Chapter 279: Not Human
"Teacher..."
After standing still for a long time, Zhu Zhuqing finally stepped forward, breaking the harmonious and peaceful atmosphere between the two. She looked at the innocent faced Alan and, pretending to be puzzled, asked, "Who is this?"
Before Ye Cheng could answer, Alan spoke up first, introducing herself with a bright smile, "Hello~ My name is Alan, and I am Cheng's contract partner. Nice to meet you." Her lively demeanor showed no signs of shyness or formality just pure, unfiltered innocence.
Her completely unguarded attitude momentarily stunned Zhu Zhuqing, but what caught her attention the most was the term "contract partner."
Was this what she thought it was?
Could it be that this woman wasn't human?!
"You? A contract partner? Are you a soul beast?" Zhu Zhuqing hesitated. If this woman was indeed a soul beast, then why did she still seem so weak?
According to the information revealed in the video projections, when a soul beast signed a contract, they were supposed to share the strength of their human partner.
But from what Zhu Zhuqing could sense, this woman wasn't even at the level of an Ultimate Douluo. With Teacher's god level power, even if he had contracted a mere 100,000 year old soul beast, it should have instantly reached the half god level.
So why was she still this weak?
"Yes, I am a 100,000 year old Blue Silver Grass," Alan admitted without hesitation, revealing her identity.
She didn't mention that she was the Blue Silver Emperor, mainly because most people wouldn't understand the difference between normal Blue Silver Grass and the Blue Silver Emperor.
Rather than wasting time explaining, she simplified it after all, the Blue Silver Emperor was just a higher grade version of Blue Silver Grass. So technically, she wasn't lying.
"Teacher, did you really form a contract with her?" Zhu Zhuqing turned to Ye Cheng with a questioning gaze.
She couldn't understand why would her teacher sign a contract with such a weak soul beast?
Zhu Zhuqing was well aware that the Blue Silver Grass was actually the Blue Silver Emperor after all, her teacher had taught her that himself.
But even with great potential, in her eyes, a Blue Silver Grass was simply unworthy of her teacher.
After all, there were far better choices
Like pure blooded dragon species.
Or even...
The Silver Dragon King, ruler of all soul beasts!
Any of those choices would be far superior to a mere Blue Silver Grass.
So why this one?
Could it be because she was beautiful?
As soon as the thought entered her mind, Zhu Zhuqing quickly shook her head and dismissed it.
Ridiculous!
No soul master would sacrifice their own future potential just to form a contract with a pretty soul beast.
A soul master's choice of contract partner was extremely important they were bound for life.
A contract meant they shared everything success and failure, strength and weakness.
As the creator of the soul beast contract system, there was no way her teacher would make such an irrational decision.
Ye Cheng met Zhu Zhuqing's gaze and, with a slight smile, confirmed, "Yes, Alan is my contracted soul beast."
"But... why?!"
Zhu Zhuqing was completely confused.
If this were an anime, multiple question marks would be floating above her head right now.
"Zhuqing, calm down."
Ye Cheng chuckled, gesturing for her to relax. Once she seemed a little more composed, he explained,
"The contract I formed with Alan is a newly developed version of my original soul beast contract. This new contract has been modified it allows the contractee to freely choose whether or not to share power with their partner. In other words, I can control whether or not Alan receives my strength, rather than the contract forcing us into an equal power sharing relationship.
Furthermore, this new contract removes the limit on the number of soul beasts a human can contract. In theory, a soul master can contract as many soul beasts as they want though, of course, there's no real need for that."
Hearing this explanation, Zhu Zhuqing finally let out a sigh of relief.
Truthfully, the main reason she was so anxious wasn't just because she was worried about Alan being a burden.
It was because of a much deeper fear
That over time, these two would develop feelings for each other.
After all, the future video projections had shown that when a male soul master and a female soul beast formed a contract, it was not uncommon for them to fall in love and eventually become a couple.
It made sense.
A contract meant that they became each other's most trusted partner.
And since soul beasts could transform into human form, they were usually stunningly attractive.
Under such conditions, it was inevitable that some soul masters would fall for their contracted soul beast.
But this new contract was different.
It was no longer a lifelong, binding contract with only one soul beast.
Humans could form contracts with multiple soul beasts.
And since power sharing was optional, they were no longer completely intertwined.
This meant that the relationship between humans and soul beasts became much more distant.
Rather than a symbiotic partnership, it was more like a strategic alliance.
For soul beasts, the contract was a way to bypass heavenly tribulations and the restrictions placed on them by the gods, allowing them to become deities.
For humans, it simply meant having an additional contracted partner who could provide power when necessary.
And since the number of contracts was no longer limited to just one…
Wait.
A terrifying realization suddenly struck Zhu Zhuqing.
Her face drained of color.
"Teacher… you're not planning to make this public, are you?"
Ye Cheng's new contract system was completely different from the original version.
It was heavily skewed in favor of humans.
Zhu Zhuqing could already predict what would happen
If this new contract method became widely known, the soul beast race would suffer immensely.
The original soul beast contract system was created to help humans and soul beasts coexist peacefully.
But this new version?
It would lead to one sided oppression.
Rather than coexistence, it would become enslavement.
Once it spread, soul beasts would no longer be partners they would be tools.
Zhu Zhuqing had spent years broadening her worldview.
She no longer saw things from a narrow, personal perspective but instead considered the bigger picture.
She knew this new contract system was dangerous.
Even though she was sure that her teacher had already considered these risks, she couldn't help but worry.
"No," Ye Cheng shook his head.
"If I ever make this public, I will only reveal the original version of the contract. This modified version is not suitable for mass use it would only cause division. Right now, our biggest enemy is still the Abyss. A civil war between humans and soul beasts would be disastrous."
"In times like these, every bit of unity counts."
"Humans alone cannot defeat the Abyss."
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