Yang Deer's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, while a flash of hope appeared in the giant sparrow's despairing eyes, and it turned toward its former companion with a bloodthirsty expression.
After appraising one another for a short while, both of them let loose fierce roars, and Yang Deer swelled to over 100 times its original size, while a suit of earthy yellow armor that was riddled with sharp spikes appeared all over its body.
Meanwhile, the giant sparrow flapped its wings, and the grey spirit flames burning all over its body surged toward Yang Deer as a storm of fire.
Thus, a violent clash ensued, and Ma Liang looked on with a cold smile before vanishing into thin air along with the giant crimson seal beneath him.
In the next instant, Ma Liang appeared at a certain area of the Thunder Continent, and he was inspecting his surroundings while holding a trembling dark green vial in his hand.
The entire surrounding area was completely deserted, and after ascertaining this, a cold smile appeared on Ma Liang's face as he flew away as a streak of golden light.
Close to a day later, he descended onto an ordinary-looking mountain before tossing the small green vial in his hand forward.
The vial immediately tipped itself over to release a burst of light, from within which an imposing figure emerged.
This figure was none other than Yang Deer, but his body was riddled with wounds, and his suit of armor was also severely damaged.
"As expected, you were the one who survived," Ma Liang said in an indifferent manner.
"Yang Deer pays his respects to his master!" The deer-headed beast immediately knelt down on one knee.
"You're very courageous and you know what's good for you. If you hadn't assisted me back there, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to escape from that predicament. Rest assured, you did everything I asked, so I'll compensate you as promised; I'll give you a True Soul Pill and take you to the True Immortal Realm. However, prior to that, you have to offer me part of your soul and sign a spirit servant contract first; I'll also take advantage of this opportunity to sever all of your ties with this realm," Ma Liang said in an expressionless manner.
"Yes, Master." Yang Deer only hesitated for a brief moment before opening its mouth to release a ball of green light, within which was a tiny deer-headed beast.
"How fortunate for you; once you sign the contract on this immortal spirit slip, you'll no longer be affected by the power of this realm, and you'll be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm without any issues. In contrast, it'll take me countless years to refine this treasure again," Ma Liang said before opening his mouth to release a radiant golden scroll.
"Open up your soul and don't resist. Otherwise, I can't guarantee your safety," Ma Liang said as he made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the golden scroll.
In the next instant, countless golden seal text runes emerged from the scroll amid a burst of golden light, then surged into the ball of light and began to revolve around the miniature deer-headed beast.
Yang Deer let loose an involuntary low roar as it threw its hands onto its head with a pained expression. It was as if there were countless things burrowing their way into its soul, and it immediately understood the purpose of the golden scroll, as well as the content of the spirit servant contract.
Yang Deer carefully inspected the contract while enduring the agony, and it was quite pleased with the terms of the contract.
As a spirit servant, he would naturally be required to do Ma Liang's bidding, but in the face of some orders that would pose a threat to its life, it could refuse to follow the order at a certain cost. Furthermore, the contract wasn't permanent, and there were some enclosed conditions that could allow it to discharge the contract. All of those conditions were very rigorous, but they didn't seem to be impossible to fulfill.
Thus, after discovering that the terms of the contract were far more favorable than it had imagined, Yang Deer immediately opened up its own soul without any hesitation.
At the same time, the miniature beast within the ball of light ceased its resistance, allowing the golden seal text runes to surge into its body.
After that, Yang Deer shuddered before falling onto the ground in an unconscious state.
Ma Liang swept a sleeve through the air in an unhurried manner to withdraw the golden scroll, and the ball of light containing the tiny beast flew back into Yang Deer's body.
After a long while, Yang Deer rose to its feet again in a shaky manner.
Its soul didn't appear to be any different from before, but it could sense an indescribable restrictive force intermingled within it; that was the contractual power of the golden scroll.
After heaving an internal sigh, Yang Deer knelt down and kowtowed to Ma Liang, who remained still on the spot, as if he hadn't moved this entire time.
"Alright, seeing as the contract has been signed, it's time for me to fulfill my end of the agreement."
As soon as his voice trailed off, a shimmering golden egg-sized bead appeared in front of Yang Deer amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.
The bead was radiating bright golden light, and there were wisps of white Qi revolving around it.
Furthermore, it was releasing a sandal-wood-like aroma, and just inhaling this scent immediately struck Yang Deer's soul with a sense of indescribable comfort, as if it were drifting into the heavens, and Yang Deer's eyes instantly lit up.
"This is the True Soul Pill; you can take it now or take it after we return to the True Immortal Realm. If I were you, I would choose the latter option. This pill will significantly enhance your soul, but it'll also make you rejected by the power of laws in this realm, thereby significantly restricting your powers," Ma Liang said.
Yang Deer hesitated momentarily before replying in a respectful manner, "In that case, I'll save it for later. That way, I'll be able to better assist you here, Master."
Immediately thereafter, it opened its mouth to release a reddish-purple wooden box, which it carefully stowed the golden pill into.
Ma Liang nodded with a pleased expression upon seeing this, then instructed, "I'm going to be resting in a treasure for now; keep a lookout until I come out of seclusion."
Yang Deer faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately giving an affirmative response.
Thus, Ma Liang rose up into the air as a ball of light before disappearing into the small green vial up above in a flash.
A burst of light swept over the surface of the small vial, and it suddenly plummeted from the heavens as if it had become impossibly heavy, plunging all the way down deep into the belly of the mountain before finally drawing to a halt.
Yang Deer immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and yellow light flashed over its body, upon which it also disappeared into the ground below.
Upon arriving beside the green vial, it quickly inspected its surroundings before taking a seat with its legs crossed.
The space inside the small vial was slightly ravaged from the battle that had just taken place within it, and Ma Liang's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.
He swept a sleeve through the air, and all of the traces of battle were instantly erased as if they had been nothing more than mere illusions.
Immediately thereafter, he raised a hand, and a rainbow cloud instantly came descending from above.
The cloud transformed into a shimmering futon that stopped near Ma Liang, and he sat down onto the futon before closing his eyes to inspect his own internal condition.
"This is definitely not ideal. I was injured by the treasures detonated by those Jiao Chi beings, and those injuries were further exacerbated by the power of laws; it looks like I won't be able to recover without at least a few years of recuperation. It's a good thing that aside from that talisman, Master also bestowed that replica treasure upon me. The replica is nowhere near as effective as the actual treasure, but it'll be able to shorten the required recovery time to less than a tenth of what it otherwise would be," Ma Liang murmured to himself as he slowly reopened his eyes.
After that, he made a hand seal before chanting an incantation, and the entire space shuddered slightly as a burst of green light appeared all around him, forming countless projections of spirit flowers and exotic plants that took up virtually every single inch of this entire space.
All of a sudden, the entire area was filled with thriving spiritual Qi, as if it had sprung to life.
At this moment, Ma Liang's hand seals and chanting ceased, and he made a grabbing motion, upon which a small green vial projection appeared in his grasp before being tossed upward.
"Let there be rain!" Ma Liang yelled as he pointed a finger upward while golden light flashed around his body.
Dark clouds quickly converged up above, and the vial projection immediately swelled to a diameter of over 1,000 feet before tipping itself over.
Green liquid surged out of the massive opening of the vial, then descended from above as a bout of rain.
As soon as this rain fell upon the flowers and plants in this space, they began to rapidly grow at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.
In the blink of an eye, massive flowers and plants had filled the entire space.
Furthermore, these plants had all become far more substantial, and they were giving off a strong medicinal aroma, as if they were actual medicinal plants rather than mere projections.
Ma Liang was completely unsurprised to see this, and he switched to a different hand seal, upon which wisps of azure Qi that were infused with medicinal aroma surged out of the surrounding plants and toward his body.
He inhaled the rich medicinal aroma, then slowly closed his eyes again with azure Qi all around him.
Only then did the giant vial projection up above fade into nothingness.
