Chapter Eighty-Eight: An Irresistible Temptation (Fifth Update, Seeking Subscriptions)

The devil’s contract only cheats where ordinary people cannot see. It would never dare falsify anything in plain view; the contract witness is not so easily fooled.

If Immortal dared break the agreement, the ruler of Hell, Asmodeus, would punish him all the same.

With a flick of Immortal’s finger, the luminous screen before Chu Cheng shifted. The two orange-grade items vanished, replaced by a contract page.

“This is the contract. If there’s no problem, sign your name, and you’ll soon receive a powerful treasure!”

On exquisite parchment, adorned with intricate patterns, a contract stood written at its center.

It clearly stated that Chu Cheng was to leave this domain with Immortal’s consciousness within one day, after which he would receive a teleportation item that could send him at any time to Immortal’s palace, safely and without hindrance, to claim his reward.

“You may choose which treasure you want.”

“Blade of the Doombringer!”

“No problem!”

Immortal snapped his fingers again, and the item field on the contract was filled in with the Blade of the Doombringer.

“You need to specify that it is the Ancient Blade of the Doombringer, which grants the legacy of the Doombringer hero.”

“Of course!”

“Also, delete all the patterns on the parchment. Remove every decorative line as well. I only want a completely blank contract document, with no hidden layers, no ornamentation, and no concealed text or runes.”

Chu Cheng’s expression was serious as he stated each demand with deliberate clarity.

Sun Yu paused slightly and explained:

“These runes are what ensure the contract takes effect. They have no other meaning.”

Chu Cheng shook his head.

“You should know we are not ordinary humans. We know devils and demons very well. You can’t fool me. Do as I say, or I won’t sign.”

Immortal fell silent for a moment, then waved a hand. All the patterns and runes on the parchment before them vanished.

“Is this acceptable now?”

“Yes.”

Though he could still see loopholes in the contract, he did not care.

He placed his hand upon it. A faint radiance appeared across the page, and the words on it suddenly ignited one by one, flying off the parchment as sparks that drifted in the air and quickly gathered into a vortex.

Buzz.

The void trembled slightly. In that instant, he felt a gaze sweep across him, immeasurable as the abyss itself, before vanishing at once.

Chu Cheng understood that this was the witness to the contract: the gaze of Asmodeus, ruler of the Hell Winds. Its appearance meant the contract had taken effect, and neither side could alter it.

As the vortex slowly faded, the contract also dissolved into the void. From the center of Sun Yu’s forehead, a streak of light shot out and flew straight toward Chu Cheng.

He did not move, allowing it to sink into his brow.

Soon Immortal’s voice sounded in his mind:

“Now, take me out of this domain!”

Chu Cheng nodded.

“Of course!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sun Yu lying on the ground, rigid and ashen, looking all but dead, and asked curiously:

“Is he dead?”

“Of course.”

“What a pity.”

Immortal’s voice carried a trace of mockery.

“An idiot of a human, to think he could control a devil so easily. I only cooperated a little, and he thought he could borrow my power as he pleased!”

“You took his soul?”

“No. I signed a contract with one of his kin. The price for summoning me will be paid by his family.”

“But he showed disrespect toward a devil lord. Taking a sliver of his soul as punishment is something the contract cannot restrain!”

Chu Cheng silently thought:

“Return now.”

The contract stipulated a return within one day, so there would be no time to go to Gear City and cut gems. Time was too short.

After a brief countdown, the space before Chu Cheng began to shift, and he soon broke free of the Golden Wasteland instance domain.

Just after leaving the instance, before the teleportation was complete, that streak of light in his mind surged forth and exploded into a hideous devil’s head. Immortal laughed wildly:

“You clever fool, offer your soul to me!”

In the next instant, the devil’s head lunged straight toward the soul deep within his mind.

Chu Cheng cried out in panic:

“According to the contract, you can’t attack me.”

Immortal roared with laughter.

“Read the contract carefully. It states very clearly that we are forbidden from attacking each other during the contract period, but it does not define the contract’s duration or expiration.”

“Now that we’ve left that domain, I consider the contract fulfilled!”

As soon as the words fell, the contract appeared once more before Chu Cheng and burst into flames. Immortal’s smug voice sounded in his mind:

“I thought you were different from the other humans, but you’re no different at all. You couldn’t even see such a simple loophole.”

“Oh?”

Chu Cheng’s voice suddenly turned utterly calm.

“So the contract has been fulfilled now?”

“But according to the contract, you haven’t yet handed over what you promised me.”

“The contracted item is on me. Once our souls become one, mine will be yours.”

“Is that so?”

“Foolish human, merge with me. I will carry you—”

“Hm? What is this?”

“This can’t be. How can you—”

The voice began to cut in and out, as though the signal were bad.

Chu Cheng lowered his eyelids. In his mind appeared a massive cage of light, within which a streak of radiance hurled itself wildly back and forth, just like those void wills that had once entered his mind, unable to escape no matter what.

“In a sense, you’re probably no different from those void wills.”

A trace of mockery appeared on his face.

“If your projection were here, I really wouldn’t be able to do anything to a level-fifty being. But now there’s only this tiny fragment of will left.”

“So just settle down and become nourishment for my growth.”

He closed his eyes and waited quietly for the teleportation to end.

No one knew how much time passed before space trembled faintly and a ring of light appeared before him. He stepped out and returned to the academy teleportation square.

Quite a few students had already come back and were gathered in little groups chatting. Many of them greeted him warmly when they saw him.

He responded casually and turned to leave.

He hurried back to the dormitory, hung up a Do Not Disturb sign, and with a flip of his hand, a purple loot chest appeared in his grasp.

This was the reward chest obtained after extinguishing that fragment of Immortal’s will.

He opened it at once, and a ray of purple light burst out.

Looking more closely, there were only two items inside: a purple epic accessory and a scroll.

Devil Lord’s Will, Epic, Deep Purple

Equipment Type: Accessory

Requirements: Spirit 50, Intelligence 50

Attributes: Intelligence +20

Attributes: Spirit +20

Skill/Passive: Devil Lord’s Will. Each successful spell cast has a chance to awaken the power of the devil lord, increasing spell power by 400 for 20 seconds.

Evaluation: The lingering power of a devil lord, containing unfathomable strength.

Hell Lord’s Teleportation Scroll: After a 15-second cast, teleports you to the palace of the devil lord Immortal. With the blessing of Immortal’s power, you temporarily gain respected reputation and may remain for up to 1 hour before being automatically teleported away.

Tip: Teleporting there and teleporting back both require a safe 15-second cast.

“Hm, a caster accessory!”

Chu Cheng scratched his head, somewhat disappointed.

But that was normal enough; this was not a story reward, so it could not be tailored to suit him perfectly.

A devil lord possessed both formidable physical strength and powerful spellcasting ability, so the chances of getting a physical item or a caster item were the same.

Generally speaking, top-tier caster gear was worth far more than physical gear, so drawing this still counted as being lucky.

It was useless to him, but he could sell it or trade it for physical equipment suited to him. He wouldn’t lose out.