We headed back to the city, walking mostly in silence, as we were both tired. I was still okay, I was used to it, you could say. But Zhou Ming had clearly overexerted herself. Watching her, I clearly understood that she didn't want to fall behind someone she had recently surpassed; it was a good incentive for development. Maybe I should help her with that?
"What's your second element?" I asked, deciding that the more strong mages, the better. Of course, I can't create an army of gods; a lot depends on the mages' own aspirations, and Zhou Ming currently has the right mindset for a breakthrough.
"Huh? Second element? Where did you get that?" she turned and asked with wide eyes. I just slapped my forehead; that was too stupid.
"Didn't you say yourself that you reached the middle level? So I'm asking what second element you awakened," I asked, slowly losing patience.
"Ah," she replied, lowering her head. "I don't like talking about it," she said honestly.
"But you want to know how I became so strong, don't you?" I asked her, as it was clearly visible. I had to approach it from another angle to make her stronger; I couldn't tell her directly how to become stronger; she had to ask for it herself.
"Yes, how did you become so strong in just a year?" she asked, forgetting my previous question.
"It's all thanks to training," I replied, shrugging. "I wanted to be able to kill the monsters that destroyed the city I lived in for so long, so I thought I could kill them with daggers. If you were asking about the daggers," I told a slightly embellished story.
"Ah, can you teach me how to use them?" she asked, jumping towards me with burning eyes.
"First, tell me what your second element is. All mages have their own fighting style, dictated by their elements and preferences. Skills can be acquired if desired," I explained calmly. Everything was going exactly as I had planned; now it was just a matter of technique, and Zhou Ming would owe me, or even...
"I have the element of ice," she said, kicking the ground with her foot, her voice barely audible. The image of a warrior combining ice and fire immediately flashed in my mind, turning enemies into ice statues with one hand and into embers with the other. "It's not that I don't like it, it's just... A few people have opposite elements. So I don't talk about it much."
"Are you shy?" I immediately asked after such words. For me, such a combination of elements was very interesting. Firstly, purely from an aesthetic point of view, it was an incredible opportunity to properly nurture and develop the power, and it would be wonderfully captivating to kill. Yes, Asura also looked at Zhou Ming with burning eyes. Secondly, she could allow me to study the combinations of ice and fire element stars, as well as their fusion. I don't think it's an impossible task if I research ways to compose stars.
"No, it's just that when I told my friend about it, she started laughing at me. That hurt me, and I decided to hide it. Besides you, no one else knows about my second element," Zhou Ming said, lowering her head.
"Damn her!" Asura shouted in my head, unable to contain himself. He usually stays silent during conversations so as not to interfere. "Is she really stupid or pretending! Because one idiot laughed at another, the second decided to limit her power." I agreed with him, recalling my memories of Zhou Ming's last mention in the original.
As far as I remember, it was during the Xi'an disaster when Mo Fan escaped and Xiao Hou met his friends. After a small feast, they went to help Zhou Ming with her duty on the wall, just like I am now; it's quite a funny twist of fate. Back then, Zhou Ming showed the power of almost the third stage of the middle level of fire. I still remember her saying that she would soon be able to use the third-stage spell of the Nine Fiery Palaces.
But there was no mention of the second element, or any description of its use. This means we can assume that after her friend's mockery, she never showed it and possibly didn't develop it. What a fool! This means she can be raised much stronger than in the original! This is becoming interesting; another voice urging me to help her.
"I see. I'm sorry, of course, but you're a complete fool," I said calmly, even with a slight hint of disappointment.
"What?" She was more surprised than annoyed, but suppressing her offense, she said, "I want to become as strong as you. I want to cut off the heads of the undead with my own hands, protecting people!" Her voice conveyed confidence. And although her reason for gaining strength didn't particularly appeal to me, firstly, she's probably not alone; envy and pride are also at play here. And secondly, I don't care about her reasons; it will be easier for me to control her.
"I see. I can help you become much stronger. I can even give you the ability to chop off monster heads with a sword," I said, pretending that the decision was difficult for me. "But I will have a number of conditions."
"Okay, what are they?" she asked, her fervor somewhat subdued, looking at me with hope.
"First, you will be my disciple," I began calmly. She nodded after a moment's thought. "And second, we will sign a master-disciple spiritual contract..."
"What!" she exclaimed, not letting me finish. "That means you can damage my soul if something happens! Isn't that too high a price?!"
"No," I replied firmly to her objection. "The methods I intend to teach you are very secret. I myself spent a lot of effort to obtain and master them. I will also share my own knowledge of the structure of magical star paths with you. I absolutely do not want you to betray me afterward and tell someone without my knowledge. This could cause me serious problems!" I finished my slightly angry triad, and Zhou Ming fell silent.
I was absolutely sure that she knew nothing about soul contracts, except what was in textbooks, and even that was not certain. As you can easily guess, almost everything I just said is a bluff. Of course, secrecy is important to me, but that's not the main thing. With the knowledge gained from the old man and PinZhuoLun, I can create a spiritual contract that, without Zhou Ming's knowledge, will make her almost my slave! If you add my methods of manipulating a person, she will do everything I want, and I will have a 100% guarantee that she will not betray me, or else death!
"But this also imposes great restrictions on me," she continued to stand her ground. "It means I won't be able to disobey you and will suffer if I don't do what you order! That's too much, even so!" she said, blushing slightly and turning her head away. Well, she's not so stupid as to fall for this; her brain can think.
"What are you saying!" I said with slight irritation and offense, also turning away from her. "Don't you understand the difference between a master-disciple contract and a master-servant contract? That's too insulting. Maybe I shouldn't take such a stupid disciple?" I said, putting on an important air. There was a bit more bluff here; these two contracts are similar. A loyal servant contract can be much better than a strict disciple contract. It all depends on the content, not the type, and I personally guarantee the content of my contract, ha!
"True, there's probably a big difference," she replied, calming down. It was clear she regretted her mistake.
"The contract you described is a servant contract. The disciple contract merely confirms the obligations of the disciple and master to care for each other," I explained calmly. This was a bluff, the most brutal one in the entire conversation; as mentioned earlier, everything depends on the contract's content!
"Well, if so, then I don't mind, but can you really teach me? Of course, your strength against undead monsters is amazing because of your daggers, but from a mage's perspective, how strong are you?" she asked, with strong doubt in her voice. Now everything will be decided. If she is impressed by my strength, she will take the bait. But I also need to remember not to reveal too many of my secrets.
"Okay, I'll demonstrate my strength," I said, simultaneously finishing the lightning wrath and wind boots.
We were standing in a narrow alley in an old Chinese style; there was no one around, I could clearly feel it. That's why I decided to have such a conversation. Using the wind boots and maximizing my speed, I pushed off the wall and moved behind her. With the lightning wrath, I struck the place where I had just been standing.
"Jiaxing Yun!" Zhou Ming shouted, her eyes widening in surprise, and her hair was still being tossed by the wind currents. Apparently, due to the excessive speed, she didn't have time to understand what I had done. It's even better this way; the effect is definitely more than planned. I walked up to her from behind and tapped her shoulder with my dagger. Turning around, she froze, and her face showed horror, which turned into surprise and shock, and then horror returned.
"Were you worried about me?" I asked her sarcastically, smiling.
"You... you... how..." she stammered, then sighed heavily, looked me over, and I put the dagger back into my spatial bracelet. "You're just a monster... So fast, I thought someone attacked us, but I didn't even have time to react before you tapped me on the shoulder with your dagger. How fast were you moving!? And how fast do you compose star paths that I didn't notice you jump off, and the lightning already struck!?"
"Become my disciple, and I'll tell you everything," I smiled even wider.
"Okay, you're so strong, I'll definitely surpass you. All disciples surpass their teachers," she said confidently, nodding. I thought that not all disciples surpass their masters. "So, you were talking about a contract. Can you create one? I don't really know about it."
"Yes, it's fine. I learned it somehow, and I seem to have everything I need. Let's sign it right now," I said, taking a parchment with a golden border from my spatial bracelet and ink.
"Is that all you need?" she asked in surprise.
"No, we need to add a drop of our blood to the ink," I said calmly, taking out a dagger and pricking my finger, dropping a couple of drops into the inkwell. "Your turn."
"Uh..." she stretched out, with doubt but quickly decided, took the dagger, cut her finger, and a couple more drops of blood fell into the ink. "Is that all now?"
"Yes, I'll fill out the contract. You can go ahead; I can write on the go," I said, starting to write the agreement.
There are actually two ways to create a spiritual contract. The first is when people agree on the terms, shake hands, and a third person seals their agreement with a special tool. The second is the one I chose: to draw up the contract on special parchment with special ink, with the blood of the people involved in the contract. The second method is less honest than the first, so it's perfectly suited for this situation.
"Okay," Zhou Ming said, walking ahead. I followed her, writing continuously, transferring the pre-prepared contract template onto the parchment.
"It's ready," I said, after only about ten minutes. We hadn't even left this deserted street.
"So fast? How do you write so fast?" Zhou Ming was surprised. "Alright, what's next?"
"Sign here and infuse spiritual power into the contract, and it's done," I said, handing her the parchment and pen. She quickly signed and directed spiritual power, as did I. The contract flared up, split into two golden spheres, one entered my chest, the second into hers.
"Is that all?" she asked in surprise. "I don't feel anything."
"You shouldn't," I cut her off curtly. So, on a deserted street in Xi'an, I gained my most reliable assistant, bound to me by life, who would perish if she betrayed me.