"The spirit servant is in a one-sided contract with its master." Cheng Sheng answered. "Since they share a life, the master naturally would know the situation his spirit servant is in. So, he cut the thread of life that they share." He explained. "The spirit servant is originally weak and have been weakened by the Spirit Tracing Bell after it was locked, but suddenly its master cut their thread of life, so…" he didn't continue.
They all cursed.
"How about its master?" Chen Han asked.
"Since the thread of life was cut, he managed to escape." Cheng Sheng's expression turned foul. Obviously, he was angry.
They all sighed.
"Oh, that's right." Cheng Sheng muttered when he remembered something. "Since this is the situation, I've figured that most of them are using one-sided contract." He told them.
"Why?" they asked.
"The double-sided contract is disadvantageous to the master, since it is risky without trust between the master and the servant. Thus, they won't dare use this contract." Cheng Sheng answered. "The one-sided contract can give the masters a dominant position and can easily discard their spirit servants when things go downhill. Not to mention this is the easiest contract to make, so the enemies must be using a one-sided contract with their spirit servants." He explained.
"I see… since one-sided contract can be easily done, then the enemies must be using this cheap method." Shu Mu spoke.
They all nodded in agreement.
"Cheng Sheng." Jing Kang called.
Everyone turned to him, including Cheng Sheng.
"Can't we save the spirit servants?" Jing Kang asked.
Everyone fell silent. They, as well as Cheng Sheng, already expected for Jing Kang to ask this. Everyone waited while holding their breath for Cheng Sheng's reply.
"We can." Cheng Sheng answered.
Everyone's eyes widened with shock.
Jing Kang's heart skipped a beat. "Really?" he asked.
Cheng Sheng nodded. "Yes." He answered.
"How?" Lei Ling asked in an excited voice.
"Through the Spirit Tracing Bell." Cheng Sheng answered. "Right now, only the Spirit Tracing Bell can make contact with the spirit servant." He spoke as he walked towards the balcony and gazed outside.
"But, wouldn't the spirit servant immediately die if their master would cut the thread of life?" Xiao Le asked.
"Of course, saving them is risky." Cheng Sheng turned to them. "Since the only way that we can save the spirit servants is to feed them spiritual energy for them to withstand the repercussion of their master cutting the thread of life." He said. "But, the spirit servant can also turn against us." He looked at them.
"Then…" they looked conflicted.
"To ensure that nothing won't happen to us, we have to wait for the thread of life that binds the spirit servant to its master. This way, their relationship is severed and their master can't order them anymore, especially to attack us." Cheng Sheng said. "Also, there is still our entrapment. The spirit servant is still trapped by us so it won't be easy for them to attack us, not to mention that they will be weaker than us." He assured them.
Hearing this, they all heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you." Jing Kang told him.
Cheng Sheng nodded. "But, we still have to save them." He spoke. "In saving them, we can extract information from them." He told them.
Their eyes widened in shock.
"That's right! If we catch the spirit servants, we can interrogate them!" Kang Ce said.
Xi Ming nodded. "Furthermore, they were oppressed by their master, so they definitely would feel resentful and might want to cooperate with us by bringing their masters down." He said.
"Yes! This is a win-win situation." Jing Bai agreed.
Cheng Sheng knows what they wanted to ask. "Right now, I have finished four Spirit Tracing Bells." He spoke.
"Cheng Sheng…" they muttered as their eyes reddened. They know that Cheng Sheng is weak right now and refining a spiritual tool isn't easy for him so he definitely must feel exhausted.
It wasn't that Cheng Sheng didn't try looking for a disciple to inherit his alchemic skills like refining tools. It's just that he hasn't found a suitable one. Don't mention Fei Yinzi who is talentless in the alchemy.
"We'll use the four Spirit Tracing Bells for now." Fan Wen decided.
"Then, we'll leave these two you?" Chen Jing asked as he, Wu Fan, Fei Lin and Xi Ling gave the four Spirit Tracing Bells to them.
"So, who will use these first?" Fan Wen turned to the others.
"You should better go in pairs." Cheng Sheng spoke.
They all looked at him.
"Father and uncle Wu almost caught one spirit servant but it died. Meanwhile, elder Fei and elder Xi almost caught one but the masters of the spirit servants are alert in recalling their spirit servants, so they should also be working in pairs." Cheng Sheng explained. "One person will use the Spirit Tracing Bell and concentrate on trapping the spirit servant so it can't escape, or even be recalled by its master. The other one would be responsible of guarding the other." He told them.
"Wait. The Spirit Tracing Bell can prevent the master from recalling his spirit servant?" Sun Yi caught the point.
"It can." Cheng Sheng answered. "The entrapment limits the spirit servant's movements but the thread of life is still connected between them." He explained. "What happened to father, uncle Wu, elder Fei and elder Xi is an accident since they still haven't mastered in using the Spirit Tracing Bell, and have little knowledge about the spirit servants." He told them. "Also, blame me for my negligence. I only realized its further use, and underestimated the extent of the spirit servants contract." He added.
"No, we don't blame you. We can't blame anyone." Li Tian shook his head. "It was only a test you did earlier. Having this much discoveries is already a lot." He said.
They all nodded in agreement.
"Then, I'll summarize the use of the Spirit Tracing Bell now." Cheng sheng spoke. "It can trace, lock and trap then spirit servant. Although the spirit servant and its master are connected by the thread of life, as long as our entrapment is stronger, then it will prevent the master from recalling his spirit servant." He said. "As for the thread of life, you should use the Visual Origin Talisman so you all can see the thread of life and see when will the master cuts the thread of life. Then, give the spirit servant spiritual energy to keep them alive, but also strengthen the entrapment to prevent them from escaping. Also, increase vigilance so you will know if they will retaliate against you." He told them.
They all nodded in understanding.
"Both should use Visual Origin Talismans. While the one holding the bell fully concentrates, the guard should locate where the other end of the thread of life is connected." Cheng Sheng continued. "If you can, then you should add more people to replace the guard while the guard chases the master of the spirit servant you caught. Also, the guard replacing can supply spiritual energy to the holder of the bell." He reminded them.
"Then, let's group ourselves into three." Tang Zhe spoke. "Well… can we have four people?" he asked as he looked at Tang Yun, Guo Cheng and Shan Lu.
"You can. The more, the merrier… ehem." Cheng Sheng coughed. "I mean, the more people, the safer it is for you. Two people will be responsible for the spirit servant while the other two will chase its master, and can support each other in case of danger." He explained. "Three people is just the least requirement. You can do what you want." He said and yawned before he stretched his limbs. Then, he left without bidding them goodbye.
They also didn't stop him and just let Cheng Sheng leave. They know that he is very tired, and it is already dawn.
"So, one bell will be used by the Huakai Sect." Fan Wen spoke as he gave the bell to Tang Zhe. Then, he had Tang Yun hold it.
"We'll have one, too!" Shu Mu spoke. "I, Lele and Kang Ce." He said.
"Let me go with you." Sun Yi proposed.
"Thank you." Shu Mu nodded.
"We'll have one." Jing Cheng said. "I, Jing Bai and Zheng Yi." He looked at the two. Jing Hei and Qian Lin still haven't returned.
"Then, I'll go with your team!" Chen Han said.
"Welcome!" Jing Bai said.
Fan Wen gave Shu Mu and Jing Cheng the bells.
"Erm… we want to join, too." Xi Ming said as he looked at Xi Xing beside him. He knows that Xi Xing is also eager.
"Then, let us go with you." Li Tian spoke as he and Feng Mo went with the Shanliangde Sect.
"Good, good." Xi Ming smiled, looking excited as he gave the bell to Xi Xing who curiously looked at it. "Erm… doesn't this look wrong? Cheng Sheng made this bell, so shouldn't you two be holding it?" he asked.
"What's wrong? Our sect is benevolent!" Feng Mo told him and patted his back.