Chapter 12 The Deal

Sensing the calm thought process in Su Zhou's heart, the snake spirit swayed its tail with some surprise, making a slight rustling sound like a rattlesnake: "You're quite bold, aren't you? You've seen the madness of the Confraternity, and you know that I am a great existence from beyond the void, yet you can think so calmly and talk to me with such composure?"

"I don't want to die, but I'm not afraid of death, so why should I fear you?"

If I were afraid, I would have been scared to death by the wandering spirits all over the world ten years ago.

Hearing Yala's words, Su Zhou frowned subconsciously. He was silent for a while, and then said firmly: "Yala, I don't know exactly what the seal is, but I will definitely kill the members of the Confraternity. They dared to attack me and my friends, and they must pay the price."

"If you want to stop me, say it now, as part of the contract, and preferably, don't let me meet them, don't let me see them."

"It's all the same to me!"

Yala's tone was very nonchalant. It wrapped around Su Zhou's ear, gently bit his earlobe, and then hung there like a crystal-clear ruby pendant, starting to swing happily: "They just took my holy prayer book and formed that organization on their own. To be honest, it doesn't really have anything to do with me... In this world, most mysterious organizations and 'great existences' have this kind of relationship, tsk tsk~"

As it spoke, it sucked a little blood, and a small bulge appeared on its belly, making it look even more like a gem.

Blood. This was part of the contract. Su Zhou had to offer blood to maintain Yala's existence. Since there was no other creature's blood available now, he used his own. And as a perfect body repaired and transformed by the power of the snake spirit, Su Zhou's blood was also the most palatable to the snake spirit.

As for the consequences... Su Zhou's free will was not affected. He could violate the contract and refuse to maintain Yala's existence at any time, of course, he would also be punished by the contract. Although Su Zhou didn't have this idea now, this unexpected freedom was the biggest source of his confusion.

"Holy Snake Spirit... what exactly is it? If it is the ancient serpent Satan, how could there be such a generous contract? But if it is another snake god..."

At this moment, Su Zhou's heart was full of endless doubts: "Is it... is its true form a gathering of all snake gods?"

"Don't be confused."

Yala was connected to Su Zhou's mind. If Su Zhou didn't have the intention to hide anything, it would know. In response, the snake spirit chuckled: "It's not 'the snakes are me', but 'I am the snake'. I came first, and then the concept of 'all snakes' in the myriad worlds came into being—I am all, but all are not me."

"You should be the kind of person who can naturally awaken in the new era of the future. My power has also strengthened your talent, but right now, your strength is still too weak... Su Zhou, have you collected those things?"

"Yes."

Responding, Su Zhou put his phone into his pocket, and there, there were several jade-like beads, a silver metal pocket watch, and some wood chips and fruit tree wood powder packed in small bags.

These were his gains, powerful spiritual objects that he had never seen before.

Originally, they should have released light, but earlier, under Yala's guidance, Su Zhou had used his own blood and spiritual soil to perform a small ritual, temporarily 'sealing' their spiritual light.

The four azure beads were the eyeballs of Confraternity leader Sukra and the Bedouin elder—their bodies had turned into dust in the final spiritual energy burst of the Holy Snake Spirit's descent, leaving only these extracted 'extraordinary characteristics'. They had now condensed into azure jade-like spheres, giving Su Zhou a vague sense of closeness.

As for the metal pocket watch, Yala's attitude was one of undisguised 'disgust' and 'fear', even bluntly saying that this was the thing that caused its 'failed divine descent', preventing it from completely breaking free from the 'seal', and only allowed it to extract a part of its weak soul through its contract with him... This was also the reason why Su Zhou couldn't understand this snake spirit's thoughts.

Generally speaking, shouldn't this kind of extremely secret matter, related to one's own life and death, be concealed as much as possible? Or is it really as it said, 'never deceives' and 'never lies'?

Su Zhou couldn't feel any power from this pocket watch now, but Yala's reaction was strong. Although it told Su Zhou to put it away, it would never approach it.

As for the broken wood chips and fruit tree wood powder, according to Yala, although the power of these things had been partially lost, they still contained powerful divine power and spirituality. Holding them, ordinary wraiths, let alone harming, would be 'forcibly purified' just by approaching.

"Even if the Holy See's prestige wanted to compare with it, it would have to settle for decades first." This was Yala's evaluation.

In response, Su Zhou's plan was to make some jewelry pendants in the future, put a little of this wood chip in them, and give them to his relatives and friends, while keeping a piece for himself would be enough.

After all, in this moment when he clearly felt that the 'new era' and 'great tide' were coming, it was right to be prepared for everything, and it was his responsibility to protect his family and friends.

Su Zhou could feel the cool aura coming from the four jade beads stored close to his body. To put it in a not-so-appropriate analogy, it was a bit like applying wind oil or floral water.

The wood chips brought a sense of purity and holiness, making people feel very grounded.

The fruit tree wood powder, because it was in a bag, didn't feel so strong, but when he touched it before, he had a strange feeling, as if he was sitting under the shade of a tree, with a cool breeze on his head.

Only that metal pocket watch.

That silver pocket watch, clearly had no magical properties, but it always attracted his attention.

"The four jade beads can be used as the introduction to the ritual. After you settle down, I will guide you to the door, and you can cultivate the supreme cultivation method of my lineage."

"As for the origin and origin of those wood chips and fruit tree wood powder... hey, you would never guess that they are treasures that even the gods of the ancient era might not be able to obtain!"

This time, Yala's voice was gentle, but it didn't contain the previous cheerful emotions. Instead, there was a trace of calm sanctity: "Of course, you can choose to accept all of this, or choose not to. But I won't deceive you, Su Zhou."

"I won't seize your body, I won't modify your consciousness, and I won't use any means to harm you. I know, you may suspect, or you may not believe it, but in reality, for me, the stronger you are, the more karma you can take over—I'm not afraid for you to know, the stronger you are, the more I can break free from the seal and regain my freedom. And for me and 'Them', such supreme existences, freedom is the only thing, everything else is just fleeting clouds."

As it said this, Yala revealed a trace of insignificant aura, but even so, it contained endless solemnity, like the truth of the operation and cycle of the myriad worlds.

"But there is a condition, and that is 'you' cannot be 'me'. You must be a 'completely independent and powerful' individual in order to bear my karma, so that I can break free from 'emptiness'—Su Zhou, you are the 'covenant person' I have chosen, one of the few hopes I have in this era."

"So you must become stronger, strong enough to bear everything."

"Is that so."

The snake spirit's voice echoed in his mind. Su Zhou was noncommittal about this, and he didn't express whether he believed it or not.

However, the teenager, who had walked out of the cycle of death and life once, unconsciously revealed a smile: "At least it sounds reasonable... then. Yala."

"This is your agreement with me."