Chapter 031: The Matter of Eggs

The area of the northern forest chosen by Ten Miscellaneous was selected after careful investigation and research. Aside from the little Seven-colored beast of the Yellow rank, the more formidable wild beasts resided deeper within the northern territory—this was merely the outer region. Thus, with his cultivation at the peak of the Human rank, Ten Miscellaneous dared to venture here with such reckless abandon.

After the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the two of them reached near the summit. There, on the wind-sheltered side, lay a cave where Ten Miscellaneous had previously discovered the beast egg.

However, the beast egg was embedded within a slab of icefield stone, and at that time, the little Seven-colored beast had not yet reached its current strength and was unable to help. Thus, Ten Miscellaneous had been unable to claim the egg. Worse still, he had gotten himself into trouble, was assigned punishment duties, and had his cultivation sealed, so he had never returned.

Now, with his father’s rare act of kindness lifting his seal, Ten Miscellaneous immediately dragged Lin Zhan along to revisit the site.

“I say, that beast egg—it doesn’t have any relatives, right?”

“What relatives? Haha, you mean whether it’s an egg with a master or without. Worried the beast mother will come looking for trouble? Don’t worry, judging by how the egg is fused with the icefield stone, it’s been here a long, long time.”

“So, does that mean the beast egg is dead?”

“Not necessarily. Some beast eggs, even if sealed for thousands or tens of thousands of years, can still retain a trace of vitality. But hatching a beast baby now—well, that’s not likely.”

They whispered as they cautiously edged into the cave. Ten Miscellaneous, a man of wealth, had no shortage of treasures; with a casual toss of two pearls, the dim cave was illuminated.

“These are beast crystals from the Frost Soul Silver Fish—they’re good for lighting,” Ten Miscellaneous explained.

Lin Zhan held one of the pearls in his hand, marveling at how it glowed like a magical night lamp.

The cave was exceedingly dry, the air almost devoid of odors, though compared to the abundant spiritual energy in the secret chambers of the Hero Pool, the difference was stark. Inside, dozens of branching paths snaked in all directions; if not for Ten Miscellaneous’s prior visit and keen memory, they would surely have lost their way in such a labyrinth.

Twisting and turning along winding paths, after countless bends, they finally emerged into a spacious chamber.

“Wait!” Lin Zhan was about to stride forward when Ten Miscellaneous grabbed him and quickly concealed the Frost Soul Silver Fish crystal, plunging the surroundings back into darkness.

A sudden sense of danger surged in Lin Zhan’s mind.

“What bad luck!”

Ten Miscellaneous’s gritted teeth made Lin Zhan realize something was amiss, or that things had changed since his last visit.

Looking closely, the walls and ceiling of the spacious chamber were crowded with dense black dots, each the size of a human head, numbering in the thousands.

“What are those things?” Lin Zhan asked, baffled.

“Dark Bat—descendants of the Black Fire Crow. There are too many; they’ll be hard to deal with,” Ten Miscellaneous said gravely.

Both saw the protrusion at the center of the chamber floor—the beast egg. But clustered around it were countless Dark Bats, resting now, but any approach would surely awaken them.

Dark Bats, unlike other wild beasts, when disturbed, attack en masse and even spit black blood. If contaminated, the flesh would rot away to the bone, beyond hope of salvation.

“Think of something! We’re here now—don’t give up so easily!” Lin Zhan eyed Ten Miscellaneous’s hundred-treasure storage ring with hope; if he had Frost Soul Silver Fish crystals, surely he had other treasures to deal with the bats.

Ten Miscellaneous chuckled; in the darkness, Lin Zhan’s night vision just allowed him to glimpse those two rows of white teeth glinting on his handsome, youthful face.

“There is a way, but it requires someone to make a sacrifice, heh heh.” The smile shifted from innocent to sly.

Lin Zhan was exasperated. “You—you want me to lure the bats away? No way! Absolutely not!”

Ten Miscellaneous pointed at Lin Zhan’s arm. “Originally, the little Seven-colored beast could have done it, but now, look—it’s been clinging to you, asleep and unresponsive…”

“Well, you can’t sacrifice me! I’m not a shape-shifting spirit beast like Seven-colored; luring those bats would be suicide!” Lin Zhan shook his head vigorously.

Ten Miscellaneous, seeing Lin Zhan’s reaction, patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and said seriously, “Just kidding. I’ll sacrifice my divine weapon for now.”

Lin Zhan was so furious he almost unleashed the first move of his Fiery Fist technique right then and there, blasting Ten Miscellaneous into the swarm of Dark Bats. Such jokes were truly damaging to their friendship!

Lin Zhan had always been intrigued by that silvery metal disk Ten Miscellaneous carried—a weapon, surely, but he’d never asked. He suspected that if he opened that topic, the boastful Ten Miscellaneous would launch into a long-winded explanation.

But whatever it was, the silver metal disk didn’t look like any peerless artifact.

“Heh heh, my Celestial Demon Star War God Silver Disk has quite an origin. It was forged from a meteorite by a master craftsman… Not only can it pierce through anything, but with a bit of spiritual energy, it can fly on its own… Amazing, right?”

Lin Zhan smiled quietly, thinking, Yes, very amazing—here comes the boasting.

But as Ten Miscellaneous summoned the so-called Celestial Demon Star War God Silver Disk, Lin Zhan’s smile faded. The disk truly matched Ten Miscellaneous’s claims; it glowed with a pale white light, spiraling into the chamber where the bats clustered.

“Whirr… whirr… whirr…”

The disk spun through the cave, instantly waking the Dark Bats. A thunderous noise erupted, like torrential rain pounding a canopy, interspersed with wails like crying infants or eerie laughter, chilling to the bone.

The Dark Bats flapped their pitch-black wings, each spanning over ten feet, filling the air with chaos.

The War God Silver Disk, as Lin Zhan had silently hoped, circled dozens of times, stirring every bat awake, then darted toward another fork in the cave.

Drawn by the disk’s glow, the bats swarmed after it in a frenzy…

Ten Miscellaneous leapt from behind the rock wall, clapped his hands, and said, “Done! The disk’s spiritual energy will last for a cup of tea’s worth of flight. Let’s go see that long-lost beast egg.”

The beast egg was their sole objective. Lin Zhan, no longer concerned about how the disk would return, followed Ten Miscellaneous into the spacious chamber.

Inside, thick piles of bat droppings covered the floor—fortunately dry, perhaps due to the cave’s peculiar structure. Otherwise, each step would sink to the knees, but now, it was soft and almost comfortable.

They reached the central protrusion—the only place untouched by bat droppings.

A gray, utterly inconspicuous stone egg lay quietly there.