Chapter 79: Entrusting Lives

Lord's Mansion, Li Xie's Bedroom.

This is a spacious and elegant room, with simple furnishings, excluding the bed made of pure gold.

In the bedroom, there are only Li Xie and Jack. Ze'en Na'de and Fan Di Ser, along with Kano, are outside the room. Even the ever-present Meow Meow has been persuaded with a few bottles of wine to drink outside.

Summoning Jack into the room, Li Xie's purpose is to secure Jack's loyalty.

Jack is the only usable commander in Li Xie's hands. The future 150,000-strong army, or even more, will all be under his control. If he harbors any disloyalty, he would be Li Xie's biggest trouble.

Moreover, now that the Golden Feather War Chicken is Jack's familiar, a Ninth Order Sword Saint paired with an Eighth Order Beast, their combined strength may not be inferior to Fan Di Ser.

If the Golden Feather War Chicken advances to Ninth Order Beast, Jack would become the second Ninth Order Summoner of the Tudor Dynasty, with strength at least capable of matching Ze'en Na'de, the Ninth Order Dragon.

In this way, Jack actually holds half of Li Xie's power. Such an important figure cannot be trusted with just a simple "loyalty."

At the very least, he must swear by the Earth God.

"Jack, I called you here alone, do you know why?" Li Xie sits on the edge of the bed, caressing the golden bed.

In the room, it's just you and me, you sitting on the edge of the bed, touching the bed, asking me why. This...

Jack's serious face twitched slightly before he said, "My lord, are you about to secretly instruct me to do something while you travel to Mani City?"

Li Xie chuckled. "Fan Di, Ze'en, Kano, and you. You are all my confidants. If there's a secret, there's no need to speak privately. This time, as I go to Mani City, the journey is long. Just walking back and forth will take a couple of months. During this time, you and Xiao'an will be responsible for all affairs in Juhua City..."

"My lord does not trust me," Jack said expressionlessly.

A clever man.

"No, even if I were to give Juhua City to you, I wouldn't bat an eyelid. If you want it, I can immediately write to His Majesty. This isn't a test for you." Li Xie's sincerity can be seen in his eyes. A city is just a city. In Li Xie's view, where there are people, there will be a city. Moreover, he still has Meihua City and Lanhu City.

Jack frowned slightly. "My lord, I am a soldier. My head is dull, and I only understand straightforward words. I hope my lord will forgive me."

He thinks I'm being evasive.

Li Xie smiled and said, "I can give you a city, money, and power because I trust you. But there's something, if I were to give it to you, I would have to consider whether your level of trustworthiness is worth it. You tell me, how much trust do you deserve from me?"

Jack's expression remained calm. "My lord, as long as I have the ability to protect this thing for my lord, my lord can trust me. It depends on what my lord wants to entrust to me."

"My life," Li Xie chuckled.

Jack's expression froze, and then he stared at Li Xie intently. "If my lord's life is entrusted to me, I dare not judge whether I am worthy of my lord's trust. I can only tell my lord that if my lord's life is lost, then my life must have been lost first."

"Hehe..." Li Xie smiled. "Everyone can say polite words. You don't need to be polite to me. Let me make it clearer. I can immediately let your familiar advance in rank and make you a Ninth Order Summoner."

Jack's pupils contracted, unable to help but be tempted.

After obtaining the Golden Feather War Chicken, Jack also had his own thoughts. Now, he is an official in the territory of Duke Xie. According to the laws of the dynasty, he is only responsible to the lord, which is Li Xie. Although he also has to obey Mercedes VII, the lord's orders are the highest command.

In other words, the lord can have private soldiers, and Jack is Li Xie's private soldier.

This poses a problem.

If Jack's familiar advances to the Ninth Order, he will be the only Ninth Order Summoner in the Tudor Dynasty (Jack is unaware that Duke Rein is already a Ninth Order Summoner). Jack is well aware of the influence a Ninth Order Summoner has on the country. Therefore, he can also imagine that once he becomes a Ninth Order Summoner, Mercedes VII is highly likely to incorporate him into the dynasty in various ways.

For Jack himself, he will do his best to fulfill his duties wherever he is assigned. Whether it's by Li Xie's side or by Mercedes VII's side, it doesn't matter to him.

But from Jack's perspective, if he is called back to the court, Li Xie will definitely not want it, but he cannot disobey Mercedes VII's wishes. Thus, Jack believes that unless he demonstrates loyalty to Li Xie and never abandons him, Li Xie will not help him or allow his familiar to advance in rank.

So when Li Xie said those words, Jack understood. Li Xie wanted his loyalty.

However, Jack is a clever person and a powerful individual with his own pride.

He can serve as a subordinate diligently, but loyalty is different. It signifies allegiance to a master.

In Jack's heart, he doesn't believe that anyone is worthy of his loyalty or worthy of him serving as a master.

Seeing him smile, he said, "I understand what you mean, my lord, but to help my familiar advance in rank, I need Duke Avril's assistance. His Majesty must also be aware of this matter. My lord, you should know what it means to be a Ninth Order Summoner. His Majesty is likely to recall me, and if you disagree, His Majesty will probably not agree to Duke Avril helping my familiar advance in rank. In this way, it will only make things awkward between you and His Majesty. I appreciate your kindness, my lord."

Li Xie shook his head. "Do you think that only Duke Avril can help an Eighth Order beast advance to Ninth Order?"

Jack was taken aback, realizing that there were no priests of Eighth Order or higher in the Tudor Dynasty. The only one who could help an Eighth Order beast advance was the High Priestess Duke Avril.

"My lord, please make it clearer. I am truly stupid."

Li Xie could guess what Jack was thinking. In fact, even if he asked Duke Avril to help the Golden Feather War Chicken advance, Mercedes VII would not covet anyone.

However, Li Xie did not want to use Duke Avril's help to advance the Golden Feather War Chicken. Such a huge favor, Li Xie naturally wanted to do it himself.

Li Xie smiled. "There are others who can help your Golden Feather War Chicken advance, not just to the Ninth Order, but even to the Tenth, Eleventh, or even Twelfth Order. Duke Avril cannot do this. Even if she could, you should know that she would prioritize His Majesty's beasts. Only I can help you. However, advancing it is a matter of life and death for me. In simple terms, you will know a secret next, a secret that, if revealed, would leave me with no place to bury my body. Therefore, I must know if I can entrust my life to you."

"My lord, you..." Jack grew more shocked as he listened.

To be able to help a beast advance to the Twelfth Order would make one a demi-god, a semi-divine being.

Is he bluffing, or does he really have the ability to do this? If it's the latter, who exactly is Duke Xie? Is he a semi-divine being himself, or does he know one?

Moreover, why would it involve his life, and why would he be willing to trust me with something that concerns his life?

"Hehe, you don't need to be surprised. I naturally have a way to help your familiar advance. However, since it's a secret, it cannot be known by anyone. The only ones who can know are those whom I can trust with my life. Jack, let me ask you again, can I trust you, can I entrust my life to you?"

When a duke is willing to entrust his life, what else does Jack have to be proud of?

Jack said solemnly, "My lord, I have a question for you."

"Go ahead."

"If I were to die, how would you treat my sister Xiao'an?"

Li Xie's expression became serious. "As sure as the earth and the sky above, if you were to meet an unfortunate end, I, Li Xie, swear that I will treat Xiao'an as my own sister."

"My lord, I have been unreasonably proud. My lord, I pledge my loyalty to you, and I will follow you to the death, never betraying or abandoning you."

"Very well."

Jack stood up and smiled. "My lord, you can now entrust your life to me. Unless I am dead, your life will not be lost."

"Hahaha... That's quite different from what you said earlier. Also, you look ridiculous when you smile. Just be cool."

"Uh..."

"Enough joking. Let's get to the point." Li Xie lowered his voice. "My body is quite special. Not only can my flesh heal wounds for beasts, but it can also help them advance in rank. The healing has been tested, but as for the advancement, I'm not entirely sure. However, there's a good chance that I'll cut off one of my hands for you. You'll immediately feed it to the Golden Feather War Chicken. Wild beasts are often at the critical point of advancement. I believe that once the Golden Feather War Chicken consumes my flesh, it will immediately advance."

Jack stared at Li Xie with wide eyes, as if he were seeing a monster. He couldn't believe what he was hearing—that human flesh could help beasts advance.

During these days, he had seen Meow Meow bite Li Xie a couple of times, and he knew that Li Xie's body could heal rapidly, even regenerating lost limbs. This had amazed him for a while, but he never imagined that Li Xie's flesh could also help beasts advance. It was simply inconceivable.

No wonder the lord said it was a matter of entrusting his life. If this were known to outsiders, the lord would probably be torn to shreds in no time.

"If my flesh leaves my body, it will burn in about five seconds. Feed it to the Golden Feather War Chicken within five seconds. But don't let it out yet. It's not ready to know about this."

"Yes, my lord."

"Bring me a sword."

"My lord... I don't have a sword..."

"Then what do you have?"

"A spear."

"..." Li Xie was quite annoyed. He needed to cut off his own hand, and yet he couldn't find a proper weapon. He looked around and then remembered that he had his own weapon.

The Blade of Fangs, formed from his transformed fingernails, was just as effective as any other weapon.

Extending his left fingernail by a foot, Li Xie gritted his teeth and said, "Be ready to catch my hand, and make sure to feed it to the Golden Feather War Chicken quickly."

With determination, Li Xie endured the excruciating pain and swiftly sliced off his hand with the Blade of Fangs, severing it from his right elbow. Jack, quick to react, caught Li Xie's severed arm, then immediately summoned the Golden Feather War Chicken. The chicken, still unsure of what was happening, found Li Xie's severed hand being shoved into its mouth.