All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 37

“I never thought I’d be part of your dreams,” the illumination Goddess laughed. “These dreams of yours don’t seem that easy to realize. Your big sister doesn’t demand that you make any great contributions to humanity. As long as you’re happy, that’s fine.”

“That doesn’t sound like something you’d say. If your followers heard this, they’d probably lose their faith. I thought you’d urge me not to waste my talent and to take on some responsibility,” Zhanyue said. He felt his body seemed to have undergone a qualitative change, about to be thoroughly ‘cleansed’.

“Living a second life gives one some different insights. I used to think I was good at teaching people. All nine of my disciples were successfully taught to be independent heroes, with protecting humanity as their mission, inheriting my ideals and responsibilities. Until that incident happened, I realized I didn’t understand them at all. I personally executed that treacherous disciple who harmed countless lives, but his dying words are still fresh in my memory. He was grateful for my adoption and teachings, but confused about the meaning of his existence, as if he were just a weapon born to fight against Nightmares,” the illumination Goddess said sadly. “Even though I never thought that way, from his perspective, it was all true.”

“I see. It’s not entirely your fault, sister,” Zhanyue withdrew his hands, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. He had directly soared from the third stage of the Spirit Contract Realm to the ninth stage, with breakthrough just around the corner!

“I didn’t expect a simple cultivation session to raise me by six minor realms,” Zhanyue said joyfully.

“You’re rejoicing too early. This wasn’t simple cultivation, but marrow cleansing and meridian forging. There won’t be such good opportunities in the future. Besides, the reason for your rapid progress is that your realm was originally low. Cultivation is naturally easier at the beginning and gets harder later,” the illumination Goddess admonished.

Zhanyue smiled wryly, “Sister, you really like to dampen people’s spirits. Can’t you just praise me as a genius?”

“Oh? At your age, I was at the peak of the Sun Profound Realm,” the illumination Goddess said playfully, rarely. In her interactions with Zhanyue, she felt an inexplicable sense of ease and happiness.

“Uh, you won’t make friends easily this way…” Zhanyue was speechless. He extended his left hand, and a blue flame appeared in his palm. However, this flame, despite its extremely high temperature, gave people a chilling feeling. Zhanyue felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

He then extended his right hand, and a golden flame appeared – the Solar Essence Fire. Soon, that uncomfortable feeling dissipated.

“Once you fully master the Sun God Stone, you can use these two types of fire at will by hiding the fire in your body,” the Goddess said.

“Huh? What does that mean? Does the Sun God Stone have more secrets?” Zhanyue asked puzzled.

“The fire of the Sun God Stone requires an extremely yin body to withstand it. The fire you released earlier wasn’t the true Solar Essence Fire, just a bit of its residual heat. This was my doing. Now that you have the Earth Vein Dark Fire to balance it, I can release the true power of the Sun God Stone for you to borrow,” the illumination Goddess said.

“Extremely yin body? So sister really is an extremely yin body,” Zhanyue smiled.

“That’s right, what about it?” the illumination Goddess asked. How else could she wield the Sun God Stone if not for her extremely yin body?

“I once read a biographical novel called ‘The Legend of the illumination Goddess’. It said that sister was an extremely yin body, cultivated a special divine-level technique that required maintaining virginity, so you never approached men in your lifetime,” Zhanyue said. It seemed those novels weren’t entirely fabricated.

The illumination Goddess said angrily, “What nonsense! I never cultivated any such special technique. I spent my life fighting desperately, how could I have time for romance? These later generations making up such stories about me, it’s really infuriating.”

With both the most yin and yang fires in his possession, plus the Earth Mother Golden Cauldron and the Ghost Soul Fruit, Zhanyue felt it would be a great shame if he didn’t become a great pill refining master.

“Sister, I have a feeling that the way to truly resurrect you and make you human again lies in this pill dao,” Zhanyue said.

“…Perhaps. Just do your best. Maintaining super long-distance spiritual communication has made me a bit tired,” the illumination Goddess said, then added, “You’ve been too concerned about my private matters today. I’ve just been chatting with you to distract you, that’s why I didn’t reprimand you. Don’t do it again next time!” She cut off the connection without waiting for Zhanyue’s response.

Zhanyue smiled helplessly. The illumination Goddess’s image had changed from initially sacred and inviolable to increasingly cute, friendly, and even a bit tsundere.

Opening the door, he found several Mountain Goblin Clansmen waiting painfully outside. One had even fallen asleep on the ground.

“Get up, the Second Great King has come out.”

Several people bowed respectfully.

Zhanyue then remembered that these people were probably sent by Hulu to learn about sugar making, canning, and beekeeping. He hoped they were really clever.

“This, this, and this, go prepare them all, then wait for me in the kitchen,” Zhanyue handed them several pieces of paper, asking them to prepare some tools. Although some tools weren’t as good as those on Earth, people in this world all had cultivation, and many things could be achieved through different methods.

Three days later…

“Little brother, this red cane sugar is really sweet; and that canned food… you say it can be preserved for at least half a year? Is that true?” The Mountain Goblin King was delighted with the results before him. He found that his sworn brother really had some skills. Although the cultivation method was still far from being fully translated, the first part had been translated. Hulu had already started preparing the conditions needed for cultivation, thinking this was the best opportunity to break through to the True King Realm. Hulu wanted to hug Zhanyue tightly and kiss him a few times to express his gratitude.

“I’m glad you’re satisfied. How about those herbs I asked you to prepare two days ago?” Zhanyue asked.

“Those are all basic herbs. This mountain doesn’t have any treasures, just abundant resources. I’ve already arranged for people to collect them, and they’ve gathered quite a lot these past few days. Little brother, are you really planning to learn pill refining?” The Mountain Goblin King wasn’t stupid; he could naturally guess Zhanyue’s intentions from these actions.

“Yes, the lowest-grade unranked pill, the entry-level pill for artifact refiners – Calming Spirit Pill. It has no other effect, just helps people sleep soundly and comfortably, improving sleep,” Zhanyue didn’t hide it. This kind of thing couldn’t be hidden anyway, as he needed others’ help to collect herbs.

Hearing this, the Mountain Goblin King laughed heartily, “Calming Spirit Pill? Good stuff. That little ancestor of mine keeps me up every night with his crying. Let’s give him some Calming Spirit Pills. There are no side effects, right?”

“None. This is a pill, not a sleeping pill. Even the lowest-grade pill is a spiritual item. The nourishment from spiritual energy only has benefits, no drawbacks,” Zhanyue thought to himself that Hulu, despite looking rough, was quite attentive. After all, that was his only son.

“Um… when you refine the pills later, can I watch? I’m just curious,” Hulu asked, feeling a bit embarrassed. He had heard that pill refiners were all very mysterious and wouldn’t easily show their techniques to others. He didn’t plan to learn pill refining, just purely curious.

“No problem,” Zhanyue didn’t refuse. Hulu exclaimed that his brother was generous.

Soon after, the two came to a stone room. This was a pill refining room specially provided by Hulu for Zhanyue, where anyone else was forbidden to enter.

“I’m a bit excited about refining pills for the first time. I don’t know if I’ll succeed. I’ve practiced those techniques and hand seals in my mind many times, but I’m not sure how it will go in actual operation.”