A wet tongue lapped at my face, covering my cheek with saliva.

Gross, I thought, lazily reach up to push the offending tongue away. My hand got a handful of furry hair, which I tickled a little before pushing away. The tongue retracted. Then a hairy nose sniffed at my hand, tickling the back of my palm. I giggled.

"Silly dog," I mumbled.

Wait. When did I get a dog? And why does my pillow feel like grass?

My eyes snapped open to see a clear, blue sky instead of my beige bedroom ceiling. I jerked upward, startling the furry creature that had been sniffing me. It was...a monkey? Well, not exactly a monkey - it had weird blocky fingers that looked like miniature stone slabs, and patches of rock grew on various parts of its body.

Confused at the beast's presence, I observed the land around me. A loud river, trees, a text box...Oh. I'm still in this xianxia world.

Groaning, I fell back and flopped against the dirt. "Why am I still heeere?" I whined.

The monkey grunted at me, walking over to me. It had a strange limp-hop gait where it used its forearms to toss its body forward a couple of feet before hobbling a landing. When it reached me, it jumped onto my stomach, knocking every bit of air out of my chest.

"Why is everything in this world so heavy?"

The little beast didn't answer, merely slapping at my abdomen with those block fingers. It didn't hurt, though, and even felt kinda nice, like somebody giving me a fast massage.

I enjoyed it, staring up at the sky with sleepy eyes. I could just lie there all day...Part of me wondered if I was forgetting something, though. Like I needed to check something...

The text boxes inched toward the center of my vision, making their presence known. Oh, yeah, those.

⌈You have gained the achievement of 'Last-Minute Change II'!⌋

⌈You have gained the skill [Contract I]!⌋

"Hmm," I mused, idly stroking the monkey's tail. It squeaked at me, pulling the appendage away from my hand and slapping my face with it. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry!"

My apology calmed it down and it went back to slapping my sides. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to the text boxes.

"Drama queen...Alright, let's see what that pearl gave me. Sect Leader Achievements!"

⌈Sect Leader Achievements

Last-Minute Change

Last-Minute Change II: Your actions have made the admins remember just how weak mortals are. For compensation, they have sent a Stone-Shaper Monkey your way and the skill [Contract I].⌋

"Well, that's convenient."

It was, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth. They wouldn't even have to compensate me with this BS if they just sent me back home! But whatever. I needed to focus!

So they gave me a contract making skill and a beast to make a said contract with. Were monkeys smart enough to sign contracts? I don't know, but I stared at the skill until its information popped up.

⌈[Contract I]

Skill Use: Make a basic contract with a maximum of one intelligent entity, capable of cultivation or otherwise. Skill cannot be used on demons.

Cost: The DNA of both parties.⌋

"Aw, that's gross!"