Chapter 461: Signing the Contract

"I have already proven that I am capable of doing this, Mr. Maxim. If you are still not at ease, we can bind it through a contract."

Li Mochen placed a soul contract in front of Viktor Maxim: "This is the highest-grade Astral Spirit Contract."

The Astral Spirit Contract—higher than the Styx Contract—binds both parties through the power of the stars. It exerts an immensely powerful constraint even on demigods and lesser gods.

In terms of binding force, the 'Seven Lords of Hell' and the 'Nine Kings of the Abyss' are even more powerful. They delight in overseeing the spirit contracts of magic-energy professionals and then collecting the sweet souls of those who break them, which can be used for cultivation or to create more magic servants.

However, when the contract conflicts with the interests of the 'Seven Lords of Hell' and the 'Nine Kings of the Abyss,' it becomes unreliable.

Viktor picked up the scroll made of high-grade dragonhide and read it word by word in detail.

The terms of the contract were very harsh: within the next five years, if Li Mochen succeeded in extending his life by eighty years, he would serve Li Mochen for the rest of his life. If he breached the contract, he would die under the light of the stars of the firmament.

But if Li Mochen failed, he would compensate Viktor with four times his salary. The annual salary Li Mochen offered was ninety million gold shields, with all expenses for cultivation, food, clothing, housing, and transportation borne by the employer.

There were also clauses regarding the two fifth-grade holy artifacts, 'Mithril Holy Shield' and 'Dragon Tooth Flail,' which Li Mochen valued at 2.3 billion gold shields and would sell to Viktor after the contract was signed. Viktor would repay thirty percent of his annual salary each year until the debt was cleared.

After reading all the terms, Viktor Maxim pondered for a moment and replied, "I have no problem with it, but those two holy artifacts are worth at most two billion gold shields, and the penalty for breach of contract must be doubled."

This was undoubtedly a contract of indenture, but since Li Mochen was going to extend his life, he would inevitably pay a considerable price. It was only fair that Viktor serve him in the years to come.

The five-year term was also appropriate; the other party had left him enough leeway.

For an old man with less than forty years of life remaining, if he couldn't extend his life or achieve a breakthrough in the coming time, he could only earn as much money as possible to leave more capital for his descendants. And the salary Li Mochen offered for these five years was unmatched by anyone else.

After that, he could find another well-paying job.

Li Mochen readily agreed. After modifying the terms on the scroll, both parties simultaneously dripped blood and signed their names.

While signaling to the nearby Eliza to hand over the 'Mithril Holy Shield' and 'Dragon Tooth Flail,' Li Mochen shook hands with Viktor again.

"I warmly welcome your joining. Your presence makes me as formidable as a tiger with wings!"

Li Mochen spoke these words with utmost sincerity. With Viktor Maxim, he truly had the confidence to simultaneously manage the Sunrise Electric Retail Company, the continent of Antolia, and the dark world.

"I hope I will not disappoint your expectations."

Viktor shook hands with equal firmness: "You don't need to be so polite with me, boss. We're in the same boat now. But I sincerely hope you can invest more time in personal cultivation. That would greatly benefit everyone around you and all your subordinates. If I have the chance to meet your subordinates, I will mention this to them."

Before coming, he had inquired about Li Mochen's situation through connections and knew that the boss was vigorously expanding his business territory—so Viktor could guess, even without thinking, that the boss's daily workload must be mountainous.

But in his view, this was entirely unnecessary. As long as the boss continued on the path of the Divine Authority of Life, he would soon be surrounded by a multitude of powerful experts.

And Li Mochen's subordinates should also try their best to save the boss trouble and focus more on improving their magic-energy professions.

...

"Boss, can you really help Mr. Maxim extend his life?"

On the way back to downtown Atlanta, Eliza asked curiously: "But I guess it's very difficult. His condition probably isn't good."

If Li Mochen failed, he would have to pay over a billion gold shields in compensation.

"Otherwise?"

Li Mochen smiled: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I only said it because I'm truly confident."

The Western cultivation system in this world was indeed too overbearing.

Those high-level outlaws who didn't enter the Legendary realm by age sixty would exhaust their life force. And the lifespan of the Legendary realm was only three hundred years.

At the Demigod level, it was only eight hundred to fifteen hundred years.

Only magic-energy mages and sorcerers fared slightly better; they didn't drain their vitality as excessively as melee professionals. But both sorcerers and mages relied on talent—the former required high magic-energy affinity, and the latter needed exceptional intelligence.

The former Soviet Union's 'Committee for State Security' used numerous banned drugs and various radical methods to stimulate human potential in order to boost their employees' strength as quickly as possible.

Thus, although Mr. Maxim was only in his nineties, his body was riddled with countless hidden injuries. Under normal circumstances, he indeed didn't have many years left.

But Li Mochen was, after all, a Grandmaster of Alchemy—though a Grandmaster inflated by the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Pagoda,' his research on the human body and medicines was second to none.

In this world, although various plant medicines were completely different from those in the Primordial Sky Realm, their properties and principles were traceable and essentially the same.

Li Mochen didn't need to use top-tier mythical drugs; spiritual treasures like Amphitrite's Tears had limited effect on Viktor Maxim.

But by regulating Viktor's hidden injuries and gradually drawing out his original life force, Li Mochen could restore part of his lifespan.

Thus, what Viktor needed was not the most extraordinary rare medicines, but the regulation of his body and vitality—and Li Mochen happened to be capable of doing this.

Another reliance of his was a longevity pill formula he had mastered in the Primordial Sky Realm. This was one of the few elixirs from that realm that he could refine in this world.

This was because the main ingredient of that formula was Star Glowstone, which condensed the power of stars. He only needed to find other auxiliary ingredients to balance yin and yang and neutralize the side effects and impurities of the Star Glowstone.

And most crucially—

"He just said you've mastered the Divine Authority of Life?"

This was what truly shocked Eliza: "Is that true or false?"

"Of course it's true."

After answering this, Li Mochen looked out the window with a complex expression at a certain skyscraper gradually coming into view.

He hesitated for a moment, then sighed: "Aiguo, turn around and head to the Wiltonshire Building!"

Song Aiguo in the driver's seat was his newly hired driver. It was no longer appropriate to use the security personnel from Nathan Group.

Song Aiguo was recruited from that Eastern ancient country, a retired special forces soldier and a powerful 17th-level magic-energy professional.

During the relevant procedures, customs and the FBI had expressed concerns about Song Aiguo's identity and background, once denying him entry. But given Li Mochen's current status, resolving this matter was easy.