Chapter 87 - 85: The Scene Reappears

Starting from Tier Two, Spirit Nurturing Beads, much like the cultivation of techniques, are divided into three qualities.

These correspond to the Spirit Nurturing Master’s proficiency with the technique. The first is the Skilled Level Spirit Nurturing Bead, produced when a master is merely skilled with the technique. It has a twenty percent success rate for comprehension and appears as a bead filled with chaos.

Next is the Control Level Spirit Nurturing Bead, produced when a master has reached the Heart-Controlling Level with a technique. It has a thirty percent success rate for comprehension, and its appearance may show small, fragmented runes within the chaos.

Finally, there’s the Mastery Level Spirit Nurturing Bead, produced when a master has reached mastery of a technique. It has a forty percent success rate for comprehension and appears as a transparent glass-like bead with a single, clear rune inside.

As the quality increases, the personal bias within the Spirit Nurturing Bead decreases.

Of course, a Spirit Nurturing Bead encapsulates the Spirit Nurturing Master’s own comprehension.

Therefore, even a Mastery Level Spirit Nurturing Bead contains a fair amount of personal bias, as it is based on a technique someone learned step-by-step.

However, Zhang Deming’s Spirit Nurturing Beads should actually be considered to have surpassed the Mastery Level, as they contain no personal bias whatsoever—they are a standardized form of technique comprehension.

Thus, even someone completely unfamiliar with a technique has a forty to fifty percent chance of success when using one of Zhang Deming’s Spirit Nurturing Beads.

For Spirit Nurturing Beads of a Tier One Technique, due to certain reasons, there is no visible distinction in quality. Regardless of the level of comprehension used to create them, they all take on the appearance of a Mastery Level bead.

However, the actual success rate is not affected by this misleading appearance.

Furthermore, if one’s own aptitude is severely incompatible with the personal bias of the bead’s creator, it’s perfectly normal for the success rate to be low.

But what Zhang Deming encapsulated was a "plugin" comprehension, inserted after he had edited and instantly mastered the technique. It could be called the standard, official version.

It is free of any personal bias, a comprehension that points directly to the essence of the technique.

Such a Spirit Nurturing Ball already had an extremely high success rate, around forty to fifty percent. If he had even a little prior knowledge of the technique, his chance of failure wouldn’t have been high.

Qu Qizhong grew even more embarrassed. "Well, I’ve focused most of my energy on Oratory and spreading Rumors," he said. "As for the Agility Technique and Spiritual Shield, I’ve only briefly looked into them."

Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed slightly as he tossed out another Spirit Nurturing Ball. "Here," he said. "If you fail even with this one..."

Qu Qizhong’s face lit up. "Don’t worry," he said. "I may have never used a Spirit Nurturing Ball before, but I’ve certainly heard of them."

"This thing of yours was clearly made by a supreme master."

"The technique comprehension within is incredibly pure. Going by the quality standards of Tier Two Spirit Nurturing Beads, this is a High-Quality Spirit Nurturing Pearl."

"If I fail with two in a row, you won’t have to lift a finger—I’ll take my own life."

With that, he sat down again and activated the Spirit Nurturing Ball. Specks of light enveloped him.

A moment later, Zhang Deming’s expression flickered. A screen-like image abruptly appeared before him.

’So it’s just as I thought?’

Having seen the image for the second time, Zhang Deming confirmed his suspicions, and a smile instantly touched his lips.

Why had he been willing to throw away two Spirit Nurturing Balls?

A welcome gift for a new recruit?

That was just an excuse. What he truly wanted was for this image to appear. Without it, the next part of his plan couldn’t be set in motion.

If he couldn’t set the next part of his plan in motion, he would have to resort to his backup plan, and the prestige of the mysterious organization he’d fabricated would plummet dramatically.

It would go from seeming like a top-tier organization to a mere back-alley workshop.

As the image shattered, a flickering point of light appeared in Zhang Deming’s consciousness. He didn’t touch it immediately.

Just then, Qu Qizhong opened his eyes, his face alight with joy.

Just as he was about to speak, Zhang Deming raised a hand to stop him. He pulled a blank sheet of paper from his robes and said,

"Since you’ve agreed to join and have already received your benefits, go ahead and sign this Soul Blood Contract."

"A Soul Blood Contract? What’s that? I thought we would be making a Dao Heart Oath," Qu Qizhong asked, confused.

Zhang Deming handed over the blank paper. "The organization has better, more reliable methods," he said. "You’ll understand once you sign."

Qu Qizhong took the paper and examined it for a long time. Even with his keen perception, he couldn’t find anything unusual about it. It seemed to be nothing more than a blank sheet.

Zhang Deming watched him calmly. ’It would be a miracle if you found anything strange. It really is just a blank sheet of paper, you know.’

After a long pause, Qu Qizhong asked, "Since it’s a Blood Contract, where are the terms? And how do I sign it?"

"You’ll see the terms after you sign. As for how to sign it..."

At that moment, the vine slithering around Qu Qizhong’s neck suddenly grew longer, coiling up his arm until its tip pricked his finger.

"Ah! What are you doing?" Qu Qizhong yelped in pain, looking bewildered.

Zhang Deming said, "There. Just let a drop of blood fall on it."

Hearing this, Qu Qizhong hesitantly let a drop of blood from his fingertip fall onto the blank paper.

He then stared intently at the paper, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Ahem. Have you had your fill of staring? If so, give me the contract," Zhang Deming finally said.

Qu Qizhong looked up, his face a mask of confusion and silent questions.

’Shouldn’t there be some kind of special effect?’

Zhang Deming, his face impassive, took the blood-soaked paper without a change in expression.

He then held it to a nearby lamp and set it alight.

"Remember to be respectful when you meet the Alliance’s Elder. If you offend him, I can’t protect you," Zhang Deming said, watching the paper burn.

Qu Qizhong, who had been staring intently at the burning paper without detecting the slightest hint of runes or even a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi, was jolted by Zhang Deming’s words. He looked up, confused. "Huh? What was that?"

Zhang Deming ignored his confusion. Inside his consciousness, he reached out and grabbed the flickering point of light.

Immediately, that familiar sensation of being tumbled in a washing machine and churned like intestines washed over him again.

Perhaps because the distance was so short this time, Zhang Deming felt he was spat back out in a mere instant.

"Who are you?"

Qu Qizhong, who had suddenly been pulled into a state of introspection, stared warily at the blurry figure that had just appeared within his consciousness.

"Well now, a newcomer. It’s rare to see a new spot open up, so I thought I’d pop over and take a look. Let’s see who brought you in, shall we?"

Zhang Deming put on the air of a lofty master, waving his hand casually a few times within the gray, hazy space.

The surrounding gray mist churned, and from it, the blurry silhouette of a mask emerged.

"Oh, so it was that young fellow Zhang Wu who brought you in?"

’Newcomer?’

’New spot?’

’Zhang Wu?’

’In this Blue Sky Alliance, someone can actually perform Divine Travel from who-knows-how-far away and just casually enter my consciousness?’

This...!

’What kind of godly organization have I been pulled into?’

As the blurry figure’s words echoed, a tempestuous storm raged in Qu Qizhong’s heart, and for a long while, he could not find his calm.

"Um, Senior... what is this?" Qu Qizhong managed to say, suppressing his shock.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m in charge of Blood Contracts for the Yellow Department. You can just call me Elder Huang."

"I’ve brought you here to explain the rules of the Alliance—in other words, the terms of the Blood Contract."