Chapter 442: Journey of the beast master Ethan opened his eyes and looked at teacher with a smile. When he looked at Teacher Griffin with that mischievous smile, he wasn’t just being a teenager. He was testing the waters. He had touched the 9th Sky, a realm that should have been impossible. To reveal that would be to paint a target on his back that even the most powerful families could see from across the continent. "Teacher, I think I have already formed a contract," Ethan said, his voice steady. Teacher Griffin paused, his eyes narrowing behind his spectacles. The process of contracting was sacred and usually required the teacher’s guidance to stabilize the mental link. "What? You have already formed a contract? Maybe you have misunderstood the process of being chosen by a beast soul as forming a contract?" Ethan let out a small, sheepish laugh, playing the part of the confused but lucky student. "Is that what happened? I felt a connection, and then I was back here. I thought it was a contract." Griffin sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders. He patted Ethan on the shoulder. "The Astral Realm can be disorienting, Ethan. It’s common for a strong mental resonance to feel like a completed bond. But a true contract requires the physical manifestation and the blood seal." Ethan nodded obediently. Inside, his mind was racing. He could feel them—the Emperor Slime and nine tailed fox—nestled within his soul space like sleeping gods. His instinct told him to keep the fox hidden at all costs for now. A slime was pathetic enough to be ignored, but a divine beast-like entity from the higher skies would bring the world’s authorities to his doorstep within the hour. "Alright. Begin!" Griffin shouted, his voice echoing through the hall. "Concentrate on the mark left by the beast and ask it to manifest in the physical world." The hall erupted in a symphony of light. This was the moment of truth. The students who had failed to reach even the 1st Sky had already slunk away, their heads bowed in shame, leaving only the successful candidates and a few lingering spectators. To the left, a girl named Reyna Grimlock became the center of attention. A brilliant, searing yellow light burst from her chest, illuminating the dusty corners of the room. The color of the 3rd Sky. "Look at that!" someone whispered. "A 3rd Sky beast on the first try? The Grimlock family has truly produced a monster." With a crackle of heat, a lion emerged from the light. It wasn’t an ordinary lion; its mane was composed of living, dancing flames that licked the air, and its eyes burned like molten gold. It let out a roar so powerful that the windows rattled in their frames. Reyna stood tall, her chin tilted upward, basking in the envy of her peers. Then came the others. Kael, a boy from a merchant family, summoned a 2nd Sky Frost Wolf, its fur glistening with ice crystals. Lina, a quiet girl from the back, manifested a 1st Sky Eagle. The room was a kaleidoscope of red, orange, and yellow. But as the minutes passed, all eyes turned toward Ethan. He stood in a circle of darkness. There was no glow. No pulsing aura. He looked like a void in a room full of stars. "Did he lie?" Griffin wondered aloud, his disappointment palpable. "Perhaps he didn’t even reach the 1st Sky." Ethan ignored the murmurs. He closed his eyes and whispered into his mind, "Come out, Emperor slime." Suddenly, without a single spark of light or a gust of wind, a small, dark blob plopped onto the floor in front of him. It was a slime. It was deep purple, almost black, and it looked about as threatening as a wet grape. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮 "A slime?" A student burst out laughing. "He went to the Astral Realm and came back with a puddle of mud!" Teacher Griffin walked over, squinting. "What is that? Why was there no light? It’s a slime, certainly... but the lack of an elemental aura is strange. Perhaps it is such a low-tier creature that the world doesn’t even bother to signal its arrival." Ethan didn’t care about the insults. The slime wasn’t just a blob; it was a hungry abyss disguised as a pet. "Now, everyone, put a drop of your blood on the head of your beast," Griffin commanded. "And the contract shall be sealed." The hall grew quiet as students pricked their fingers. This was the final step,the merging of life forces. As the blood hit the beasts, the glowing lights faded, absorbed into the masters’ bodies. Ethan pressed a drop of his blood onto the cool, translucent surface of the slime. The slime shivered. For a brief second, Ethan saw a flash of golden runes deep within the creature’s core, but it disappeared before anyone else could notice. "Hey, look at him!" a boy shouted from the gallery. "He’s a ’Master’ now! Watch out, or his slime might leak on your shoes!" The laughter was harsh, but Ethan simply picked up the slime and placed it on his head like a strange, wobbling hat. He felt the creature’s contentment. He knew the truth: while their beasts were limited by their species and their sky-level, his slime had no ceiling. It could eat, evolve, and grow until it swallowed the sun. "Go home and rest," Griffin announced, though his eyes lingered on Ethan. "Tomorrow, you enter the Sanctuary of Gods. It is there that your beasts will gain their strength. Ethan, come to my office." While the young Ethan walked through the school hallways, his main body sat away in the cold silence of the high-tech spaceship. He watched the scene through a mental link that spanned dimensions. "Why didn’t he go beyond the 9th Sky?" the main body Ethan asked. [Master, the 9th Sky is a hard lock for this world’s current cycle. To ascend higher, the incarnation must become a Progenitor of his own path. He is currently limited by the ’Rules of the Game".] Ethan frowned. "It will take an eternity for him to grow at this rate. When do I merge with him to reclaim my power?" [Master, I have a better suggestion,] Yumiko chimed. [Do not merge. Instead, release this part of yourself entirely. Let him be an independent spark. Furthermore, I suggest sending three more incarnations into the trial worlds of the other Great Races.] Ethan leaned back in his command chair. "Why?" [If you inhabit all five Great Races simultaneously, you will become the bridge between everything. The Higher Realm is more complex than we thought. The God-Race may be powerful, but putting all your eggs in one basket is a strategic error. If you become a member of all five, you cannot be defeated.] "But that would leave me incomplete," Ethan argued. "My soul would be fragmented. How would I reach the next stage of power?" [You are already a God-Race member, Master. You have created your Law. Your path is no longer about breaking through in realm; it is about spreading your influence. Losing a fraction of your soul won’t weaken your current state, but it will give you eyes and ears in every corner of the divine realm in the future.] Ethan went silent, weighing the risks. Finally, he nodded. "How do I find these worlds?" [I have the coordinates. But first, you must become stronger here. Once your strength surpasses the Absolute Continuum level, you can break the ’cage’. For now, focus on the Land of the Ancients. Perform miracles. Make them worship you. Try to recruit them under your banner. That would give you a super boost in your strength.] Ethan turned his gaze to Prince Ryogu, who stood nearby, waiting for orders. "How many members are left in your race?" "We have around 10 million survivors, brother," Ryogu replied calmly. Back on the world of the beast masters, the younger Ethan stepped out of Teacher Griffin’s office. The meeting had been dull, mostly Griffin offering "sympathy" for his low-tier beast and suggesting he look into a career in waste management, where slimes were actually useful. Ethan didn’t mind. He walked toward the school gates, the dark slime jiggling slightly on his head. He felt the Emperor Slime’s hunger, a quiet hum in the back of his mind. "Waste management?" Ethan whispered to himself, a cold light in his eyes. "They have no idea. This little baby is a god among the beasts." "I’ll dominate the entire world and make my master proud.", he muttered. After that Ethan directly went to home. His master, the clone of Ethan’s main body was waiting for him there. " Master, I did it.", Ethan jumped up and down. "Very good. Now come here. Let’s discuss what you will do in the sanctuary from tomorrow." "Yes master tell me.", Ethan was eager. " The sanctuary of gods is a place of monsters. The beast masters entered there, hunt monsters and feed their beasts."