He suddenly startled Zhang Jing, who asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Zhusheng quickly stood up, propping himself on the ground, and briefly said, “The library courtyard is just a natural water reservoir.”

His words were more confusing than helpful, and Zhang Jing raised an eyebrow, “Huh?”

With no time to explain further, Lin Zhusheng directly climbed out of the window. He always acted so hastily, and Zhang Jing followed behind, managing to say, “Next time, remember to use the front door!”

The one who jumped out just waved his hand from a distance; the sound of the rain was too loud to tell if he responded properly.

Running from where they lived to the library was like any other day, but Wuqi should have already cooled down. Lin Zhusheng pulled out his big sword while running.

He had just leveled up to LV5 in the mountains today and hadn’t had the chance to try out the big sword yet, so he wasn’t sure if it would work. But given the urgent situation, he had to give it a shot.

A small sword, once released and infused with spiritual power, emitted a faint glow and quickly expanded to occupy the entire width of the path.

He thought it would be big, but he didn’t expect it to be this big. Even he was startled by the size, and tactically stepped back. After realizing no one was paying attention to him, he breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to try to make the sword float.

There was a reason for the level restrictions on using the big sword; with such a massive chunk, anyone with weaker abilities or less spiritual power wouldn’t be able to manage it, and just making it float would be a struggle.

Thanks to the days of using spiritual power, whether he could fly away was still uncertain, but at least he managed to make the sword float.

With the sword tucked under his arm, the little cat was very worried about its own safety. It poked its head out in the rain and advised, “Why not choose a safer way?”

Trembling, Lin Zhusheng jumped onto the sword, controlling it to fly up, saying, “No time!”

Besides, there really wasn’t a safer way.

Raindrops fell on him as he tucked his damp hair behind his ear, saying, “All the goodwill I’ve built up for so long can’t go to waste.”

Then he added, “Of course, a life is also very important.”

The little cat thought his priorities seemed a bit off, but before it could say anything, the sword, which was slowly ascending, suddenly accelerated, splashing rainwater all over its face.

Lin Zhusheng, also splashed with rainwater, quickly apologized, “Newbie here, sorry!”

The little cat couldn’t even speak and shrank back into its clothes.

Using the sword was indeed much faster than walking. In a flash, they soared over the peaks, covering a distance that would normally take over half an hour in no time.

He could already see the library. The rain was too heavy to see the details clearly, so Lin Zhusheng controlled the sword to descend.

He could vaguely make out the scene. The library, with its three entrances and exits, was quiet and dark in the rain, looking no different from usual, except for the faint light in the central courtyard that could only be noticed upon closer inspection.

That was a sign that the formation had been triggered. The library housed countless books, a significant portion of which were unique editions. There weren’t many people guarding the library, but there were formations everywhere, all designed to protect the building and its books.

Books were afraid of water, fire, and sandstorms; any anomaly would trigger the formations.

Inside the library, there was now a forbidden entry formation. As he landed on the roof, the big sword shrank and returned to his hand.

The courtyard had indeed turned into a reservoir, flooding three stories high, even submerging the treetops. The water was blocked by an invisible barrier before it could reach the wooden structure, preventing any further spread.

He lifted the little cat and placed it on the roof without much thought. Before the little cat could react, Lin Zhusheng took a few quick steps and jumped straight into the water.

“Splash—”

The spring water was chilling, and it was easy to guess it wouldn’t be warm at all. The moment he fell in, the icy cold seeped into his body, sending shivers through his nerves.

No matter how cold it was, as long as he could move, it was a minor issue. Struggling to open his eyes underwater, he dove down, trying to find a figure in the dimness.

Thanks to the library’s built-in formations, the faint light made the place not completely pitch black, allowing him to see some outlines.

As he continued downward, a piece of floating clothing drifted into his peripheral vision. Realizing what it was, he reached out with both hands and grabbed the drifting fabric.

The sound of iron chains clinking faintly echoed, and along with the fabric, he pulled up a person who had already closed their eyes in silence. Their white hair mixed with the dark fabric in the water, floating upwards, silent and still.

It was the person he was looking for.

Between calling out and cautiously checking if the person was still alive, the straightforward Lin Zhusheng chose to slap the person’s face with a palm, causing a rush of water to surge.

With a clean and decisive hit, the originally closed eyes opened, revealing a pair of vertical pupils glowing faintly golden in the water. As the pupils turned and met his gaze, there was a moment of surprise.

Great, they were still alive.

Their eyes met for just an instant before he quickly changed direction, diving down to the tightly bound chains.

They were sturdy, with no signs of rust. A slight push caused a blue light to flicker across the surface of the chains, and the force he applied was sent back one-to-one, making his hand feel a bit numb.

This route wouldn’t work.

The other end of the chains connected to the ground, and if nothing went wrong, there should be a formation there too, which clearly wouldn’t work either.

There was only one method left.

If he remembered correctly, the steward of the library lived nearby. If he could just run a bit faster to find them…

Thinking this, Lin Zhusheng looked up, meeting a pair of eyes that were slowly closing while looking in his direction.

—Not fast enough. If he really went to find someone, he wouldn’t have even made it out of the library, and by then, this person would probably be gone.

The last resort was the worst one.

He flailed upward again, and just as the other person’s pupils began to fade and their consciousness slipped away, he used both hands to slap their face once more.

This move had worked wonders twice already; the eyes that were about to close opened again, but the vertical pupils were now blurry.

Before the other person completely lost consciousness, Lin Zhusheng pointed at his own heart, poked the other person’s heart twice, then clapped his hands together, finally pointing at the chains.

From start to finish, his hands were the busiest. Fearing that the person wouldn’t understand his meaning, he even gestured a couple more times.

“…”

Wuqi didn’t move, just staring at him, whether out of confusion or unwillingness to acknowledge him.

A burning sensation began to rise in his chest, and he was close to running out of breath. Lin Zhusheng wanted to reach out and slap the person’s face again, but just as he extended his hand, he saw a trickle of golden-red blood seeping from the corner of the other’s mouth.

It looked very different from ordinary blood, and he could guess it was heart’s blood.

Not caring about cleanliness, he reached out and wrapped the blood with spiritual power.

Fortunately, he had read a bit about this person wanting to find a master, so he didn’t have to turn back to ask the little cat what heart’s blood was or how to form a contract. With the heart’s blood in hand, he began to move.

Two drops of blood fused together, a hint of red light appeared at his fingertips, illuminating the pale pupils.

In an instant, a brilliant light burst forth, and a golden-red formation spread from the ground, intricate patterns flickering, ultimately occupying the entire courtyard.

The light was so bright it was blinding, and Lin Zhusheng strategically closed his eyes.

With his eyes shut, his mind was filled with fragments of memories that didn’t belong to him.

A gray sky, mountains as small as dirt piles, an unknown giant beast bleeding profusely, brutal battles, the scenes all stained a bloody red.

These weren’t his memories; they were Wuqi’s. Too many memories, clear and blurry, he thought his head might explode.

As the memory fragments flashed by, he could distinctly feel something changing in his body. The nearly exhausted spiritual power needed to control the big sword rapidly replenished and continued to increase.

The increase was so rapid that even his skin and muscles, which had been numbed by the cold water, seemed to sense a burning sensation. No joke, it felt like his meridians were about to melt away.

【Current Level: LV6 (6000/6000)】
……
【Current Level: LV8 (7990/8000)】

Along with the burning sensation came the constant notifications of level changes. Lin Zhusheng knew that forming a contract with a high-level beast sometimes granted the contractor a boost in strength, but he didn’t expect it to be this significant.

No wonder becoming Wuqi’s master required at least LV5. If he were below that level, he might not even survive long enough to complete the contract, ending up drowning together in this water.

If he could level up further, he might even be able to expand his backpack.

The premise was that he didn’t get melted away by this burning sensation. When he reached LV9, the absurdly rapid increase finally slowed down, ultimately stopping at LV9.

The burning sensation disappeared, and he seemed to hear the sound of metal breaking nearby. He quickly opened his eyes.

The person who had been in front of him was gone, replaced by a pair of elongated golden vertical pupils, the same size as his own, so large that he could even see the patterns on the pupils and himself reflected within them.

Master contracts and soulmate contracts were both the most fundamental contracts that touched the soul, and during the contract, both parties would reveal their true forms.

—What a big one! So long and so much white fur!

In shock, he temporarily forgot that he was close to running out of breath. He reached out to touch the white fur around the giant beast’s eyes, even giving it a gentle squeeze.

The enormous golden vertical pupils lowered, quietly gazing at him. When their gazes met, the pupils and the ears that were large enough to break the water surface twitched slightly.

Long black hair spread out, and beneath the floating strands, a pair of calm brows and eyes unfolded, completely different from before, with the drooping eyes lifting.

At first glance, it was like the cold spring of March, and when the overwhelming vitality surged in, it felt like falling into an endless icy abyss, penetrating deep into the marrow.

The mountain-colored robe billowed, slowly unfurling, the white inner lining resting against the cold white face, with strands of bluish-white hair mixed in, the floating hair blurring his vision.