Chapter 217: The Tail of Fate
Nothing happened…
That purple Fate Potion seemed as if it existed only to mock Li Jiexuan: your fate is destined to end in failure!
"Typical of the system to kick someone when they're down…" Li Jiexuan felt his heart sink as he slowly closed his eyes, quietly waiting for death to arrive…
"Ding! Follower—Orochimaru has conquered Heg Town. Reward: one random summoning beast contract scroll." The system's voice remained as emotionless as ever. Li Jiexuan slowly opened his eyes, and something faintly flickered within his dark pupils.
"Fate…?"
Taking out that lowest-tier summoning beast contract, Li Jiexuan used all his remaining strength to slam it down. "Let me see… the power of fate!"
"Buzz…"
A faint glow flickered. The summoning contract slowly disappeared within the light. Nothing appeared—nothing seemed to change. Yet Li Jiexuan, whose eyes could barely remain open, slightly curled his lips into a smile…
"Salamander, open your mouth. The venom's used up." Seeing Li Jiexuan's aura fading, Hanzo smiled as he patted the salamander's mouth, then climbed inside, using a glass bottle to collect venom from its teeth.
The salamander had been Hanzo's companion since childhood. Rather than a mere summoned beast, it was more like a friend—family—an inseparable part of him!
Otherwise, he wouldn't be called Hanzo of the Salamander!
If there was anyone in this world Hanzo trusted one hundred percent, it would only be the salamander…
"You've gotten fatter again lately!"
Hanzo crawled fully into the salamander's mouth, collecting venom with his glass bottle. "Open wider. If you keep messing around, I won't buy you meat next time…"
"Crunch…"
The salamander's mouth suddenly snapped shut. Its sharp teeth, under absolute force, instantly crushed Hanzo into the finest minced flesh.
Even at the moment of his death, Hanzo naively believed the salamander closing its mouth slightly was just because it had grown fatter—or was simply playing around with him.
However…
In the salamander's ferocious eyes, there was no longer even a trace of gentleness toward Hanzo—only the savage brutality of a summoned beast remained!
As Hanzo's presence slowly dissipated into the air…
Li Jiexuan suddenly broke into a grin. Was this fate? It seemed to possess no power, yet also seemed capable of anything! Or rather, instead of fate, it was more like the protagonist's luck!
Even in that brief moment, Li Jiexuan realized just how fortunate it was to be the protagonist. Two words: invincible!
However, Li Jiexuan could feel this invincible state rapidly fading. The duration of the Fate Potion seemed extremely short…
"Looks like I still failed this story mission!" To cure the salamander's poison, it would take a master medical expert falling from the sky—but looking at this dense forest, even a wild man would have difficulty entering…
Li Jiexuan slowly closed his eyes. In the final second before losing consciousness, he sent all his summoned beasts back to the summoning space. This salamander might be his only gain from this mission—he had to keep it safe!
As the power of fate dissipated, Li Jiexuan's consciousness gradually faded as well. But at that very moment, a pale arm suddenly pushed aside the bushes at the edge of the forest.
"Behind the shrine is the Sanctuary, where inhumane human experiments are conducted. Behind the Sanctuary are the houses where the test subjects live. So what terrifying thing lies further beyond?" Following the clues and path, Tsunade—sent here by the Third Hokage to investigate—carefully parted the bushes…
"Li Jiexuan!" No matter how much Tsunade racked her brain, she would never have expected to find Li Jiexuan here alone—and seemingly gravely injured.
This time, the unconscious Li Jiexuan seemed to have grasped the tail of fate…