"Uncle, Hua Guguang is no good. Don’t you know how many Contractors she’s already taken? She treats them horribly! Besides, my cousin offended her a long time ago. If she becomes his Contractor, even if he’s saved, she’ll just torture him to death!" The moment Lin Mo heard Hua Guguang was coming, he knew exactly what she was planning and immediately voiced his objection.

Lin Mo’s father was Yun Tianming, Yun Tianye’s second-oldest brother.

"Yun Han offended her? When?" Yun Tianye frowned.

"Hua Guguang used to pester my cousin, but he couldn’t stand her. Two years ago, he rejected her in public. She flew into a rage and swore that if she ever got her hands on him, she’d make him a Contracted Slave and spend every day humiliating and torturing him!" Lin Mo told him everything he knew.

This was a matter between the younger generation, something Yun Tianye had been unaware of.

"And here I was, wondering what kind of grave offense it was. That’s just a spat, something Miss Hua said in a moment of anger. It’s nothing! Besides, the Yun Family isn’t some no-name clan. Unless Hua Guguang wants to create a feud between our families, she wouldn’t dare do anything to Yun Han!" Yun Tianye said dismissively.

"Uncle, you know that while Yun Han may seem aloof, at his core he’s deferential and reserved, a man who follows the rules. But Hua Guguang is a terrible person—petty, vindictive, and completely intolerant. She’s mercurial. If you let her get her hands on him today, Cousin Yun Han will be plunged into a living hell with no hope of ever getting out!" Lin Mo had originally come to ask about the assassin from the Slaughter Pavilion. He never expected to find out that Hua Guguang was coming to form a spiritual connection with Yun Han. Knowing how much Yun Han loathed her, he naturally had to stop it.

"Enough. Say no more," Yun Tianye cut in. "Show me one High-Level woman who’s actually pleasant. Hua Guguang is young, comes from a good family, and is powerful. A bad personality isn’t such a terrible flaw. I would have preferred for Yun Han to find a suitable partner and bring them into our family, to be his own master, but he rejected every single candidate I chose for him. In a situation like this, what choice do I have? Saving his life is what’s important. We’ll worry about the rest later!" Of course, Yun Tianye’s heart ached for his son. But Yun Han was gravely wounded, his Spiritual Sea was sealed, and his Companion Spirit, trapped outside, was steadily weakening. If this was what it took to save him, he couldn’t afford to be picky.

"Isn’t there any other way?" Lin Mo was frantic on Yun Han’s behalf.

"Tianye, Hua Guguang is at the foot of the mountain! I’ve sent Yun Zhen and Yun Ji to greet her!" Zhu Hongying said, rushing through the door.

"Let’s go. We’ll wait in the main hall." Yun Tianye rose at once, a bitter taste in his mouth. He was torn. On one hand, he feared Hua Guguang wouldn’t be able to open Yun Han’s Spiritual Sea, leaving his son’s crisis unresolved. On the other, he feared she *would* succeed, establish a spiritual connection, and subject his son to her control for the rest of his life.

Yun Tianye reached the main hall and waited for about ten minutes before a large entourage approached, surrounding a young woman. Dressed in a golden cloak, she sat high atop an ornate palanquin, which was carried by four muscular, bare-chested slaves, each over two meters tall with chains coiled around their necks and arms. She was flanked by two rows of beautiful young men dressed in sheer, pink gauze.

Yun Ji and Yun Zhen, who had been sent to greet her, wore grim expressions. They were recalling the sight of Hua Guguang openly dallying with her male attendants in broad daylight. Her entourage had looked on as if it were a common occurrence. It was clear this Miss Hua had no intention of putting on a facade; she was confident she had the Yun Family exactly where she wanted them.

Hua Guguang stepped gracefully from the palanquin, first onto the shoulder of one young man, then onto the back of another. In her arms, she cradled a pure white cat with heterochromia—one blue eye and one red.

"Hua Guguang greets Aunt Zhu and Uncle Yun." Though Hua Guguang bowed her head respectfully, she couldn’t conceal the arrogance in her eyes.

Beyond her pride and poise, she wore a triumphant, self-satisfied smirk.

’Today, she would finally conquer the unattainable Yun Han.’ The thought sent a flush of heat through Hua Guguang’s entire body. When she was weaker, she had feigned a gentle, courteous demeanor that charmed the young masters of many great families. But Yun Han was different. She had made her feelings for him clear time and again, only for him to give her the cold shoulder. Recalling his proud and dismissive attitude, she itched to crush him under her heel and torture him right this instant.

"Miss Hua, there’s no need for such ceremony." Yun Tianye’s expression darkened as he glanced at the two rows of beautiful young men.

"Please don’t be offended, Uncle Yun. Since this isn’t the formal Contract ceremony, I came alone. My arrangements are a bit simple, I hope you don’t mind." Seeing Yun Tianye’s dark expression, Hua Guguang assumed he thought her lack of an entourage meant she wasn’t taking Yun Han seriously, and she quickly tried to explain.

"Not at all, Miss Hua. Today is merely an attempt, so there’s no need to involve too many people. Please, follow me." Things had already reached this point. Whatever objections Yun Tianye still had, he could only swallow them and lead Hua Guguang inside.

Hua Guguang was led to Yun Han’s room. Everyone was barred from entering except for Zhu Hongxing, the president of the Contractor Association who was present as a witness and guardian, and Yun Tianye and his wife, Zhu Hongying.

Hua Guguang handed the cat she was holding to an attendant.

"Hua Guguang," Zhu Hongxing began, "your genetic compatibility with Yun Han is 63 percent, which is a bare pass. And while your Spiritual Power Level has reached S-Class, your Companion Spirit is an Elite Level Horned Dragon. Yun Han’s, on the other hand, is a Mythical Level White Tiger. Success is not guaranteed. Do your best, but if it doesn’t work, don’t force it. You don’t want to injure yourself."

Companion Spirits are divided into four tiers: Ordinary Level, Advanced Level, Elite Level, and Mythical Level. Rumor has it there is an even higher tier: Legendary Level.

True Divine Beasts—such as the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Gouchen, and Win Snake—are all Legendary Level. However, in the recorded history of the Federation, only a handful of Legendary Level Companion Spirits have ever appeared.

Those few individuals were all illustrious figures in the annals of history. Unfortunately, while they all demonstrated immense combat prowess and earned countless merits resolving interstellar wars and wormhole crises, their bodies ultimately couldn’t withstand the strain of their overly powerful Companion Spirits, and they collapsed and died.

The handful of leaders who lived for a thousand years were all powerhouses who possessed Mythical Level Companion Spirits.

Although the Hua family used the Azure Dragon as their totem and called themselves the Azure Dragon Clan, most of the Companion Spirits awakened in their family for the past several centuries had actually been Elite Level Horned Dragons. It was rare for any of them to awaken even a Mythical Level Companion Spirit. The sole reason they had grown so powerful was their sheer strength in numbers.

It wasn’t that other families lacked members who could awaken Companion Spirits like lesser dragons or even true dragons; they simply didn’t have the Hua family’s influence.