“I’ll try the compelled summoning first.”
Meng Lei didn’t go right into summoning powerful undead beings. After all, the reason why he was learning Dead Souls Magic was only that he wanted to use it as a stepping stone to study Devil Magic, so what was he supposed to summon such strong undead beings for?
Then, he built the Dead Souls channel and forcibly summoned the undead.
Thud!
A two-meter-tall skeleton with a bone saber in its hand walked out of the Dead Souls channel. It gave off a strong aura of death, and a ball of will-o’-the-wisp blazed quietly in its skull.
“You’re really too impressive, Master! This is merely your first time summoning, yet you’ve managed to summon a Fifth-Grade Skeleton General! This is practically unprecedented in history and will never be again seen in the future.
“My feelings of admiration toward Master are endless and eternal like the gushing rivers. They are like the overflowing Yellow River, beyond control once the floodgates open!”
Astonishment and wonder filled Puhaman’s eyes as he sucked up to Meng Lei fervently.
“Fifth-Grade...”
Meng Lei was rather embarrassed. He couldn’t resist glancing at his half-deity subordinates, upon which he discovered that all of them had rather strange looks on their faces and were trying to hold back their laughter...
“Cough, cough!”
Meng Lei let out a few coughs of embarrassment. Then, he paid those guys no further heed and continued to summon the undead.
A Sixth-Grade Hell Mirage Fox, an Eighth-Grade Demonic Ram General, a Saint Domain-level Hellhound...
Meng Lei’s comprehension of Dead Souls Magic deepened further and further. After summoning a limits-level Saint Domain Undead Skeletal Dragon, he finally stopped his Dead Souls Magic experiments.
It was sufficient by this point.
Then, Meng Lei moved ahead and delved into the main topic. He asked, “Puhaman, are you familiar with Devil Magic?”
“Devil Magic?”
Puhaman was slightly taken aback. He replied, “Although Devil Magic is identical to Dead Souls Magic and are both classified as summoning magic, I really am not familiar with it.”
“I’d like to summon a Devil.”
Meng Lei said aloofly, “The existential planes that Devils live in are probably the Demon Realm and the Abyss, right? Do you have any means of connecting me to the Demon Realm or the Abyss?”
Puhaman replied with a troubled smile, “Master, I’ve also studied Devil Magic in the past before, but unfortunately, I don’t have the talent for it.”
Meng Lei was rather disappointed to hear that. He asked, “In that case, I can only slowly open up my senses and see if I have any talent for cultivating Devil Magic?”
“That seems like the only way,” replied Puhaman with a wry smile.
“Alright! I’ll give it a go, then!”
Meng Lei had only just gotten ready to open up his senses when the Spider Goddess, who had been watching detachedly from the sidelines, suddenly spoke up. She asked, “Are you that interested in Devil Magic?”
“Somewhat, I guess.”
Meng Lei cast a glance at her.
The Spider Goddess was somewhat disappointed. Nevertheless, she said, “If you can set me free, I have the means to let you connect to the Demon Realm and leave a divine spirit mark there.”
“Really?”
Meng Lei raised an eyebrow.
“Of course!”
The Spider Goddess gave him a confident smile.
Meng Lei couldn’t help but chuckle. As expected of an ancient spirit that had lived for 50,000 years. Although her combat prowess was merely mediocre, she was well-read, experienced, and knowledgeable. She wasn’t just a good-for-nothing.
“Alright, say it. If you tell me the solution, I can overlook your sin of bargaining just now,” said Meng Lei dispassionately.
“You—”
The Spider Goddess was livid. “Can you be any more shameless?”
“Mind your status, Rose!”
Meng Lei gave an icy snort before he said, “You’re my servant now. Everything you own—including your experience, knowledge, and so on—belongs to me! And this includes your loyalty as well! To think a servant like you actually dares to bargain with me, your Master! You’re pretty full of yourself!”
“Argghhhh!”
The Spider Goddess was close to going crazy. If it were possible, she really wished she could smash Meng Lei’s head into smithereens with a hammer. He was simply too wicked, too hateful, and too goddamn infuriating!
“I, Rose, must have been blind! Why did I submit to someone like you?”
The Spider Goddess flung a sheepskin parchment before turning her back to him. She didn’t want to see that face of Meng Lei’s at all right now!
Meng Lei caught the parchment and asked curiously, “What’s this?”
“A Devil contract!”
With a muffled grunt, the Spider Goddess said, “As long as you sign that Devil contract, you’ll be able to summon Devils all the way from the Demon Realm. You can then take the opportunity to leave your divine spirit mark in the Demon Realm, and that would do.”
“A Devil contract...”
Meng Lei stared at the parchment manuscript. Strange-looking text, as though messy, illegible drawings, were written on it. He couldn’t read them at all. He asked, “Can you read this, Puhaman?”
Puhaman shook his head and replied, “Master, these words are written in the Devil language. I can’t read them, either.”
“What about the rest of you?”
Meng Lei then turned to the others.
The rest of the half-deities also shook their heads.
“Take a look at this for me, Dodola!”
Meng Lei went into the Tower of Time.
“What’s this?”
Dodola reached out and took the parchment manuscript from him. “This is a Devil contract! And not just that, it’s even a master-servant Devil contract. Where did you get this?”
“A master-servant Devil contract?”
A jolt went through Meng Lei as he asked, “What do you mean by that?”
“Y’know, a master-servant contract’s a master-contract servant.
