Chapter 57: Fate Contract: Lucky Hunter

Tamora smiled, the coldness on her face melting like ice and snow: "Mortal, the future you will be grateful for today's decision."

Fang Shi also smiled: "Lady, I think so too."

Both parties harbored their own thoughts, yet smiled so sincerely.

Jin Guang floated in Tamora's hand, a gray sheet of paper hovering before her.

The paper was as large as an A4 sheet, with mysterious runes drawn upon it.

Tamora said indifferently: "This is the drafted Fate Contract. If there are no problems, just sign it."

Fang Shi was about to say he was illiterate, could not read, and that the text on the contract was all Divine Script, which no mortal could possibly understand.

But Tamora simply threw the contract over to him.

"..."

"Fate Contract detected."

"Consume 1000 Survival Points to translate and notarize?"

Data streams from the Attribute Panel flashed through his eyes.

Fang Shi paused for a moment; a thought arose in his heart: it seemed the Deity was very familiar with the Attribute Panel.

However, 1000 points? That was far too much!

Fang Shi had killed his way up to now, yet possessed only 1500 Survival Points.

Just for a translation and notarization, it required 1000 points.

That would wipe out two-thirds immediately.

Fang Shi thought for a moment, then decided to agree.

Although Tamora was a Good Deity, alignment was something that could shift.

How could a mortal see through a Deity? What if the other party fell into corruption?

As the embodiment of Luck, Tamora naturally had many followers.

Regarding alignment bias and doctrines, it was basically based on her own personality.

Even if she were an Evil Deity, she would lack no followers, and thus would not be bound by them.

Unlike some Deities whose divine portfolios had obvious alignment biases, with explicit regulations in their doctrines.

Followers were also chosen from corresponding alignments, unable to shift alignments at will.

Otherwise, once the alignment shifted, followers would flee; under the backlash of faith, it would be absolutely unbearable.

Therefore, it was very necessary for Fang Shi to ensure the fairness of the Fate Contract.

"Lady, do you have Survival Points? Could you give me some?"

"I need Survival Points to sign the Fate Contract; otherwise, I, a mere mortal, cannot sign."

Tamora looked deeply at Fang Shi, saying nothing.

A flow of Jin Guang streamed toward Fang Shi.

"You have received 1000 Faith Points."

"Detected that you have no Divine Core; 1000 Faith Points converted into 1000 Survival Points."

"Is that enough?"

"Enough, enough." Fang Shi nodded.

It was not that he did not want more; the Lady of Luck did not even ask how much, simply giving 1000 points, proving she understood the Attribute Panel.

Fang Shi did not know how much 1000 Faith Points were worth.

But from Tamora's unhesitating attitude, he could infer that she was determined to sign this contract.

"You have consumed 1000 Survival Points."

"Fate Contract translation complete."

"Fate Contract notarized."

"After detecting no errors, imprint your consciousness onto the Fate Contract to complete the signing."

Fang Shi scanned the Fate Contract again; the text on it had not changed, yet he could understand it, as if using Comprehend Languages.

But it was more miraculous than Comprehend Languages; Fang Shi could not only understand the basic meaning of the Divine Script, but also the origins, allusions, slang, and even the rules behind the Divine Script.

This completely avoided contract unfairness caused by ambiguity.

This gave Fang Shi an illusion, as if he could unleash astonishing power through the Divine Script.

But regrettably, once he shifted his mind away from the Fate Contract.

There was no memory of the Divine Script left, only the understanding of the converted text.

This cognition of comprehending Divine Script vanished directly, like a flower in a mirror or a moon in water.

Fang Shi could not help but sigh that the money was spent so worthily.

With such a convenient translation function, he would even dare to sign contracts with Evil Deities and Devils.

As long as he was careful and cautious, he would not be scammed at all.

After an hour of careful study.

Fang Shi considered countless possibilities, ensuring there were no problems with the clauses.

Only then did he use his consciousness to sign his true name upon it.

The process included carefully examining the decorative background of the Fate Contract to guard against additional clauses.

He also strictly limited the execution time of the contract to avoid the Lady of Luck paying only a hundred years later.

In short, he left no loopholes, spending all the brain cells he had after rebirth.

"Lady, it is done."

Fang Shi tossed the Fate Contract back to Tamora.

Tai Mo took the contract, waved a hand, and the sound of rushing water, "Hua la la," echoed from the high heavens.

Fang Shi looked up to see a colossal river appearing in the sky, blocking out the sun and moon.

Moreover, within his consciousness, the river was even more magnificent.

It seemed like a multiverse, boundless and immeasurably vast.

Every drop of water was the life of a sentient being.

Every splash of foam was the trajectory of all things.

This was the manifestation of fate—the River of Fate.

Far more majestic than the river manifested by Tai Mo La.

It carried all living beings, flowing downstream along its channel, unstoppable and unchangeable.

As if everything was inevitable, everything was destiny.

"Whoosh!"

The Fate Contract turned into a beam of light, thrown by Tai Mo La into the River of Fate.

In an instant, Fang Shi gained a sudden realization: fate had accepted this contract.

And it had inscribed the contract into the trajectories of all living beings.

It must be executed then, even if you are unwilling subjectively.

Fate would enact for you what is called a serendipitous opportunity, what is called destiny.

Even if Tai Mo La fell, as long as a request was made before death, the additional clauses would not be cancelled.

Instead, the executor would become the River of Fate.

It would weave a new destiny, punishing Fang Shi under a series of conditions.

Or rather, the River of Fate had known the future long ago.

The series of actions by Tai Mo La and Fang Shi were all within fate.

Now it was merely going through the motions, enacting the events of the future in the world.

This was a fate, a destined destiny.

Unless one transcends fate, all living beings are included within it.

But who can transcend fate? Even the gods float and sink within it.

Fang Shi fell silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Lady, you should be able to fulfill your contract now."

Ever since signing the Fate Contract, Tai Mo La's face had always worn an enigmatic smile.

"Mortal, this is the reward I bestow upon you."

She took out a chaotic, colorless orb of light and tossed it to Fang Shi.

"This is the primal force of the Great Beginning. Absorb this cluster of primal force, and you will gain primal force resistance."

"As for the second reward, which specialty do you wish to improve?"

Fang Shi answered without hesitation, "I choose Lightning Reflexes II."

Why choose Lightning Reflexes II? Because if Lightning Reflexes II improved again, it would become the Epic specialty Lightning Reflexes III.

Reaction speed would change from +3 to +7, equivalent to a reaction speed boosted by 14 points of Agility.

This was a massive qualitative transformation.

If Fang Shi were to train it himself, he had no confidence in raising Lightning Reflexes to level 3.

Even Legendary experts only raised their primary specialties to the Epic tier; most remained below the Epic tier.

Fang Shi wasn't even Tier 1; training a specialty to the Epic tier was simply a fool's dream.

Tai Mo La did not care. Since the Fate Contract was set, there would be no going back.

Violating the Fate Contract would also require paying a price.

That price was the collapse of the Divine Throne and eternal sleep in the Star Realm.

As long as Tai Mo La's brain was functioning, she knew how to choose.

Moreover, even if Tai Mo La did not pay, during the upcoming adventures...

Fang Shi would, by serendipitous opportunity, obtain these rewards.

Of course, Tai Mo La knew which specialties Fang Shi possessed.

Regarding Fang Shi's request to improve Lightning Reflexes, she felt no surprise.

After all, Lightning Reflexes already existed, costing far less divine power than generating an Epic specialty from nothing.

"【Lightning Reflexes III】: Your reaction speed has far surpassed that of humans. (Reaction Speed +7)"

As Tai Mo La's divine power took effect, Fang Shi felt his body begin to change.

The nerve fibers within his body began to thicken, while simultaneously branching out into countless finer subdivisions, integrating into even more microscopic areas of the tissue.

Even some nerve fibers began to fuse with various cells, presenting a state of unity where you were in me and I was in you.

The result was that the myelin sheath nodes on the nerve fibers became more streamlined, and the efficiency of Schwann cells and Nodes of Ranvier became higher.

A thought turned, fast as lightning.

"Is this the world as seen by a Speedster?" Fang Shi thought.

Now, within his perception, everything around him was so slow.

A breeze from an unknown source, dust in the air, the movement of Tai Mo La lightly brushing her hair.

Everything was like a movie slowed down ten times.

But the changes were not limited to this; Fang Shi was horrified to discover that his perception range had sharply decreased.

The most obvious was vision; he actually discovered he had become nearsighted.

Distant scenes began to blur, as if covered by a thin veil.

The other four senses were hard to compare inside the labyrinth, but Fang Shi could be certain that their range and precision had also dropped.

"What's going on? An epic feat actually compressed my perception — that shouldn't be right?"

Just as Fang Shi was puzzling over it, Tamora in the slow world suddenly smiled faintly.

Strangely, though, the speed of that smile was exactly the same as in the normal world.

"Mortal, have you felt the world as it appears in the eyes of the strong?"

"As one evolves, the world in a transcendent's eyes grows faster and faster."

"When one ascends to the throne of the gods, an instant is eternity."

Tamora's speaking speed was ordinary, but in the normal world it was lightning fast.

An ordinary person could not make out a single word.

Fang Shi understood in an instant — it wasn't that his perception had dropped.

Rather, as his reaction speed rose, he was perceiving far too much.

His brain couldn't process it all, so it passively blurred everything.

It hadn't been obvious before because he hadn't yet reached the brain's processing limit.

Now, the epic-tier Lightning Reflexes had directly boosted his reaction speed by the equivalent of 8 points of Dexterity, and his brain simply crashed.

He had assumed that, apart from mages, other classes didn't need to focus on Intelligence.

It seemed it wasn't that they didn't need to — it was just that they hadn't hit the limit yet.

Others had the boost from advancing their class, so Intelligence and Dexterity wouldn't be pulled too far apart.

He had gained an epic-tier feat ahead of time while still at Tier 0, so naturally this awkward phenomenon occurred.

Fang Shi adjusted for a moment, and his perception finally returned to normal-world levels.

Under such circumstances, the brain would consciously auto-filter objects moving at extreme speed.

At the same time, it wouldn't affect combat or daily life in normal states.

"Thank you for the guidance, my lady."

Tamora smiled and said: "Mortal, this is part of the path of transcendence — even without my guidance, you would have understood it soon enough."

"Then, farewell. I believe that one day in the future, you won't disappoint me."

As the golden light on Jiang Xian's body faded, Tamora departed the Tower of Trials for good.

……

"Ah!"

A shrill, piercing woman's scream rang out — Jiang Xian, having regained control of her body, let out a wail.

She kept groping up and down over her own body.

Without even caring that Fang Shi was right in front of her, she directly pulled open her pants to look.

One look, and another scream rang out.

How could a god's reshaping of reality be anything simple?

Jiang Xian had truly changed from a green youth into a beautiful young woman.

She even touched disbelievingly with her hand — and the result was, naturally, nothing there.

"Cut the noise," Fang Shi said flatly. "It's just a sex change, what's so strange about it? When the time comes, you can use a permanent shapeshift spell to change back."

Under Fang Shi's calm gaze, Jiang Xian calmed down as well.

For some reason, Tamora had not blocked Jiang Xian's consciousness.

She was perfectly clear about everything that had happened before, and also understood that the person opposite her was a powerhouse capable of bargaining with a god.

"Your class change should be Ranger, right? Looks like the god you chose is the Lady of Luck."

"Take a good look at your attribute panel."

Jiang Xian was now utterly dejected and sorrowful, and numbly obeyed Fang Shi's instruction.

The moment she looked, she got a fright.

Dexterity and Strength had each risen by 2 points; Constitution, Perception, and Intelligence had each risen by 1 point.

Most importantly, Charisma had gone from 12 points up to 16 points.

A total of 11 whole points of attribute increase.

And on top of that, the class listed had changed from Level 1 Ranger to Level 1 Lucky Hunter.

At the same time, the new class also came with a new feat.

"【Lucky Shot】: When you attack with ranged weapons such as bows and crossbows, your attack modifier is +1."

The effect of this feat was very simple — it automatically corrected your aim when shooting.

With this feat, even a laid-back hunter could hit the target.

Sometimes a casual shot might even be more accurate than one fired with full concentration.

Simply put, it was a god-tier feat for archers.

Let alone the fact that this was only at Level 1 Lucky Hunter.

Jiang Xian wasn't stupid — she quickly realized this point.

With this feat, even if she couldn't clearly see the Fire-Winged Bird's trajectory, she might still be able to land a one-shot headshot.

But the excitement didn't last long before she sank back into dejection.

This had been exchanged for her own little brother — the price was just too steep.

Learning of Jiang Xian's attribute changes, Fang Shi pondered and said: "Looks like the Lady of Luck wants to develop you into a Divine Favored."

"Young man — oh, no, young lady — work hard. I have high hopes for your future."

"After we clear the Endless Labyrinth later, don't rush off — wait for me a moment, I'll take you all to the human gathering point."

Jiang Xian's eyes brightened, then dimmed again as he murmured, "What's the use of going out? My little brother won't be able to come back."

Fang Shi was speechless: "Didn't I tell you that Permanent Polymorph can turn him back later? Didn't you hear me?"

Hearing this, Jiang Xian perked up slightly: "What is Permanent Polymorph?"

"An eighth-level spell, castable by a level 15 wizard," Fang Shi said flatly.

Of course, he did not tell Jiang Xian that although the eighth-level Polymorph was permanent, it could be broken by an Antimagic Field and Dispel Magic.

Nevertheless, Jiang Xian, having heard the good news, finally wore a happy smile.

Combined with her current looks, she appeared beautiful and cute.

"Thank you. You are truly a good person."

"..."

PS: Thanks to Shudazi00100 for the two monthly tickets.