Chapter 159: Keep A Secret

Chapter 159: Chapter 159: Keep A Secret

After their conversation, Sui Sui began considering whether he should take a few additional precautions.

Although the bird had assured him that it had no intention of revealing his constitution, Sui Sui wasn’t entirely comfortable relying on a verbal promise. His Extreme Yin Constitution was far too valuable, and now that he knew how dangerous it could be if discovered, he couldn’t afford to be careless.

Besides, the bird was hardly someone he knew well. They had only recently met, and although they had established a contract, that agreement hadn’t specifically addressed the matter of keeping his constitution a secret.

After thinking it over, Sui Sui decided to bring up another contract.

"Senior, since we’re already bound by a contract, would you be willing to establish another one with me?"

The bird, which had just settled comfortably into its little bed, immediately lifted its head.

"Another contract? What kind?"

"It’s nothing complicated. I just want to make sure you won’t tell anyone about my constitution. We can establish a binding agreement specifically for that matter. As for compensation..." Sui Sui paused before taking out several bottles of spiritual liquid from his spirit pouch, these were the ones left from the Ice Cave, he still has a lot of these "I can offer you these."

The bird’s eyes immediately followed the bottles.

It stared at them for a moment before looking back at Sui Sui. "Hmph! You little fellow certainly know how to make a deal. You want this great Venerable to keep your secret, and you’re offering only a few bottles?"

Sui Sui blinked.

"Then... how about a few more?"

"Deal!"

The bird answered so quickly that Sui Sui couldn’t help wondering whether it had been waiting for him to offer more all along.

Still, the agreement was settled.

Unlike their previous contract, which primarily established a connection between their spiritual energies, this one would be a binding secrecy contract. Once formed, it would prohibit the bird from revealing, directly or indirectly, any information concerning Sui Sui’s Extreme Yin Constitution to another person that Sui Sui did not permit to know.

This restriction extended beyond simply speaking about it. The bird couldn’t deliberately leave clues, transmit the information through spiritual messages, or use any other means to expose his secret. Even if someone questioned it, it wouldn’t be able to confirm or disclose anything related to Sui Sui’s constitution.

More importantly, the contract carried a severe punishment for anyone who attempted to violate its terms.

If the bird knowingly broke the agreement, the contract’s restrictions would immediately turn against it. The backlash would strike directly at its divine soul, tearing apart its spiritual foundation and damaging the very core of its cultivation. For a powerful spiritual beast, such an injury could take countless years to recover from. If the violation was severe enough, it could even result in the destruction of its divine soul.

Of course, the contract also required both parties to agree willingly. Neither could be forced into accepting terms they hadn’t acknowledged.

"Do you understand the conditions?" Sui Sui asked, making sure the bird had no objections.

The bird snorted. "Do you think this great Venerable doesn’t understand a simple binding contract? Stop worrying. As long as you don’t go around announcing your constitution yourself, I won’t say a word about it."

Anyway, for this bird, keeping this secret wasn’t hard, it didn’t plan on revealing it in the first place, just take it as helping someone of the same kin or something like that, plus he really had nothing to gain from revealing it, In contrast, Sui Sui was offering him something that it needs to get stronger which was much more advantageous for him. Basically, he is getting something for free.

With that, it extended one of its wings and released a strand of spiritual energy. Sui Sui followed suit, guiding his own spiritual energy toward it.

The two strands intertwined in midair before forming a small, intricate seal. A faint light flashed between them, then split into two streams, one entering Sui Sui’s body and the other disappearing into the bird.

A moment later, a subtle mark appeared within their spiritual consciousness before gradually fading from sight.

The contract was complete.

Sui Sui carefully examined the connection and confirmed that the new restriction had taken effect. Only then did he finally relax.

"Here. These are yours."

He handed over the promised bottles, which the bird immediately snatched up with its claws. Having secured its reward, it no longer seemed interested in continuing their conversation.

"Hmph! Now that’s more like it. This great Venerable will be resting. Don’t disturb me unless you have something worthwhile to offer!" Having secured its supply, it returned to its makeshift bed and settled down once more, preparing to continue its recovery.

Sui Sui could only smile helplessly.

With the agreement settled and his secret secured by another layer of protection, he finally felt that he could put the matter aside for the time being.

With the bird taken care of, Sui Sui finally turned his attention to his own cultivation.

He had originally intended to spend the evening refining pills. He had already taken out his ingredients and arranged the necessary tools, but when he sat down in front of the furnace, he found himself staring blankly at the materials without making any progress.

The problem was that he simply couldn’t concentrate.

The bird’s earlier words kept replaying in his mind, particularly its rather shameless suggestions about how he could conceal his constitution. Every time he recalled them, his cheeks grew warm all over again.

Good heavens! How could it say something like that so casually?

It was bad enough that the bird had brought up such embarrassing matters, but what made things worse was that his mind had somehow begun connecting those words to another person.

Yizhou.

For some inexplicable reason, the image of his senior brother from that morning kept appearing in his thoughts. More specifically, the sight of Yizhou practicing his swordsmanship with his upper body bare, his skin glistening with sweat under the morning sunlight. Sui Sui could still remember how the sunlight had traced the lines of his well-defined muscles, and how effortlessly the man had moved his sword.

At the time, he had only thought that Yizhou had an exceptionally good figure. There was nothing strange about appreciating something beautiful, was there?

But now, after hearing the bird’s outrageous remarks, that perfectly innocent memory seemed to have acquired an entirely different meaning.

Sui Sui shook his head vigorously, trying to chase the image away.

No, no! Stop thinking about it!

He lowered his head and attempted to focus on the ingredients in front of him. However, after staring at them for a while, he realized he still hadn’t managed to organize his thoughts. If he continued like this, he might end up making a mistake during pill refinement.

That wouldn’t do.

After a moment of hesitation, Sui Sui finally decided to put the ingredients away. It seemed that refining pills was out of the question for tonight. He needed to calm himself down first, and meditation was probably the best way to do that.

Sui Sui settled into a comfortable position, closed his eyes, and began circulating his spiritual energy through his meridians. Gradually, his breathing evened out as he focused on the flow of energy within his body, deliberately pushing aside the distracting thoughts that had been troubling him.

Little by little, his mind began to quiet down. The tension in his body eased, and his breathing became slow and steady.

However, perhaps because he had been through quite a lot that day, his concentration gradually weakened. Before he realized what was happening, his awareness began to drift, and the steady rhythm of his breathing gave way to a deeper, more relaxed state.

Unbeknownst to him, Sui Sui had fallen asleep in the middle of his meditation, slipping into a hazy and rather peculiar dream.