Chapter 205 - 201: Go! Spirit-Control Orb!
Bai Qi gathered up Tian Zhong and He Shang’s Poisonous Snake Necklaces, as well as the body of the Black Python. He then released a breath of dragon fire to clear away any remaining evidence, before retracing his path to their original location.
If the ferocious beasts of the Black Python Tribe were operating in this area, their base could not be far from here. It was likely that other beasts might come to investigate, and if any of them were king level or higher, they wouldn’t be as relaxed as they were now.
Indeed, not long after they departed, two giant pythons appeared. Besides the breath of the skeleton dragon, they detected no other presence of any significance.
“Why would the Dragon Race operate here? Could it be that some secret realm has been discovered?”
“Are you a fool? The Dragon Race wouldn’t be interested in the secret realms found here. We need to report to Lord Black Water immediately. The Federation maybe on the move.”
“So, you fear that the Federation will take action against us?”
“Of course! According to our spies, the humans have found another legendary giant dragon. They may seize this chance to attack us.”
“We must rush back then!”
Meanwhile, Bai Qi and Bai Qiucha quickly returned to the vicinity of the Stone Tower Secret Realm. They only stopped after confirming no pursuers were trailing them.
Bai Qiucha glanced over his shoulder, and said, “We should be safe here. The Black Python Tribe would not venture this far.”
Bai Qi nodded in agreement. This area was close to the Federation, and if high- level creatures of the Black Python Tribe approached, it would definitely draw the attention of the Federation’s snare.
Unless the Black Python Tribe planned to go to war with the Federation, they would not dare to risk venturing too closely.
“Let’s stop here for today and continue our training tomorrow morning.”
Looking at the darkening sky, Bai Qi bade Bai Qiucha farewell and returned to his own secret realm.
“Whew, this day has been more fulfilling than the intense training days.”
First, Alpha awakened his transcendent skill – Sword of Death, then they discovered a way to further strengthen Delta, and finally they encountered a Beast Soul Warrior. It had been a fruitful day.
“I better process the spoils first.”
Bai Qi summoned all four of his pets, then began to distribute the materials found on the Black Python.
“Split half and give it to Cha, the poison gland to Gamma and Schuckey, the bones to Alpha and Six Corpse for soup, the scales can be used to enhance the defenses of Gamma and Delta, and the meat for everyone to freshen up their meals. Yes, that should do it.”
After Bai Qi finished allocating the materials, Alpha got to work. The large snake corpse was quickly deconstructed into numerous parts.
Awoo-
(I’ve been thinking about going vegetarian lately, so I’ll pass.)
Click Pluck Click Pluck?
(Beta, you don’t want it? Then Gamma will eat it for you.)
Thump Thump!
(Thank you, Master!)
Gamma and Delta immediately began devouring their share. The flesh of a fifth-stage creature was a huge tonic for them, especially for the lowest-level Delta, which could increase its energy value.
Watching his four pets enjoying their meal, Bai Qi nodded in satisfaction. He then began to study the Poisonous Snake Necklace he had recovered from Tian Zhong.
Perhaps because the Black Python was already dead, the necklace had lost its original luster, but the overall structure was very well-preserved.
“Schuck, help me extract all the runes on it.”
Bai Qi handed the necklace to Schuck, who immediately understood what to do. He scanned the Poisonous Snake Necklace, and a holographic image of the necklace appeared.
Bai Qi fiddled with the holographic image, removing all irrelevant parts until only a complicated array was left.
“No doubt, the slave contract used by the Founding Emperor Period to bind Ferocious Beasts was evolved from the Ferocious Beast Tribe.”
Looking at the array, which structurally resembled the Slave Contract, Bai Qi immediately brightened.
The other features didn’t matter, but the function of remote contracting and control was worth his attention.
“Schuck, list all the runes separately and compare them with the Slave Contract, then identify the different runes.”
“Acknowledged.”
The night passed quickly. Having been well-fed, Gamma was still in deep sleep, while Delta was already undertaking its daily ramming training. Next to it was the Six Corpse, who was training with Alpha.
As for Schuck, he was accompanying Bai Qi in his lab, studying the Poisonous Snake Necklace in detail.
“As expected, humans aren’t the only ones who’ve evolved over time. The Ferocious Beasts have also made considerable advances over the years.”
Bai Qi looked at the nearly-decomposed array in front of him and a smile appeared on his face.
Although the runes used by the Black Python Tribe were somewhat different from the ancient runes in the Emperor’s Secret Realm, and the array was distinctly more complex, with Schuck’s cooperation, Bai Qi was able to roughly understand the structure of the array on the Poisonous Snake Necklace.
The structure of the array on the Poisonous Snake Necklace was similar to that of the slave contract, but the Black Python Tribe had added a lot of runes to enhance control and extraction efficiency on top of that.
However, Bai Qi was not interested in these runes. He focused on the other parts.
“Spirit Power storage and amplification structure, is this a kind of a WiFi signal booster?”
The reason why the Black Python could remotely communicate with them through Tian Zhong’s body relied on the amplification feature of this necklace. Otherwise, with the power shown by the Black Python, it wouldn’t have been able to carry out such a trick.
“If I make a spirit power storage device following this pattern, it should trigger the second-tier rune without a contract, right?”
Bai Qi worked on the holographic projection for a while, removing all irrelevant runes, keeping only the most fundamental storage and amplification structure, then looked at Husky and said, “Schuck, make a similar apparatus based on this rune.”
Although the Poisonous Snake Necklace obviously made on a considerable scale, the metal used was clearly designed for spirit power conduction, but Bai Qi wasn’t interested in it at all.
With Etherium Liquid Gold at his disposal, he had no need to search for other metals.
“Understood.”
Schuck nodded, splitting off a thread of Etherium Liquid Gold to construct the basic rune structure, and then gave it a shell.
Very quickly, a dog head pendant was presented to Bai Qi.
“When did you start sharing Beta’s peculiar taste, Schuck…”
Bai Qi looked at the peculiar dog head pendant in his hand, his eye twitching slightly.
“I didn’t complete the final step.”
Confronted by Bai Qi’s questioning, Schuck promptly heaped the blame on Beta, who guiltily avoided their gaze.
*Woofwoofl*
(This is art, you guys don’t understand.)
“Fine. As long as it works the same.”
Sighing, Bai Qi infused the pendant with spirit power. One by one the runes on the pendant lit up, until Bai Qi was unable to channel any more spirit power into it; only then did it finally return to tranquillity.
“Just as expected.”
Witnessing the successful experiment, Bai Qi nodded contentedly.
The spirit power storage device was ready. As long as he optimized the second – stage evolution process of the runes, there should be no more problems.
No sooner had he thought of this than Bai Qi instantly called up the second-tier runes, keeping only the most basic spirit power-energy conduction structure, and left an input port for the storage device; thus, a complete second-tier evolution process for the runes was finalized.
“Once we return, I need to test it on a skeleton soldier and adjust it accordingly. Then it should be flawless.”
Bai Qi stretched lazily, about to turn off the projection and rest for a while, but lay eyes on the rune on the Poisonous Snake Necklace from which he’d removed everything but a simple contract structure which birthed a new thought in him.
“If I activate the contract rune array from a distance using a spirit power storage device, it shouldn’t be counted as a contract space, right?”
In the Stone Tower Secret Realm…
Having waited for quite some time, Bai Qiucha suddenly looked up to see an excited Bai Qi in front of her, and asked, “Are you okay? Why did you stay in the secret realm for so long?”
“I’m fine. Just tinkered with something and thought I’d test it on a ferocious beast.”
Bai Qiucha raised her eyebrows at his words, remembering the Poisonous Snake Necklace that Bai Qi had taken earlier, and asked, “Are you planning to test that necklace on beasts?”
“Sort of, though I modified it a bit.”
Bai Qi nodded and Bai Qiucha upon hearing it, quickly cautioned, “Don’t, remember the incidents in the past about people trying to steal beast souls using ferocious beasts? It always ends badly.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t want our teacher to denounce me.”
Bai Qi chuckled and countered,
“By the way, didn’t you mention once that all your seven contract spaces are occupied by the Skeleton Dragon?”
Bai Qiucha nodded, responding, “Yes, when my dad had me contract with the Skeleton Dragon, all of my contract spaces were taken up by it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to withstand the Skeleton Dragon’s power.”
“So that means it is absolutely impossible for you to contract any additional pets now?”
“That’s correct.”
Bai Qiucha looked at Bai Qi curiously. “Why? Is there a problem?”
Bai Qi revealed a reassured smile on his face, took out a red and white metallic orb, and offered it to Bai Qiucha, “Do you want to contract another pet?”
Taken by surprise at his words, Bai Qiucha was looking at the high-tech orb in her hand. “Contract a pet? With this?”
Bai Qi nodded. “However, it’s still in the experimental phase, so I’m not sure how it will work.”
After the thought of activating contract runes using the Spirit Power Storage Device occurred, Bai Qi hadn’t been able to stop himself. He immediately started working on it till he made a finished product just now.
He initially intended to find an unawakened person to try it out, but now that he had an excellent guinea pig in front of him, there was no need to go far.
Hearing Bai Qi’s words, Bai Qiucha was momentarily speechless.
For humanity to contract pets, the one and only method was through rune marks—contracting pets via mechanical devices seemed far-fetched, let alone for someone whose contract spaces were fully occupied.
But seeing Bai Qi’s anticipation to try it out, Bai Qiucha didn’t outright reject him. Instead, she asked, “What’s the name of this device? How do I operate it?”
Bai Qi explained, “It’s quite simple to use. Infuse the button with spirit power, look for a pet, and toss it. As for the name, I was thinking of calling it the Spirit…forget that, how about Spirit-Control Orb?”
“Don’t forget to yell out, ‘Go! Spirit-Control Orb!’ before you throw it.”