Holding the Sword to Carry Away Senior Sister (Transmigration) - Chapter 41

A servant contract?

Hearing those words, Fu Yan’s departing footsteps paused slightly.

Fu Yan knew a bit about servant contracts. In the vast Tongxuan Continent, cultivators would often willingly sign such contracts for the sake of an opportunity or to save their lives. They essentially became slaves under another person, driven entirely by their master’s will.

The most common method was a Blood Covenant. A servant bound by blood could not resist or show dissatisfaction to their master, lest they suffer the contract’s backlash—ranging from intense pain to the daily agony of a “heart-eating” sensation. These, however, could be dissolved if the master was willing.

But what Shui Liuqing had proposed was different: a contract signed with one’s own Soul.

This method was extreme. Once the soul was branded, the contract could never be undone. Even more terrifyingly, the master could peer into the servant’s consciousness at will. If the servant harbored even a sliver of rebellion, the master would know. It was as if the master held the servant’s very soul in their hand; with a mere flick of a finger, they could erase the other’s existence.

Because of this, most seekers of protection chose blood covenants. Rare was the cultivator willing to hand over their soul. To a cultivator, one can die, but the soul must remain; if the soul is destroyed, one ceases to exist in any form.

Thus, hearing Shui Liuqing offer her soul was a shock. Fu Yan hadn’t expected the woman to be so ruthless toward herself.

Shui Liuqing knew that a blood covenant wouldn’t suffice. Fu Yan was too smart to keep a ticking time bomb nearby. To live, the soul contract was her only card. By handing over total control, she removed any reason for Fu Yan to fear her. She didn’t want to be a lapdog, but more than that, she didn’t want to die. Survival was her firmest conviction.

As time trickled by, Shui Liuqing’s True Essence flickered out. The silence in the illusion array was deafening. Just as her protective shield shattered and the Erosion Bees lunged—

The world spun.

Shui Liuqing felt herself being tossed through the air, landing heavily in a pile of sand.

Fu Yan had calculated the risks. A soul contract meant no worries of backstabbing and an extra Late-stage fighter for free. It was a guaranteed profit. At the last possible second, she had pulled Shui Liuqing out of the Xu You Jade Seal.

Gasp… gasp…

Shui Liuqing breathed greedily, though she lacked the strength to even stand. She managed to sit up and saw Fu Yan standing over her.

“Then let us sign it,” Fu Yan said. Her voice was flat, almost as if she didn’t care, though she was getting a massive bargain.

Shui Liuqing suppressed her bitterness. She knew if she spoke out of turn now, she’d be back in the bees’ nest in an instant. She closed her eyes and fully opened her divine sense. “Come,” she said.

Fu Yan placed her palm directly onto Shui Liuqing’s head, her consciousness diving into the other’s mind. She successfully left her brand upon Shui Liuqing’s soul. The contract was complete.

Shui Liuqing felt her soul tremble. Her thoughts were the same, but an instinctive, deep-seated reverence for Fu Yan took root in her heart.

“How does it feel?” Fu Yan asked, curious about the magic of the bond.

“Shui Liuqing greets the Master,” Shui Liuqing said with a deep, sincere bow. “There is no discomfort.”

Satisfied, Fu Yan stowed the jade seal. “Recover your strength quickly. We’ve been away from the team for too long. Wang Qingyang and the others should be regrouping with Senior Sister soon.”

“Yes, Master.”

As Shui Liuqing meditated, Fu Yan brought up the black qi. “This black energy in my Qi Sea—what is it? Clear it now.”

Shui Liuqing hesitated. “Actually… I’m not entirely sure what it is.”

Fu Yan’s eyes narrowed, but thanks to the contract, she knew Shui Liuqing wasn’t lying.

“I found it in a storage ring on a corpse in a tomb,” Shui Liuqing explained. “I had three wisps. I used the first to experiment and found it blocks the connection between the Qi Sea and heaven’s energy. I used the second on you. I haven’t found a way to erase it, but I developed a pill that allows spiritual energy to pass through it.”

She handed Fu Yan a medicinal pill. Fu Yan swallowed it, and after a moment, she felt her connection to the spiritual world return. The black qi remained, but it was now a dormant, harmless wisp floating in her Qi Sea.

“Keep the third wisp for yourself; I’m not interested in your ‘opportunities,’” Fu Yan said dismissively.

Shui Liuqing was stunned. She had expected Fu Yan to strip her of all her resources. Finding her master was actually leaving her with her gear—making her a stronger “shield”—she felt a complex mix of relief and worry.

“Thank you, Master.”

“When we go back, we maintain our previous relationship,” Fu Yan ordered. “No one must know of this.”

Meanwhile, at the meeting point near a river outside Chaoyang City, the team had regrouped. The decoy plan had worked; Bai Yueli and Han Shangde had safely brought the real cargo through the Gobi.

Wang Qingyang and Han Shangzhi had returned, but Fu Yan and Shui Liuqing were missing.

“The scene was chaotic,” a Fengling Sect disciple told Bai Yueli. “I saw a bandit leader chasing the two Shui Ling Sect disciples.”

Bai Yueli frowned. She stood up, Moon-Sway Sword in hand, ready to search for them.

“The bandit was only at the Late stage,” Wang Qingyang interjected. “Even if they can’t win, they can run. It just takes time to shake him off. Don’t worry, Junior Sister.”

Bai Yueli knew he was right, but she couldn’t sit still. Just as she prepared to leave, a guard shouted, “Look! Someone’s back!”

Fu Yan’s figure appeared in the distance, heading toward them rapidly. Seeing the girl, Bai Yueli felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of peace.

Fu Yan landed and saw Bai Yueli walking toward her. She broke into a radiant smile.

“Senior Sister!”

As Fu Yan walked toward her against the late afternoon sun, hair fluttering in the breeze, Bai Yueli didn’t notice the faint, almost imperceptible curve of her own lips.