The Almighty Ring

“Soul Contract? To become his servant?”

The Ten-Headed Guardian Lion was extremely ticked when Soulcutter suggested it. In any other situation, the pride of a Primordial Celestial, or his own love for freedom, would never allow himself to serve others. However, the Human adventurer that was tugging his fur was truly intimidating. Who knew what he would do if he was angry. Then again, it was better to live as a powerful being’s servant than to die meaninglessly.

“There, I’ve given you a path to live. It’s up to you whether you want to take it,” said Soulcutter before flashing back into the sheath. Even though he was a little disgruntled about becoming Jiang Fei’s weapon, he was not any happier when he was still free. He was this very same Guardian Lion’s servant!

When the Guardian Lion mentioned about treating Soulcutter nicely, it was when Soulcutter was serving him as his underling. As a matter of fact, he was really good as an underling. However, Soulcutter only mentioned soul contract because of an old grudge. If the Guardian Lion offered his soul contract to Jiang Fei, he would be effectively lowering himself to the same rank as Soulcutter. That kind of ending that would sate Soulcutter.

“Sigh…” the Guardian Lion sighed under his breath and said, “my lord, I am willing you follow you if you would spare my life!”

“Hoo? Are you saying you would be mine?” Jiang Fei clarified again.

“Yes. As long as I live, I shall become your most loyal servant!” said the Guardian Lion with pride. Even though there was a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice, it was better than dying meaninglessly.

“Interesting… Before you do so, I want to see that treasure of yours!” said Jiang Fei with an evil grin. That was his plan all along—to completely own the Primordial Celestial. However, that did not mean that he would give up on the treasure now that he had mentioned it.

“Yes! Immediately!” cried the Guardian Lion. Since he was already offering himself to Jiang Fei, there was no meaning in keeping the treasure to himself.

The Lion materialized a silver box. When opened, it revealed a bright red light.

“Eh… A Holy item…?” said Jiang Fei, a little disheartened. Although it was a valuable tier, it was disappointing to see a Primordial Celestial to have only that tier.

“My lord, this is no ordinary Holy item!” said the Guardian Lion immediately when it noticed that Jiang Fei was not satisfied with it.

“What is it?” Jiang Fei asked, without being too overly curious.

“Have a look at it yourself.”

Ginseng Fruit (Spirit Fruit, Holy)

Use: Immediately increase 10 Levels.

Note: Effective only for High Celestial or under.

“HOLY SH*T INDEED!” Jiang Fei thought to himself. Unfortunately, his expression betrayed him.

“My lord, I know this Spirit Fruit would not be of any use to yourself but it would be extremely useful for your underlings!” said the Guardian Lion. He had kept this Ginseng Fruit for some time and wanted to give it to one of his better underlings. Unfortunately, all of them were killed off by Miluya. Since he was becoming someone else’s underling, the Fruit served no purpose but to please his master. He himself was already a High Celestial and could not use it for himself.

“Good,” said Jiang Fei, nodding slowly. To be honest, Jiang Fei was extremely pleased with the gift since he would be able to make further progress in a flash. Most importantly, he could ascend to Intermediate Celestial and use the powerful destructive effects of Celestial Kapla during his ascension to destroy the altar.

“Master, please accept this as a token of my loyalty!” said the Guardian Lion when the metal was hot. Jiang Fei was extremely pleased with it and might even grant the Guardian Lion a path to live!

As such, without wasting time, the Guardian Lion quickly knelt down and conjured up a contract that would immediately give Jiang Fei ownership of himself. A master and servant contract.

“Eh?”

Stumped, Jiang Fei was dumbstruck when he noticed that the contract could not be accepted! The Guardian Lion’s contract would only allow Jiang Fei to use him in two ways. The first being a mount and the second was a pet. Jiang Fei’s mount was a special Evolved Skygliding Dragon which prohibited Jiang Fei from taking a new mount. Even if the Guardian Lion was a hundred times stronger than the Skygliding Dragon, there was no means to use the Guardian Lion as a mount!

On the other hand, when he tried to accept the Guardian Lion as his pet, the system automatically rejected it. Besides Hunters and special class, all other players could only own one pet. Although Akatziris was missing, the pet slot in Jiang Fei’s character profile was not empty. It was still being occupied albeit being an error message. Something was wrong and Jiang Fei did not like it.

“F*ck!” Jiang Fei vented in frustration. He had never expected it to turn out this way!

“My lord?” the Guardian Lion asked when Jiang Fei was not accepting the contract he was offering.

“Big brother, do you not like him? Miluya asked whilst tugging his armor.

“Mm?” Jiang Fei turned and saw Miluya gazing at him with a particular look.

“Miluya? Do you want to ride him?” he asked.

“Yes! Very much so!” Miluya replied with eyes that sparkled with interest.

“Alright then. You can have him!” said Jiang Fei, smiling kindly at her. Since he was unable to take ownership of the Guardian Lion, it was best to let the little girl have him instead. At the very least, even if he could not directly own him, it was still within the “family”.

“Yay! Thank you, big brother!” Miluya cheered, not knowing that Jiang Fei was unable to accept the Guardian Lion. She had genuinely thought that Jiang Fei was being extremely caring for her.

“Little lion, would you take me on rides? I get lonely sometimes…” said Miluya after she had accepted the contract and became the Guardian Lion’s new owner.

Although the Guardian Lion knew that the girl was his new master and would not hurt him, the feeling of being touched by the hands of the killer that had just effortlessly killed all ten of his underlings was terrifying.

“Miluya, let me help you up! Sit tight and let’s move forward,” said Jiang Fei as he helped Miluya to mount the giant Guardian Lion. Right then, Jiang Fei was armed with the Ginseng Fruit. He now had the means to destroy the altar and finish the mission!

“Alright. I will go wherever you go, big brother!” said Miluya happily. He was her only companion for as long as she could remember. She had developed a strong emotional connection with Jiang Fei.

Riding the powerful Guardian Lion, Miluya moved slowly to follow Jiang Fei’s slow pace. Even though he had two powerful “guardians” with him, Jiang Fei did not dare to carelessly run into the unknown. He used the mini-map to his advantage, avoiding all the Primordials that he could detect to avoid any fights.