Chapter 40 – Things Went Too Far

“I’m fine…” Lin Wei’s soul tendril instinctively retracted for a moment before continuing to reach toward the soul light cluster.

—The pain from earlier, Lin Wei could confirm, did not come from his body or mental strength but from his soul.

He had never experienced something like this before, but in that instant, the contract had indeed begun to form. At the same time, he could sense that the thing’s resistance wasn’t particularly strong after the earlier battle.

He didn’t have time to think about why the pain occurred and only managed to quickly check the state of his soul—it didn’t seem to have suffered any substantial damage. If that was the case, he should continue… Now was the best time to form the contract, and he couldn’t let it slip away.

Lin Wei’s soul tendril continued to make contact with the light cluster, and the same pain from before surged again, receding like waves hitting the shore before crashing back once more. This time, he consciously controlled his soul tendril and didn’t retreat—his soul power entwined around it, and the already-formed contract seal slowly connected with the light cluster, allowing the power of the contract to seep into the soul light cluster bit by bit. With each increase in the contract’s power, the pain from the depths of his soul grew more intense, as if his soul was being torn apart piece by piece.

Large beads of cold sweat slid down his temples. His face was pale, and his body trembled imperceptibly—it was even difficult to maintain his standing posture, and he was almost entirely supported by Duan Yu’s strength.

However, his consciousness remained clear and unwavering. Although the pain grew denser and more chaotic, like the raging waves of the Seasonal Tide outside Siren Island, the progress of the contract was slow and arduous, but it was indeed advancing—Lin Wei had made up his mind. Unless he reached his limit, he wouldn’t stop the contract formation.

His mental strength was now entirely focused on the contract, and his other senses had almost completely faded away. He was oblivious to the scene before him, and though Duan Yu’s voice seemed to echo in his ears… he couldn’t make out what was being said. The only thing that remained clear in this void was the sensation of tightly gripping Duan Yu’s arm due to the uncontrollable pain.

The contract seal slowly seeped into the soul light cluster, its dark patterns completing half of its work, wrapping around the white light cluster and binding it. It was clear that the process of engraving the patterns was extremely difficult, unlike the simple imprinting required for ordinary magical beasts. Instead, it required a gradual fusion with the light cluster, and in places where fusion was truly impossible, Lin Wei had to consciously alter the direction of the patterns.

At the same time, the light cluster’s color grew brighter and clearer—a sign that the soul connection was gradually being established.

The intense and frequent pain reached its peak as the contract was about to be fully engraved. The power of the contract had already begun to manifest, and the creature’s feelings started to be conveyed through the newly formed master-servant contract—a mix of anger and resentment.

At this point, Lin Wei no longer had the capacity to check the state of his soul, nor could he care for the creature’s emotions. His full attention was focused on the final steps of the contract.

Since the soul connection had been established, the most critical step was complete. Now, all he had to do was engrave the remaining parts of the contract seal…

The dark patterns gradually became complete, and the pure, powerful soul power of the summoner poured into the light cluster. It no longer struggled, and the last trace of resistance vanished.

The intervals between the waves of pain grew longer, and their intensity lessened—Lin Wei finally completed the last line of the contract seal.

His soul power receded like a tide back into his body, and his consciousness returned from the soul light cluster and the contract to the world before him. Only then did Lin Wei realize that his body was weak, his breathing was rapid, and he was leaning entirely on Duan Yu. The buzzing and trembling in his head from overusing his mental strength persisted for a long time before slowly subsiding along with the pain from the depths of his soul.

Fortunately, no matter how intense the pain had been, his soul was still intact and hadn’t been torn to pieces.

“It’s over…” After checking his soul, Lin Wei tentatively touched the newly formed contract. Information from the soul light cluster flowed into his consciousness through the contract’s patterns. He opened his mouth, finding his voice weak and slightly hoarse: “It is indeed an elemental spirit, one that’s lived for several hundred years. I suspect even the old man isn’t as old as it is…”

Duan Yu’s hand, cool to the touch, pressed against his forehead as he interrupted Lin Wei: “Rest first.”

“Alright,” Lin Wei agreed, then said to Duan Yu, “Let’s sit down.”

Duan Yu did sit down, but the Young Duke, always accustomed to finding the most comfortable position, chose to lie back after sitting for a short while—resting his head on Duan Yu’s lap.

After calming his rapid breathing and regaining clarity of mind, Lin Wei closed his eyes and whispered to Duan Yu, “I think I can guess why it was like that.”

“Hmm?”

Lin Wei’s voice was still weak: “I think it’s what’s called soul backlash…”

An attack from another soul was unlikely in the current environment, and his soul hadn’t suffered any substantial damage. The only explanation was that the backlash had come from the creature during the contract formation.

In the most ancient records, summoners known as “Spirit Channelers” could form contracts with any soul—but according to Teacher Adele’s teachings, contracts couldn’t be formed at will. Even if both parties were willing, they had to follow the rules.

The strength of a soul was directly related to the level of intelligence of the creature. Summoners had to pay a corresponding price to form contracts with magical creatures of different soul strengths and control them—soul backlash was one such price.

Lin Wei didn’t remember ever having a similar experience, and when he asked Teacher Adele if she had ever experienced “soul backlash,” she shook her head—so he hadn’t taken the concept seriously.

Forming a contract with another soul came at a cost, and that cost depended on the soul’s strength, which in turn depended on the creature’s level of intelligence…

Lin Wei was certain he had never experienced soul backlash of this intensity before. Forming contracts with ordinary magical beasts didn’t cause any sensation at all. In his past life, when he formed a contract with the giant dragon Sandra, it was indeed difficult, but there was no pain.

Dragons possessed intelligence comparable to mermaids, far surpassing all other types of magical beasts, and were thus considered one of the intelligent races. However, their intelligence still couldn’t compare to that of humans.

Elemental spirits, while not as intelligent as humans, were far more intelligent than dragons and mermaids. This elemental spirit was also exceptionally long-lived, which was likely why the soul backlash had been so intense.

Lin Wei continued lying down, confirming that his condition had improved, then said to Duan Yu, “If it’s soul backlash, and I managed to endure it, there won’t be any lingering effects… The contract was still successful.”

His sweat-soaked hair clung to his cheeks, chilled by the wind, making him uncomfortable. But he didn’t feel like lifting a hand—his exhaustion made him unwilling to move at all. He just wanted to lie there.

Duan Yu brushed the hair away, and Lin Wei squinted contentedly, gazing at the dim sky.

Then Duan Yu asked, “What if it wasn’t?”

“Then there’s nothing I can do,” Lin Wei replied. “But at the very least, I now have an elemental spirit, something that only exists in legends, and my soul is still intact. That’s worth it.”

After a pause, Lin Wei added, “But I can also verify it… Don’t resist.”

Duan Yu immediately guessed what he was planning and said bluntly, “No.”

“Just for a moment,” Lin Wei looked at him. “I’ll let go right away… It won’t cause much harm.”