The contract, the journey home
Taming a magical beast required two conditions. First, the beast had to willingly submit to you. Second, a Soul Contract Magic Array had to be set up to make the beast your servant.
Of course, there was another option: buying a 'Soul Contract' scroll. You only had to tear it apart to form a Soul Contract Magic Array directly. But 'Soul Contract' scrolls were expensive, and Luo Feng naturally had no money to buy one. Even if he had, he wouldn't have bought one.
Setting up a Soul Contract Magic Array was extremely troublesome. One had to be at least a Level Seven Mage to have enough power to do it. Almost all mages knew about the Soul Contract Magic Array, but there was a restriction on setting it up: one had to reach the Level Seven Mage realm to have enough soul power. If Luo Feng had worked hard at cultivating magic from the start, it was quite possible he would have reached Level Seven Mage by now. Unfortunately, Luo Feng couldn't do it.
Luo Feng pressed his lips together, his brow slightly furrowed.
He remembered that when Linley tamed his magical beasts in the original story, Bebe had offered himself up, while Linley had set up the Soul Contract Magic Array himself for the Black-Striped Cloud Leopard. Luo Feng wasn't a mage and didn't have a contract scroll either. What was he supposed to do now?
"Wa'ersi, come here. I have something to ask you." After a long while, Luo Feng finally turned to look at the Silver Dragon Wa'ersi.
"Roar." The Silver Dragon Wa'ersi had none of his former arrogance and swagger now. What a joke-his body still hurt. Although Light Element magic had healed his body, it couldn't make the pain go away.
"Don't play pitiful with me. Can a Level Nine Magical Beast really not take that much of a beating? Tell me, can you set up a Soul Contract Magic Array? I don't have a 'Soul Contract' scroll," Luo Feng said.
"Rumble." The Silver Dragon nodded and replied.
"Then you do it. I'm not a mage, so I can't set up a Soul Contract Magic Array." Seeing Wa'ersi nod, Luo Feng was overjoyed. The dragon really did know how to set one up.
The Silver Dragon Wa'ersi wasted no time and immediately began setting up the Soul Contract Magic Array!
Seeing this, Luo Feng casually plucked a leaf and channeled Battle-qi into it, making it hard. He sliced it across his arm, and blood immediately flowed out. Luo Feng then wrapped the blood in Battle-qi and flung it into the magic array.
The Silver Dragon in the array opened his mouth and sucked in the ball of blood wrapped in Battle-qi.
Suddenly-
A silvery-white, nearly transparent, pentagonal magic pattern floated in midair.
The magic array then flew straight toward Luo Feng's head. He offered no resistance, allowing the magic pattern to merge into his mind. In an instant, Luo Feng and the Silver Dragon both felt the connection between their souls.
From what Luo Feng knew of the original story, both parties' souls merged into the magic array when forming an Equal Contract. This Soul Contract Array, however, had been formed by the Silver Dragon's spiritual energy, so by accepting the Soul Contract, Luo Feng naturally accepted the Silver Dragon's ceremony of acknowledging him as master.
"Master." The Silver Dragon was extremely respectful. It wasn't just because Luo Feng had saved his life; more importantly, the Silver Dragon acknowledged Luo Feng's strength. At merely the peak of the Eighth-level Warrior rank, Luo Feng had defeated him, a Level Nine Magical Beast. What else did that prove? It showed the potential of the master he had found. Given enough time, he would definitely become another legend of the Yulan Continent. The Silver Dragon Wa'ersi felt he had truly profited by acknowledging such a master.
"The journey ahead will be even more interesting." A smile touched Luo Feng's face.
Three years of training in the Magical Beast Forest had made Luo Feng more attuned to nature. His upper body was bare, he wore a pair of badly damaged coarse linen trousers, and his feet were unshod. This allowed him to sense the flow of the wind more clearly.
Luo Feng was now growing more and more adept at Wielding Something Light as Though It Were Heavy. Unfortunately, he still couldn't grasp 'force'. But he wasn't in a hurry. He had already grown adept at Wielding Something Heavy as Though It Were Light,
so comprehending 'force' should be much easier. Given more time, he would definitely comprehend it.
Luo Feng was now in the center of the Magical Beast Forest, three or four hundred li from its outer edge. Although he now had the Silver Dragon as a mount, he still walked out on foot, though he traveled much faster. Every day, he did nothing but travel and cultivate, walking on the earth and sensing the flow of the wind.
After another half month, his training in the Magical Beast Forest finally came to an end. On this journey, Luo Feng had spent three years breaking through from a peak sixth-level warrior to a peak eighth-level warrior and comprehending the second realm, Wielding Something Light as Though It Were Heavy. From then on, Luo Feng feared no one below the Saint Domain.
The northernmost edge of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts was only a few li from the North Sea. Indeed, standing at the northern edge of the mountain range, one could see the boundless blue expanse of the North Sea.
Between the North Sea and the northern edge of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts was a passage connecting the O'Brien Empire and the Holy Union. Large numbers of travelers passed along this broad road almost every day.
The inhabitants of the O'Brien Empire, however, possessed an innate pride when facing inhabitants of the Holy Union. The O'Brien Empire was the most powerful empire on the entire Yulan Continent, and the 'War God' was there as well. In the martial O'Brien Empire, almost every inhabitant was proud to be a member of the empire.
A man wearing nothing but a pair of damaged coarse linen trousers walked slowly through the dense forest. He looked back at the gradually thinning woods around him, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. After three years of training, the inexperienced sixteen-year-old boy had become a tall, handsome nineteen-year-old youth.
Luo Feng's striking features were now as resolute as if carved with knife and axe. Beneath the seemingly calm surface of his deep eyes lay a gaze as sharp as an eagle's. His ink-black hair reached his waist, and his nearly perfect muscular contours were proportioned to perfection, inspiring envy. Crisscrossing claw marks marred his bronze skin, left by his battle with the Crimson Wind Cloud Leopard, adding a further touch of wildness to his appearance.
The claw marks on his muscles were a man's medals of honor!
Yet alongside the indifference on Luo Feng's face was an effortless grace like the wind. Two completely unrelated temperaments mingled around him, making people want to approach him but not dare to.
At last, the sky grew completely dark. Luo Feng shook his head helplessly and was just about to look for somewhere to shelter when he saw a campfire rising slowly not far away, like a guiding light in the darkness.
"Uh. There's actually someone here?" Luo Feng was slightly startled at the sight of the campfire. After a moment's thought, he headed toward it.
As Luo Feng slowly approached, a middle-aged man dressed as a warrior suddenly whipped his head around beside the campfire. Staring straight at the approaching Luo Feng, he shouted coldly, "Who's there?"
Luo Feng glanced around at the dozen or so people. Their strength was roughly at the fourth- or fifth-level warrior rank, with only the middle-aged warrior in front a little stronger, at the seventh level. He said calmly, "I trained in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and only came out today. But it's already dark, and I saw your fire, so I came over to share it."
Seeing Luo Feng's face, however, the dozens of people breathed a sigh of relief. The middle-aged mercenary glanced at Luo Feng, turned to mutter a few words to a middle-aged blond man beside him, then said to Luo Feng, "Sure. Five gold coins and we'll let you stay by the fire for the night. Tomorrow, you can come back to the provincial capital with us too."
"Just let me stay here for the night. As for tomorrow, I'll go on my own. Do you have any spare clothes? Give me a set. Here's a fourth-level magicite core as payment." Seeing how straightforward they were, Luo Feng casually took a fourth-level magicite core from the bundle on his back as payment.
"Sure. Brother, you look about my size. You can have these clothes," the seventh-level warrior in the lead said.
Luo Feng took the clothes, found a place, and changed into them. Wearing the ordinary blue outfit of a warrior, he found a treetop and sat cross-legged in meditation, paying no attention to the noisy mercenaries around him.
The next day, as soon as it was light, Luo Feng climbed down from the tree and stretched. Just as he was about to leave, the middle-aged seventh-level warrior from the previous day called out to him. "Brother, the road isn't safe. Do you want to travel back with our mercenary group?" Perhaps the fourth-level magicite core Luo Feng had given him the day before had made the captain feel awkward, so he kindly offered.
"No need. I have something to do and need to leave first. I won't trouble you." Luo Feng smiled faintly. "Wa'ersi, come here. I'm ready to go back." He transmitted the words to the Silver Dragon Wa'ersi.
The captain was about to say something else when the sky suddenly darkened. A magical beast over a hundred meters tall was circling overhead. Then it swooped down, flying straight toward their location. Only then did the group get a clear look at the beast.
"A-a Level Nine Magical Beast, a Silver Dragon," the middle-aged blond man stammered. At once, the group was scared to death.
Wa'ersi called out to Luo Feng and lay down on the ground. Under the gazes of the dumbstruck mercenaries around him, Luo Feng pushed off with the tip of his foot and landed on the Silver Dragon's head.
"Rumble." Seeing that Luo Feng had climbed aboard, Wa'ersi let out an earth-shaking draconic roar. He flapped his wings and flew toward Basil, the provincial capital of the O'Brien Empire's Northwest Province.
Standing on the dragon's back, Luo Feng felt for the first time how wonderful flying was. Looking down, he felt that everything was so small. The feeling was beyond words.
"Luo Fu, are you well? It's been three years. Your big brother is coming back." On the dragon's back, Luo Feng thought of his younger brother, and a warm smile appeared on his face. Perhaps, in this world, the only one who could make Luo Feng feel warmth was this younger brother of his.