The parchment contract contained a vast amount of text and details.
However, when summarized, there were only six core clauses.
Three of them were beneficial to Su Yan.
The first was the absolute core of the contract.
Upon contracting, Su Yan would gain the contractor's Nen affinity and could train in their specific system.
As the contractor trained their Nen, he would simultaneously receive their improvements and any Nen abilities they mastered.
The second clause stated that while linked, the Nen within both parties would increase at a rate equal to the sum of their individual training speeds.
The third was that for every person Su Yan contracted, he would receive a certain bonus to his own training speed.
These three points covered all the benefits Su Yan stood to gain from the contract.
Next were the restrictions Su Yan had to endure.
There were also three of these.
First, the conjured parchment required a portion of Su Yan's Nen to form a Nen seed once the contractor signed.
This helped the contractor learn to control their life energy and master Nen quickly without side effects.
Because this portion of Nen was partitioned off rather than consumed normally, it could not be recovered naturally.
Second, once contracted, if the contractor exhausted their Nen during battle, they could temporarily draw from Su Yan's reserves to sustain themselves.
The limit for this draw was equal to the total amount of Nen the contractor had synchronized to Su Yan through their own training.
The third point was the most fatal one.
Once the contract was signed, it could never be undone.
If a contractor were to die one day...
Regardless of the cause of death, the Nen and abilities Su Yan had gained through synchronization from that person...
Would all be sacrificed as fuel to resurrect them.
Beyond that, Su Yan would also have to pay a portion of the Nen he had personally cultivated.
The amount required depended on the cause of death; the more difficult the resurrection, the higher the cost.
At the very minimum, it would equal the contractor's total Nen capacity.
If Su Yan's Nen was insufficient, the resurrection would fail, and the drained energy would not be returned.
It would be as if years of hard work had vanished into thin air.
Of course, such harsh conditions could only be triggered once per contractor.
Even after a contractor's resurrection, the other terms of the contract remained in effect.
However, any future progress from that contractor's training would no longer be synchronized to Su Yan.
"Are you finished reading?"
Su Yan asked calmly, looking at the flaxen-haired girl before him.
Miyamoto Rei nodded and looked up into his eyes.
Her first thought wasn't about whether to sign, but rather whether Busujima Saeko and the others had already made contracts with Su Yan.
"Yan-kun, what about Busujima-senpai and the others...?" she asked.
Before she could finish, Su Yan replied, "Shizuka-nee and Saeko-senpai have already signed."
Rei waited a moment. When Su Yan didn't continue, she asked curiously, "What about Miss Minami Rika?"
"Like you, I gave her three options."
Su Yan said somewhat helplessly, "But she's quite competitive and enjoys challenging seemingly impossible tasks."
"So she didn't choose to contract with me right away. Instead, she plans to learn Nen on her own first."
"I see."
Rei thought about it.
Although she had known Minami Rika for less than a day, based on last night's events...
She wasn't surprised by the woman's choice at all.
"I understand," the girl replied.
However, her 'I understand' didn't just refer to Rika's choice.
It was that she finally realized that Marikawa Shizuka, Busujima Saeko, and Minami Rika—the three who were close to Su Yan...
Were all people who had either signed a contract with Su Yan or were about to.
Given the strict terms of the contract, Su Yan would never be able to abandon those he had contracted with.
This realization made her heart skip a beat.
Even though Shizuka and Saeko were there first, and Rika had jumped the line...
The girl had still harbored a faint fantasy of having Su Yan all to herself.
But the contract before her eyes...
Shattered the last of those delusions.
So, would she sign and join them?
Or would she give up right here...
And walk away for good?
She hesitated for less than a second.
Rei made up her mind.
'Give up? Walk away?'
'What a joke.'
'How could I possibly give up?'
She had always known deep down, from Su Yan's usual behavior, that he was the greedy type who wanted everything.
She simply hadn't wanted to admit it, choosing to ignore it instead.
But her subconscious thoughts were reflected in her actions; knowing she was at a disadvantage, she had decisively sought to build a relationship with Takagi Saya.
It was both a partnership and a competition.
At this point, asking her to give up was out of the question.
'How could that ever happen?'
Besides, the world had already turned into this mess. What was the point in clinging to her old ideals?
The girl decided to go all in.
Having made her decision, Miyamoto Rei immediately asked, "Yan-kun, which one do you want me to choose?"
Even if she joined, she still wanted to be the most important person in his heart.
Thus, she handed the choice that might determine her future over to Su Yan.
"The second one."
Su Yan answered without hesitation.
Although it seemed like there were three options, there were actually only two.
Because once the nodes were opened, whether successful or not, it wouldn't affect the subsequent contract.
Therefore, the first option of contracting immediately could be ignored.
As for the third option, it wasn't that Su Yan looked down on Miyamoto Rei.
For one, Minami Rika had already chosen that path.
Secondly, in terms of physical fitness, willpower, or combat experience, Rei was simply not on par with an elite among elites like Rika.
It was enough for Rika to take that path; there was no need for the other contractors to waste their time on it.
"Okay."
Rei didn't overthink things. Now that she had decided, she would trust Su Yan implicitly. "Yan-kun, do as you say. Help me open my nodes."
"Then get ready."
Su Yan was a bit surprised by her response.
But he said nothing more. He gathered his Nen into his palm and lightly struck Rei's body.
Whoosh!
The nodes all over Miyamoto Rei's skin were forced open instantly. Life energy surged out of her body like a gale from a vent.
"Alright, Rei. Try your best to control this life energy flowing out of you."
Su Yan clapped his hands. "If you feel any discomfort, tell me immediately, and I'll close your nodes right away."
"No, I will definitely succeed," Rei said with determination.
She felt the life energy sweeping through her.
The sensation of feeling like a human fountain was incredibly surreal.
However, more than that, she was thinking to herself.
Marikawa Shizuka, Busujima Saeko, and Minami Rika had already been intimate with Su Yan.
'Since Su Yan is opening my nodes now and planning to contract with me, is he hinting at something?'
In that moment, regardless of whether her guess was correct, she gave herself a mental suggestion.
'As long as I successfully master Nen, I will sneak into Su Yan's room tonight for a night raid.'
'Surely Su Yan won't refuse, right?'
After giving Rei the necessary instructions, Su Yan turned to Takagi Yuriko.
While he was opening Rei's nodes, the results of Yuriko's Water Divination had already appeared.
On the surface, neither the water in the glass nor the floating leaf had changed at all.
From the look of it, the result was quite obvious.
"Mmm, it's sweet."
Takagi Yuriko picked up the glass, took a sip of the water inside, and chuckled. "It seems I'm a Transmuter."
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