All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 158: The Secret of the Book of Heaven

“My luck was good. When I arrived at Dragon Island, Dragon Lord had just finished his seclusion,” Mi Hongchen said. Thunder Lord’s face showed a hint of an embarrassed smile. Why was it that every time he sought Dragon Lord, there was never such perfect timing? The dragons of this world weren’t part of the demon race and couldn’t transform into human form, so they differed from humans in many habits. Dragon Lord generally disliked excessive communication with humans, except, of course, for Mi Hongchen.

Mi Hongchen’s contract beast was a descendant of Dragon Lord, personally handed to her by Dragon Lord when it was young. Thus, Mi Hongchen was the most important link between humans and dragons.

“Dragon City is also under the Goddess’s protection. Dragon Lord deeply appreciates the Goddess’s righteousness and is willing to lend a hand,” Mi Hongchen spoke with admiration. In the entire Myriad Spirits World, there were only two types of people: believers of the Illumination Goddess and fanatical believers of the Illumination Goddess. Mi Hongchen probably belonged to the more fanatical category. “He has issued the Dragon Lord’s Decree, ordering each of the four great dragon clans in the Myriad Spirits Realm to dispatch a thousand giant dragons to human cities, helping to restore trade routes and transport supplies.”

Everyone’s faces lit up at this news. Four thousand giant dragons entering the world, establishing a flying transport system, could completely alleviate humanity’s urgent needs. Giant dragons were incredibly strong and fast flyers. They could easily travel between two cities in just one day, unlike inefficient human transport animals like horses.

Zhanyue raised an eyebrow, feeling as if the world had evolved overnight from land transport to air traffic.

“Excellent. With these giant dragons’ assistance, at least resources can be freely allocated between cities, and food shortages due to transport limitations won’t occur. A full four thousand giant dragons – Dragon Lord has certainly shown goodwill,” Thunder Lord let out a long sigh of relief. As the human leader, he had been under extreme pressure lately. Nightmares were striking everywhere, making villages and relay stations unsafe. Although cities were protected by Illumination Towers and the Goddess, human transportation capabilities had been almost completely strangled. A merchant caravan could hardly travel far in a day, and staying overnight in the wilderness was now tantamount to suicide. The world was no longer in the state where Nightmares lay dormant. In the wilderness at night, high-level Nightmares were everywhere, and King-level Nightmares roamed freely. Humanity had entered an era of completely losing the night.

“Indeed. With the power of giant dragons, round trips between two cities in a day will be effortless. Leave the task of arranging and deploying these dragons to me. I fear ordinary people might not be able to handle it,” the usually taciturn Sword Lord said. Restoring the human resource transportation network was a crucial matter, so he decided to take personal responsibility for it.

“Very well, I wouldn’t feel at ease entrusting this to anyone else,” Thunder Lord nodded.

“Now, let’s discuss the second matter. The opening of the Book World,” Thunder Lord’s expression turned serious.

Wind Lord took over, saying, “The matter of the Book World may have been exposed. We don’t know if the enemy is the Night Lord’s people or Nightmare spies among humans. Nightmares can no longer be analyzed based on past intelligence. They’ve learned to scheme, and a small number of them are no longer afraid of Illumination Towers. The previous principal’s death might be related to Nightmares. They want to completely destroy the Book World, but fortunately, we managed to keep the key safe. To avoid prolonged troubles, opening the Book World is now urgent.”

“How much do you know about the Book World?” Zhanyue asked curiously. He had never heard of the Book World before, but judging from Wind Lord’s manner, they seemed to know a lot about it.

Wind Lord smiled and explained, “Many ancient legacies have been discovered in our era. Both Thunder Lord and Sword Lord have their own fortuitous encounters. Among these, the Book World is the most special legacy trial ground because it’s alive. It has its own will and can even communicate with us, so we know a lot about the Book World.”

“Alive?” Zhanyue was stunned. Ancient humans left many relics, most of which Zhanyue knew were in the Human Realm, but that didn’t mean there were none outside. Could the Book World be the legacy ground of one of the legendary Nine Emperors of the Void Sky?

“To open the Book World, we need to gather eight extreme powers: ‘Heaven’, ‘Earth’, ‘Wind’, ‘Thunder’, ‘Mountain’, ‘Fire’, ‘Water’, and ‘Metal’. Now we’ve finally gathered them all,” Wind Lord continued.

Zhanyue looked at the people in the room, finally understanding why these particular individuals were present.

Light as the power of Heaven, the Light Contractor Holy Maiden Lixi representing ‘Heaven’;

The Earth Mother Golden Cauldron could mobilize earth vein power, with Zhanyue, now in the Profound Realm, representing ‘Earth’;

Wind Contractor Wind Lord representing the power of ‘Wind’;

Thunder Contractor Thunder Lord representing the power of ‘Thunder’;

The Eastern Kingdom Emperor possessing mountain power, representing ‘Mountain’;

Water Contractor Gong Xiaoyu representing ‘Water’;

Mi Hongchen had awakened the Extreme Flame Domain, and combined with her fire dragon, could meet the ‘Fire’ requirement;

And Sword Lord naturally represented the power of ‘Metal’;

With these eight powers combined with the key, they could now formally open the Book World. The most difficult to find, the power of ‘Earth’, was now complete due to Zhanyue’s advancement to the Profound Realm. Previously, Zhanyue’s realm wasn’t sufficient and might have held them back, but now that problem was resolved.

“Next is the selection of personnel to enter the Book World. You eight are important contributors to opening the Book World, so each of you has one recommendation slot. The Spirit of the Book of Heaven said that a maximum of twelve people can enter at once, so we have twelve slots,” Wind Lord continued.

Zhanyue himself needed to go in, so his slot was for himself, same for Holy Maiden Lixi. Since MuMu Lixi had her own slot, Wind Lord gave his to Nangong Weilai, as thanks to her and the Moon Reflection Pavilion. Gong Xiaoyu naturally considered her own people, giving her slot to Baizhi. Mi Hongchen, entangled in worldly affairs, couldn’t possibly go to the Book World herself, so she gave her slot to a surprising choice – the little girl named Meng Xiaodie whom Zhanyue had saved before.

“Sword Lord and I won’t take up slots,” Thunder Lord said. He and Sword Lord represented human authority and couldn’t show personal preferences.

“Brother Mi, what about you? Does your Eastern Kingdom have anyone to recommend?” Thunder Lord asked the Eastern Kingdom Emperor.

Mi Donglai calmly said, “The Azure Wind Realm’s ancestor contacted me earlier, intending to negotiate a deal.”

“What deal? That old fellow finally couldn’t sit still?” Thunder Lord frowned. In their eyes, the Azure Wind Realm was a bunch of cowardly mice clinging to life.

“The Azure Wind Realm is preparing to open its borders. You know, there are many spirit stone veins within the Azure Wind Realm. These spirit stones are very important for those formations. That old fellow is willing to exchange an entire spirit vein for one slot,” Mi Donglai said.

“You agreed?” Thunder Lord asked.

Mi Donglai nodded, “As you know, although the Eastern Kingdom is rich in illumination stone production, spirit stone veins are not abundant. As the Eastern Kingdom’s Emperor, I must consider the people. It’s better to be prepared. That’s an entire spirit stone vein.”

“Sigh, your slot is naturally yours to decide. If you want to give it to him, so be it. I’m curious what kind of genius the Azure Wind Realm has produced to be worth such a high price for a slot. Also, how did that old fellow know about the Book World?” Thunder Lord was puzzled.

“Who knows? We know very little about the Azure Wind Realm. In this great calamity, their willingness to open their borders and face the disaster together – we don’t know if it’s good or bad for us,” Mi Donglai was equally unclear about the Azure Wind Realm.

Wind Lord’s expression was the most peculiar, his mind heavy. “The Azure Wind Realm is opening its borders?”

“Grandfather,” MuMu Lixi squeezed Wind Lord’s hand. She naturally knew what he was thinking – his wife was still imprisoned in the Azure Wind Realm.

“So, six of the twelve slots are confirmed. The remaining six slots will be open for competition. I’ll issue another Goddess’s Decree to various major forces, letting them select suitable candidates to come to the academy town. The remaining six slots will be decided through combat. When all twelve slots are filled, that will be the day to formally open the Book World,” Thunder Lord finally said. Of the twelve slots, six were predetermined, and the remaining six would be open for free competition.

Zhanyue’s eyes were full of anticipation. This would surely be a fierce competition, with the human geniuses of the Myriad Spirits Realm having to show their true abilities.