Chapter 56: Brave Yilu

Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Brave Yilu

Hearing this, Yilu hopped up and carefully sensed it.

"Output? If the clan works together, we might be able to stabilize it..."

Chen Shang’s smile widened. "Yilu, let’s sign a Contract. You and your people help me stabilize the device... stabilize the output of this plant, and I will provide you with food from now on."

"Ah? Really? Can you defeat the Great Demon King?"

"Of course. Yilu, I come from the Wizard World, a powerful civilization. Sign the Contract, and I’ll take you to reclaim your territory."

Seeing the little one fall silent, Chen Shang asked softly, "What’s wrong, brave Yilu? Are you afraid you can’t fulfill your end of the promise?"

Yilu pondered for a moment. Finally, thinking of the newly born Oppa, it gritted its teeth. "Okay! As long as we have food, I’ll do anything!"

In the end, encouraged by the kind Wizard Apprentice Chen Shang, the brave and innocent Yilu signed a friendly Contract, with the Wizard’s Will as a witness.

Chen Shang put the Contract away in satisfaction. "Well then, Yilu, take me to see your clan now!"

"They’re just ahead, inside the Barrier!" Yilu hopped down from Chen Shang’s palm and pointed the way.

The little guy walked in front, looking like a green fruit with legs. It led Chen Shang through a dense, impenetrable thicket of thorns and stopped before a vine-covered cliff face. Then, it pressed its hands against the rock. A green light flashed in its palms, and the rock wall rippled like Water.

"We’re here."

Chen Shang bent down and squeezed inside. Behind the door lay a small basin, about two to three hundred meters in radius, surrounded by towering rock walls like a natural bowl. The bottom of the bowl was filled with various meticulously cared-for plants, though they had already been harvested once. Scattered among the plants were tiny wooden cabins built from branches and leaves. Even the largest one only reached Chen Shang’s knees.

Chen Shang’s Spiritual Power spread out, washing over every corner of the basin like Water, and he quickly determined the number of Wood Spirits: two thousand four hundred and thirty-one. However, they were currently hiding everywhere, having clearly sensed his arrival.

Yilu stood on a rock, opened its arms, and shouted to the clan, "Don’t be afraid, everyone! He’s not a bad person! His name is Chen Shang, a Wizard Apprentice from the Wizard World! I signed a Contract with him. He gives us food, and I work for him!"

From the largest wooden cabin, a Wood Spirit walked out tremblingly. Its body shook with fear as it looked at Chen Shang with cloudy eyes. Its lips moved.

"My lord, we... we have nothing left. Our territory is gone, our food is gone. Please... let us go."

Chen Shang crouched down and said softly, "My name is Chen Shang. I’ve signed a Contract with Yilu. It works for me, and I provide it with food... Of course, I hope you all can sign the same Contract with me."

The Elder Wood Spirit remained silent. Chen Shang could understand its concerns. These little Wood Spirits contained extremely rich vitality. Eating them might improve one’s physical constitution. If ordinary creatures from other worlds encountered them, it would literally be a case of the strong preying on the weak. Yilu was reckless, but also very lucky, because the one it had run into was a Wizard Apprentice.

Even among Ancient Wizards, few fools would choose to eat such creatures raw. Some people harbored severe misconceptions about Wizards, believing that falling into a Wizard’s hands meant being sliced up for research. In reality, slicing was a last resort; a living creature held far more value than a dead one. Especially when it came to rare, one-of-a-kind specimens—casually slicing them up would infuriate one’s mentor to death. Even with a fool like Marcus, who had provoked a Wizard right off the bat, Chen Shang couldn’t bear to slice him up. Instead, he kept him to slowly turn him into a Mechanical Armor.

Therefore, Chen Shang patiently began to explain the rules of the Pan-Wizard Alliance. "I do not casually harm intelligent creatures, so you can completely trust me..."

Finally, perhaps moved by Chen Shang’s attitude, the Elder Wood Spirit looked at the Giant before it and asked, half-doubting, "Will you... really not hurt us?"

"I only need you to work for me. I have a device that I need you to help stabilize. That’s all."

The Elder Wood Spirit fell silent for a long time before agreeing to sign the Contract. It wasn’t that it completely trusted Chen Shang, but rather that there was no other choice.

After signing the Contract, Chen Shang used his Spiritual Power to carve out the entire basin, lifting it as a whole and sending it into the Space Book.

The Wood Spirits stood on their own land, surrounded by their familiar cabins and crops, with the gray sky of the Space Book above their heads. They looked around in bewilderment, but no one cried or screamed. They just stood quietly, huddled together.

The Elder Wood Spirit stood at the very front. "I hope you will treat us well."

"Of course. I am a Wizard Apprentice who respects Contracts. You’ll have to make do for a while, but once we return to my laboratory, I will find the most fertile and abundant land for you!"

Chen Shang closed the book and hung it around his neck.

Yilu stood on his shoulder, its two little feet tightly gripping his collar. "Are we going to your laboratory now?"

Chen Shang scooped Yilu up in his hands. "No, I promised you that I’d defeat that Demon King Jia Shan. Which way is the Jade Realm?"

He suspected that the Jade Realm was where the Divine Country Fragment had fallen, which was why creatures like the Wood Spirits could be born there.

"You are a good Giant who keeps his promises!" Yilu sniffled and pointed in a direction. "The Jade Realm is that way. Keep walking, cross that mountain, and go through a Black Forest, and we’ll be there."

Chen Shang strode forward. Yilu stood on his shoulder, pointing out the direction from time to time.

Along the way, Chen Shang took a booklet out of the Space Book and handed it to Yilu.

"What’s this?" Yilu took it. The booklet was larger than its body, and it hugged it like a quilt.

"This is the promise you have to keep. ’Wizard Common Language: Basics’. Read the first lesson and learn to recognize the characters."

Yilu opened the cover and stared at the incomprehensible symbols inside, its eyes widening into perfect circles. "Wait... aren’t we supposed to stabilize the plant output? Why do I have to learn this?"

Chen Shang nodded, then pulled out a thick stack of books. "Yes. But you have to learn this language first, then attend classes, and then continue learning Runes. Otherwise, how will you understand the operating principles of that device?

"If you don’t understand how it works, how will you know what’s unstable about it? How will you know how to adjust it?"

Yilu’s mouth dropped open. It looked at the stack of books that was several times taller than itself, then looked up at Chen Shang, and suddenly burst into tears.

"You didn’t say I had to learn these things earlier! Can I not learn them?"

Chen Shang didn’t speak. The Golden Crow poked its head out from the other side and let out a sinister chuckle.

"Little one, the Pan-Wizard Alliance will protect all sorts of random things, but it absolutely will not protect anyone who rejects knowledge!"

Yilu looked up, staring at the Golden Crow with tear-filled eyes. "Do... do you have to learn too?"

The Golden Crow immediately fell silent.