“Won… won?”
Little White stared at the fallen Su Qing, her voice trembling with disbelief.
She couldn’t believe she had actually won!
She looked at the Life Tree, now frozen in ice, then at Su Qing collapsed on the ground.
Her taut nerves suddenly relaxed, and she felt a sting at the tip of her nose.
Clearly, she hadn’t felt wronged at all while she was gritting her teeth and hanging on in the match.
But now that she’d won, she couldn’t help but feel like crying.
“Are you alright?”
Little White hurried forward, carefully helping Su Qing up, but her fingertips accidentally brushed the unhealed wound on Su Qing’s arm.
Su Qing’s face turned even redder, and a muffled moan escaped her lips.
“Sorry, sorry! Let me take you to the Medical Area and get that wound looked at, okay?”
Little White didn’t think too much about it, only assuming that she’d hurt Su Qing’s wound.
She quickly helped her toward the Medical Area.
When Su Qing heard “Medical Area,” her eyes visibly brightened, nodding rapidly like a pecking chick.
Lin Xing and Lumiya quickly followed behind.
Lumiya eyed Su Qing’s flushed cheeks and leaned in to whisper into Lin Xing’s ear.
“Why does she look so comfortable?”
Lin Xing flicked her forehead helplessly.
“Don’t talk nonsense. It must be the pain from her wound.”
That’s what he said, but watching the healing spell—clearly with some extra oomph—scanning over Su Qing, hearing her continuous “pained” moans, and seeing her body twitch uncontrollably, Lin Xing couldn’t help but twitch his lips.
Something didn’t seem right about this person.
Maybe he should take Lumiya away?
Would spending too much time with this person corrupt Lumiya?
As for Lumiya, who was being worried over, she was currently watching Su Qing’s writhing and moaning performance with unblinking interest.
So this girl has such a kink~, well, that really makes her fit right in with those Life Tree folks who excel at healing.
But this time, Lumiya hadn’t just come to have a calm chat with some old thing.
Since the old thing was bored!
The kindhearted Lord Lumiya couldn’t bear to see it suffer, so she directly helped it bind its main body to this girl named Su Qing!
Now Su Qing’s contracted beast was a genuine Life Tree!
But thinking back—
So this world’s Contract actually had a balancing mechanism? Lumiya only discovered this when she pulled that old thing’s main body over.
Turns out, it couldn’t bring its original power over!
Logically, Lumiya could suppress her own strength so she wouldn’t overwhelm Lin Xing.
That old thing’s strength was far inferior to hers, so it should have been even easier.
Yet it was tightly constrained by the world’s rules.
The moment its true power showed, an invisible force instantly pressed it back!
No wonder when she made the Contract with Lin Xing, she had felt something blocking her for a moment.
But at the time, Lumiya didn’t care. It was like a big truck going over a speed bump on a highway.
Since it didn’t affect her, she hadn’t paid it any mind.
However, at this point, Lin Xing couldn’t take it anymore.
Because Su Qing’s sounds were getting strange, faint gasps coming from her direction.
Even though he could tell she was trying hard not to make any noise,
Her slightly suppressed panting was only making things more suggestive.
Lin Xing quickly dragged the enthralled Lumiya away; he still had other business to take care of today.
Leaving behind only Little White, face flushed and at a complete loss.
Lin Xing led Lumiya straight to the Contract Hall. On the front desk’s floating crystal screen, his identification flashed by as he handed a staff member his One-Step Breakthrough application.
Unlike the Basic Contract at admission, a One-Step Breakthrough required payment for a Two-Step Instructor to supervise and record the whole process, as well as a usage fee for the Calm Heart Room.
Once the staff verified everything, they handed him an Admission Token for the Calm Heart Room.
Just as Lin Xing took the token, his sleeve was gently tugged.
Looking down, he saw Lumiya glancing again and again at the Self-Service Sausage stand in front of the counter, puffing her cheeks as she quietly asked,
“Lin Xing, can I wait outside? It’s stuffy inside.”
Lin Xing instantly knew what she was up to, pulling out a few bills and handing them to Lumiya.
“Don’t eat too much, don’t wander off, just wait here for me.”
He instructed helplessly.
Lumiya’s eyes lit up, and she happily took the money, wagging her tail as she ran to the Self-Service Sausage machine.
Watching her go, Lin Xing smiled, then turned to walk into the Calm Heart Room with his Admission Token.
Pushing open the stone door of the Calm Heart Room, a surge of thick mana washed over him.
The four walls were covered in spiral runes, and in the center of the room was a circular Crystal Array Disc, about three meters across.
Lin Xing sat cross-legged at the center of the array, took a deep breath, and began circulating the Meditation Manual of Myriad Phenomena, the standard technique for those below Fifth Step!
This was a technique refined by generations of sages, perfectly attuned to the human body, guiding mana to flow smoothly.
It was widely praised the moment it came out!
The moment he entered meditation, the array disc suddenly began to hum, light blue runes lighting up in unison.
The mana in the air grew so dense it was almost visible,
Mana as tangible as mist slowly flowed into his body through every pore.
As the mana surged through his meridians, nine faint halos gradually appeared around Lin Xing’s body.
Outside the Calm Heart Room, Lumiya sensed Lin Xing drawing her aura.
She glanced toward him, then hesitantly at the sausages.
She struggled for a moment, but in the end sent out a wisp of her divine sense toward Lin Xing—so now she couldn’t focus entirely on enjoying the sausages’ flavor.
A pity.
At that moment, above Lin Xing’s head, three halos shone like brilliant radiance, while five more drifted over his chest like wisps of smoke—pity they were all empty shells, white and misty, lacking any true vitality.
Only one halo, woven with golden light and flecks of colored glow, hovered clearly in front of him.
The nine halos pulsed in time with Lin Xing’s breathing, making him look almost celestial.
The supervising Two-Step Instructor was completely stunned.
In all his years, he knew that the nine Contract slots each manifested differently for everyone.
But he swore! The display this young man showed was the most magnificent he had ever seen! No exceptions!
Lumiya’s divine sense hovered in midair inside the Calm Heart Room,
Watching the interplay of light and shadow around Lin Xing, seeing the colored glow in the golden main halo flow gently along his meridians.
She couldn’t help but prod that brightest halo with her sense; a gentle wave of mana rippled back, subtly resonating with her own aura.
So this is a Contract? Why did she feel her own strand was being isolated?
The pale blue runes on the array grew even more dazzling, mana pouring into Lin Xing’s forehead like a river joining the sea.
Beads of sweat broke out on Lin Xing’s brow, and his eyebrows knit tightly.
He could feel it: the mana in his body had reached a critical point, but the final bottleneck refused to break, as if the space was already full—no matter how he pushed, the mana could only swirl uselessly at the threshold.
Lumiya saw the sweat beading at Lin Xing’s temple and the deep furrow of his brows, her little face (formed by her divine sense) taking on a look of confusion.
By all rights, with Lin Xing’s mana reserves, breaking through this bottleneck shouldn’t be so difficult.
She sent her sense probing into Lin Xing’s body, tracing the flow of mana, and instantly understood the problem!
It was her fault!
Back then, to avoid overwhelming Lin Xing,
She had deliberately set it so her power would grow only in sync with Lin Xing’s limit.
But she hadn’t expected that, even when he’d barely opened the forehead aperture, her power was already taking up that space.
No wonder he was stuck.
Lumiya’s divine sense scratched her head. That tiny bit of power was insignificant to her, which was why she hadn’t noticed it right away.
The golden glow shifted, and she gently adjusted her aura to better match Lin Xing’s aperture.
In an instant, Lin Xing felt that sense of blockage vanish.
The mana that had been churning uselessly now surged forward like a flood bursting a dam.
With a soft “hum,” a brilliant white light shone from his forehead, no longer the dull gray as before. Even the other halos around him grew brighter.
One-Step, breakthrough!
Next would be Contracting a new beast. The feedback from the breakthrough left Lin Xing feeling ablaze,
He quickly stepped out of the Calm Heart Room, grabbed Lumiya (still eating sausages), and went to stand before the Contract Gate.
Excited, he patted Lumiya’s little face, then reached out and touched the Gate of Light! This time! He’d summon with bare hands again!
“Come on! Give me something good!”