Chapter 40: New Member: Tu Ba Ge

Reckdon wasn't sure whether his remark "I still need to study it" had frightened this rabbit, but it refused to sign the contract no matter what.

"Follow me and eat and drink well, or follow her and get eaten and drunk well — you pick one!" Reckdon pointed at himself and at Xiya, making the rabbit choose.

This fat rabbit lay flat on the ground and played dead; no matter how Xiya kicked it, it didn't budge an inch.

"Looks like it's really dead. Let's roast and eat it, otherwise it won't be fresh if we leave it too long," Reckdon said, his voice full of regret.

Xiya shot Reckdon a glare, then chimed in: "This rabbit is too fat. We can grill half of it and use the other half for meat pies."

"I'm not dead, I'm not dead!" the rabbit hurriedly opened its eyes and shouted.

Reckdon grabbed the rabbit by its ears and lifted it up, discovering that this rabbit was truly fat — it had to weigh at least twenty or thirty jin.

"What's on you is the characteristics of the Cultivator pathway. I have the corresponding potion. As long as you stick with me, I'll give it to you, and then you can beat that parrot however you want!" Reckdon tempted.

"Really? You're not lying to me?" This rabbit's already large eyes grew even wider.

"You and that parrot have quite a deep grudge!" Reckdon was speechless; talking for ages wasn't as effective as a single line about being able to beat the parrot.

"Of course it's true. We can add this condition into the contract," Reckdon nodded and said.

"Fine!" The rabbit agreed very readily.

Reckdon turned to look at Xiya: "I've got it sorted, Sister Xiya."

"Wait a moment, I just need to add this clause in," Xiya took out the parchment and quill pen she carried with her and began writing out the contract clauses one by one in ancient Hermes.

Soon, a contract parchment filled with ancient Hermes was complete. Xiya handed the parchment and quill pen together to Reckdon.

"You can sign your names on it now. I'll simulate a notary's ability to notarize for you," Xiya said, casually brushing the red hair that had fallen over her face back behind her head.

Reckdon nodded and took the parchment, setting the rabbit he'd been holding by the ear on the ground, and asked: "Do you have a name?"

"A name? Lord Rabbit!" the rabbit said, craning its neck upward.

"Slap!" Reckdon brought a palm down: "Pick another one."

"Grandpa Rabbit!" the rabbit said, clutching its head with both paws.

"Let me name you instead, you illiterate rabbit!" Reckdon said, exasperated.

Looking at the rabbit before him clutching its head with a thoroughly wronged expression, Reckdon suddenly had a mischievous idea.

"I'll call you Tu Ba Ge! Later I'll introduce you to some big shots, and they'll be absolutely shocked when they hear your name." Reckdon was already imagining the scene of tossing this drama-queen rabbit in front of Roselle and Klein.

"Are you sure your naming skills are any better than this rabbit's?" Xiya looked at Reckdon with a face full of question marks.

"Is this name not good?" Reckdon placed his fist in front of the rabbit.

The rabbit, which had been shaking its head, was forced to nod: "Mhm mhm, this name is great. From today on I'll be called Tu Ba Ge!"

Reckdon nodded; this rabbit knew what was good for it. He then picked up the quill pen and wrote his name "Reckdon Soth" on the parchment.

"Here — you can write, right?" Reckdon held the quill pen and parchment in front of Tu Ba Ge.

"I'm a rabbit!" Tu Ba Ge's red eyes seemed to glisten with tears.

"You can press a blood fingerprint," Xiya reminded.

Tu Ba Ge looked in shock at Reckdon reaching his demonic claws toward it and tried to flee. But it was too late — Reckdon had already grabbed it in his hand.

"Help! Someone's killing a rabbit!" Tu Ba Ge felt that the guy in front of him just wanted to eat roast rabbit, and all that talk earlier was to lower his guard.

Ignoring Tu Ba Ge's screaming, Reckdon took out a dagger, sliced directly across its paw, then pressed its paw onto the parchment.

Xiya's eyes radiated blue-white light, which then shifted to a bright golden yellow.

"Notarization — valid!"

The parchment contract suddenly spontaneously ignited, and the burning ashes transformed into two patterns composed of an open book and the Eye of Omniscience, which imprinted themselves into Reckdon's and Tu Ba Ge's eyes respectively.

Reckdon clearly felt that his body had gained something on a mystical level, and that there was now a thread of mystical connection between himself and Tu Ba Ge.

Through the Eye of Secret Peeking, Reckdon could see a faintly visible golden thread wrapped around both his and Tu Ba Ge's spirit bodies. What this thread represented was the mystical connection between himself and Tu Ba Ge established by the contract just now.

Tu Ba Ge was still clutching its paw and howling, while sticking out its tongue to lick away the blood seeping from the paw.

Reckdon had originally intended to apply some healing potion to Tu Ba Ge's paw, but when he pried its paw open, he found that the wound had already stopped bleeding and was beginning to heal.

"Your saliva has wound-healing abilities?" Reckdon said in surprise.

"I don't know! Nobody's ever cut me open before," Tu Ba Ge shook its rabbit head.

"Shall we test what the limit of its healing ability is?" Xiya had also seen this and said with considerable interest.

"No, no, a rabbit will die!" Tu Ba Ge hugged Reckdon's calf, shrinking itself behind him, trying to block Xiya's line of sight.

"This rabbit's courage is far too small. Are you planning to feed it a potion?" Xiya asked curiously.

"Yeah, it's a mascot! But I need to get the potion formula first," Reckdon nodded and said.

"If it's a Sequence 9 Cultivator, I know the formula. But what are you going to use to buy it?" Xiya tossed her hair and struck a seductive pose as she spoke.

"Money?" Reckdon asked tentatively.

"I'm not short of money. You'll have to please me!" Xiya spoke with a captivating, alluring tone.

"Then — would knowledge work? Some high-end, but rather useless knowledge." The oppressive aura from Xiya made Reckdon silently retreat a step before he dared to speak.

"Knowledge? What high-end knowledge could you possibly know that I don't?" Xiya's curiosity was piqued by Reckdon.

"If you already know it, we can just make a different deal!" Reckdon said nonchalantly. He didn't have much of anything else, but useless high-end knowledge was something he knew plenty of.

"Fine, what is the knowledge?" Xiya asked, brimming with curiosity.

"We're going to trade right here?" Reckdon glanced around.

There weren't many people around, but there weren't none either. Though it wouldn't matter much to him if that knowledge got out, if he casually spread it around, he'd probably land on every orthodox church's blacklist immediately.

"Oho! It needs to be kept secret!" Xiya teased.

Reckdon felt a fluctuation of spirituality, and then saw many faintly visible mystical symbols appear around himself and Xiya. These symbols appeared only briefly before turning transparent and fading into the void.

"Alright, you can speak now. This barrier can block the vast majority of prying. Unless it's a Saint of corresponding ability or a Sealed Artifact, it would be very difficult to spy on this place without triggering my perception," Xiya said calmly.

"Impressive. Does a Reader become this versatile after reaching Sequence 6!" Reckdon said with some envy.

"Of course not. A Scholar of Correspondence is versatile because of broad learning — able to recognize, see clearly, remember, and imitate abilities it has witnessed. The prerequisite for all of this is having sufficient knowledge and experience," Xiya briefly explained the Scholar of Correspondence's abilities.

Xiya looked up and down at Rekton and asked, "What is that high‑end but useless knowledge of yours?"

"You definitely know the role‑playing method, so do you know the Extraordinary Trait Aggregation and Conservation Laws?" Rekton asked.

"You even know the role‑playing method; no wonder your digestion progress is so fast—tsk tsk! Big boy, you have many secrets!" Xiya's gaze at Rekton shifted slightly, then quickly returned to normal.

"Who doesn't have a few secrets! Hey, Sister Xiya, do you need to know the Extraordinary Trait Aggregation Law or the Conservation Law?" Rekton said with a flattering smile.

"I have some guesses about the Aggregation Law; as for the Conservation Law, of course, and if you're willing to say more about the Aggregation Law, that's fine too," Xiya said thoughtfully.

Rekton nodded, unsurprised by the situation; after all, Xiya is already Sequence Six and follows the Reader Path, so she must have some conjecture and understanding of this knowledge.

After organizing his words a bit, he said, "The Extraordinary Trait Conservation Law means that similar paths tend to conserve extraordinary traits. When high sequences increase, low sequences decrease, and vice versa."

"I see, no wonder there are few extraordinary beings above demigod level in the various churches," Xiya said, nodding pensively.

"After all, the churches are large and powerful, and many places need extraordinary beings to guard them," Rekton agreed with a nod.

There was another reason Rekton didn't voice, namely that the paths he controls all have Sequence 0, and each Sequence 0 carries an enormously massive set of traits. This can be seen from the pile of extraordinary traits left to the Abraham family after Mr. Men fell.

"The Extraordinary Trait Aggregation Law states that high‑sequence items on the same path intermittently and unconsciously attract mid‑ and low‑sequence extraordinary beings nearby, with a tendency to cluster together; high sequences can sense this attraction. Similar paths also exhibit the Aggregation Law."

Since he had already explained the Conservation Law, Rekton simply told Xiya the Aggregation Law as well, as she already had some conjecture about it.

"I see, no wonder I encountered ice‑mountain generals most frequently at sea; my conjecture was indeed correct," Xiya nodded.

"I guess there's a third law, right?" Xiya quickly regained her composure and said with firm certainty.

"Mm." Rekton nodded.

"Tell them together, otherwise I'll feel very uneasy; I'll tell you the Sequence Eight doctor's and the Sequence Seven Harvest Priest's demon‑potion formula together." Xiya proposed a new deal.

Rekton gladly accepted, since this knowledge was essentially free for him.

"The Extraordinary Trait Indestructibility Law: extraordinary traits do not perish or diminish; they simply transfer from one carrier to another," Rekton stated the third law.

"That's why extraordinary beings sometimes form seals or traits!" Xiya murmured softly.

"Do you want me to dictate the demon‑potion formula directly or write it for you?" Xiya asked.

"Just dictate it; it doesn't test our memory," Rekton said.

(End of chapter)