didn't continue attacking, and the two of them thought her wild nature had gotten the better of her for a moment.
A trace of blood came from the corner of the Moonshadow Flame Cat's mouth and mingled with Veronica's blood to form an intricate magic array.
"An Equal Contract!" Jason's astonished voice carried a note of jealousy.
"Mm, she says she wants fish soup."
"Her name is Linda. She's over three hundred years old and broke through to the ninth level eighty years ago. Right now, she's probably about average among Level Nine Magical Beasts. She likes cooked food, especially stewed rabbit, fish soup, and roast squab." Veronica introduced Linda, the Moonshadow Flame Cat, to Jason.
"Well, you contracted a Level Nine Magical Beast just like that. The two of you must be very compatible." Jason was a little jealous.
Given their aptitudes, it was almost certain that both of them would reach the Saint-level, so it wasn't as if they needed a Level Nine Magical Beast, but Jason was still only at the seventh level and didn't have a single magical beast.
Veronica communicated with Linda for a while, then said, "Linda says Moonshadow Flame Cats can live to about four hundred and fifty years old. She's already over three hundred, and she wants to enjoy herself for her last hundred years.
"She doesn't ask for much. Just one cooked meal a day will do. She'll help catch the food, and she can help us fight off enemies too."
"Uh." Jason had nothing to say to that.
And so, a black cat joined the group.
After eating, the two of them set off toward the center of the valley.
Linda the Moonshadow Flame Cat had a den near the center of the valley, and the two of them planned to go there.
The situation was a little different from what they had guessed. The dominant group here was indeed the gryphons, led by two Level Nine Ironback Gryphons. However, the flock had not wiped out the other kinds of magical beasts. Besides the gryphons' prey, there were other magical beasts of the eighth and ninth levels living in the valley.
Linda had wandered in by accident a few years ago while chasing several Shadowmice. Dark elemental essence was the most abundant element here, so Linda had settled down.
During that time, the two Ironback Gryphons had come to meet Linda and allowed her to claim a territory. In return, if outside enemies invaded, the magical beasts in the valley were to fight them off together.
Besides Linda, there was another Level Nine Magical Beast to the south, a Bladeback Earth Lizard. It was an earth-attribute Level Nine Magical Beast, a little stronger than Linda but no match for the two Ironback Gryphons.
There were also some eighth-level magical beasts scattered throughout the valley, basically all solitary creatures. The gryphon flock would not allow any powerful social magical beasts here besides themselves.
From Linda's conversations with the other magical beasts in the valley, many magical beasts coveted the valley. Saint-level magical beasts, of course, didn't care; with their endless lifespans, they had little need for a high concentration of elemental essence.
Other Level Nine Magical Beasts had invaded before. Linda had once joined the gryphon flock in repelling a group of Long-Armed Demonic Apes.
Long-Armed Demonic Apes were dark-attribute magical beasts of the eighth and ninth levels. Their leader in particular was at the peak of the ninth level, stronger than a single Ironback Gryphon. The gryphon flock in the valley had joined forces with Linda and several other magical beasts to drive them off.
As they walked and talked, they reached Linda's territory.
Jason discovered that it wasn't far from where they had picked the Blue Heart Grass.
Lumba followed at Jason's side. This was his first time roaming the Yulan Continent, and everything around him was new and strange. But through their soul connection, Jason learned that Lumba didn't like the environment here. Undead still preferred the Netherworld, which was filled with death elemental essence.
In the end, Jason sent Lumba back to the Netherworld. As it happened, Linda didn't like having an undead following behind her either.
Jason turned his attention to Linda's den.
It was clean here. Linda had a habit of throwing food scraps outside, and there was a small spring nearby. The tall, straight trees around it had relatively few branches, allowing sunlight to shine directly in.
Linda usually slept in a tree hollow. Jason saw quite a few sparkling magic cores inside, along with a soft fox pelt spread out and several stalks of Blue Heart Grass.
"Linda says we can build a house nearby. This is her territory, and we have to cook for her every day."
Jason had no objections. The concentration of elemental essence here was more than ten times that of the outside world. After living here for three to five years, he estimated he could break through to the ninth level.
Jason didn't know how to build a house. Most cultivators didn't, for that matter, but Jason could dig a hole. More precisely, his undead could.
He picked a spot on a rock face at the edge of Linda's territory. It was relatively dry, there were few insects around, and the concentration of elemental essence wasn't low either. Jason planned to dig out a cave suitable for long-term living.