At the narrow, cramped end of the cave, the refining formation emitted an ominous blood-red glow and at the center of the formation lay a huge egg.
“Is this a demonic beast egg?”
Lin Que blinked. While he wasn’t exactly a scholar, he had read plenty of texts, but the patterns and features of the egg before him didn’t match anything he knew.
He waved the formation flag, and the refining formation was instantly disrupted, plunging the cave back into pitch darkness.
“The refining formation and the concealment formation outside are clearly a set. But with that old beast’s intellect, there’s no way it could’ve created something this advanced. Was it deliberately left behind by someone or did it steal it?”
In any case, all signs pointed to the fact that this egg was no ordinary item. Lin Que stepped forward and placed his palm on its surface, attempting to store it in his storage ring only to find it unresponsive.
“This egg… is alive?”
Storage rings couldn’t hold living beings, which was why they were sometimes used to confirm whether an enemy was feigning death.
Lin Que tried probing it with his divine sense to see what was inside but failed once again. The egg seemed to possess some special force that repelled his spiritual probing.
Still, he could feel the immense life force pulsing within.
“If a Nascent Soul stage demonic beast held it in such high regard so much so that it looked in this direction even as it died…then this definitely isn’t some ordinary thing. In any case, I’ll bring it back first.”
Lin Que picked up the egg and flew out of the demonic beast forest on his sword.
This time, no beast dared block his path.
By the time he returned to the cave dwelling, it was already deep into the night. Qin Wanyuan was resting in bed, while her younger sister Qin Qian’er sat nearby taking care of her.
Seeing Lin Que return, Qin Wanyuan’s face lit up with joy. Qin Qian’er tactfully stepped away, leaving them some privacy.
“Lin Lang, you’re back?”
She didn’t ask why Lin Que had spent so long at her senior sister’s place, because the system notification had already informed her of the completed quest and its rewards.
A system interface appeared before her eyes, and her expression flickered with mixed emotions.
[Quest Reward: Patience Potion]
[Congratulations! You’ve met a hidden condition. Bonus reward: one Shared Dream Talisman.]
[Notice: Jiang Moqing’s affection has surpassed 70. Milestone achieved. Reward: one set of Shared Dream Talismans. Slightly boosts the host’s physique.]
[Achievement Unlocked: “Love is the urge to touch, restrained by the will to hold back”.]
Ever since Lin Que had gone to Jiang Moqing’s dwelling alone, her affection level had shot up to 70 and unlike before, it hadn’t dropped back down.
Qin Wanyuan didn’t know exactly what had happened, but the more she speculated, the heavier her heart grew. She forced herself not to dwell on it.
Yet when she saw Lin Que return and noticed that his affection toward her hadn’t decreased, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“I just made a quick trip to the demonic beast forest. Sorry I came back so late.”
Lin Que nodded slightly and placed the huge egg beside the table on the floor.
“You went to the demonic beast forest?! That place is extremely dangerous…”
Qin Wanyuan was startled the moment she heard where he’d been. She hurriedly got up to check if he was injured, only relaxing after confirming that he was unharmed.
Only then did she notice the unusually large and distinct-looking egg.
“By the way… what’s this egg?”
“I brought it back from the forest…”
Lin Que briefly recounted what had happened in the demonic beast forest. By the time he finished, Qin Wanyuan’s lips were slightly parted in astonishment.
Even though she already knew how strong Lin Que was, she hadn’t expected him to defeat the four beasts that had attacked her earlier that day and remain completely unscathed.
Right… If Lin Lang weren’t this powerful, he wouldn’t have been able to hold off those evil cultivators back then to protect us…
At that thought, a dim shadow passed over Qin Wanyuan’s eyes.
In their previous life, Lin Que had only reached the peak of the Core Formation stage. Yet even so, he’d managed to hold back a large number of powerful enemy cultivators all on his own…many of whom surpassed him in strength.
That fact alone said a great deal. If in this life she could use the system to help him break through, then perhaps they could survive the disaster two years from now.
While Qin Wanyuan was still lost in thought, Lin Que stared at the egg by the table. After a moment of contemplation, he turned to her and asked,
“I don’t think this is as simple as it seems. There’s likely more to it than meets the eye. Wanyuan, what do you think?”
As a transmigrator, Lin Que’s thinking wasn’t confined by the norms of the cultivation world. He could tell that Qin Wanyuan possessed some sort of ability to foresee future crises. Though for some reason, she couldn’t speak of it openly.
So, instead of confronting it directly, he chose to ask in a more roundabout, indirect way.
Hearing Lin Que’s question, Qin Wanyuan snapped back to reality.
The system strictly forbade her from revealing anything about her regression, along with any related details. However… if it was just an ordinary question like this…
Qin Wanyuan began to carefully recall any past life events related to the demonic beast forest.
In her memory, there had indeed been an incident involving the forest, but it wasn’t particularly severe. A few Soul Transformation stage beasts had stirred up trouble, trying to break out of the demonic beast forest and reignite the chaos that had swept the land centuries ago.
However, the Sword Seeking Sect dispatched several elders who promptly put down the rebellion. The leading beast was slain on the spot, and the formation barriers surrounding the forest were further reinforced afterward.
Because that event wasn’t seen as especially significant and because, in her memories, the upheaval caused by those Soul Transformation beasts didn’t occur until about a year later, Qin Wanyuan hadn’t paid it much attention.
However, after Lin Que’s reminder and upon thinking more carefully, she did realize there were indeed many strange aspects to it.
She had heard from her master, An Xiaoyao, that several hundred years ago, the demonic beast forest had already been jointly purged by several sects. Most of the forest’s resources were destroyed, and the cultivation potential of the surviving beasts had significantly declined. At best, the most powerful among them now only reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
Given the natural pace at which demonic beasts cultivated, it should have taken at least another hundred years before even one or two could reach the Soul Transformation stage.
And yet, just a year later, so many Soul Transformation level beasts suddenly appeared and caused chaos.
What was even more puzzling was that the demonic beasts were known for being disorganized. They could never unite as they did now, let alone coordinate an ambush around the forest’s outskirts.
Thinking back to the egg Lin Que had brought back and the refining formation he had mentioned, Qin Wanyuan quickly came to a conclusion.
Those high-level beasts must have broken through by refining that egg.
And now that Lin Que had obtained it… did that mean he could also refine it to enhance his cultivation?
She tried, in her mind, to imagine telling Lin Que about this. To her surprise, the system didn’t issue the usual warning like before.
It seemed that as long as it didn’t involve the future or classified information related to the system, no warning would be triggered.
So, Qin Wanyuan told Lin Que that the egg was most likely some kind of material that could enhance cultivation.
However, after hearing her explanation, Lin Que frowned.
“But there’s a sign of life inside the egg. It seems to still be incubating. If we were to refine it… it just feels like eating a half-formed egg. I think we should forget it.”
“You’re right… I overlooked that.”
Qin Wanyuan lowered her head. “Sorry, I couldn’t be of help.”
Even though she had lived a second life, she still couldn’t be of much help to Lin Que and instead, she was the one relying on him.
In response, Lin Que simply smiled and gently patted Qin Wanyuan on the head.
“Don’t say that. You’ve already done your best. Leave the rest to me.”
He wasn’t lying.
If Qin Wanyuan and Jiang Moqing hadn’t gone to the demonic beast forest, he wouldn’t have discovered anything unusual let alone obtained this strange egg.
As for what exactly this egg was… he’d have to consult his teacher about it tomorrow.
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