Chapter 4: Summoning is Key

  Fate only understood today why Fenghuo Town looked a bit deserted yesterday. It turned out that most people had gone to Luoyue Mountain Range to hunt magical beasts, and some mercenaries were protecting several teams of merchants on their way to the Lances Empire. As if they had made an appointment, they all rushed back today.

  Anna's tavern was packed, and by tavern I mean some rough rye beer, but most people came for the one-of-a-kind spicy hot pot. Fatty, who was washing dishes and also acting as a part-time waiter, was out of breath and couldn't keep up.

  More than 3,000 strings of spicy hot pot were sold out by the afternoon, and some mercenaries and adventurers who rushed over did not get to eat, so they left with a sullen face. A few new adventurers who had just arrived in Fenghuo Town because they didn't get to eat wanted to throw a tantrum, but before they could even shout a few curses, they were thrown onto the main street by several people and beaten up.

  "Your eyes are shining, this tavern is missing a plank, and it's going to be replaced with your bones." A burly man cursed, kicking the adventurer's terrified face again.

  "Uncle Hack." Li Junshan, with a string of chicken meat in his mouth, asked: "Why didn't I see Xi Lu come today?" Next to him, Fate was holding a bowl of hot dishes, eating leisurely, and had long since changed out of her magic robe, wearing coarse linen clothes and enjoying herself immensely.

  "That little guy came to eat hot pot yesterday, I don't know how many strings he brought for me. Today, he locked me at home to practice my skills, and left the remaining dozens of meals for me to eat." Hack said with a smile.

  "Useless." Anna jumped out and kicked a groaning rookie several steps away, spitting saliva onto Hack's face.

  "I'm telling you, Hak, you good-for-nothing, those spicy hot pots at Xi Lu's were earned with her own skills, if you want to eat, come and eat, I'm not afraid that I won't get paid and have to go to your house to move things."

  Hake's face turned black with anger, but he didn't dare retort and instead retreated in defeat.

  "What are you hiding from, are you afraid of me, afraid I'll eat you up? Look at your attitude." Anna said, unsatisfied, and grabbed Hack's ear, pulling him to the side of the road.

  "Are you okay?" Fate asked with concern for his boss's wife's safety.

  "It's nothing." Li Junshan spat out the chicken bone and smiled, "Those two are a loving couple, the more they fight, the sweeter it gets. Hack won't hit back."

  Fa Te's eyes lit up, who says men aren't as gossipy as women? He asked: "Why was the boss lady still chasing Xi Lu for money yesterday, if she had a crush on Niu Da Shu, wouldn't not collecting the money be enough?"

  "That's Anna, no one else." Li Junshan said: "Money is money, feelings are feelings, no one can tell them apart more clearly than her."

  From a distance, Anna and Hack were seen standing at the corner of the street, their voices getting lower and lower. Suddenly, after Hack said something, Anna unexpectedly twisted her waist and shook Li Junshan's eyes dizzy, hastily retreating back into the store.

  "Mr. Fatou, it's all right now, we're not open for business at night, I'll take you out for a stroll." Li Junshan washed the grease off his hands and changed into some cleaner clothes.

  Fate naturally couldn't find it, and hurriedly followed up. The two of them strolled along the central avenue of Fenghuo Town for a few rounds, and Li Junshan took him to the forest at the edge of the town.

  Fate couldn't guess what he was thinking, and he didn't treat Li Junshan like a child at all, so he didn't ask anything.

  After entering the forest, he found a clearing and sat down on the ground. Li Junshan waited until Fa Te sat down before asking: "There's a big blank space in my mind, what's going on?"

  "Is there a big place in your mind?" Fati furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment, saying: "Are you referring to spiritual space?"

  "Mind space?" Li Junshan's eyes lit up, and this phrase was indeed much more accurate than his own description. He nodded hastily: "That's right, mind space."

  "How big is it?" Fatty also came with interest.

  He looked around vaguely and said tentatively, "I feel that it's about the same size as this town."

  "What?" Fatty was shocked, his eyes wide with wonder, and he exclaimed: "As big as Feng Huo Town?"

  Li Junshan nodded, but actually he didn't dare to tell the truth. The space was dark and unclear, but he could feel that it was extremely large, so large that he couldn't describe it at all.

  "You are a summoner." Fatt exclaimed: "Oh, I'm wrong, you will definitely become a summoner, the greatest summoner."

  "Summoner?" Li Junshan had heard of this term before, but he wasn't very clear about it either.

  "Right." Fatty excitedly said: "The type or number of magical beasts that a Summoner can summon has an enormous relationship with their spiritual space. You're so young yet you have such a large spiritual space, if you cultivate your summoning skills properly, your future accomplishments will be boundless."

  "Summoning technique?" Li Junshan vaguely felt like he had grasped something.

  "I'm too excited." Fati took a few deep breaths, waiting for his emotions to calm down before continuing: "Summoners are a dying profession on the continent because summoners themselves are too weak and have no attack power. They rely entirely on summoned beasts to fight, based on some special law, but still need to be grounded to release the summoned beast. Most mages can also own powerful magic beasts through magical contracts or equal contracts. So now there are very few people on the continent who practice the profession of summoner, unless..."

  "What if?" Li Junshan was getting anxious.

  "This is what a normal kid looks like."

  Fate thought to himself, smiled slightly, and felt that he had regained some confidence. He spoke fluently: "Unless the summoner's spiritual space is extremely large and has strong spiritual power, they can summon a large number of magical beasts. Such a summoner would be a nightmare for other professions. Just like Anoriva, the most famous summoner on the continent, who could summon 108 magical beasts. Mr. Anoriva was also the first summoner in history to enter the realm of the strong."

  "The quantity is naturally no problem, unfortunately, none of them dare to try." Li Junshan thought dejectedly in his heart.

  "What's that monster egg you took out yesterday? Where did it come from? Has it hatched already?" Fate threw out the question that had been bothering him for a day.

  "That... uh... Mr. Fate, when my spiritual space appeared, there was inexplicably a demon egg inside, which is the one you saw yesterday, what's going on here?" Li Junshan said while organizing his words, his eyes fixed firmly on Fate.

  " Innate Summoning Beast." Fate took a deep breath, his mouth opening infinitely.

  "What does 'Congenital Summoning Beast' mean?" A single magical beast egg had frightened Fate to such an extent that Li Junshan felt it was wise of him to have concealed the existence of the Heteromorphic King and other uncountable magical beast eggs.

  It wasn't until much later that Fatty calmed down and said, "Among Summoners, there is an extremely low probability of having a congenital summoning beast when forming a spiritual space. Unlike other magical beasts, congenital summoning beasts can grow infinitely, and no one dares to predict what kind of powerful being they will eventually become. According to the epic records, such a precedent has not appeared in 10,000 years, so many people regard this statement as a legend, but unexpectedly it is true."

  "Ah, if I hadn't appeared in this world, perhaps it would have remained a legend forever. Aliens can evolve and grow endlessly, but the problem is that they dare not use it."

  Li Junshan said to himself, furrowing his brow and thinking for half a day before asking: "I have a very bad premonition, this demon egg is extremely dangerous, so much so that every time it's about to hatch my mind becomes extremely tense and disordered. I feel like I'm unable to control it, the only option is to send it back. Fortunately, the egg will stop hatching in the spiritual space."

  "So, you need to learn summoning techniques and cultivate spiritual power. Only then can you communicate with the summoned beast and control it. At that time, danger is for your enemies. No matter how ferocious a summoned beast is, in front of its own summoner, it's just an obedient dog that only acts according to the summoner's thoughts."

  "So that's how it is." Li Junshan's eyes lit up and he excitedly clapped his hands.

  "How did you know so much? You're a magician, not a summoner."

  Fate's face turned red, and he hesitated for a while before saying: "My father and my grandfather were both summoners. It was because of the decline of this profession that they let me switch to studying magic."

  "Really?" Li Junshan hastily asked: "Do you have any family heirloom secret books, something like a very powerful summoning technique? Can I borrow it to take a look?"

  Fatie rolled her eyes and said, "What secret book? Summoning technique books are all over the continent, they're not worth much money. The cultivation methods are also similar, the difference lies in individual's understanding and talent."

  "Go, back to town." Li Junshan stood up and ran quickly towards the town. Fate followed closely behind, somewhat perplexed.

  Two people ran back to the tavern, Anna and Hack sat in a corner of the tavern chatting and laughing, ignoring them. Li Junshan took out a wooden board, took out a charcoal pen and wrote a few words, clamped the board under his arm and rushed towards the most bustling trading market in Fenghuo Town.

  "Is this okay?" Fati sat beside Li Junshan, staring at the big words on the wooden board "Summoning Technique Practice Book Exchange for Anna's Tavern Mala Hot Pot 1000 Strings".

  "Don't worry, everything can be bought here. I heard that a golden lion noble from the Beastman Kingdom once spent 20,000 gold coins to buy the daughter of a duke from the Lance Empire. Besides, my spicy hot pot is one-of-a-kind in Fenghuo Town, and Anna's prices are so expensive that someone will definitely come to exchange it." Li Junshan was very confident.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, in no time at all, a crowd of people squeezed over.

  "I have it here, take a look, it's still new." A triangular-eyed person waved the Lanpi booklet in his hand.

  "My goodness, just five hundred strings will do." A fat man desperately raised his five thick fingers.

  "I also have three hundred, just three hundred strings."

  ……

  Looking at the booklets in people's hands, all of which were packaged identically, Li Junshan estimated that these were all officially printed on the mainland. Just as he was about to casually pick one up and buy it, a dark hand emerged from the crowd, holding a yellowed booklet. The owner then appeared, revealing himself to be a filthy beggar.

  "A family heirloom of summoning secrets, worth a thousand strings and not a single one to spare." The old beggar with scabies all over his body and a stench that filled the air shouted desperately.

  "It's all his, let's disperse." Li Junshan's heart moved, the wooden board flipped under his arm, and he helped up the old beggar.

  The trading market naturally has its own rules. Others who failed to make a deal did not dare to cause trouble and slowly dispersed, but the sound of scolding was unavoidable.

  "What kind of family secret manual is this?" Li Junshan took over the old beggar's book and flipped through it casually.

  "My grandfather said that this was written by Mr. Anoriva himself when he taught at the Imperial Academy, but later, as the profession of summoner declined, these materials also became out of print." The old beggar trembled and said: "This is my grandfather's grandfather... I don't know how many years it has been passed down, anyway, it's a unique and rare edition."

  "The life of a summoned beast is your life, respect and treat it well, then you can grow."

  The book's cover page had a sentence written on it, Li Junshan flipped through a few pages casually and said: "Alright, I'll take this one. Tomorrow come to Anna's tavern early, I'll give you an extra 500 strings."

  "Good fellow." The old beggar was excited, with tears streaming down his face, saying: "Every day I smell that fragrance there, and you even sent me a few strings. I saw the boss scolding you, but you didn't dare go again. It's too delicious. I won't live for many more days, so being able to eat my fill once is worth it."

  "It's okay." Li Junshan smiled and said: "Anna has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. You can go there every day, nothing will happen."

  He repeated his instructions to the old beggar several times, telling him to come early tomorrow, and only then did Li Junshan leave with Fatty.

  "Looks like I've struck gold!" Li Junshan said with a grin halfway through, "I used to love going to flea markets and second-hand stores, always managed to find great stuff."

  "Flea? Second-hand market?" Fatuo asked in surprise: "Where is it? In the Lances Empire or the Treasure Dragon Empire, I've never heard of it."