Chapter 66: Golden Feather Battle Rooster

Beasts become summoners' familiars through contracts. Only the familiar cannot sever the bond. Both the master-slave contract and the alliance contract can be terminated, freeing the beast!

Li Xie didn't keep Larsonberg for fear he might disobey or turn on him, but letting him leave would be too much of a waste!

So, leaving behind his familiar was a compromise! Humans might bite back, but a familiar bound by contract is the most loyal companion!

The value of an eighth-tier familiar can be seen from the fact that Mercedes VII only has one eighth-tier familiar!

Leaving Larsonberg's familiar undoubtedly equals cutting off half of Larsonberg's strength! It's like chopping off one of his hands!

Li Xie believed Larsonberg wouldn't give in so easily, so he prepared to intimidate him. If he refused, Li Xie would have Zennad and Fandi force him to agree! If he resisted stubbornly, Li Xie would just kill him! As long as he released his familiar in battle, whether he lived or died, the familiar would still belong to Li Xie!

"Okay!" Larsonberg agreed without hesitation, which surprised Li Xie!

It didn't make sense!

But whether it made sense or not, since he agreed so readily, should Li Xie make him be more reserved, at least show some anger, and then have to be forced to give in?

"Since you're so eager, release your familiar and terminate the contract at the same time! You shouldn't have signed a soul contract, right?"

"Master-slave contract!"

Larsonberg muttered a few words, gestured with his fingers, and a white light emanated from his forehead. A diamond-shaped crystal about the size of a thumb, emitting white light, floated out of his forehead. At the same time, a blue circle about half a meter in diameter appeared on the ground to his right. The circle disappeared immediately, leaving a familiar crouching on the ground.

Larsonberg placed the diamond-shaped crystal from his forehead in his palm, clapped his hands together, and the crystal shattered into dots of light. Then, he bowed and said, "The contract is terminated, and this familiar belongs to you! I'll take my leave!"

With that, he quickly left, and Li Xie didn't pay him any attention, his focus on the familiar on the ground.

It was a beast shaped like a fighting cock, about half a meter long. Its bright red comb was like a crown on its head, and its golden feathers were like luxurious gold clothes. Its tail had five one-foot-long sickle feathers, like five golden sickles!

"This is..." Li Xie's pupils constricted, and his heart raced!

He knew what this familiar was!

"Congratulations, my lord, this is a naturally eighth-tier magical beast called the Golden Feather Battle Chicken!" Fan Di Sel was quite excited. "Among eighth-tier magical beasts, the Golden Feather Battle Chicken is considered a formidable presence, especially this one with fully developed crown and golden feathers. It's an adult eighth-tier magical beast!"

Fan Di Sel was excited because he knew Li Xie didn't have magic or Qi fluctuations and couldn't sign a contract with this Golden Feather Battle Chicken. So, it would undoubtedly be given as a reward to a subordinate, probably him!

Although he was proficient in Qi cultivation, he had almost reached the limit at the tenth-tier Sword Saint. The difference between the eleventh-tier Sword Saint and the tenth-tier Sword Saint was fundamental, and breaking through was extremely difficult. Many geniuses would only stay at the tenth-tier for their entire lives!

To continue enhancing his strength, having a magical beast was the best choice. Fan Di Sel didn't care for ordinary magical beasts, but this eighth-tier magical beast was hard to ignore!

If he owned this magical beast and let it ascend two levels, perhaps within ten years, Fan Di Sel would be the second tenth-tier summoner in the human kingdom. This wasn't just about honor; it also symbolized status and power!

Fan Di Sel was excited, but little did he know, Li Xie was even more excited!

During these idle days, Li Xie would sometimes read the "Beast Minister's Notes" given to him by Skamord. The notes detailed the magical beasts known to Skamord, with illustrations to aid recognition. However, with so many types of magical beasts, Li Xie couldn't remember them all, but he did remember some special or powerful ones mentioned by Skamord! Among them was the Golden Feather Battle Chicken!

Ordinary people only knew that the Golden Feather Battle Chicken was a naturally eighth-tier magical beast and one of the stronger eighth-tier magical beasts. But what they didn't know was that the Golden Feather Battle Chicken had a secret!

This secret concerned another extinct magical beast - the naturally tenth-tier Undying Firebird!

Skamord had read countless ancient books and discovered a secret: the powerful legendary beast, the Undying Firebird, wasn't born naturally but evolved from the Golden Feather Battle Chicken! More precisely, it evolved from a Golden Feather Battle Chicken with five sickle feathers!

There weren't many Golden Feather Battle Chickens, and almost all of them had only four sickle feathers. Occasionally, one would have five sickle feathers. There was no apparent difference in strength between a Golden Feather Battle Chicken with four sickle feathers and one with five.

However, only a Golden Feather Battle Chicken with five sickle feathers could consume a fruit called the "Scarlet Refinement Fruit" to become the legendary Undying Firebird!

What the Scarlet Refinement Fruit was, Skamord didn't explain, and Li Xie wasn't sure either. But the magical beast before his eyes was undoubtedly a genuine five-sickle feather Golden Feather Battle Chicken!

This one-in-a-million magical beast might just need to find a Scarlet Refinement Fruit, and Li Xie could have an Undying Firebird!

The Phoenix of Immortality, once formed, immediately becomes an adult Tenth-Rank Magical Beast. Even the pinnacle powerhouse of the Divine Continent, Dragon Emperor Keke Nicholas, was born as nothing more than a Tenth-Rank Magical Beast!

In simplest terms, Li Xie hit the jackpot, a supreme treasure!

"It's dying!" Suddenly, Zeen Nard interjected.

"Dying?" Fandi Sel was startled, noticing the Five-Rank Feathers Golden Phoenix lying motionless on the ground. Hurriedly, he crouched down, casting golden light over the Phoenix.

Li Xie watched anxiously. "What's going on? Tell me!"

After a moment, Fandi Sel sighed and shook his head. "My Lord, this Golden Phoenix is indeed on the brink of death. Its leg and wing bones are broken, which are just minor injuries! More severely, its internal organs are severely damaged and have lost their vitality. At this point, it's barely clinging to life, but it won't last long before it dies."

Li Xie was stunned, frozen in disbelief. "How could this happen? How?"

His superlative treasure was slipping away right before his eyes, and Li Xie found it difficult to accept.

"Isn't it obvious? I thought Larsonberg had some real skills, to be able to form a master-slave contract with an Eighth-Rank Magical Beast! I thought he was being shrewd, agreeing so readily to give away an Eighth-Rank Magical Beast! But no! It turns out he just lucked upon a severely wounded Phoenix. He forced it into a master-slave contract, then stashed it away in the pet space to keep its injuries from worsening. As long as it wasn't summoned, this Phoenix could hold on, but once it was called out, its life was practically over!" Fandi Sel cursed angrily, "That damned swindler!"

"Now what do we do? Can it be saved?" Li Xie's concern was solely for the life of this Five-Rank Feathers Golden Phoenix.

Fandi Sel shook his head lightly. "It's just barely holding on in the pet space. Once it's out, its injuries will worsen immediately. Even if a High Priest were to come, it wouldn't be able to save it."

"Darn it!" Li Xie was both frustrated and inexplicably angry!

It felt like picking up a red banknote from the ground, only to find out it was fake!

"Wanna save it? Give it a piece of your flesh!" A crisp and somewhat mischievous voice suddenly rang in Li Xie's ear.

"Who?!" The voice seemed to echo in Li Xie's mind, startling him. "Who's speaking to me?"

"My Lord? What's wrong?" Kano looked at Li Xie, bewildered.

"A girl spoke to me! Who was it?" Li Xie looked around, suddenly realizing there was no girl nearby. "Didn't you hear?"

Kano, Fandi, and the others all shook their heads in confusion.

"Give it your flesh, or this beast won't make it!" 

"Who!" Li Xie frowned. "None of you heard? A girl's voice, not loud, but definitely audible!"

Kano placed his hand on Li Xie's forehead. "No fever, my Lord, you're fine. You're not feverish, your mind isn't fried."

"Darn it!" Li Xie pushed his hand away, his brow furrowed tightly!

Who was speaking?

Nobody else heard it? Only me? Haunted? Darn it, I'm a vampire! Besides, this is another realm, ghosts can't roam around here! So who was it?

Give it my flesh?

Is my flesh supposed to be like the flesh of the Tang Priest?

No! It's worth a try!

Suddenly, Li Xie remembered the scene when he first arrived in the Divine Continent. When the Eighth-Rank Earth Lion bit off his hand, it immediately advanced!

At that time, Li Xie didn't think much about it. Plus, the Duke of Pantheon showed hostility towards him right after, so he quickly brushed it off and didn't dwell on it!

"Is my flesh special?" Li Xie muttered.

"My Lord, what did you say? Kano didn't hear clearly." Kano thought Li Xie was giving orders, but his words were unclear, and he didn't know what he said.

"Kano! Get a sharp dagger!" Li Xie rolled up his sleeves. "In the past, Master... Sleep cut his flesh to feed the eagle and save it from starvation. Today, I, Li Xie, will cut my finger to feed the chicken and save its life! Dagger, come!"

After all, cutting a finger could be regenerated, at most it would hurt a bit, but maybe it could really save this Golden Phoenix!

"Oh no! My Lord!" Kano worriedly said, "My Lord, you're not feverish, but your mind is gone!"

"Darn it! You darn 6'8"! Get the dagger quickly! If you keep blabbering, I'll cut off your finger!" 

Kano hurriedly took a dagger from one of the guards, and Li Xie, without hesitation, cut off his index finger!

This action stunned the guards!

"My Lord!"

"My Lord, don't hurt yourself!"

"My..."

The worried expressions of the guards hadn't faded, but they immediately became dumbfounded again when they saw Li Xie's severed finger not only didn't bleed, but it was also growing back!

A minor injury like losing a finger could be restored in about a second or so. To Li Xie, it was quite normal. Ignoring the astonishment of the others, he quickly fed his finger to the Golden Phoenix. If he didn't hurry, the Phoenix would die, and Li Xie's severed finger would spontaneously combust into ashes in a short time!