“How is your injury?” The mayor asked as he continued to gaze at his people who were still discussing the events which transpired.

“Ah, that pill you gave me really helped, thank you.” Relic gave a bow and answered in an almost childish voice.

“What is your name?”

“My name is Relic, sir.”

“Yes… I’ve seen you and your sister around before. You two normally sit under the brown oak tree and gaze at the other children playing.”

The mayor turned to Relic and spoke solemnly: “Ok, let’s not beat around the bushes. Mrs, Wan and young master Yan Mu, both said you were the person who downed that Spirit Beast. The others also confirmed that you displayed exquisite movement abilities when the two guards of the Yan family attacked you. ”

They mayor moved his hands with unavoidable speed and clasped onto Relic’s wrist. He immediately sent in his divine sense throughout Relics body, scanning every inch of it as well as his soul.

“His body is definitely of a regular mortal child. And there are no signs that a foreign soul has entered into this child’s body…” The mayor contemplated.

Soul possession definitely existed in this world and was practiced by few evil cultivators. Using soul possession allowed one to take over another’s body and input their own soul in a new body, essentially lengthening their lives. The problem with soul possession was that it required a terrible amount of sacrifices and the victim’s body must also be in resonance with the person performing the ritual.

Even with everything successful, a foreign soul will never fully resonate with another person’s body and powerful cultivators are capable of detecting that. However, the mayor could see that Relic was truly the owner of his own body.

“…” Relic could not sense that the mayor had used his divine sense to scan him but he definitely could guess the mayor had done so. He knew the Mayor was skeptical of his identity after he had taken on such powerful enemies. The pill the mayor had given him was nothing more than a beginner level healing pill anyone could get with a few coins. It was expensive goods to mortals, but to cultivators, it was nothing.

Satisfied he could not find anything suspicious about Relic. The mayor let go of Relics wrists.

“I want you tell me the truth. How were you able to fight against that Spirit beast and dodge those attacks from those people? Who exactly are you?”

Relic thought for a moment before shaking his head. He wasn’t confident enough to believe the mayor would believe anything he said other than the truth. However, to tell someone he didn’t know, that he came from the future could potentially jeopardize his plans and goals.

“Master…I will definitely return to you and keep my promise!” The promise he made with his master just before they dropped into the ocean was already etched in his very soul. He would do whatever it takes in order to fulfill that promise.

Relic tilted his head in confusion and continued to speak in a childish voice: “I already said I’m Relic! I don’t really understand, I was just hitting and running away so the bad men would leave my sister. Does mayor want to know why Relic is so strong? Obviously it is because I’m the greatest!” Relic puffed up his chest and beat it several times to show his confidence.

When the mayor heard Relic’s answer he simply sighed and began to walk away.

He stopped several steps away and without turning his head, he said “The people of this town are my family. I thank you for stepping in and helping them but…If you bring any harm to them I will not show you any mercy.” Relic could feel the murderous intent in the mayor’s voice which made his hairs stand up.

The mayor walked away and spoke briefly to the crowd of people. Many were reassured that their homes would be fixed and let out breaths of relief. After settling everything, he turned towards the Divine Paradise Peacock. A look of pity could be seen in his eyes as he took out a knife to put the beast out of its misery. However, as he got closer the beast growled menacingly at him. The peacock was still struggling for life and thought of the mayor as a threat.

He sighed once more and put his knife away before disappearing all together.

“Brother, are you okay? Did you get into trouble?” Hana rushed over and asked with a worried look on her face.

“No, he just wanted to ask me something.” He smiled.

“What about your arm? How come he didn’t heal your arm like he did for everyone else?” She could see that his arm was still injured despite the swelling coming down slightly. ‘

“Ah, he actually ran out of energy and was not able to heal me. Besides, it is not as bad as it looks.” He moved his arm slightly and rubbed her head.

Hana felt weird having her brother rub her head. Although the mayor had done the same thing, it felt slightly different coming from her younger brother.

“Hana!”

Hana turned to see Sophie waving at her as she and her mother came over.

“Sophie!” the two ran towards each other and clasped their hands together. “How are you feeling?”

“Mn, a lot better. When the mayor was healing me, my entire body felt warm and comfortable! It's a good thing the mayor saved us! ” Sophie spoke with great enthusiasm.

“Actually, the one who saved us was Hana’s brother.” a woman's voice was suddenly heard. Sophie’s mother appeared and walked towards Relic. “Thank you very much for saving us.” she looked at Relic.

She didn’t know much about Relic, only that he was her daughter’s friend’s brother. She had heard that he was a mentally ill child but after seeing it for herself, she thought it was just a lie.

“Hana’s brother...” Sophie turned her head slightly and saw the small boy behind Hana. His stance was one of confidence and he had sharp eyes. Was this the same boy she had seen for the past few years?

“Auntie, you are not correct.” Relic stood forward. “The one who saved you was my sister. I only helped stop the enraged beast. If you want to thank anyone it should be directed to my sister.”

Ah, I see, thank you, Hana.” she gave a slight smile.

Hana only nodded shyly

Sophie was dumbstruck when she heard Relic’s voice. Unlike other people, she actually knew how Relic was really like. She had been friends with Hana for many years and had seen Relic in such a state where he could not even speak. She couldn’t even process how that frightened little boy was capable of doing anything, little lone fight off a spirit beast.

“H-how...”

Hana saw the shocked look on her friends face and laughed. “Sophie, you might not believe this, but my brother has just recently gotten better.”

“What!”

“It's true, ever since yesterday he suddenly seemed to snap out of his trauma and was able to do things by himself. I mean...he is still a little weird at times but he is better for the most part.”

“A little weird...” Relic internally sighed.

“I-I’m happy for you.” Sophie said.

Suddenly, loud thumping could be heard. The divine paradise peacock beast had been trying to stand up but no matter what its neck would not move an inch. It would quickly became disoriented and drop back onto the floor. Some of the people even began to pity the beast.

“Excuse me miss.” a strange burly man suddenly appeared.

“Yes?” Sophie’s mother replied.

“My name is Jack Cornwell, a merchant, and I was here to witness the entire ordeal. It must have been a frightening ordeal. Are you alright?” he asked concerned.

“Yes, thank you for your concern.”

“That’s good to hear. Actually, I was hoping to speak to you about that spirit beast.”

“Hmmm?” she tilted her head.

“Since the mayor had that young master gift you the spirit beast it is naturally yours. However, now that the beast is injured to this extent it is practically useless and can only be sold for its materials.”

“Mister Cornwell, what are you suggesting?” she slanted her eyes as if knowing what he was about to ask.

“I would like to buy that Spirit beast off you.”

“That...”

“Of Course I will offer a generous price. How does 2000 gold coins sound? I will take care of hauling it away as well so there is no heavy lifting on your part. I will take care of everything.”

The average income of a family in this town was around 10 gold coins every week. This sum was definitely not little and within this town you would even be considered pretty well off with this amount.

“I don’t really need money, but I also don’t know what to do with this spirit beast.” She continued to look at the pitiful creature who was still struggling to stand up. She had already been healed and she didn’t want to deal with the spirit beast. She was just about to accept the man’s offer when Relic suddenly spoke.

“Auntie, if you don’t want your spirit beast, do you mind selling it to me?”

“Hm, you want the spirit beast?” she asked.

“Miss, this boy probably doesn’t have the money to buy such an exquisite spirit beast from you.” the man interjected quickly.

“Yes, I will pay any price. It’s true I don’t have money right now, but I will definitely make some money soon and I can pay you back.”

“But what do you want to do with this spirit beast? Its neck is broken and it can’t even stand up.”

“Actually, I have met a mentor recently and he would probably be able to fix its neck. I believe this spirit beast will make a good beast for my mentor.”

Hana stood there confused. “When did brother get a mentor?”

Everyone who heard that suddenly seemed to have a simultaneous clarity. "Right, of course, he must have been taught by an immortal cultivator! No wonder he could do all of that!" They all thought. Even Sophie's mother had the exact same thought.

“Oh... since that is the case, you can have... ” before she could finish what she was saying the man yelled out.

“5000 GOLD COINS! Miss, I hope you understand I’m taking a huge risk here. This is all I can offer but I assure you that it is the best price you will be able to get. This kid would never be able to pay you back.” sweat poured down.

“I’m sorry mister Cornwell, but this boy is the one who defeated the spirit beast. I think it is only proper to give it to him. As for the money….” she turned to Relic. “You do not have to pay me anything, I will gift you this spirit beast.” She gave a smile and then took her daughter by the hand.

“Relic, Hana, if you two ever have the time please come by and play with Sophie. We will welcome you two with open arms.” The two then left

The man looked at Relic murderously. “Kid if you know what’s good for you, you better sell it to me!” he gritted his teeth. He looked at the beaten down boy and did not believe he was actually a student of an immortal cultivator. He was a traveling merchant and had seen all sorts of cultivators. If Relic was truly a student of an immortal cultivator then he would have had some life saving treasures on him.

“Shut up.” Relic grabbed Hana by the hand and walked towards the spirit beast, ignoring the man.

Veins appeared on the man’s head. He wanted to strangle the boy but at the moment they were in a crowded area. If he laid his hands on the boy, he would be in a lot of trouble. “Kid… this is not over.” he turned and walked away angrily.

“Brother, why do you want the spirit beast? Also when did you get a mentor?” Hana suddenly spoke. In fact, she had not even asked how he was capable of such amazing feats in dealing with the spirit beast and those cultivators.

“That… Please wait a little, I will tell you everything later.” He said.

Hana saw the solemn look on his face and nodded.

They made their way closer to the spirit beast. Immediately, the peacock glared at them with hateful eyes.

“Please stay here.” Relic made Hana stay behind him as he got closer.

The Peacock seemed to only glare at Relic and made no movement. However, as soon as relic took another step, a glimmer in its eye shined and it extended its foot to attack.

However, it was so disoriented it may as well have been attacking blind. No matter what it did none of its attacks hit Relic.

“Stop, I want to make a deal.”

The divine peacock ignored what he said and continued its fruitless attacks.

“You can understand me, right? I can fix your neck”

When the beast heard that it seemed to calm down.

“I only require one thing. I want you to summon out your spirit contract.”

The spirit beast riled itself once more, growling as if to say ‘No’.

“I don’t wish to enslave you. I merely want us to be partners.”

The spirit beast continued to growl. It obviously did not trust what Relic was saying.

“You only have two choices, you can take my offer or you can live life like this. If you don’t like the conditions I set out, you can simply decline. Nothing will change and you can live the remainder of your life with a broken neck.” Relic said in an uncaring manner

The Peacock thought for a moment. It was definitely true if it didn’t like the conditions set forth from the spirit contract he could just decline it. It let out a low growl and its body suddenly began to radiate light. A small dot of light exited its body and appeared in front of Relic.

The dot of light expanded into a white blank slate with three lines stretching across.

The people around all stopped and stared, intrigued by what was going on. Many of the locals living here had not seen such a thing occur before. Some of the wandering cultivators had a confused expression on their faces.

“Why does that kid want to form a contract with a broken spirit beast? It is rare but definitely not worth it.”

“Who knows, maybe he just wants a spirit beast, no matter how damaged.”

Clamours of voices could be heard.

Relic placed his hands on the blank slate and spoke, “Here are my Three Conditions.”

The blank slate glowed brightly.

“Condition 1: Neither party may harm the other without justifiable reasons or harm the other cares about”

“Condition 2: Innate physical abilities and physique will be shared equally between the two contracted”

“Condition 3: Death of one party will terminate the contract

The peacock's eyes widened when he heard the conditions. It had been expecting incredibly harsh conditions which would limit its freedom.

“Do you accept these conditions?” Relic asked.

The peacock momentarily stalled before slowly moving its feet towards the contract. Upon touching the blank slate, it suddenly lit up and burst into flames, encompassing both Relic and the beast.

“Brother!” Hana suddenly cried out but Relic held out his hands.

“Don’t come close!”

Within moments, the flames disappeared and the two stood unharmed. Only, Relic was now a bit taller, his features were a bit more defined, and his body no longer looked like that of a scrawny eight year old.

“My name is Relic, what is yours?” A voice was heard by the peacock within its mind.

“Why did you provide such lenient conditions?” the peacock's eyes still showed signs of mistrust.

“If I made them too stringent, would you have accepted the terms?”

“....” of course the peacock would not have accepted. “My name is Jiro...”

“I hope we can help each other out.” He gave a smile.

The peacock looked suspiciously at Relic before turning his gaze away.

“You should fix my neck first before you say things like that.”

“Hana, can you help me?” Relic lifted up the peacock's neck effortlessly with his uninjured hand.

“A-are you sure…?” Hana was still a bit apprehensive to the peacock. The previous scene was still fresh in her mind.

“Mn, it is fine now, he has become my partner.”

“O-okay...” Hana nodded and propped up the neck of the peacock. When she picked it up she was immediately shocked by how heavy it was. It was taking her most of her strength and both her hands just to keep it at the same level with where Relic was holding it. Questions popped into her head when she suddenly glanced at her brother’s back. “Did brother always have such a broad back?” However she quickly shook the thought out of her head and followed Relic as they began to walk. With its neck now up, the peacock was able to move functionally.

The three of them went on their way, leaving behind an intrigued crowd.