Chapter 27 : Chapter 27
Chapter 27 Contracting the Third Summoned Beast! Evolution?
At that moment, on the battlefield, the Extreme Blade Mantis's pair of compound eyes, already polluted by the Abyss, grew redder and redder as its fighting spirit rose.
The aura of the Abyss was constantly devouring its life force.
Most Abyssal pollution came from being forcibly corroded by Abyssal Aura, slowly eroding away one's life force and sanity until death finally arrived.
But the Extreme Blade Mantis felt not the slightest fear of death.
All it wanted was to dance wildly to its heart's content.
Its only regret was that this power would not last.
Then, at that moment, a voice entered the battlefield.
"Do you want to possess this power forever?"
The Extreme Blade Mantis abruptly looked up and saw Ye Ze gazing at it calmly.
"I can give you a chance."
The mantis let out a disdainful snort. "Hmph! How dare a mere human speak such arrogant nonsense?"
"There is no way I would ever submit to weak human Summoners like you!"
Ye Ze was not surprised by such a fierce reaction at all.
Instead, he asked in return, "But do not forget, you cannot even beat my level 7 summoned beast."
"So where exactly do you get the confidence to call me weak?"
The Extreme Blade Mantis flew into a rage at those words.
But the reality was right in front of it. With its current strength, it was no match at all for Panda, with its epic six-star power.
What was more, Panda's Taiji techniques, which used softness to overcome hardness, completely countered its offensive style.
The Extreme Blade Mantis fell silent.
Then Ye Ze's next words instantly shocked not only the mantis, but Ruan Xiaoyou as well.
"I will give you one chance..."
"Sign a contract with me. And if you are ever dissatisfied with your strength in the future, the contract can be dissolved at any time!"
A red light flickered in the mantis's compound eyes. Though it remained silent, its heart had clearly begun to waver.
Ruan Xiaoyou's expression changed sharply, and she immediately moved to stop Ye Ze. "Are you insane?"
"With terms like that, it could betray you at any moment!"
Who on earth contracted a summoned beast like this?
Did he even know how to be a Summoner?
The reason Ye Ze dared to make such an offer...
Was because he was confident that the enhancements brought by a golden Trait would be even more addictive than the power of the Abyss!
On the other hand, as long as the contract succeeded and he added a Trait to it, its loyalty would rise sharply as well, ensuring that it would harbor no second thoughts.
For Ye Ze, the real difficulty still lay in luring the mantis into signing the contract.
And in solving the problem of its Abyssal pollution.
But after hearing Ruan Xiaoyou say that Abyssal Aura could be suppressed...
He had a new idea.
If it could be suppressed, then could it not also be adapted to?
If he could make the Extreme Blade Mantis adapt to the pollution of the Abyss, would it not be able to permanently retain the Abyss's characteristics?
He looked at the one remaining Trait he still had:
【Void Creature: A being that lives in the endless Void, possessing adaptability and uniqueness beyond all things, and capable of traveling through the Void.】
He decided to gamble on it!
If it did not work, then there was nothing he could do. It would simply mean that this summoned beast was not meant to be his.
At that point, he could just save up Military Merit and exchange it for other summoned beast skill books later.
With that thought, he first tried to calm Ruan Xiaoyou down.
I know you are in a hurry, but hold on.
Then he launched a fierce verbal assault on the mantis.
"Sign a contract with me, and the increase in strength I can give you will not be weaker than the power of the Abyss!"
"There, Panda at level 7 is your proof."
He pointed at Panda. A level 7 Panda displaying that kind of power was more than convincing enough.
The Extreme Blade Mantis had felt it personally. There was no way it could disbelieve Ye Ze's words.
It was tempted.
Ye Ze continued, "If your abilities are strong enough..."
"I will make you the strongest hunter."
The Extreme Blade Mantis let out a low growl. "Of course I have the ability!"
"Good—!"
Ye Ze locked eyes with it, and the mantis rasped out,
"But first, you must at least solve the pollution of the Abyss..."
"I can try, but the success rate is not high."
Ye Ze spoke honestly.
That actually made the Extreme Blade Mantis believe him a little more. If Ye Ze had claimed that he could remove it with one hundred percent certainty, the mantis would have been more suspicious instead.
After all, this was pollution from the Eternal Abyss. Who could possibly be one hundred percent confident in dealing with it?
Ruan Xiaoyou, however, grew suspicious. Globally, Abyssal Aura could only be suppressed for a short time, yet he was saying that there was a chance he could solve it?
He has to be lying, right?
Still, she did not say it out loud, just in case Ye Ze really was bluffing.
At the same time, Ye Ze used his spiritual power to draw on his Summoned Beast Space and forge a contract.
Everything he had just said was written into it, witnessed by the supernatural power of Blue Star itself.
It split into two sheets of glowing white parchment, which floated down before Ye Ze and the Extreme Blade Mantis.
Ye Ze quickly pressed his handprint onto his.
After hesitating for more than ten seconds, the Extreme Blade Mantis finally touched the other sheet with its scythe-like right forelimb.
【Ding! You have successfully contracted Outstanding ☆☆☆☆ summoned beast: Extreme Blade Mantis!】
The instant the contract took effect, the Extreme Blade Mantis was absorbed into Ye Ze's Summoned Beast Space.
At the same time, because the Extreme Blade Mantis was such a high-quality summon, more than half of Ye Ze's spiritual power was drained in an instant!
"If my Spirit were not at 128 points, I really would not have been able to contract it!"
The higher the quality of a summoned beast, the more requirements there were to contract it.
Even when using a skill book, high-level summoning skill books also had Spirit requirements.
When she saw that the contract had really succeeded, Ruan Xiaoyou nearly stopped breathing.
"It really... succeeded?"
A summoned beast that almost every Summoner in East China had failed to contract had actually been successfully contracted by Ye Ze!
But after thinking about it carefully...
How many Summoners would dare offer terms like, If you are dissatisfied with your strength, the contract can be dissolved at any time?
And how many Summoners had the ability to make the Extreme Blade Mantis acknowledge them?
But the moment that thought crossed her mind, she realized that the problem had only just begun.
"What are you planning to do next?"
"Never mind increasing its strength. How are you planning to deal with the Abyssal pollution?"
Ye Ze smiled and reassured her, "Do not worry. I will bring it out of the Contaminated Land."
"That way, even if it dies, it will not die inside the Contaminated Land. We can still count it as completing the mission without bloodshed."
Ruan Xiaoyou burst out laughing. "You are pretty devious."
That way, even in the worst-case scenario, they would still have successfully secured the Extreme Blade Mantis.
And they had done it without suffering a single injury, while also preventing it from making a desperate final counterattack before death.
"Since that is the case, and all the mission objectives are complete, I should be heading back to Dongwu City!"
It was getting late, and she had no intention of lingering any longer.
On the other hand, she had a vague feeling in her heart that Ye Ze might really still have another trump card!
Could he actually solve Abyssal pollution?
Just thinking about it made her scalp tingle a little.
If she were to witness such an ability with her own eyes, should she report it to the research institute... or not?
Better not to know in the first place. She would just treat it as though that Extreme Blade Mantis had already died.
With that thought, she simply chose to leave.
Before going, she casually pinched Ye Ze's face.
"If you apply to East China Martial University in the future, remember to come to Dongwu City and find your big sister, okay?~"
Ye Ze's face was full of dark lines. While being pinched and kneaded, he could only mutter, "I will think about it..."
The corners of Ruan Xiaoyou's lips lifted. She gave him a light wink, then turned into a graceful black shadow and drifted away.
But Ye Ze had no time to dwell on that.
At this moment, the Extreme Blade Mantis inside the Summoned Beast Space had already started growing restless.
Because... Ye Ze, as a Summoner, was only level 7.
Its level 14 had likewise been compressed down to level 7, and its attributes had dropped to an average of less than 100 points.
It had only just signed the contract, and its strength had already shrunk by nearly half, so of course it was especially agitated.
"Ahem, do not panic. Let us try it now."
"If this works, then your future prospects will be far beyond what this mere level 7 can compare to."
As he spoke, Ye Ze attached the Trait Void Creature to the mantis...
Would the adaptability of Void Creature be effective against the pollution of the Eternal Abyss?
Even Ye Ze could not say for sure.
But if he did not try it now, he might never encounter such a good opportunity again.
Inside the Summoned Beast Space, a burst of dim violet light suddenly erupted!
It wrapped around the Extreme Blade Mantis like a giant purple egg...
【The Trait "Void Creature" has been successfully bestowed!】
【Ding! Due to the special nature of this target, this evolution will continue for a certain period of time...】