Shengui Changsheng: Start from Zhenwuwei and add some points to cultivate immortality

In an instant, a dark golden light erupted from within the source core, completely engulfing Fu Shaoping! It was no longer an external radiance, but a fusion originating from the depths of his soul!
Countless pieces of information, insights, and visions surged into his sea of ​​consciousness like a floodgate opened! This was no longer the kind of inherited runes or fragmented memories that required painstaking deciphering, but a higher-level, direct "source infusion"!
He "saw" a more grand and complete chapter of the "General Outline of Contract Origin"—not just the Foundation Establishment chapter, but also vague guidance on Golden Core, Nascent Soul… and even higher realms! He "touched" the deeper rules of the Great Dao of Contracts: entanglement of cause and effect, threads of fate, the weight of oaths, the brilliance of promises… He "felt" the former glory and tragedy of this ancient contract sect—"Xuanyuan Contract Sect"—and the helplessness and warning of its final collapse, when it tried to preserve its flame with the "Heaven-Deceiving Blood Pact" but attracted a huge karmic backlash!
More importantly, he gained the source core's approval, a kind of "contractual authority" in essence!
This authority allowed him to instantly understand the ancient contract restrictions, guardian spirits (those ancient beasts that were bound and mutated by part of the contract power), and even the operating rules of some of the earth's spiritual energy in this Ancient Contract Valley and even the surrounding area! He was no longer an intruder or an inheritor, but in a sense, the "temporary master" of this contract relic!
The light gradually faded. Fu Shaoping remained standing in the same spot, holding the source core in his hand, which had already lost its luster and resembled an ordinary dark gold bead. His aura did not surge; instead, it became even more concentrated and restrained. Only his eyes remained deep and profound, seemingly able to reflect the myriad changes of the contract.

With a slight thought, the terrifying pressure of the contract that enveloped the altar receded like a tide. The awakened ancient beasts, their crimson eyes flashing with confusion, then sensed the source core aura emanating from Fu Shaoping that made them instinctively awe and close. They all let out a low growl, lowered their bodies again, closed their giant eyes, and seemed to fall into a deep sleep once more.

Around the altar, the remains of the black-clad cultivators and the broken array plates rapidly weathered and vanished without a trace under the influence of the remaining power of the contract.

Fu Shaoping's gaze then turned coldly to the edge of the altar, to the black-clad leader who was barely managing to steady himself, his face pale, his eyes filled with a mixture of horror, greed, and endless resentment.

The leader in black witnessed the miraculous scene unfold. The Source Core had chosen its master! This suddenly appearing young cultivator, whose cultivation was merely at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, had actually gained the approval of that legendary contract treasure! All his schemes, the deaths and injuries of his men, now seemed like a colossal irony!

"Who...who exactly are you?!" The black-clad leader's voice was hoarse, with a barely perceptible tremor. He couldn't see through Fu Shaoping anymore. Although his cultivation level hadn't changed, the fact that the other man stood there, holding the Source Core, gave him a sense of insignificance and powerlessness, as if facing an ancient god.

Fu Shaoping did not answer. He slowly raised his left hand, palm up, and connected his thoughts to the source core. Without needing complicated incantations or spells, with just a thought, the space around the altar rippled slightly.

Several pale golden chains, made of pure contractual power, appeared out of thin air, meandering and moving as if they had a life of their own, locking onto the black-clad leader.

These chains are not the previous "Chains of Judgment," and they do not have such a grand scale, but they are more solid and more flexible, carrying a sense of "words becoming law" and "rules binding".

The black-clad leader's pupils constricted sharply; he sensed a deadly threat! These chains were far more terrifying than the previous violent restrictive attacks, seemingly acting directly on his very being!
"Escape!" Without hesitation, he burned his life essence and unleashed his trump card, a life-saving escape technique. He transformed into a streak of black light that almost blended into the shadows, fleeing madly towards the valley entrance! His speed far surpassed his previous speed!
However, in the ancient Qi Valley, an area where Fu Shaoping had already begun to grasp the power of the contract, his escape technique seemed utterly ridiculous.

The pale gold chains trembled slightly, ignoring spatial distance, and arrived before the dark sword light, instantly appearing in front of, behind, above, below, left, and right, like a golden cage, firmly sealing it off!
The dark blade slammed into the chains, producing a piercing screeching sound and a hissing sound of energy annihilation, but it couldn't budge them an inch! The chains remained motionless, instead slowly contracting.

"No!!" The black-clad leader staggered out of the flashing blades, his face filled with despair. He frantically swung his black straight blade at the chains, the blade sharp enough to split rocks, yet it only left shallow white marks on the chains, which instantly healed.

Chains mercilessly wrapped around his limbs, neck, and waist, like the most resilient ropes of law, binding him tightly and suspending him in mid-air. An invisible, powerful binding force originating from the contract not only imprisoned his physical body and true essence but also suppressed his soul, making even self-destruction impossible for him.

Fu Shaoping then stepped forward and slowly walked to the black-clad leader, who was bound by chains and looked like a lamb to the slaughter.

"Now, we can talk." Fu Shaoping's voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger. "Who are you? Where do you come from? Why do you want to seize the Contract Source Core?"

The leader in black stared at Fu Shaoping with venomous eyes, clenching his teeth and remaining silent. He had clearly undergone rigorous training and was determined to fight to the death.

Fu Shaoping was not in a hurry. With a flick of his finger, a wisp of the true meaning of "contract interrogation" derived from the "Netherworld Contract Book" and purified by the power of the source core, mixed with a trace of the power of "curse backlash", silently seeped into the other party's bound soul.

This kind of interrogation is not a violent soul search, but rather it directly affects the other person's "memory contract" and "loyalty contract," triggering their inner conflict and pain, and breaking down their defenses.

"Ugh—!" The black-clad leader trembled violently, letting out a pained howl that sounded inhuman. He felt as if his memories were being churned up by countless red-hot irons, his oath of loyalty to the organization had turned into a venomous snake that gnawed at his heart, and his soul was being repeatedly crushed on a millstone.

This kind of pain far surpasses physical torture.

In just a few breaths, his psychological defenses completely collapsed.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!!" The leader in black cried and begged for mercy, tears streaming down his face.

“We are… ‘Shadow Tower’… the seventh squad of the ‘Mysterious’ division…” he said haltingly.

The Shadow Pavilion? Fu Shaoping's heart skipped a beat; he had never heard of this name before.

"What kind of organization is the Shadow Tower? Where is its headquarters? Why are they searching for the source of the contract?"

"The Shadow Tower... is... a secret... inter-domain organization... specializing in... exploring, searching, and seizing... all kinds of ancient treasures, forbidden inheritances, and primordial artifacts... cough cough... headquarters... we don't know... we only know... through... a specific teleportation array... to accept missions... and receive rewards... this mission... was... directly ordered by the higher-ups in the tower... target... locked on... the vast ancient plains... the meteorite basin... a suspected contract source core has appeared... to seize it at all costs..." The black-clad leader spoke incoherently, but under the contract interrogation, the core information he spoke should be true.

A cross-domain organization? Searching for ancient treasures and primordial artifacts? Fu Shaoping's eyes grew even colder. The business of the Shadow Pavilion was somewhat similar to that of the Blood Shadow Cult, but it was clearly more professional, efficient, and secretive, and it didn't seem to be limited to evil paths. They were like a group of "treasure hunters" or "heritage plunderers" hiding in the shadows.

"How did you know there was a contract source core here? How did you track and locate it?" Fu Shaoping pressed. "It was...it was the 'Heavenly Mystery Pavilion' inside the building...deduced...combined with...ancient book fragments...and recent...abnormal contract fluctuations in the Ancient Plains...locating...the approximate range...we...carried...'Boundary-Breaking Array Discs'...and...'Source Energy Sensing Talismans'...entered the basin...searching...the sensing talismans...and when we approached...Ancient Contract Valley...the reaction was strong..." The black-clad leader answered every question.

Tianji Pavilion? Deduction? Fu Shaoping's heart sank. The strength of this Youying Tower was probably far beyond his imagination. Not only did it have manpower, but it also had an organization specifically responsible for intelligence deduction.

"Did you previously hunt down a young cultivator carrying a 'contract artifact' in the Icewind Tundra and Frostsnow Strait?" Fu Shaoping asked the crucial question.

The leader in black shook his head blankly: "I...don't know...we...are only responsible for...the Ancient Valley mission...other areas...may have...other...teams..."

It wasn't them. The ones chasing me across the tundra and the strait were indeed the Blood Shadow Cult. But the appearance of the Shadow Tower meant that the Blood Shadow Cult wasn't the only force eyeing the contracted artifacts! The allure of this source core, or rather, the allure of these ancient primordial artifacts, was far greater than imagined.

Fu Shaoping asked a few more questions about the internal structure of Youying Tower, its communication methods, and other known mission locations, but the black-clad leader seemed to be of low rank and knew little, so he was mostly vague in his answers.

After asking all the questions he wanted to ask, Fu Shaoping looked at the black-clad leader in front of him, who was already mentally broken and on the verge of death, without any pity in his eyes.

These people came for the treasure, treating human life like dirt. If it weren't for my own abilities, I would already be just another skeleton beneath the altar. Moreover, letting him go back would only expose the fact that I have obtained the Source Core, attracting endless pursuit from the stronger members of the Shadow Tower.

With a thought, the pale gold chains binding the black-clad leader tightened abruptly!

"No—!" The black-clad leader only had time to let out a half-despairing roar before his entire body was completely decomposed and transformed into the most primitive spiritual energy particles by the annihilation power of the contract contained in the chains. He dissipated into the golden mist of the Ancient Qi Valley, his soul and spirit annihilated without leaving a trace.

After dealing with the enemy, Fu Shaoping finally had time to feel the changes within himself.

Holding the Source Core, he could clearly sense that it was incomplete. The primal power contained within it was only about one or two percent of its peak strength, and most of it was dormant, requiring a long time or a specific opportunity to gradually awaken. Even so, this one or two percent of power was an immeasurable treasure for him.

First, there's his cultivation level. The moment he obtained the Source Core, its primordial power spontaneously washed over and nourished his physical body, meridians, dantian, and soul. At this moment, his peak early Foundation Establishment bottleneck had loosened. If he wished, he could activate the Source Core's power at any time to break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, with an extremely high success rate and an incredibly solid foundation.

But he didn't do it immediately. Having just obtained the Source Core, his realm needed to settle, and he needed to familiarize himself with the power. Rashly breaking through was not the best course of action.

Secondly, there's his mastery of the Dao of Contracts. With the Source Core in hand, the power of any contract spell he casts increases by at least 30%, while reducing its cost by 20%. More importantly, his understanding and application of contract rules have reached a completely new level. The way he just did it—forming contract chains as if his words were law—was only a preliminary application.

He attempted to communicate with the source core to learn more about the Ancient Valley.

A vague response came from the source core. This Ancient Contract Valley was indeed an important outer inheritance and trial ground of the ancient "Xuan Yuan Contract Sect," not its core sect. Besides this core altar, there were several hidden entrances to "Contract Secret Realms" within the valley, each corresponding to different levels and directions of contract trials and inheritances. However, most of these secret realms were damaged and sealed when the sect was destroyed, or required specific conditions to open.

In addition, the source core also transmitted an extremely brief map showing the possible location of the core area of ​​the Xuan Yuan Qi Zong sect's mountain gate—pointing to a more remote and desolate place known as the "Heavenly Meteor Forbidden Domain" in the depths of the vast ancient plains.

"The Forbidden Zone of Meteorite..." Fu Shaoping murmured the name. That was probably a hundred times more dangerous than the Meteorite Basin.

"The most urgent task is to thoroughly refine and control this source core, utilize the resources and environment of the Ancient Contract Valley to stabilize our cultivation, and explore the remaining contractual secret realms to obtain more inheritances and resources. Then, we can consider whether to go to the Heavenly Meteor Forbidden Domain to explore the true core of the Profound Origin Contract Sect."

Fu Shaoping made his decision. He sat cross-legged in the center of the altar, placed the Source Core in his palm, and began to refine and communicate with it more deeply using the core methods in the "General Principles of Source Contract" combined with his own Contract True Essence.

This seclusion was even deeper than his time in the ice cave. The rich power of the contract within the valley continuously flowed into his body, being purified and transformed by the source core, and then nourishing him. His understanding of the Dao of Contracts was rapidly improving every moment.

At the same time, he also diverted some of his attention to try to open a relatively complete secret realm in the Ancient Valley, which was currently the most useful to him, through the authority of the Source Core – the "True Explanation Pavilion of Contract Runes".

According to the source information, this pavilion contains the insights of past sages of the Xuan Yuan Qi Sect on the analysis, creation, and application of contract runes, making it a treasure trove for consolidating the foundation of contracts and expanding contractual horizons.

Guided by the power of the source core, the ground on one side of the altar slowly cracked open, revealing a downward-extending staircase made of glowing jade.

Fu Shaoping's clone (formed from a portion of his soul power and contract essence) descended the stairs and entered a strange space filled with star-like specks of light. Countless jade slips, bone fragments, and silk scrolls floated within the space, each containing precious knowledge of contract runes. (End of Chapter)