It was an egg.
Two feet tall.
The widest part was over a foot in diameter.
The egg's surface was not smooth; in fact, it was very rough.
The entire egg was gray.
It looked like a hastily put-together mud egg, as if made from randomly clumped mud.
Fang Xin stepped forward and tapped it.
To his surprise, after tapping it, he found that just by the sound, it seemed to be solid.
"This is what the Old Leader left behind!" the Little Hamster said to Fang Xin from the side of the stone platform.
Then the Little Hamster continued, "Lord, your purpose in coming here is simply to establish a contract with the Old Leader. Why not try to establish a contract with this egg as well!"
Fang Xin didn't rush to act. "What kind of egg is this?"
"This is an egg left by the Old Leader. He was vague when he spoke about it at the time, but after careful analysis, I concluded that this egg contains the Old Leader's offspring!"
Fang Xin's eyebrows shot up at the words.
The Old Leader's offspring?
That would be a little Qilin.
But when Fang Xin observed the Qilin's corpse earlier, he saw clearly that it had a huge water gun.
Could it be that the Qilin was hermaphroditic?
Or was it asexual reproduction?
Or did it scatter its seeds everywhere like a dandelion, growing randomly?
But if it reproduced by scattering seeds, how could it produce an egg that looked like a stone?
Then this might not be a Qilin's egg, but a kidney stone.
As if seeing through Fang Xin's many doubts,
the Little Hamster explained, "This egg was laid by the Old Leader with another divine beast, but the Old Leader never said who he co-parented this divine egg with, and I never asked."
Fang Xin examined the egg. "So it's a bastard egg!"
The Little Hamster's mouth opened slightly. "Lord, do you want to try to establish a connection with this divine egg?"
Fang Xin asked, puzzled, "You said just now that when I arrived, I resonated with this thing. Where was the resonance?"
The Little Hamster explained, "Because I have borrowed the Old Leader's aura, I can also sense the subtle changes in this egg. When you stepped into the tribe just now, I heard a heartbeat from within this egg. This is the first time I've heard a heartbeat from this divine egg in all the years I've been the leader."
Fang Xin raised his hand and placed it on the oversized mud egg, activating his Beast Taming Talent. A few seconds later,
Thump! Thump!
A strong, powerful heartbeat suddenly resounded throughout the entire cave chamber.
Crack!
Immediately after,
the egg actually cracked.
The Little Hamster's chubby body waddled over to the crack.
His two short front paws were raised high.
"It actually! It actually cracked!"
Situ Shenshu looked at the egg. "This should be a Qilin cub. It not only has Qilin bloodline but also the bloodline of other divine beasts. This eggshell is also a top-tier material, with a very high defense coefficient, and it can also evade detection by perception-type abilities."
Fang Xin carefully examined the egg.
The crack on the eggshell was very small, making it impossible to see what was inside. The egg could even block Fang Xin's perception, making it impossible to sense what was truly inside.
However, Fang Xin had already established a connection with the entity inside the egg through his Beast Taming Talent.
He could vaguely feel that there was a little guy inside who hadn't woken up yet.
And this little guy kept sending messages to Fang Xin, indicating that it needed energy.
Without thinking, Fang Xin took out his god and demon marrow, piling it up around the egg. Under the illumination of the red god and demon marrow, the gray mud egg also glowed red. Immediately after, the energy from the god and demon marrow was visibly swallowed by the egg.
In just a few breaths, all the god and demon marrow Fang Xin had just taken out was completely devoured, turning into powder with a squeeze.
The little guy's message still came from inside the egg: it wasn't full yet.
Fang Xin again took out three hundred pieces of god and demon marrow and piled them around.
In a few breaths, the energy from all three hundred pieces of god and demon marrow was completely devoured.
Fang Xin took out all the god and demon marrow he had previously obtained, a total of over fourteen thousand pieces.
Only then did the little guy send Fang Xin a message that his stomach was only one-third full today.
Fang Xin stared at the egg, completely dumbfounded.
Holy cow!
A whopping fourteen thousand pieces of god and demon marrow!
He used to hear married people say that raising children was expensive, but Fang Xin had never truly felt it before. Now, this little guy in the egg had consumed over fourteen thousand pieces of god and demon marrow in one go, completely flustering Fang Xin.
The message from this little guy was that it wanted to break out of its shell, and energy was essential.
Looking at the situation, it wouldn't be coming out anytime soon. Roughly speaking, if it consumed forty thousand pieces a day, that would be 1.2 million pieces a month.
What kind of concept was 1.2 million pieces!
That was what the top ten combined on the Dragon-Tiger Rankings could barely gather when the final rankings were settled.
Seeing Fang Xin in a daze, the Little Hamster looked up and asked, "Lord, what's wrong? Have you established a connection with the entity in the divine egg?"
"I have established a connection!"
"Then did he tell you anything?"
Fang Xin recounted everything, "He said he wants to break out of his shell and needs energy. Those god and demon marrow just now were only enough to fill one-third of his stomach."
The Little Hamster also paused, "So that's how it is. Don't worry, Lord, you don't need to fret about the god and demon marrow. I will instruct the tribe villagers to help you find some outside. It's uncertain when he will come out, but if we calculate for a year, that would be 14.4 million god and demon marrow.
Over ten million is indeed a lot to gather in a short time. I'll gather half a year's worth for you first. Based on the frequency of outsiders like you coming in, you can come back in half a year, and I'll give you the other half! Lord, what do you think?"
Fang Xin looked at the Little Hamster. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
"You're giving me this egg and promising me a year's worth of god and demon marrow. What do you want?"
The Little Hamster stood on the stone platform, leaning on his staff with his two front paws, looking up at Fang Xin. "We only want one thing: freedom!"
"Freedom?"
The Little Hamster nodded. "All of us villagers are afflicted by the God and Demon Curse. We can only live in these God and Demon Ruins our entire lives, never able to step outside. I just want you to lead us out of here!"
"You mean, break the God and Demon Curse?"
"Yes!"
"How do we break it?"
The Little Hamster looked at Fang Xin, revealing an inscrutable smile. "You will know later!"
"But what if I want to know now?"
The Little Hamster smiled and said, "You are both the destroyer of all rules and the creator of all rules! When you reach the pinnacle, the rules will be yours to decide!"
Fang Xin nodded. "I see!"
The Little Hamster leaned on his staff. "Lord, shall we continue our discussion elsewhere?"
"Alright!"
Fang Xin put away the egg.
With a blur, Fang Xin and the Little Hamster reappeared in the previous large tent.
The Little Hamster was very efficient. He called in the Turtle guarding the entrance and instructed him to send villagers to gather god and demon marrow, asking them to quickly collect 7.2 million pieces and send them over.
"Lord, 7.2 million is not a small sum, it might delay you for a day or two!"
Fang Xin wasn't in a hurry. "No problem! But regarding what we just discussed, aren't we going to sign some kind of agreement or something?"
The Little Hamster smiled confidently and calmly, "No need! Since you are the one chosen by the Qilin cub, I trust your character!"
Afterward, he chatted with the Little Hamster about the Witchcraft Master and the Qilin coming here back then.
That Witchcraft Master came here in a frenzy, then broke into the Water Moon Forbidden Area, claiming it as his own. Later, the Qilin grew up and established a tribe here, gathering powerful fierce beasts from nearby to form a small civilized society. Because the Qilin was excessively strong, these villagers willingly stayed here and obeyed the tribe's rules.
"Aren't you afraid these villagers will find out what you've been hiding from them?"
The Little Hamster smiled. "I used to be afraid. Not to mention anything else, when you came in, you should have seen several twelfth-tier Imperial Beasts, and even thirteenth-tier Sacred Beasts, in the tribe. That Six-Horned Ibex roasting lamb skewers is a thirteenth-tier Sacred Beast in terms of combat power. If this matter were exposed, he would definitely seize power! The tribe would very likely cease to exist.
But luckily, you came. After you leave, I will find a suitable time to tell them the truth. Although the Old Leader is dead, they know the potential of his offspring, the divine beast, and will certainly not dare to act rashly! Moreover, with Lord Situ Shenshu's support, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble. In due time, when you can lift the curse on us, these villagers of the tribe can also be used by you!"
Fang Xin examined the Little Hamster; his little head thought things through quite systematically.
It wasn't until the evening of the next day that Fang Xin's mind was periodically filled with a tender, adorable voice pitifully saying, "Hungry! Food!"
As dusk fell, the Turtle walked in from outside and handed over a spatial ring.
"Lord!"
The Little Hamster handed the spatial ring to Fang Xin.
Fang Xin took it and quickly scanned it: over seven million pieces of god and demon marrow.
He immediately took out fifty thousand pieces of god and demon marrow and piled them outside the egg. Visibly, the energy from the god and demon marrow was absorbed.
Half an hour later, "Only five thousand of the fifty thousand god and demon marrow are left!"
A milky burp came from his mind, "Full!"
Soon after, snoring sounds followed.
Fang Xin's eyes widened. Forty-five thousand pieces!
Forty-five thousand pieces a day!
Fang Xin looked at the dumbfounded Little Hamster. "Little Hamster! Perhaps our previous calculations were a bit off!"
The Little Hamster wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead. "Lord, I'll figure it out! You can just come and get it when it's ready!"
Fang Xin talked with the Little Hamster in the Water Moon Forbidden Area until midnight. He had been under high mental stress these past few days and hadn't rested well, so he took the opportunity to sleep soundly in the tribe until morning.
Outside, the midterm test was in full swing, seemingly having nothing to do with Fang Xin.
When he woke up the next day, the Little Hamster sent another nearly one million pieces of god and demon marrow, bringing the total given to Fang Xin to eight million pieces.
Fang Xin wasn't in a hurry to go out during the day. There was fighting everywhere outside, and Fang Xin was socially anxious.
He briefly (freeloaded) experienced the local customs and beastly conditions of the tribe, specifically asking the fiery red fox Hu Jinbao to be his guide, and incidentally settling a personal score by beating Hu Jinbao for an entire day.
However, after a day of touring, what he enjoyed the most was the lamb skewers he freeloaded to his heart's content at the Six-Horned Ibex's place.
As dusk approached, Fang Xin swaggered out of the Water Moon Forbidden Area.
He released Situ Shenshu and, leveraging Situ Shenshu's influence, had the runners-on-foot search for the whereabouts of Li Bao'er and the others, as well as the Little Monk Miao Neng.
Before long, news came that Li Bao'er and the others had been found.
Fang Xin immediately rushed over.
When they met, Li Bao'er and the others were resting, and their spirits were high.
After all, this trip in was no different from having cheats activated for them.
Seeing Fang Xin approach, the group stood up one after another.
"Xin Ge!"
Fang Xin gestured for them to sit down.
Shi Tailang handed Fang Xin a warmed can. As Fang Xin took the can, Shi Tailang noticed the ring on Fang Xin's finger.
The value was still zero.
"What the heck? Xin Ge? What happened to you? How did your score become zero?"
The others all looked over.
"Damn! Xin Ge, did you run into trouble?"
"It's alright, I did run into a bit of trouble, but it's all resolved now!"
Zhang Yaozu, who blended into the darkness like he was wearing a ghillie suit, bared his white teeth and said, "Xin Ge, most of the midterm test time has passed. The first place on the Dragon-Tiger Rankings has already reached over eighty thousand god and demon marrow, and the tenth place has over fifty thousand. You're still at zero!"
Shi Tailang clicked his tongue. "Our scores are better than normal because Xin Ge looked out for us, so I propose! All the god and demon marrow we get from now on should go to Xin Ge! From the looks of it, by the time the test ends and the rankings are finalized, tenth place will be around seventy to eighty thousand. Let's pool our resources and get Xin Ge into the top ten!"