Chapter 340: Contract, Must Be Equal

This is not an equal contract!

This is a one‑sided "mark" or "domination" by a higher‑ranked being!

"Ugh!"

Lin Yifan clutched his head and roared in pain, blood threads oozing from all seven orifices, his soul seeming about to be burst and frozen by the massive information flow and the icy will!

He never expected that this odd creature would even try to scheme against him at this critical moment.

But making him submit to a beast is absolutely impossible!

Even if it is a divine beast, he cannot accept it.

If possible, he would only want to sign a master‑servant contract, because only that kind of contract prevents pets from betraying.

But an equal contract is different; the two sides are more like collaborators—if the cooperation is pleasant, it continues, if not, they simply go their separate ways.

At this moment, however, he has no room for choice, so he can only opt to sign an equal contract.

He doesn't really mind, after all, there is no contract of any kind between him and Mao Mao!

Nevertheless, an equal contract is his bottom line!

"I said it's an equal contract, so it must be an equal contract!" an unyielding roar rose in his heart, the Dawnbreak Sword's seal on his right arm burst into protective white light, forcibly shielding a sliver of his spiritual platform's clarity.

He summoned all his mental energy, mixing it with the faint primordial force he had just recovered in the cavern, and… the raging, unwilling dark will of the Bloodsucking Vine on his wrist.

The three forces twisted together deep in his soul, bearing his fierce self‑will, and slammed hard into the surging icy star‑sea will!

Not a clash, but… a fusion!

It is a proclamation! It is a demarcation!

"I accept your power! You must also accept my existence! We protect each other, we are equal, that is fairness!"—the cry that rose from his soul,

Rumble!

Lin Yifan's sea of perception seemed to undergo a cosmic big bang.

The icy star‑sea, the unyielding will, the raging darkness, and a sliver of protective white light collided and tore wildly, and under some arcane rule they were forcibly twisted and merged!

His soul's agony peaked, as if it were about to be torn into fragments.

Yet at the brink of destruction, a clear, complex seal woven from countless specks of starlight and dark‑gold patterns forcibly formed between his soul core and the little beast's soul core, imprinting itself simultaneously!

The moment the seal formed, the raging information flow and the icy will receded like a tide.

Lin Yifan, like a fish out of water, collapsed on the ground gasping, his body drenched in cold sweat and blood, stars flashing before his eyes, his soul so weak it seemed it would dissipate in the next instant.

And the dim little beast, as if its strength had been drained, staggered once and lay prone on the ground.

The starlight patterns flowing over its body dimmed greatly, and its twin star‑swirl eyes turned slowly toward Lin Yifan, no longer filled with murderous intent or emptiness,

but now bearing a… extremely complex, indecipherable sense of connection.

There was a hint of confusion!

and also a hint of closeness!

and the displeasure of being forcibly "Binding"!

Contract... formed?

Lin Yifan was unsure whether this was a traditional equal contract, but this tight, symbiotic soul link with enforced Binding truly existed.

He struggled, using his last ounce of strength, to send a weak yet clear thought to the dim little beast:

"Xiao You... from now on, you shall be called Xiao You..."

That was his final consciousness before he passed out.

The impact of the soul‑link seal forming was like tearing Lin Yifan's consciousness apart and then crudely stitching it back together.

He fell into an abyss where boundless darkness intertwined with chaotic star‑sea fragments, the sensation of pain becoming distant and vague.

After an unknown span, a warm, soothing breath, like a vine reaching out in the darkness, gently coiled around his disintegrating consciousness.

"Brother Yifan... wake up..."

It was Ling Ling's voice, trembling with sobs, yet now carrying a strange, cavern‑resonant rhythm.

Lin Yifan's heavy eyelids trembled as he painstakingly lifted a sliver of them.

What entered his view was Ling Ling's enlarged, worry‑filled fox face.

But the Ling Ling of this moment had changed so drastically he could barely recognize her!

Her dark‑red fur seemed refined by moonlight, flowing with a warm, restrained silvery‑white halo; it was no longer merely dark red, but a deep, star‑sand‑infused dark‑silver‑red.

Most astonishing was the ancient rune imprint at the center of her forehead, an extremely intricate pattern drawn with fine silver threads.

The imprint exuded a gentle yet undeniable aura of authority, perfectly echoing the moonlight flowing on the cavern walls and the aura of the massive skeleton at the center!

"Ling Ling... you..." Lin Yifan's voice was hoarse to the point of being inaudible, yet the shock in his eyes was crystal clear.

"It's the ancestor's skeleton... it responded to me." Ling Ling's voice carried a strange calm and sense of power, no longer juvenile but like the certainty of a revived inheritance.

"The lingering will of the ancestor sensed my anger and protective heart, and also... the threat of that thing." She cast a cautious glance toward the not‑far distance.

Lin Yifan followed her gaze.

The dim little beast—Xiao You—was now quietly perched on a massive spirit crystal not far from him.

The starlight patterns on its body had fully withdrawn, its deep fur like the purest night veil. Its rotating silver star‑swirl eyes were closed, as if sleeping, yet also as if digesting something.

The aura around it no longer brimmed with aggressive annihilation, but instead held a… strange steadiness?

But Lin Yifan could clearly feel, deep in his soul, that cold, resilient link—it was there, like a dormant volcanic crater.

"It... hasn't attacked?" Lin Yifan asked with lingering dread, struggling to sit up, but the movement aggravated his injuries, causing him to gasp a cold breath in pain.

"No." Ling Ling quickly pressed her delicate paw against him; the rune imprint on her forehead glowed faintly, and a warm, gentle energy flowed from her paw into Lin Yifan, swiftly soothing his torn meridians and organs.

"While you were unconscious, it stayed there. I can sense that between you... there's a very strange connection. It seems... to have temporarily accepted this place?"

Ling Ling's tone was full of uncertainty.

The ancestor's inheritance granted her the "Moon‑Shadow Guard" power and some fragmented knowledge, but there is no record in the inheritance about this dim, bone‑devouring horror before them.

It is like a speck of ink, full of the unknown, that should never have appeared on this ancient scroll.

At that moment.

Boom!

A roar, far more ferocious and angrier than the previous ancient beast's howl, a terrifying bellow that seemed to tear the silent forest apart, like countless thunders exploding outside the cavern.

The entire Spirit Crystal cavern shook violently, the spirit crystals embedded in the walls humming, their light flickering.

Countless tiny spirit crystal shards fell like rain, and the massive Moon‑shadow Fox skeleton at the center had its flowing moonlight suddenly boil and churn, emitting an unprecedented, sharply warning glow.

Lin Yifan and Ling Ling's faces turned deathly pale in an instant,

It's coming!

The terrifying entity that had been awakened by the explosion, sleeping deep within the silent forest, has been roused again!

And its target is crystal clear—it is heading straight for their direction.

The raging anger and desire for destruction in that roar seemed ready to crush their souls through the massive mountain.

"It... it found us?!" Ling Ling's voice trembled uncontrollably; the newly‑gained guardian power seemed so insignificant before this level of Overwhelming Pressure.

"No! It's not targeting us!" Lin Yifan's pupils contracted sharply, his soul link quivered violently, transmitting Xiao You's instantly awakened, cold and alert thought.

He suddenly looked at the sleeping Xiao You.

Xiao You's tightly shut star‑shaped eyes snapped open, and a cold silver light pierced the cavern's gloom as if solid.

It jerked its head upward, gazing toward the cavern ceiling; beneath its dark fur, the dormant star‑river patterns surged wildly and glowed again.

A breath mixed with vigilance, gravity, and… a hint of instinctive anger from being locked onto by a powerful being erupted from its tiny body.

It's it!

The terrifying entity's target is the newly‑born Xiao You, whose aura has not yet fully settled.

Lin Yifan instantly understood: the void‑star sea aura that burst when Xiao You was born, together with the high‑grade dark energy wave that scattered when it collided with the Bloodsucking Vine, acted like the brightest lighthouse in the night, fully drawing the terrifying entity's attention.

For a being of that rank, a "foreign object" like Xiao You, imbued with pure primordial power, is an ideal prey—and even… a supplement,

"Rooaaar!!!"

The roar outside the cavern sounded again, this time so close it seemed to be at the foot of the mountain.

Accompanying the roar, the ground trembled even more violently, as if a prehistoric titan were frantically battering the mountain with its body,

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each impact made the cavern sway on the brink of collapse, and the massive spirit crystal pillars began to crack.

"Crack!"

A huge spirit crystal at the ceiling could not bear the vibration and crashed down with a boom, landing less than a meter from Lin Yifan, scattering shards.

The shadow of death had never been so close.

"No! This can't stop it!"

Lin Yifan struggled to rise, the excruciating pain blackening his vision.

He looked at Ling Ling: "Is there any other exit from this cavern? Or... anything that can temporarily shield our aura? Does the ancestor's inheritance mention it?"

The rune sigil on Ling Ling's forehead flickered wildly as she rapidly searched the fragmented inheritance memories she had just gained, her face paling:

"No... there is no other exit! The ancestor attained ascension here; the cavern is the final resting place... shielding... right! That core moon crystal!"

She pointed sharply at the rhombus‑shaped crystal emitting a soft moon‑white halo, pressed against the massive skeleton's jaw, and said quickly:

"In the inheritance memory, that is the core crystal of the ancestor's power; it can trigger a brief 'Moonshadow Barrier' that blocks internal and external aura, even distorting spatial perception."

"... but it requires massive energy to drive, and can only last a very short time."

Lin Yifan looked at the moon‑white crystal; it flickered in sync with the skeleton's violently shifting moonlight.

He then glanced at the apocalyptic impacts and roars outside the cavern.

Time! They need time!

To let Xiao You fully settle its aura, or... find a way to escape!

"Activate it! Ling Ling! Use your inheritance power to activate it!" Lin Yifan roared.

"I... I'll try!" Determination flashed in Ling Ling's eyes; she leapt onto the massive skeleton, her tiny body unleashing all its power, the rune sigil on her forehead blazing.

She extended her front paw, reverent and pleading, and pressed it onto the moon‑white rhombus crystal.

Buzz!

The cavern's moonlight seemed summoned, instantly surging toward the crystal like countless rivers merging into the sea.

The crystal erupted with unprecedented brilliant moon‑white radiance, as if a true full moon rose within the cavern.

A soft yet incredibly resilient moon‑white light veil, bearing an ancient fox‑shadow illusion, spread instantly from the crystal, enveloping the entire interior of the cavern.

The moment the veil formed, the world‑shattering roars and impacts outside the cavern seemed separated into another realm, becoming extremely distant and muffled.

The feeling of being locked onto by the terrifying entity vanished instantly.

"It worked!" Ling Ling collapsed on the ground, panting lightly, the veil's maintenance draining her heavily.

However, before Lin Yifan could catch his breath, a sudden cold, restless thought from Xiao You surged through the soul link.

He turned his head and saw that Xiao You did not relax despite the barrier; its star‑shaped eyes stared fixedly at the veil, the star‑river patterns beneath its dark fur flashing wildly, conveying an extreme warning of unease.

"What's wrong?" Lin Yifan felt a weight in his heart.

The answer revealed itself the next second!

Boom—!!

A deafening, indescribable boom, as if space itself were ripped, erupted outside the moon‑white veil toward the cavern entrance.

Immediately after, Lin Yifan and Ling Ling watched in terror as the resilient Moonshadow Barrier, powered by the core force of a half‑step Divine Being, twisted and rippled violently like a lake struck by a massive stone.

The clear fox‑shadow illusion on the veil emitted a silent wail, dimming instantly.

An indescribable form, a massive "claw" sheathed in thick, twisted mass that seemed forged from lava and shadow, barreled through the vines and rock at the cavern mouth, slamming onto the Moonshadow Barrier.

The barrier let out a groan of being overloaded!

Countless fine cracks, centered on the point pressed by that terrifying giant claw, spread wildly across the moon‑white light veil like a spider's web,

That terrifying being actually locked onto space itself, ignoring the barrier's isolating distortion, and with the purest, most violent method forced an attack on the barrier's physical fulcrum—the cave entrance,

It intends to tear this thin layer of protection apart and yank out the "delicacy" inside,

"Puff!" The spirit sustaining the barrier, as if struck hard, spurts a small spray of pale silver blood.

The rune sigil on its forehead dims instantly, wobbling as if about to fall.

The cracks on the barrier spread even faster!