Chapter 24 – Filament

Spiritbond Masters were not entirely powerless; after forming a contract with a spirit beast, their bodies would undergo certain changes due to the contract. These changes allowed Spiritbond Masters to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, enabling them to wield abilities studied and developed by Spiritbond Masters.

However, given that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was vastly inferior to that of ancient times, the power a Spiritbond Master could utilize was minuscule compared to the strength bestowed by the contract. It was practically negligible and served little practical purpose.

The power conferred by a Spirit Contract to a Spiritbond Master could be slightly more significant, such as the enhancement of physical capabilities, heightened sensory perception, and the ability to bend spoons out of thin air. Searching for the whereabouts of a spirit beast using a blood pact was also an application of spiritual energy.

Yun Xiguang infused the limited amount of spiritual energy he possessed into the drop of blood, which then floated in mid-air under its influence. It spun ceaselessly as it sought out the location tethered to the other end of the blood pact.

It seemed as though an invisible filament in the air was manipulating the droplet of blood. After spinning several times, the blood droplet stopped and transformed into the shape of a small red arrow, pointing precisely in a specific direction.

This direction led straight to the black mist where all the filaments converged inside the room.

Yun Xiguang approached the black mist with a grave expression, and the tiny arrow formed from the blood droplet followed him to the front of the mist, wavering before it.

Its message was clear — the little spirit bird was within the black mist.

The black mist looked menacingly perilous. Even if the little spirit bird had once been a powerful divine beast of ancient times, in its weakened state, being absorbed by the black mist likely spelled doom.

Yun Xiguang recalled the little spirit bird’s habitually relaxed and sleepy demeanor, his heart filled with overwhelming anxiety.

How long could such a young and innocent creature survive within the black mist?

Yun Xiguang extended his hand toward the black mist, eager to immediately enter and assist the little spirit bird. However, just as he was about to touch the mist, his hand halted.

He couldn’t act impulsively.

He was still unsure of what the black mist truly was, and rushing in blindly wouldn’t save the little spirit bird; it might even put his own life at risk.

In situations like these, calmness was crucial.

Yun Xiguang forced himself to remain composed and began observing the circumstances of the space.

It was a roughly 100-square-meter area. The black lines were in the center of the space, and filaments spread throughout, extending outward to unknown connections.

This space wasn’t infinite. It was enclosed by four walls of white fog, each wall bearing a door shaped like ripples. Stepping through these doors would lead to the spaces represented by other confidential files.

After all, this was merely an archive room, not the actual site of incidents, so there was no hindrance for visitors to move on to the next space.

However, getting trapped in a particular space was another matter.

Yun Xiguang didn’t know the specifics of the confidential file room before, but he had heard his parents mention something similar during his childhood.

The research institution where his parents worked while studying Heavenly Fire could construct such spaces to test their research findings.

These spaces were created by a spirit beast known as the Mirage. Its ability was “Illusory Reality,” allowing it to fabricate scenes that were simultaneously false and real.

False, because the scenes were indeed fabricated, albeit based on events that had occurred in the past; real, because under certain circumstances, these scenes could manifest as reality.

Since the “Illusory Reality” produced by the Mirage was grounded in truth — it was constructed by reflecting real occurrences and projecting them here — it created a scene that was both false and real.

However, since these were realities that existed, if the source of danger reflected within the scene remained, there was a possibility that the “Illusory Reality” would connect with true reality at some moment. Individuals who entered the “Illusory Reality” could then be drawn into the “true reality.”

Seeing the black mist triggered a strong sense of unease in Yun Xiguang, indicating that the source of danger within this room hadn’t been dealt with. It continued to roam free in the world, and coming into contact with the black mist created by this “Illusory Reality” could potentially transport one to the real black mist.

Recalling this, Yun Xiguang felt even heavier-hearted.

He believed that the little spirit bird might have been dragged into the genuine black mist.

And Ruan Shu should still be within the confidential file room.

This was actually the worst-case scenario, but Yun Xiguang believed that anything related to the little spirit bird would inevitably take a turn for the worse.

This was the will of the World Law.

The World Law intended to utilize the nine strands of spiritual energy possessed by the little spirit bird for some purpose, and it wouldn’t allow the little spirit bird to reclaim its energy.

But the little spirit bird had already encountered Ruan Shu, meaning the separated spiritual energy could potentially be reabsorbed by the main body.

To prevent such a situation, the Law would create “coincidences.”

Every time Yun Xiguang and others guessed wrong about the little spirit bird’s identity, it was due to these “coincidences.”

They would “happen” to think of alternative explanations and “happen” to believe those explanations.

The same held true now. The little spirit bird would coincidentally enter the archives where the source of danger still lingered, coincidentally connect with reality, and be sucked away by the real source of danger.

And Ruan Shu would coincidentally be separated from the little spirit bird.

Leaving this space could allow him to find Ruan Shu, figure out a way to resolve the crisis faced by the Records Department and the Spiritbond World, and perhaps even discover the space related to his parents’ case, gaining direct insight into the investigation results from years ago.

Remaining in this space and searching for the little spirit bird amidst danger would put his life at risk.

Two choices lay before Yun Xiguang.

Without hesitation, Yun Xiguang made his decision — he would rescue the little spirit bird first.

Emotionally, the little spirit bird was the spirit beast he made a pact with. They had pledged to share life and death. Regardless of whether the little spirit bird was an ancient divine beast or not, as long as the pact wasn’t dissolved, the little spirit bird was his companion, his support, and his responsibility. He couldn’t abandon the little spirit bird in a perilous situation; he had to save it.

Intellectually, Yun Xiguang found a compelling reason to prioritize rescuing the little spirit bird.

Regardless of Ruan Shu’s intentions, he couldn’t do much in such an archive space for the time being. Any action he took would be detected by the outside world. What Ruan Shu needed to do right now was probably find ways to harness more spiritual energy, further evolve the bookworm, and develop new abilities — transforming from devouring text to consuming images, audio, and video.

This required time.

Even if he went to search for Ruan Shu, in such a chaotic space and under the “coincidences” orchestrated by the World Law, he would likely keep missing the space where Ruan Shu resided.

Abandoning the little spirit bird to search for Ruan Shu now would be a futile effort.

The best course of action was to find the little spirit bird first. The little spirit bird could sense the spiritual energy emanating from Ruan Shu, making it easier to locate Ruan Shu afterward.

Whether from an emotional or rational standpoint, Yun Xiguang’s priority would always be the little spirit bird.

He no longer looked at the four doors that could lead him out of the dangerous space, focusing instead on the filaments.

The black mist was too perilous, with the source of danger still present. He couldn’t act rashly for the time being, but the filaments could be explored.

The filaments might not exist tangibly; they could simply be historical images projected by the Mirage, connecting to absolutely false black mists rather than reality.

He could determine the nature of the black mist through these filaments.

After making this judgment, Yun Xiguang boldly reached out and grabbed a filament.

A continuous stream of emotions flowed through the filament — trust, harmony, mutual reliance.

Yun Xiguang withdrew his hand, his eyes revealing surprise.

He discovered that these filaments bore a similarity to the contracts between Spiritbond Masters and spirit beasts.

Contracts were intangible, but Yun Xiguang had seen the filaments between him and the little spirit bird in his dreams. If there was a force capable of capturing the contracts between Spiritbond Masters and spirit beasts, the tangible manifestation of these contracts would likely resemble filaments.

If these filaments were indeed the contracts between Spiritbond Masters and spirit beasts, then the two ends of the filaments should connect to one Spiritbond Master and one spirit beast respectively.

Yet now, one end of these filaments converged in the black mist. Did the black mist represent a Spiritbond Master or a spirit beast?

If it represented a spirit beast, then the Spiritbond Masters at the other end of the filaments had formed contracts with the black mist, collaborating with some bizarre monster.

If it represented a Spiritbond Master, then there was a dangerous Spiritbond Master who used some extraordinary power to forcibly control countless spirit beasts.

Both scenarios were equally terrifying.

The confidential files sealed within the archive room were far more horrifying than Yun Xiguang had imagined.

He needed to determine whether the black mist represented a spirit beast or a Spiritbond Master.

The best method was to verify it with Heavenly Fire.

Heavenly Fire could harm spirit beasts but wouldn’t hurt humans. It would only unleash its true power when humans attempted to control Heavenly Fire in violation of the World Law.

Placing Heavenly Fire on the filament, the direction it burned toward would reveal which side was the spirit beast.

Yun Xiguang endured the pain of churning blood, ignited a cluster of Heavenly Fire in the palm of his hand, and set the filament alight.

This strand of Heavenly Fire swiftly moved away from the black mist, burning toward the opposite direction, causing the filament to silently turn to ashes.

Could it be that the black mist represented a Spiritbond Master?

Yun Xiguang tested several filaments, and they yielded the same result. The Heavenly Fire didn’t attack the black mist but destroyed the other end of the filament instead.

Yun Xiguang stared at the mass of black mist in disbelief. The black mist was merely a reflection projected by the Mirage. Its true form might not be black mist; it could possibly be a person enveloped within the mist.

Who exactly was this person? How could they control so many spirit beasts and possibly still be alive?

How terrifying must this person be?

The most frightening aspect was that Yun Xiguang had uncovered this information within the confidential file room.

This meant that those above knew of this person’s existence, recorded it, but for some reason, didn’t send anyone to subdue them.

Either they tolerated, employed, and monitored this person, or they were powerless and couldn’t apprehend them.

Yun Xiguang gazed at the black mist, realizing that the situation had become even more complicated.

If the black mist represented a spirit beast, he could still make a desperate attempt using Heavenly Fire. But if the black mist represented a human, a tremendously powerful one at that, how could he rescue the little spirit bird?

Could he simply charge in? That wouldn’t be risking everything for the little spirit bird; it would be recklessly courting death out of ignorance.

He needed more certainty and a deeper understanding of the black mist before taking action.

Yun Xiguang thought for a moment and smeared a drop of blood onto a filament.

This was a minor skill taught to him by his parents — Spirit Beast Empathy.

Originally, this skill was used by Spiritbond Masters to attract spirit beasts for contracts and to understand them after the contract was formed. Now, Yun Xiguang was using it to empathize with the spirit beasts at the other end of the filaments. He wanted to uncover clues about the black mist from the memories of these spirit beasts and find a breakthrough.

As his bloodied fingertip touched the filament, an image of a crimson-colored dragon lizard appeared in his mind.

Yun Xiguang’s fingertip trembled uncontrollably.

At the sight of the dragon lizard, a fragment of his erased memory was revived.

Yun Xiguang vividly remembered that his mother, the bright and beautiful woman, had contracted a vermilion dragon lizard as her spirit beast.