Chapter 21: A Failed Ancient ritual

They left the mysterious world of the spirit valley, walking through the cave until the gentle glow of the formation faded.

The moment they stepped past the entrance, the world brightened again.

They climbed the creaking stairs to the third floor.

Zhi Yan walked silently behind Lin Fang. For a moment, her eyes lingered on his back, and she found herself smiling without meaning to.

Does Classmate Lin always have such broad shoulders? She wondered.

When they reached the top, Li Chengfeng led them through a narrow hallway, stopping in front of a door marked with a simple red “X”.

He knocked once, pushed it open, and stepped inside.

The space looked like a typical storage room—wooden barrels stacked in the corner, crates of old wine, and the scent of age and oak.

But once the door shut behind them, a shimmer passed across the walls. The barrels faded away like an illusion, revealing what was truly hidden.

Tens of white eggs.

All varying in size, from as small as a walnut to as large as a man’s torso. Each one rested neatly on velvet-lined holders in rows that extended from wall to wall.

“This is our restricted hatching chamber,” Li Chengfeng said with a quiet reverence. “The unbonded ones are stored here, unfertilized and dormant.”

He gestured toward the center of the room, where a stone platform rose from the floor.

“Sit.”

Lin Fang moved forward, still not sure what to expect. He sat down cross-legged as instructed.

Li Chengfeng took a deep breath and placed his palm over Lin Fang’s shoulder.

A faint circle of light bloomed beneath them, lines weaving across the floor in mystical patterns. Zhi Yan watched from the side, her lips slightly parted, holding her breath.

“I’ll now begin the extraction of the Spirit King’s essence,” Li Chengfeng said solemnly. “It will transfer into the egg it chooses… and then, you will drop a single drop of your blood onto it. Since it has already bonded with you, your blood will awaken it. And from that moment on…”

He smiled faintly.

“It will be yours. Forever.”

Lin Fang sat still on the cold platform, but his heart raced like a wild beast inside his chest.

He didn’t like this.

Not one bit.

The strange symbols on the floor, the mysterious spirit master, a hidden spirit valley, and the fact that an invisible soul beast—a spirit king, no less—was supposedly latched onto him, all gnawed at his nerves.

He clenched his fists, uncertain.

What if this ritual pulls Nemesis out of the system?

He gulped.

What if the summoner’s shop can’t recognize it anymore?

There were too many unknowns. Too many risks.

For a moment, a powerful urge to get up and bolt surged through him.

He stared at Li Chengfeng’s glowing eyes, and his thoughts shifted again.

Who was this old man, really?

His identity was too mysterious. Lin Fang didn’t know his background, didn’t know his strength, and didn’t know if refusal might get him killed right here in this room.

The tension coiled like a steel cable in his chest.

And then, another horrifying realization suddenly struck his chest.

“There’s… a cat spirit floating above me. Right now. Watching.”

That chill ran deeper than anything else.

In that very instant, Lin Fang forced himself to breathe.

He reminded himself—he had plenty of Direwolf eggs now. His shop was already growing stronger.

And even if this process turned Nemesis into something else… he had no plans to sell it anyway.

Hence, he wasn’t losing anything.

In fact, this could be a chance.

What if he ends up with two versions of Nemesis? One tied to the system. One tied to his soul. He swallowed hard.

“I’m ready,” he said finally, his voice steady despite the chaos in his head.

Zhi Yan didn’t speak. But from the side, her gaze didn’t leave him, not for a second. There was a strange mixture of expectation and worry in her eyes. Like she was watching something precious take shape… or fall apart.

Li Chengfeng gave a small nod and closed his eyes.

He pressed both hands against Lin Fang’s chest.

Then, he began to chant.

The words were low, guttural, and utterly alien. Neither Lin Fang nor Zhi Yan could understand a syllable, but they both felt the shift as the very air began to hum.

Glowing tendrils of purple mana erupted from Li Chengfeng’s fingertips, swirling around Lin Fang’s body like ribbons of mist. The light danced across the circle on the floor, making it blaze brighter and brighter—except for one space above Lin Fang, which remained untouched.

Nemesis hovered there in silence—translucent, regal, and utterly still. Its eyes glowed like twin stars, cold and intelligent.

Li Chengfeng’s voice eventually deepened, and the light intensified.

He lifted his left hand. “Spirit Cutter Sword.”

As a sword of pure mana formed in his grasp, which seemed to be shimmering with some kind of runes all over its blade, he brought it down.

The blade sliced downward, aimed at the invisible thread that tethered Nemesis to Lin Fang’s soul.

However, it was at this moment, the still cat spirit moved.

It swiped its paw casually.

*Pow*

In the next instant, Li Chengfeng’s body blasted backwards, crashing into the wall with a dull, echoing thud. Cracks spread from where he hit. The glowing sword shattered into fragments of fading light.

The purple mana tendrils vanished.

The ritual stopped.

Zhi Yan gasped aloud, eyes wide in disbelief. “What the…”

She took a half-step toward the old man, unsure whether to help or just remain frozen in place.

Li Chengfeng groaned, sliding down the wall and slumping to the ground. A charred paw print was seared into his robes, directly over his chest. He clutched at it with a shaking hand.

“It… refuses,” he whispered hoarsely, his face pale. “The Spirit King… it refuses to be your companion.”

Lin Fang’s eyes snapped open, breath ragged. “Uhh… what do you mean?”

Downstairs in the tavern’s dimly lit lounge, Li Xue lazily stirred her drink behind the counter. Her eyes glazed over the data on the glowing tablet, half-focused on restocking schedules.

Thud.

A dull, muffled crash echoed from above.

She paused, glancing upward with a slight frown. “What the hell are they doing up there…?” she muttered.

Her fingers hovered over the tablet for a second, but then, she gave a lazy shrug and went back to tapping through the inventory sheets. “Not my problem.”

Upstairs, however, the atmosphere was anything but calm as the spell was broken.

And the silence that followed was heavy, dense enough to make breathing feel like a task.

Lin Fang, still seated in the center of the broken array, had a deep frown plastered on his face. The glow in his chest had disappeared. As for whether the presence above him still lingered, only this old man would know.

Li Chengfeng finally sat upright with a wince, brushing the ash off his robes. “That… was unexpected,” he muttered in a hoarse voice. “It’s been decades since a spirit king struck me directly.”

He looked up at Lin Fang, narrowing his eyes but glinting with something between curiosity and concern.

“I don’t know whether you are fortunate or unfortunate, kid. Most of the time, powerful spirit remnants want to be reborn… to escape this in-between state. But this one?” He pointed vaguely at the air above Lin Fang. “It wants to stay latched onto your soul.”

Lin Fang stiffened at those words. “What does that mean?”

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