Chapter 144: Soul Contract (AXE)

"What?" Lupine immediately shed all his fun and sat straight, glaring at Axe and the others. "What nonsense is this? How could you—a great wolf—bow to a human and form a soul contract?"

Nox’s face dropped. He didn’t know Lupine would be so against this. Was it that bad?

"He is our mate! Not just any human." He retorted instantly.

"Mate my ass! You can’t form a contract, not even an equal one."

Suddenly, a slender jade-like arm shot over and slapped Lupine’s head hard.

"You old hound still have the guts to refuse a contract?" Xiao Hong shouted.

"Why are you hitting people’s heads, you old nasty woman!" Lupine also shouted.

"Stop," Bane said coldly and threw five rolled scrolls onto the table.

"Saint-grade soul contracts," Bane said. "This is the highest this realm can support," he added, his longest line since coming here.

Lupine glared at the Saint-grade scrolls sitting on the table, his white beard puffing up in rage.

"Bane! Why are you giving them these? How could you let a divine wolf submit to a human? It’s a disgrace to our ancient bloodlines!"

"Werewolf and immortal," Bane said plainly.

Two words, but they hit Lupine’s heart. Yes... they were not plain human and divine wolf. They were not, right?

"Let it be, old hound. Their fated strings are already tangled. The contract only puts a soul mark on them," Ghost Master finally opened his mouth.

"Hmph! You all just want to see this old Warlord lose face!" Lupine grumbled, crossing his arms and sitting back down in his chair with a loud huff.

Moon took the first scroll. Faint pure white light hung around each one.

He had forgotten that he needed a scroll.

The higher the grade, the purer the contract, and the more backlash they would get for breaking them.

He peeked at the plant spirit one last time, then turned to the brothers.

"Who is first?"

"I’ll go first," Axe said.

Nox flinched and stared at Axe like a betrayed wife. He wanted to be first!

Moon handed Axe the first scroll. The pure white light clung to Axe’s fingers the moment he touched it.

Moon took a deep breath.

He was not sure if his soul power was enough to form a soul bond. But he still wanted to give it a try. He had practiced the soul training a little before, and his divine sense could already spread across the entire Starlily.

Maybe his soul power had improved.

His fingers clenched into a fist, then opened again. His palm was already sweating from nervousness, though from the outside no one could tell.

He was used to hiding his vulnerable side since he was young.

People would only hurt you more if they knew your weak points. So he stopped showing weakness. Yet sometimes he still couldn’t help but burst out like a crying baby. He hated that so much.

From the side, RuYi suddenly stood up. He walked behind Moon and pressed a hand on his back, sending a soothing energy to his nerves.

"Draw the blood essence. Take a deep breath. Seal your restless thoughts. You cannot think of anything that can disrupt your mind."

His voice was cold but gentle.

Moon slowly relaxed. He murmured softly, "If you feel pain or feel like your soul is tearing..."

He wanted to say a solution to Axe, but found he himself did not know the solution.

He looked at the spirits sitting around him helplessly.

"If you feel pain or feel a pull in your soul, just endure," Lupine scoffed at Axe.

"Don’t even think about running away halfway, or I will pull out your soul myself!"

"You don’t do it like that. Endure, but if it is too much and feels like shattering, you should back out and cut ties. Maybe you will still live. You will just be an idiot though," Ghost Master shrugged.

"What’s the use of living like a fool? Just go all out and die," Lupine instantly retorted.

"Ayia... can you not make them nervous? It’s just a soul contract. Since he is not really a beast or fully human either, it’s a bit tricky.

But if something goes wrong, Lupine, Hollow, and Bane can still help guide him.

Just relax and draw your blood essence. Only one drop. You only have ten drops and will not replenish until you break through another small stage. With each level up your blood essence will rise," Xiao Hong comforted.

Moon nodded. He closed his eyes, relaxed his mind, and slowly drew out a drop of blood essence.

He pressed two fingers against his chest, guided a thin strand of blood essence from his heart, and forced it out through his fingertip.

The drop that fell onto the scroll was thicker than ordinary blood.

It carried a faint golden glow.

Axe’s eyes narrowed.

He felt a sudden heartache from the way the blood was drawn out, even though it was not his own.

He went first on purpose because he wanted to see how it worked.

Among them, his physique was hard and strong enough to withstand any anomaly or sudden shock. Ugo was a little weaker.

Nox was strong, but he was emotional. Axe doubted whether Nox could notice or describe any small changes.

Though this was only his assumption. In reality, Nox, though he acted childish, his observation was not bad. Even better than the others, or else he would not have been able to learn formations in just a few days.

He was just a little lovesick since childhood.

Axe followed Moon’s example and also forced out a drop of deep golden blood essence. The blood landed on top of Moon’s.

The scroll trembled as soon as their blood mixed.

Golden lines crawled out from the texture like living threads, wrapping around both their wrists and climbing up their arms.

The table was silent.

Even the usually talkative Lupine was watching eagerly. Ghost Master turned into a shadow and stood alert.

They wanted to see if Axe could really take this contract.

Moon felt his soul sea open slowly.

He felt a pull and pressure.

A lot of pressure pressed down on him. His eyes widened in shock. He had never heard of a beast putting pressure on the other party during a contract. Was it because this was an equal contract?

He didn’t have time to think about that. In front of him, the contract was slowly rolling, trying to seal their fate.

But on the other side, Axe’s face was not right. His face had turned a shade of red from suppressed pain.

Sweat dripped from his forehead.

Something was definitely wrong with him.