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The first thing that caught their eyes was the contract that Xia Chao and Qiu Shi were very familiar with — the master-servant contract.

However, the way the master-servant contract was used in the mural was drastically different from how it is used in the Lingxi World today.

Xia Chao saw that on the mural, powerful beasts contracted under the servitude of humans, offering loyalty to the human race. The side notes indicated that this represented the signing of the master-servant contract, with the stamp held by the human race symbolizing their status as the masters.

“In the early use of the master-servant contract, humans were the masters, and the contract beasts were the servants, which is the opposite of how things are now.”

Little Qing and the bone-winged white tiger were disgruntled, they were dissatisfied with the times of the past.

Why should the human race be their masters?

Xia Chao ignored Little Qing’s rolling eyes and continued trying to decipher the contents of the murals.

The murals didn’t seem as if they were meant to commemorate anything, instead, they seemed like the desperate and frenzied records of someone wanting to document everything and leave their mark in this world.

Therefore, the murals and their annotations were not easy to identify.

It was hard to imagine what happened that would push a cultivator of at least the late Divinity Transformation Stage to a desperate situation.

“Even though they signed the master-servant contract, humans didn’t treat the contract beasts as slaves to be ordered around. Instead, they treated them as friends, offering equal status.”

“The contract beasts helped humans with cultivation, allowing some humans to start researching various laws and principles in their spare time, summarizing these rules and using Spiritual Energy as the driving force.”

“This method greatly promoted production and benefited both humans and contract beasts.”

“More and more contract beasts grew fond of human technology, voluntarily signing contracts, becoming servants, and serving humanity.”

“Humans and contract beasts developed harmoniously, both sides growing stronger and stronger.”

“One day, a strange beast appeared. It had a serpentine body and nine heads. No one dared to sign a contract with this strange beast.”

“A person named ‘Ba’ signed a contract with this beast.”

“The nine-headed contract beast advanced in its cultivation quickly. Due to the effects of the master-servant contract, the servant’s cultivation could not surpass that of the master. Thus, ‘Ba’s’ cultivation was always one stage higher than that of the nine-headed contract beast.”

“When the nine-headed contract beast reached the Divinity Transformation Stage, it gained spiritual wisdom and inherited the memories of its ancestors from its bloodline. Eventually, it understood its origins.”

“The nine-headed contract beast, named Tangliu, belonged to the divine beast species. It had undergone ancestral reversion, possessing the same purity in its bloodline as its ancestors, which was the reason for its rapid cultivation speed.”

“After a series of ceaseless battles, Tangliu reached the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, and ‘Ba’ too reached the Transcendance Tribulation Stage.”

“It was then that people realized the stage above the Body Integration Realm was the Transcendance Tribulation Stage.”

“Sometime later, Tangliu became an immortal, and ‘Ba’ also became an immortal.”

On the mural, the towering figure of Tangliu with its nine heads was shown facing off against the celestial tribulation of immortality, while ‘Ba’ stood beside Tangliu, letting Tangliu shield him from the tribulation.

The ladder to immortality appeared, and both Tangliu and ‘Ba’ ascended and became immortals.

“They were the first and last ascenders of the Lingxi World. Whenever anyone asked about how to reach the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, ‘Ba’ and Tangliu, perhaps fearing others might surpass them, always kept their mouths shut.”

“No one else in the Lingxi World has ever become an immortal.”

Upon reading this, Jiang Li shook his head gently, “‘Ba’ and Tangliu’s open claims that becoming a Transcendance Tribulation Stage cultivator was a scourge, were indeed what led to the decline of the Lingxi World.”

Alas, the people of Lingxi World did not understand their meaning and thought that ‘Ba’ and Tangliu were unwilling to share their experiences.”

“After the man and beast ascended, they never returned. Perhaps once they ascended to the Immortal Realm, they couldn’t come back.”

Xia Chao finished reading all the annotations on the mural and turned to ask Jiang Li,

“Is that true?”

“Of course not. As long as there’s a connection via the ladder to immortality, immortals can go to any world, including the world they ascended from.”

“So why haven’t they returned?” Qiu Shi asked, puzzled.

“Because ‘Ba’ never truly cultivated, he basically ascended to immortality while doing nothing. Although he reached the immortal stage, his actual combat abilities are far inferior to those of his peers. The Immortal Realm isn’t some peaceful paradise, and after his ascension, ‘Ba’ might have perished in battle. Because of the existence of the master-servant contract, once the master dies, the servant dies too.”

“However, these are just speculations and may not be accurate.”

“Although ‘Ba’ and Tangliu never returned, they left an abundant legacy before their ascension. The Lingxi World experienced explosive growth with the number of Body Integration Realm contract beasts and cultivators being continuously on the rise. Various bounty competitions, world games, and alliance games were held. Both humans and contract beasts were eager to participate in these games to gain fame and fortune.”

On the mural, humans and contract beasts were hand in hand with radiant smiles on their faces.

“Everything was developing in a good direction, but suddenly one day, a contract beast reached the Transcendance Tribulation Stage while its master did not.”

“This contract beast somehow managed to break the contract, freeing itself from control.”

“This contract beast seemed to harbor resentment towards both humans and beasts. It was violent in nature, resulting in countless deaths.”

“Humans and beasts wanted to resist, but in the face of this second Transcendance Tribulation Stage being, they were utterly powerless.”

The mural depicted a red-headed, white-footed monkey baring its teeth – its ugly appearance alone was enough to convey its ferocious nature.”

Xia Chao and Qiu Shi had never seen this type of monkey before.

“It’s Zhu Yan. Judging by Zhu Yan’s appearance in the mural, it’s feared that he is also one who has undergone ancestral reversion.” Jiang Li and White Snow Spirit recognized it. Zhu Yan was also a divine beast, possessing strong bloodlines.

Xia Chao continued interpreting the mural: “Out of necessity, humans hid in the air-raid shelters, hoping they could withstand the terror of the contract beast.”

“The contract beast caused humanity to distrust other contract beasts, so people abandoned their contract beasts and hid alone in the air-raid shelters.”

“Humans built hundreds of large air-raid shelters, but we would receive news that a shelter had fallen every other day. The contract beast seemed to be looking for something. What could it possibly be?”

“It appeared to realize that humans could communicate using wireless radio and somehow managed to cut off this communication.”

“We lost all contact with the outside world.”

“The contract beast is coming…”

That is where the mural ends. The cultivator who painted the mural was unable to finish the final sentence.

Even though it wasn’t written, anyone could guess what happened. Zhu Yan, who had reached the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, broke through the gates and stormed into the air-raid shelter. No one survived, not even the creator of the mural.

Although the artist of the mural might have been at the late Divinity Transformation stage or even the Body Integration Realm stage, in front of Zhu Yan at the Transcendance Tribulation stage, it had made no difference. They could only submit to Zhu Yan’s slaughter.

“Is that all?” Xia Chao had not expected that the previous era was annihilated due to Zhu Yan.

However, it remained unknown how Zhu Yan had managed to sever the master-servant contract, why it bore a grudge against humanity and where it was now.

“There might be more.” Jiang Li used his Divine Sense to scan the air-raid shelter and discovered something interesting.

White Snow Spirit also detected it.

The air-raid shelter was like a massive maze. Without a map, it was easy to get lost.

Under Jiang Li’s guidance, everyone arrived at a small room. Inside the room lay a jumble of skeletons – it was unclear whether they belonged to one person or several people.

Jiang Li picked up a diary. After two thousand years, the paper had become brittle. Jiang Li refined it slightly, increasing its strength and toughness.

On the first page of the diary, it said:

“Today, I signed the master-servant contract with a little monkey with a red head and white feet.”