Chapter 86: The Powerful Eternal Contract

When Lingyun and his party returned to the Starting Town, the setting sun had already draped the town in a beautiful coat.

Having fought in the wild for an entire afternoon, Lingyun and his party looked for a bar to have a meal. This bar was an establishment that combined a restaurant and a tavern. As the highest-end consumption venue in the Starting Town, the prices here were naturally not cheap, but conversely, the food here was also top-tier within the entire town.

Having hunted monsters in the wild for a day, Lingyun and his party were naturally not short on money, and they were also people who did not skimp on themselves. After ordering a table full of fine wine and food, Lingyun and the others ate heartily. At this moment, a conversation at the next table caught his attention; this was also one of the purposes for which Lingyun and the others had come to the tavern: to gather intelligence.

"Have you heard? Tomorrow, a group of outsiders will arrive in this town. I wonder what this town will become after they arrive!" a middle-aged man complained.

"Relax, relax. Even if outsiders arrive, won't we still go on living our lives just the same? What impact could they have on us? No need to pay them any mind," another person laughed. "However, we had best be careful during this time. I don't know why, but those beasts in the wild have been getting more and more ferocious. A while back, that guy Laobo was surrounded by a pack of wild wolves and nearly lost his life."

"I know that too. Don't worry, we won't easily leave the town unless we have to."

Listening to the words from the next table, Lingyun pondered in his heart: "According to what that man said, the 'outsiders' should refer to the players. As for the monsters becoming berserk, it should be due to the influence of the Underworld King's power from the end."

After finishing their meal, Lingyun and his party arrived at an inn. Although they knew that this world had special bonuses for hunting monsters at night, Lingyun and his party all gave up on this option. Especially for the girls like Luo Yexi, according to them, a lack of sleep is a girl's greatest enemy.

Lingyun and his party found the largest room in the inn to stay in; this room had a total of six beds, which was more than enough for them to stay in.

"Big Brother, am I very useless?" Alice asked listlessly while lying in Lingyun's arms.

Today's afternoon battle had completely discouraged her. Except for herself, everyone else could confront the wild monsters head-on, while she could only hide behind Lingyun and rely on the party to gain experience; this was clearly holding Lingyun back.

"Not at all." Lingyun smiled and stroked Alice's head. "In my impression, Alice is a very strong girl. How could such a small setback defeat you?"

"But, Alice wants to fight too. Alice doesn't want to hold everyone back." Alice reached out and summoned her weapon, a colorful diamond-shaped crystal. "Can Big Brother tell what use this crystal has?"

Lingyun looked at the crystal in Alice's hand and suddenly gave a start of surprise. In his perception, an inexplicable power was lingering around this crystal. After his analysis and comparison, he was surprised to discover that this power was actually elemental power!

Elemental power has another name among magicians—magic power. Moreover, although the elemental power lingering on the crystal was faint, the power contained within it was by no means low. In other words, would Alice be walking the path of a magician in this world? But Alice had not shown any signs of having strong magical talent before.

"That is because Big Brother and Alice signed an Eternal Contract," a soft, sweet voice suddenly sounded beside Lingyun. Ruoxi's figure suddenly appeared from the Void and threw herself into Lingyun's embrace.

Alice shifted her body to make room for her in half of Lingyun's embrace. Ruoxi landed in Lingyun's arms, rubbed against his chest, and found a more comfortable way to lie down.

"Ruoxi, you said Alice's situation is because of the Eternal Contract?" Lingyun asked with some curiosity.

"Yes, this is also something I just discovered. This effect was hidden far too deeply. If Alice hadn't suddenly displayed this power, I really wouldn't have noticed it. I have to say, the Eternal Contract you invented is truly too powerful," Ruoxi nodded.

"What exactly is this situation?" Lingyun asked.

"Those who have signed an Eternal Contract with you, Big Brother, will be influenced by your power in a subtle way, and they can receive your insight bonuses. Alice is one of them. Before, she was just an ordinary girl and didn't show anything special, but the Source Power you cultivated is the most miraculous power I have ever seen. This power influenced Alice's constitution invisibly. Although Alice is just an ordinary person, she seems to have her strengths in gathering elemental power, and your Source Power strengthened her in this direction. After arriving in this world, it seems that because she reached a Boundary, coupled with the induction of this crystal, the power hidden within Alice was stimulated, which is why this situation occurred," Ruoxi explained.

"Is that so? In other words, we have also been influenced by Master's power?" Luo Yexi asked.

"That goes without saying. Haven't you noticed that ever since you and Big Brother concluded the Eternal Contract, your speed in cultivating the Nine Suns Heavenly Art has become much faster? And you, Saeko, after concluding the Eternal Contract with Big Brother, didn't you quickly master the Shura Power within your body?"

"That point is indeed correct," Luo Yexi nodded. "But if that's the case, will there be any impact on Master?"

"Impact? There is some. As the price for receiving so many benefits from Big Brother, a portion of the power and insights you gain during cultivation, as well as some special talents, will all be fed back to Big Brother. In general, this is a mutually beneficial matter. And this mutual superposition has no upper limit; this is the most powerful part of the Eternal Contract."

"Alice, since you now have magical talent, then starting from tomorrow, I will begin teaching you how to use Magic," Lingyun said with a smile, stroking Alice's head.

"Yay!" Alice was full of excitement.

Looking at Alice's excited appearance, Luo Yexi also smiled slightly. Her appearance reminded her of herself back then. When Luo Yexi heard that Lingyun agreed to teach her martial arts, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep at night.

"Ruoxi, do you feel that after we arrived in this world, the speed at which this virtual world is evolving toward a Semi-plane has accelerated quite a bit?" After soothing the excited Alice, Lingyun said to Ruoxi with a serious face.

"Yes, there is indeed this trend. Judging from the results of your perception earlier, the power of the Underworld King of the end should be entrenched on the 100th floor of this world, entangled with those powers. However, the power of the Underworld King of the end is also seeping downward. The berserk beasts you heard about earlier are the ones that became like that after being influenced by the power of the Underworld King of the end. If I'm not mistaken, the strength of those affected monsters will likely increase significantly!"

"Is that so?" Lingyun's brows furrowed instantly. "Then that's a bit troublesome. Ruoxi, do you have a way to identify these mutated monsters? If those newbies who just entered the game encounter these monsters, it will only increase needless casualties."

"This? I'll try," Ruoxi nodded. "Big Brother, you can try to communicate with those powers that are entangled with the Underworld King of the end. If you can borrow their power, perhaps you can resolve this matter more easily!"

"I will try my best. These powers that can entangle with the power of the Underworld King of the end are probably not to be trifled with either. However, since our goal is the same as theirs, perhaps there really is a possibility of cooperation!" Lingyun pondered for a while and replied. "By the way, Ruoxi, estimate how much longer it will take for this world to fully transform into the prototype of a Semi-plane?"

"Based on the current constantly accelerating speed, it will probably be tomorrow evening," Ruoxi said somewhat uncertainly.

"Tomorrow evening?" Lingyun's eyes narrowed instantly. "Isn't that when the creator of this game world, Kayaba Akihiko, announces the truth of this game? I hope nothing goes wrong!"