All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 26

“Brother Cheng, thank you for this time.”

The Scattered Stars Inn was bustling with activity. After this night, the two groups would head towards different destinations.

“No need for formalities, General Song. It was just a small favor. Next, are you going to patrol the south again?” Cheng Lu asked, raising his wine cup.

“That’s right. This world has never known peace. We don’t know when the Nightmares will launch a sneak attack, just like this time,” Song Yi’s eyes showed some fatigue. He wasn’t afraid of hardship or toil, just of the endless nature of it. The war with the Nightmares had continued for ten thousand years, with no end in sight. It was a war without a visible conclusion.

“Sometimes I wonder, if there were no Nightmares, what would I be doing now? Would I be running a martial arts School or a security escort agency?” Song Yi said with a slightly tipsy expression.

Cheng Lu shook his head and smiled bitterly, “Without Nightmares, would there be no war? The ten human countries all have their conflicts. I think you’d probably still be a general, just with humans as enemies instead of Nightmares.”

“Among the ten human countries, the Eastern Kingdom, Rising Sun Kingdom, and Blazing Earth Kingdom form one major camp. Azure Mountain, Jade Mist, Sleeping Dragon, and Rain Falls form another camp. The Thousand Charms Empire maintains neutrality. The mysterious Ancient Sun-Chasing Country and Eternal Night Country, though not participating in competition with other countries, are hostile to each other. It’s thanks to Thunder Lord’s proposed Alliance and academy integration plan that the countries have deepened their exchanges. The complex interpersonal relationships have diffused conflicts, leading to today’s peaceful situation,” Song Yi sighed.

The five Alliances Song Yi mentioned were the Spirit Contract Alliance, Beast Contract Alliance, Weapon Contract Alliance, Jade Mountain Night Alliance, and Profound Knowledge Alliance. These Alliances weren’t divided by countries, but by different cultivation methods and realms.

The eight top academies were distributed throughout the Myriad Spirits Realm. Entering any of these academies could change one’s life trajectory. They were:

The Empire’s First United Academy, First Royal Academy, Martial Might Academy, Jade Mountain Academy, Thousand Charms Academy, Path-Seeking Academy, Sun-Chasing Academy, and Night Capital Academy.

“Brother Cheng, once you break through, you can also become a general. Then we’ll have plenty of chances to fight side by side. Come, let’s have one last drink,” Song Yi clinked glasses with Cheng Lu one last time before they parted ways.

At daybreak, Song Yi headed south towards Sun City, while Cheng Lu’s team continued north.

Due to the full load of illumination Stones, the carriages moved slowly. The wilderness scenery wasn’t pleasant, and the long journey left both people and horses tired.

“Cloud Peak Inn is just ahead. After Cloud Peak Inn, the next one is Mountain River Inn. The teleportation formation is next to Mountain River Inn. Through that formation, we can enter the Northern Territory,” Cheng Lu explained to Zhanyue beside him.

“Captain, the inns along this route are really close together. Basically, we can reach the next inn in one day,” Zhanyue breathed a sigh of relief. After walking all day, they could finally rest. The delivery task was quite monotonous, far less exciting than that night’s action.

Cheng Lu smiled, “It’s not that good everywhere. The Eastern Kingdom’s finances aren’t unlimited. It’s just that this route is quite prosperous, a key commercial route, so the inns are dense. Other places may not have so many inns. By the way, from Cloud Peak Inn to Mountain River Inn, it’s a day’s ride on fast horses, but we’re moving slowly with the cargo. We’ll probably have to camp in the wilderness tomorrow night. I’ll tell you about the precautions for camping in the wild then.”

“I’m all ears,” Zhanyue replied. The wilderness was very dangerous, but sometimes camping was unavoidable. There was much he needed to learn.

They stayed at Cloud Peak Inn for a night without incident, rested well, and set out early the next day towards Mountain River Inn.

By the time the sun was setting, they were still far from reaching Mountain River Inn.

“Set up camp, prepare for the night,” Cheng Lu ordered. The entire caravan immediately stopped, and everyone got busy, seemingly setting up some kind of formation.

Cheng Lu threw a book to Zhanyue, “This book records three sets of formations. You must understand all of them in the future. Take a good look.”

Zhanyue opened the formation book, which even included methods for setting up high-level formations. But he quickly realized that these formations were only for dealing with Nightmares, so various factions were very generous in making the setup methods public. As for formations that could deal with humans, those were treasures of various factions and wouldn’t be allowed to spread easily.

“Junior Light Formation: Requires 30 illumination Stones to set up. Covers an area of four square meters. Can drive away low-level Nightmares and intimidate mid-level Nightmares. Suitable for camping in the wilderness. The formation can last for one day.” Seeing this, Zhanyue knew that the other soldiers were currently busy setting up Junior Light Formations. They first surrounded the carriages, setting up formations around the cargo, then set up camp within the formations. Each tent could sleep 3 people.

“Intermediate Light Formation: Requires 3,000 illumination Stones to set up. Covers an area of one li (about 500 meters). Can drive away or even kill mid-level Nightmares. The formation can last for three days.”

“Advanced Light Formation: Requires 100,000 illumination Stones to set up. Covers an area of ten li. Can defend against high-level Nightmares. The formation can last for seven days and nights.”

The top-level formation could even defend against high-level Nightmares, but the consumption was terrifyingly high. Seven days and nights required 100,000 illumination Stones. They were only transporting tens of thousands of illumination Stones on this trip. Even a month’s surplus from the entire Sun City wasn’t enough to set up one Advanced Light Formation. It was clear that this formation could only be used at very critical times.

As night fell, over a dozen Junior Light Formations shone brightly in the darkness. With these formations, they naturally didn’t fear attacks from mid-level Nightmares. Unfortunately, setting up the formation once required 30 illumination Stones and only lasted one night. Such an expensive cost wasn’t something ordinary people could afford.

“Brother Zhan, rest well. There are people on guard outside,” Cheng Lu lay in his military bedroll inside the tent, looking at the tent ceiling, lost in thought.

“Brother Zhan, where is your home?” Cheng Lu asked curiously. He couldn’t place Zhanyue’s accent.

“A very far place. I came here with a merchant caravan,” Zhanyue had already prepared this backstory.

“Do you miss home?” Cheng Lu asked again.

“Home?” Zhanyue looked at the watch on his left hand. His family members had passed away one by one, with possibly only his mentor left as a close relation. So he didn’t feel much out of place after crossing over to this world, as he had few attachments.

“Seems I asked a question I shouldn’t have,” Cheng Lu apologized. “I’m not from Sun City. My hometown is in Solar Corona City, a small city on the edge of the Eastern Kingdom. There’s really no future there, so I came to Sun City. Somehow I ended up in the military, somehow became the captain of the Youth Guard. Military tasks are frequent, and the last time I went home was five years ago. I don’t know if my younger brother and sister still remember me. When I enter the Profound Realm and get promoted to general, I’ll definitely ask the City Lord for a long leave to go back and visit. It’ll be a glorious return home.”

“Hasn’t Big Brother Cheng considered bringing your family to Sun City? It would be convenient to take care of them,” Zhanyue asked curiously.

Cheng Lu explained, “Two words: no money. My salary isn’t low, but my family line has a hereditary disease. My father and brother unfortunately developed it. This chronic disease is a real money pit. The cost of living in Sun City isn’t low. If I brought them all here, I couldn’t afford it. Letting them save some money for medicine in the border city is better. At least that small city is under an illumination Tower, so their safety isn’t a concern.”

“How much would it cost to cure their disease?” Zhanyue asked curiously.

Cheng Lu shook his head bitterly, “It’s incurable. I’ve sought medical advice for years, and no one has a solution. I’ve heard that in the Thousand Charms Empire, there are four great families with ancient alchemy inheritances. If they were to help, there might be a way. Unfortunately, firstly, the Thousand Charms Empire is far away, and secondly, I have no connections to seek medicine there.”

“The Thousand Charms Empire? Is that the country with the only female emperor? I’ve heard they have many ancient ruins and inheritances, with alchemy and artifact refining skills far surpassing ours. Although coveted by outsiders, those who try to take advantage of them always come to grief. Even the two mysterious countries, the Ancient Sun-Chasing Country and Eternal Night Country, are very polite to the Thousand Charms Empire. This is also the confidence behind the Thousand Charms Empire maintaining neutrality for a thousand years,” Zhanyue recalled what he had read in books.

As the two chatted idly, a pair of eyes had already locked onto their tent.

“When that kid walks out of the tent tomorrow morning, it will be the moment of his death,” the black-robed man hidden in the night played with a blood-colored throwing knife in his hand. Then he took out a red jade token from his bosom, carefully caressing it. “Last mission, I unexpectedly obtained this treasure. I didn’t choose to hand it over, and the leader didn’t notice. It seems the leader isn’t omniscient after all. All that talk about loyalty and dedication, in the end they still put poison in us to hold our lives hostage, making us carry out missions. This body is just their tool. After this mission is completed, my points should be enough to exchange for a year’s worth of antidote. With this token, I can at least stay in that place for a year. I’ll definitely find a way to remove the poison. Then I’ll truly be free.”

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