Chapter 327 - 326: Assimilation Disease
Professor Feng appeared as if he had dementia, unclear and confused, squatting on the ground with his arms out, flapping them up and down like a bird.
Xia Chao and Qiu Shi frantically dialed numbers, trying to call an ambulance.
The ambulance was too slow, so Jiang Li directly picked up Professor Feng and took him to the biggest nearby hospital.
The hospital staff had seen many cases similar to Professor Feng’s. They skillfully placed him on a stretcher and rushed him into the emergency room.
“How come this patient is only in his fifties?”
“I know right, I read online that the average age of patients has been decreasing recently. It’s not just us, it’s happening all over the country.”
Two nurses whispered to each other as they followed the doctor into the emergency room.
“Is such a condition common in your world?” Jiang Li noticed that there were many other patients in the hospital exhibiting symptoms similar to Professor Feng’s.
The patients were all delirious, making it impossible to understand their intentions.
He initially noticed this with his Divine Sense, but didn’t think much of it, assuming that early onset dementia was prevalent in this world.
Now, it seemed that was not the case.
Xia Chao nodded, “Yeah, we call it Assimilation Disorder. It has existed since the emergence of the Beast Tamer system.”
“Contract beasts aren’t highly intelligent, their minds are chaotic, and we can’t understand the meaning of their language. After signing a contract, the contract beast affects the Beast Tamer’s mind all the time.”
“At the beginning of the contract, the effect is almost negligible. But over time, the effect grows stronger, as if there’s another voice in your head, constantly uttering incomprehensible words.”
“In the end, the Beast Tamer’s mind is completely occupied by the other voice, resulting in madness.”
“Our instructor always stressed upon treating contract beasts kindly, regarding them as friends, and trying to understand the meaning of their language. This is because doing so can delay the onset of Assimilation Disorder.”
“Professor Feng is now in the late stages of Assimilation Disorder. If this happens a few more times, he will truly go mad.” Qiu Shi was worried. The joy of learning to cultivate was completely gone.
Professor Feng was a great teacher. Although strict, he would always include little stories in his lectures, enlivening the class atmosphere, and he didn’t assign much homework.
“Lately, Professor Feng has been reminiscing about his past. I thought he was recalling his past glory, but he was simply trying to organize his memories before going mad.”
The two of them had long noticed Professor Feng’s condition, but they didn’t take it seriously.
After all, Professor Feng was only in his fifties, far from the age when Assimilation Disorder typically manifests.
“It seems that the onset of Assimilation Disorder is advancing earlier.” They had also heard the conversation between the two nurses.
“I remember Professor Feng specifically mentioned that the onset age of Assimilation Disorder was 120 years old two thousand years ago.”
“As the Beast Tamer system continues to improve, we’ve gained power against the beasts while the age of Assimilation Disorder onset progressively decreased to 110 years, 100 years, 90 years… and now to just over 50 years.”
Everyone is destined to have Assimilation Disorder, some get it early, some get it late. Overall, the onset age of Assimilation Disorder is advancing earlier.
And the Lingxi World has not yet found a good solution.
Jiang Li frowned, this was not a minor issue. He no longer trivially investigating the effects of the Master-Servant Contract.
“You two wait here, I’ll get an expert.”
Xia Chao and Qiu Shi looked at each other, an expert? There were plenty of experts on Assimilation Disorder in this hospital. Even the capital’s experts came here for discussion and study.
Where could Big Brother Jiang find an expert?
Jiang Li simply vanished right before their eyes, startling Qiu Shi.
“Don’t worry, it’s routine.” Xia Chao remained composed. He had been flown into space by Jiang Li and had seen much. Even if Jiang Li destroyed a planet now, he wouldn’t be surprised.
“What on earth did you summon?” Qiu Shi was certain that Big Brother Jiang was not from their world.
“A god.”
“Old Bai, where’s that Elder from Dao Sect who’s proficient in contract methods? I need him for something.” Jiang Li had intended to leisurely study the Master-Servant Contract, but with this incident, he couldn’t afford to play around anymore.
The method of contract was an obscure cultivation practice in the Nine Provinces, almost extinct, with only the Dao Sect preserving its lineage.
Now, the way of contract has blossomed anew in the Nine Provinces, with Spiritual Treasure Contracts seen everywhere.
And the blueprint of the Spiritual Treasure Contract originated from this Elder from Dao Sect who was proficient in the method of contracts.
“You’re looking for Elder Tang Xing? He is on that mountain.” Bai Hongtu pointed towards a location, and Jiang Li turned to leave.
“Elder Tang Xing, are you there?”
Hearing it was the Human Emperor’s voice, Elder Tang Xing rushed out to greet him.
As the Spiritual Treasure Contract became widespread, Elder Tang Xing’s position and treatment in the Nine Provinces significantly improved.
All of this was due to Jiang Li’s proposal of bifurcation for Spiritual Treasures: using legal constraints for Spiritual Treasures within the Great Zhou, and contract constraints for those outside the Great Zhou.
Jiang Li also brought over the Brahma Tower to temporarily establish a spatial channel, transporting Elder Tang Xing over.
On the way, Jiang Li briefly explained the Master-Servant Contract. Elder Tang Xing cautiously refrained from expressing his views, stating that he needed to see the actual contract to draw any conclusions.
Professor Feng was still in the ER. Jiang Li and Elder Tang Xing cloaked their presence and entered the ER.
“It’s the difficult Soul Contract.”
“Let me see the contract effect. The contract can only be established if both parties willingly agree.”
“Master-Servant Contract, one party is the master, one party is the servant. The servant has to help the master extract Spiritual Energy from the air and feed it back to the master.”
“The servant cannot surpass the master’s cultivation.”
“The servant must obey all of the master’s commands.”
“Hmm, if the servant cannot understand the master, it will force the servant to comprehend the meaning of the master.”
“The Master-Servant Contract is rooted deep within the soul and is inherited through the bloodline. The more ancestors a servant had who signed contracts, the heavier their servitude becomes, requiring them to forcibly understand the master’s intentions earlier.”
“This seems to be the root of the problem. Only when beasts reach the Divinity Transformation Stage do they open their spiritual wisdom. Before that, they only understand simple beast language, which is too difficult for humans who haven’t cultivated, leading to the assimilation and collapse of the spirit platform.”
“To defend against beast attacks, everyone in the Lingxi World is a Beast Tamer and their ancestors were too. As such, the compulsion of the Master-Servant Contract becomes stronger over time, and the onset age of Assimilation Disorder advances.”
“In a thousand years, it might happen that people get Assimilation Disorder in their twenties. By then, the entire human race would be doomed.”
Jiang Li had approximately deduced the slow poison of death the outer realm Heavenly Demon planted in the Lingxi World.
It was this Master-Servant Contract.
“Can the Master-Servant Contract be removed?” Jiang Li knew he could remove the contract between him and Xia Chao, but he wasn’t sure if he could do the same for others.
“Master-Servant Contracts involve the soul, so it should be difficult. However, since the Human Emperor is in the Mahayana Realm, removing the Master-Servant Contract shouldn’t be a problem for him. There’s a 90% success rate.”
“However, if the Human Emperor wants to remove the Master-Servant Contracts of the entire world, there is a 10% chance of failure. And failure results in death.”
“So you’re saying, 10% of people would die from removing the contract?”
“Yes.”