At this point, Chen Youde was completely bewildered. Ever since he came back from the ancestral graves, he had been constantly looking at a book in his mind.
San De Literature, what's this?
Wait, how could there be a book in the brain?
Ever since he fainted and woke up at the ancestral graves, Chen Youde had been amazed to find that he could "observe" his own brain.
Of course, not physically looking at the two halves of his brain, but "looking" at his Third Eye Point, which is what people usually refer to as the spot between the eyebrows.
At this moment, for some unknown reason, there was an extra space the size of a basin in Chen Youde's Third Eye Point, and in the middle of this space, there floated a book.
On the cover of the book were four big characters - San De Literature.
It was quite magical.
Chen Youde obviously didn't recognize the characters on the cover of the book, but he could understand them.
The most magical thing is that Chen Youde was able to flip through the pages of San De Literature just by his thoughts alone.
However, it was a strenuous process, flipping the first page already made him feel dizzy, he didn't know what was going on.
And the moment San De Literature was opened, two lights, one black and one white, entwined around Chen Youde.
After that, Chen Youde began to read the text in the book.
"Life is judged by merit, death by virtue. Everything in the world has its limit. Even the high mountains will eventually collapse, rivers will eventually stop flowing. Only the merit and virtue from the human heart, will continue with life, eternal..."
It took Chen Youde a full three hours to finish the first page, and with that, his worldview was fundamentally altered.
He looked at the intertwining black and white air around him, and Chen Youde knew that they were the remaining merits and shadowy virtues from the Tri-Virtue Book bestowed upon him.
From then on, those merits and shadowy virtues belonged to Chen Youde.
Those who hold the Tri-Virtue Book could see both the merits and shadowy virtues.
It's described in the book that the function of the Tri-Virtue Book is to help the holder accumulate and collect merits and shadowy virtues.
If it were in the past, Chen Youde really wouldn't believe in such things as shadowy virtues and merits.
However, having seen the elusive black and white gasses on his body with his own eyes, he had no choice but to believe that shadowy virtues and merits do exist in the world.
"Being able to negotiate a contractual deal with a mountain spirit deity using merits and shadowy virtues, what the hell, could it be that there really are mountain spirits and monsters in this world?" After studying for three hours, Chen Youde wasn't as astonished as he initially was.
Why not try it out?
Without a second thought, Chen Youde decided to give it a go. Following the methods laid out in the Tri-Virtue Book, he reached out and plucked a thread of the white merit air from his body.
This thread didn't even amount to one-thousandth of the white air on him.
Not that Chen Youde was being stingy, but this was merit he was dealing with, and it sounded pretty amazing.
Isn't it said that saintly people, by educating the world, accumulate great merits and subsequently achieve the position of a saint?
Even though Chen Youde didn't have much interest in sanctity, he wouldn't waste merit just for an experiment.
“With merit as the guide, the contract is formed.” The merit in Chen Youde's hand disappeared.
Yet, the merit vanished, and nothing happened.
But soon, a voice came through, sounding quite enthusiastic: "Who summoned this king's projection here? There are so many mortal auras, such a place of fortune. Where is this?"
Hearing the voice, Chen Youde looked down at the ground.
He saw a strange fish, its body entirely green, producing a voice akin to that of mandarin ducks. Surprisingly, the creature was mobile, moving around using the fins beside its gills.
Strangely enough, even though the fish wasn't speaking in Mandarin, Chen Youde could understand it.
Wait, how could a fish talk?
"What are you?" As a medical student, Chen Youde wasn't frightened by seeing the strange fish, but rather curious if there were fishes in the world that could emit sounds like mandarin ducks?
"Mortal, was it you who summoned this king's projection?" The strange fish jumped up and landed on the table.
That tone of voice, so lofty and superior. It was, after all, just a fish, yet it dares to call itself a king.
"Yes, I summoned you. You have received the contract, and you are now bound to obey me." Chen Youde found the arrogance of the strange fish a bit irritating.
"Ha, mortal, you expect this king to obey you? Don't be delusional. Considering the merit you just offered, I won't eat you. Now, quickly offer all of your merits to this king, and in return, I shall bestow upon you the ability to never suffer from injury or illness." The strange fish adopted an even more condescending posture.
Chen Youde was getting impatient. He was the one who summoned the creature, yet the fish dared to be arrogant. It's just a fish. He sneered and said, "It seems you haven't fully understood your position."
The contractual effects formed by virtue of the Three Deeds Document were potent. Once the strange fish accepted Chen Youde's merits and established the contract, it must obey Chen Youde and could not harm him.
On the other hand, if the contracted creature was unwilling to obey, the Three Deeds Document would impart a punishment, but it would not claim the life of the contract signer.
"I am the master, and you are the servant. I didn't expect that I could come to a place with so many mortals. I want them to worship me and contribute their merits. I plan to establish a religion here and seek enlightenment." The strange fish waved its fins and rambled on.
"Three Deeds Document, punishment." Li Chengfeng did not hold back and directly imposed a penalty.
The contracts of San De Agency contained both rewards and punitive measures.
The purpose of the punishment clause was, of course, to punish. As for how it carried out that punishment, Chen Youde had no clue.
"Ah, it's so itchy, so itchy! Mortal, what have you done to me? Why is it that even my real body feels itchy all over? Stop, I can't stand this! I'm about to scratch off all my scales!"
After the punishment clause took effect, the monster fish's body stiffened drastically on the spot, paused for about two to three seconds, then suddenly started to scream and wriggle its body on the table irritably.
"Itchy? Real body?" Chen Youde accurately pinpointed the crux of the issue.
He didn't know that what the monster fish in front of him feared the most was being itchy.
With a body covered in scales, even scratching was difficult.
The feeling of itchiness all over its body was even more unbearable than being turned into chopped pepper fish head.
"Now, let's clarify who's the master and who's the servant, shall we?" Chen Youde grinned as he asked.
Without any thought, the monster fish blurted out, "You're the master, you're the master."
Having received a satisfactory answer, Chen Youde finally withdrew the power of the punitive clause.
The monster fish finally breathed a sigh of relief, lying on the table, gasping for air with its gills flapping heavily and stomach heaving.
Chen Youde found the sight rather amusing. A fish that could breathe with its mouth without water was pretty much beyond the realm of biology.
But with the vast knowledge he had amassed from the books in his mind, not to mention the concepts of merit and morality, Chen Youde was not overly surprised by the monster fish's behavior.
"Catch your breath yet? Once you're good, get up and answer my questions," Chen Youde said to the monster fish.
"Mortal, you dare to treat this king in such a way, you will not have a good end, this king will eat you sooner or later!" The monstrous fish started shouting as soon as it got up.
"Alright, let's continue." Chen Youde used a punishment spell again.
"Ah, this king is dying of itchiness, stop it, stop it at once!" The monstrous fish began to roll about, rubbing its body.
"Do you want to answer or not?" Chen Youde asked indifferently.
He had many questions, if the monstrous fish did not cooperate, he had no issue continuing with the punishment.
"I'll answer, I'll answer." The monstrous fish quickly agreed.
Chen Youde again stopped the punishment.
The monstrous fish finally recovered, with pounding heart it looked at Chen Youde and mumbled, "I really don't know what kind of power you have that can apply such a hazy and nebulous contract on my real body."
"What do you mean, you are not the real body, but a manifestation as mentioned in mythologies? Like Sun Wukong's ability of replicating himself from a single strand of fur?" Chen Youde had been very concerned about this issue before.
"Mortal, do you now understand the might of this king? I am a projected avatar, do you understand, a projected avatar, ordinary small demons can never compare to me..." The monstrous fish was very smug, its fish head was held up high as if it wanted to transform into a chopped chili fish head.
Chen Youde coughed, interrupting the self-praising monster fish, "I understand your capability now, it's time for you to tell me, what's your name, what power do you possess, and what can you do for me."
That was what Chen Youde wanted to know, he couldn't think of how a fish could assist him.
"Mortal, remember, this King is named Chi Ru." The monstrous fish turned its nostrils skyward.
Chen Youde had never heard of this name, Chi Ru, what was it?
When Chi Ru saw Chen Youde's reaction, it immediately thought of something and asked hurriedly, "Mortal, have you never heard of my name? That's impossible, my exploits are widely known."
Hearing that Chi Ru's story was widely circulated, Chen Youde quickly grabbed his phone, searched for 'Chi Ru', and quickly got an answer.
"'Chi Ru', a name of a strange fish from the books of mountains and seas. It has a human-like face, its voice is like that of mandarin ducks, and eating it can cure diseases. Its story first appeared in the pre-Qin period." Chen Youde read the answer out loud.
After reading the answer, Chen Youde looked at Chi Ru with a weird expression: "Eating you can cure diseases? So you are not a human-faced fish, not even a monstrous fish, you are medicinal food?"
