Chapter 52: Soul Contract, Xu Taiping Acquires the Little Spirit Monkey
"Chirp chirp..."
When the little monkey saw the Mountain Moving Ape on the ice, its eyes immediately filled with fear. It struggled, trying to climb off Xu Taiping's body.
"Don't worry, I'll take you there."
Xu Taiping gently patted the little monkey's head, then infused his feet with spiritual energy. In the blink of an eye, he swiftly flew to the Mountain Moving Ape.
At this moment, the Mountain Moving Ape was covered in burn marks, clearly on the brink of death, but it was holding on, wanting to see the little monkey one last time.
"Chirp..." The little monkey jumped off Xu Taiping's body and rushed to the Mountain Moving Ape, hugging its face with both hands.
Xu Taiping then witnessed the two monkeys—one big and one small—starting to communicate in a series of "chirps."
"The old monkey is giving the little monkey its final instructions, but I wonder what exactly it's saying." Fairy Ling Yue seemed to understand some of the monkey language.
Xu Taiping wasn't particularly concerned with the specifics of their conversation, but the scene reminded him of his own memories of his grandfather. After all, on that snowy night, it was just like this when his grandfather had given him his final instructions.
"Boy..."
At that moment, after finishing its conversation with the little monkey, the Mountain Moving Ape pointed its finger at the little monkey's head, then looked at Xu Taiping and said,
"Can you... take care of... my child? I can... form a soul contract with it, serving you for a century..."
Xu Taiping had already known about forming a soul contract with spirit beasts, but he never expected such an opportunity would fall into his lap.
Fairy Ling Yue didn't intervene; she quietly observed, clearly letting Xu Taiping make the decision on his own.
"What do you think? Do you agree?"
Xu Taiping didn't immediately accept or refuse but looked at the little monkey.
Hearing this, the Mountain Moving Ape whispered a few words to the little monkey, seemingly conveying Xu Taiping's message.
"Chirp..."
After hearing the Mountain Moving Ape's words, the little monkey turned around and hugged its head. But after some persuasion, it finally turned back to Xu Taiping and nodded.
"Then you'll follow me from now on."
Xu Taiping nodded.
He felt pity for the little monkey, and he couldn't bear to leave it in the mountains.
The process of forming the soul contract was quite simple. The Mountain Moving Ape took a drop of its original beast blood from the little monkey and dripped it onto Xu Taiping's palm, and then the little monkey made an oath.
Once the soul contract was complete, Xu Taiping clearly felt that he could issue commands to the little monkey with his thoughts, though he certainly wouldn't do so.
The reason he took in the little monkey was largely out of sympathy, not a need for a spirit beast.
As for forming the soul contract, it was because, according to the Qingxuan Sect's rules, spirit beasts without a soul contract were not allowed to enter the sect's territory. The Mountain Moving Ape must have known this.
"Boy..."
At that moment, the Mountain Moving Ape suddenly reached into its mouth, pulled out a transparent crystal stone, and tossed it in front of Xu Taiping with a flick of its hand.
"This thing is yours..."
The Mountain Moving Ape pointed to the large crystal stone that had rolled to Xu Taiping's feet.
"What is this?"
Xu Taiping was confused.
"Moon Crystal Ice Soul Stone?"
Fairy Ling Yue exclaimed in surprise.
"The Moon Crystal Ice Soul Stone is a material for forging spiritual weapons, extremely rare, and considered very valuable in my original cultivation world." She explained to Xu Taiping.
"Spiritual weapons?"
Xu Taiping was also surprised.
Based on what he knew about magic weapons, weapons in the cultivation world were classified into magical tools, magic treasures, spiritual treasures, and the legendary immortal treasures.
Spiritual weapons were a type of spiritual treasure, specifically referring to weapons with extremely strong offensive power.
Not to mention spiritual weapons, Xu Taiping had never even seen a magic treasure, let alone a spiritual weapon or treasure.
"Hurry up and keep it. After reaching the Third Stage of Earth Transformation, use this Moon Crystal Ice Soul Stone as nourishment and plant it on a spiritual mountain. It might help cultivate a high-quality spiritual weapon with special abilities," Fairy Ling Yue said, somewhat excited.
If this were in her original world, a Moon Crystal Ice Soul Stone wouldn't excite her so much, but here, it was so precious that it could rival the Ice Crystal Immortal Soul Stone in her world.
"Chirp chirp..."
As Xu Taiping picked up the Moon Crystal Ice Soul Stone, a heartbreaking scream echoed from the ice ahead. Looking up, he saw that the Mountain Moving Ape had closed its eyes.
"It has passed away."
Fairy Ling Yue's tone was solemn.
Afterwards, Xu Taiping found a way to bury the Mountain Moving Ape's body in the forest and took the Fire-Patterned Python's skin and beast gall before returning to Qingzhu Residence with the little monkey.
...
In the bedroom.
"Little monkey, my name is Taiping. From now on, you'll be called Ping'an, okay?"
Xu Taiping placed the little monkey on the table and wrote the characters "Ping'an" on a piece of paper with a brush.
"Chirp."
The little monkey nodded while holding the paper. It seemed to understand what Xu Taiping meant.
Then, Xu Taiping gave the little monkey some food.
Perhaps it was too tired, after eating a plate of lamb, the little monkey lay down on Xu Taiping's bed and fell fast asleep.
"Taiping, it's time to plant the Earth Fruit."
Fairy Ling Yue's soul body appeared beside Xu Taiping.
"Mm."
Xu Taiping nodded, feeling somewhat eager.
...
That night.
"Fairy Ling Yue, the hole is ready."
In the Spiritual Herb Garden, Xu Taiping had dug out four holes—one large and three small—on the pre-designated land.
"The eastern one belongs to Wood, which nurtures growth. Place the Fire Spirit Herb in this small hole to cultivate a treasure that enhances cultivation speed."
"The northern one belongs to Water, which nurtures harmony. Place gold and silver offerings in this small hole to cultivate a treasure for healing and restoration."
"The western one belongs to Metal, which nurtures destruction. Place Frost Wind Orbs, tiger heads, tiger gallbladders, snake heads, and snake gallbladders in this small hole to cultivate a weapon of destruction."
Under Fairy Ling Yue's guidance, Xu Taiping carefully placed the prepared materials into each hole according to their respective positions.
"Finally, place the Earth Fruit in the main hole and wait for three months."
After filling the three small holes, Xu Taiping took out the Earth Fruit and carefully placed it into the main hole.
"Little Taiping, we'll see each other in three months."
Fairy Ling Yue's phantom floated above the main hole and winked at Xu Taiping with a smile.
"Mm, Fairy Ling Yue, see you in three months."
Xu Taiping nodded.
After the Earth Fruit undergoes its Second Transformation, it will take three months for the fruit to mature, and Fairy Ling Yue had already explained this to Xu Taiping in advance.
"Speaking of which, it's time to sell seeds. Although last year's harvest of Nine-Leaf Purple Basil was good, relying solely on the merit gained from selling them will only leave me with around 100 merit points."
After planting the Earth Fruit, Xu Taiping looked at the now barren herb garden, murmuring to himself.
"Adding the merit points from the spirit ghost and tiger demon, I still have about 500 merit points. While this is enough for future expenses, it's not enough to buy medicinal materials or cultivation techniques. Looks like I'll have to plant some more valuable herbs this year."
He muttered as he returned to the bedroom.
At this point, he had come to deeply understand that cultivation requires not only talent and determination, but also money—lots of money—and in the Qingxuan Sect, that money is merit points.
"Three months... that should pass quickly, right?" Xu Taiping whispered as he closed the door.