All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 222: The Ancestor and the Seven Divine Artifacts

Yunyao felt the change in the Mountain Goblins’ attitude most keenly. Last time, she was far from being considered a celestial being. If not for her extraordinary strength and obtaining some information through violent means, these Mountain Goblins wouldn’t have given her the time of day. However, their attitude towards Zhanyue was completely different, seeming very friendly.

“Are you confused? Hehe, it’s a secret. If you want to know, trade it for one of your secrets,” Zhanyue grinned mischievously. An emperor’s inheritor held countless secrets, and this woman’s secrets were very tempting.

“I don’t want to know,” Yunyao looked at that smug face and could only turn away. Looking at it for one more second would irritate her. If possible, she’d like to tie Zhanyue up and teach him a lesson. This man had taken many liberties with her and still acted so smug. How could the Illumination Goddess be so blind as to accept such a disciple? Although she knew something was off about the Illumination Goddess, not seeming like a normal living person, she could never guess that the Illumination Goddess was Zhanyue’s contract object, reborn through him. It was too incredible.

“Celestial ones, are you here to eliminate the Seven Disaster Beasts?” Mountain Goblin King Momo asked.

“Seven Disaster Beasts? Should be. We found this stone tablet written in the Mountain Goblin language, so we guessed the Mountain Goblins might know more,” Zhanyue said.

“I don’t know much about the Seven Disaster Beasts, but the ancestor should know. I can take you to see her,” Momo said. Zhanyue gave him a very friendly feeling, and with the Mountain Goblins’ simple and honest nature, this goodwill was enough to make them lower their guard.

“Ancestor?” Yunyao frowned. This Mountain Goblin King wasn’t being honest; he hadn’t mentioned an ancestor during her last visit. But it wasn’t his fault. Faced with such a violent woman, the Mountain Goblin King wasn’t stupid. How could he introduce the ancestor to her?

Momo smiled sheepishly at Yunyao, then said to Zhanyue, “It’s our Mountain Goblin Clan’s ancestor. Our Clan has about a hundred territories in this realm, but there’s only one ancestor, whom we’re currently supporting.”

“Is that so? Why are there over a hundred territories, but the ancestor ended up staying with you?” Zhanyue asked curiously, thinking secretly that he and Yunyao were really lucky to have found the most important Mountain Goblin territory.

“Well… the ancestor doesn’t allow us to say. Come on, I’ll take you to see her,” Momo led Zhanyue and Yunyao deeper, the terrain getting lower, entering an underground cave through a hole. Indeed, this ancestor still had to be hidden underground.

Yin-attribute spirit grass served as guiding lights along both sides of the tunnel. After walking for a long time, they passed through the tunnel into an underground cave. The temperature here was extremely low, with underground rivers frozen solid and no longer flowing.

Zhanyue and Yunyao widened their eyes at this underground ice sculpture world before them. Such a phenomenon must be caused by some extraordinary treasure.

The ice and snow-carved hall was very bright, with mysterious gems emitting a faint blue glow around. The hall was empty except for a huge spring eye in the center, gushing pale blue water that flowed through channels to the outside. Wherever the water flowed, there was an intense cold.

“Ancient Frost Spring?” Yunyao exclaimed.

“You know it?” Although Zhanyue knew the spring eye wasn’t simple, he didn’t know the details.

“Legend has it there’s a kind of cold spring whose water freezes but doesn’t turn to ice. No low temperature can solidify it, and it emits terrifying cold. This ice and snow cave is probably due to the effect of this cold spring water,” Yunyao explained. “This thing is an invaluable treasure for tempering magical artifacts, extremely precious.”

“Hehe, although this water is good, it can easily take one’s life if not careful. Our Mountain Goblin Clan loses people every year transporting the cold spring water. This cold spring is both a blessing and a curse. I consider you one of us, so please don’t speak of this outside,” Momo said. He actually didn’t want to expose the cold spring, but to see the ancestor, they had to come here.

“Don’t worry, we’re not that kind of people,” Zhanyue promised, but in his heart, he was already planning how to ask them for some cold spring water. He wouldn’t tell others, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to get some.

“That’s good.” Momo walked to the edge of the cold spring eye, his voice trembling from the cold, “Ancestor, ancestor, are you awake? Distinguished guests have arrived, please come out to meet them!”

After Momo shouted a few times at the spring eye, he quickly retreated. Sure enough, the spring eye stirred, and a huge female Mountain Goblin emerged from the bottom of the spring eye. She had endless flames on her body, as if constantly burning. Her old face showed clear traces left by time, many teeth had fallen out, and her eyes were squinting as if not fully awake.

“Is it mealtime?”

When the ancestor opened her mouth, Zhanyue almost stumbled.

“Hehe, the ancestor’s hearing isn’t very good, please forgive her. But her eyes and mind are still clear,” Momo explained.

“It’s not mealtime, it’s distinguished guests visiting,” Momo shouted loudly.

“Oh? Are the guests inviting me to eat?” the ancestor asked back.

“It’s not about eating, they have some questions to consult you about!” Momo was a bit speechless. This ancestor spent all day soaking in the cold spring, just eating and sleeping.

Zhanyue and Yunyao didn’t dare to underestimate this huge Mountain Goblin ancestor before them. They didn’t dare to touch the cold spring casually, yet this ancestor had been soaking in it all along. Her strength was undoubtable.

The Mountain Goblin ancestor slowly opened her eyes, revealing a glint of sharpness. “Distinguished guests? So, people from beyond…”

“Elder, have there been people like us who came before?” Zhanyue asked.

The Mountain Goblin ancestor opened her domain, covering the entire cave. She could sense any subtle changes within the domain, and her hearing problem instantly disappeared.

“Like you, but not like her. That great person didn’t have wings,” the Mountain Goblin ancestor recalled.

“Actually, we’ve come about the matter of eliminating the Seven Great Demon Beasts. You, being the Mountain Goblin ancestor, might know some stories?” Zhanyue asked.

“Come to kill those disaster beasts? Good, good, good.” The Mountain Goblin ancestor smiled and said, “I do know a lot. Long, long ago, seven great disaster beasts roamed this world, troubling all races, making survival difficult. One day, a person from beyond descended to this realm. Yes, looking much like you, like hairless apes. That celestial being had terrifying strength, sealing the seven great disaster beasts single-handedly.

But he told us that the seven disaster beasts were rule beasts, not easily eliminated by ordinary means, so they could only be sealed first. Over the next hundred years, he collected materials while teaching. Only those who seriously learned his language could receive his teachings, so everyone worked hard to learn this celestial being’s language. After a hundred years, he forged seven artifacts, claiming they could completely eliminate the seven disaster beasts.

But suddenly one day, he left in a hurry, as if something major had happened in his world of origin, and he had to return immediately. He entrusted the seven divine artifacts to the seven strongest races among us for safekeeping, asking us seven races to find suitable candidates, then use these seven divine artifacts to eliminate the seven disaster beasts. Unfortunately, after so many years, not one of the seven disaster beasts has been eliminated.”

“You mean, to eliminate the seven disaster beasts, we need the corresponding seven divine artifacts, and these seven artifacts are in the hands of seven races? Elder, do you know which seven races?” Zhanyue asked.

The Mountain Goblin ancestor nodded, “Eliminating the seven disaster beasts is a shared wish of all races, and the seven divine artifacts are useless except for dealing with the disaster beasts, so this isn’t some unspeakable secret. Our Mountain Goblin Clan has one of the seven divine artifacts, and the remaining six are in the hands of these people.” The Mountain Goblin ancestor waved her hand, and an animal skin scroll fell into Zhanyue’s hands.

This item came so easily that Zhanyue felt a bit unreal.

“Because the seven disaster beasts have been sealed, and there haven’t been any problems for so many years, people aren’t very motivated to eliminate the seven disaster beasts, and they stopped looking for so-called suitable candidates long ago. Moreover, with the passage of time, some of the seven great races have declined, some have gone into seclusion. Collecting the seven divine artifacts won’t be easy,” the Mountain Goblin ancestor explained. Few of the younger generation knew about the seven disaster beasts, after all, they were all sealed in remote places and could hardly affect their lives.

“I see,” Zhanyue nodded. “We indeed need to eliminate the seven disaster beasts for certain reasons. We hope the elder can help us.”

The Mountain Goblin ancestor widened her eyes, looking at Zhanyue, then at Yunyao beside him.

“Just the two of you to eliminate the seven disaster beasts? Your strength is far, far inferior to that celestial being from back then,” the ancestor sighed.

“Aren’t the seven disaster beasts in a sealed state? Besides, if we have the seven divine artifacts targeting them, we might have a chance,” Zhanyue explained.

“It’s good to have confidence, but your realm is a bit low. The girl beside you has a higher realm than you. I can sense the Mountain Goblin aura in you, it seems you have deep ties with our Mountain Goblin Clan. Take this, come find me again after you’ve fully refined it. I don’t want to watch you go to your deaths,” The Mountain Goblin ancestor waved her hand again, and a jade bottle fell into Zhanyue’s hand, filled with incredibly rich spiritual energy, definitely an extraordinary heavenly treasure.

“What about me?” Yunyao looked a bit sourly at the treasure in Zhanyue’s hand. She had nothing.

“Little girl, I haven’t even addressed your rampaging in our territory last time. Forget it, I’m not petty. Take off one of your feathers, and this old one will help you forge a feather artifact in the coming days,” the Mountain Goblin ancestor said. She was even a master artisan.

Both having gained something, they temporarily settled in the underground of the Mountain Goblin territory. What the Mountain Goblin ancestor gave Zhanyue was a bottle of Cold Spring Jade Essence, an excellent treasure for improving one’s realm.

In a room in the underground cave, Zhanyue drank the entire bottle of Cold Spring Jade Essence in one go, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

The Mountain Goblin ancestor, sleeping in the spring eye, suddenly woke up, remembering something, “Oh no, I forgot to tell that little fellow, the Cold Spring Jade Essence needs to be refined drop by drop!”