Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Dragon Tiger Qi Condensing Pill

Inside the Beast Nest.

There were three Green Water Golden-eyed Beast Eggs in total. Each one was as translucent as jade, shimmering with an emerald-green light.

They were utterly captivating.

A faint, refreshing fragrance emanated from the eggs, soothing the heart and mind. It felt as if a single whiff of the fresh scent could bring about a sense of joy and help one enter a state of cultivation more quickly.

But at this moment, what truly left Jiang Chen dumbfounded was that among the three Beast Eggs, the light of two had already dimmed. Their Essence of Life was rapidly draining away.

’What’s going on?’ Jiang Chen’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly reached out to grab the two eggs.

With the two Beast Eggs in his hands, Jiang Chen immediately noticed something was wrong. There was a thumb-sized hole at the bottom of each one.

The pure, nectar-like fluid was streaming out of the two holes. Jiang Chen hastily plugged them with his hands, his heart aching. "Fuck! Who the hell would be so wasteful? These are the eggs of a Tier One Advanced Demon Beast, the Green Water Golden-eyed Beast! Each one is worth over a hundred thousand silver, so how did they get broken?"

Just as Jiang Chen was lamenting the destruction of the Beast Eggs, a faint, childlike voice suddenly echoed in his mind, "Hungry... I’m hungry..."

"..."

Jiang Chen shuddered. "Who? Who’s talking?"

"Hungry... I want to eat... eat..." The childlike voice grew more frantic, even tinged with a hint of pleading.

Jiang Chen whipped his head around, his gaze falling on the sole remaining Beast Egg in the nest. He saw that it was trembling slightly, its emerald-green patterns significantly more vibrant than those on the other two eggs.

The intermittent voice was coming from this very egg.

"Fuck, what is this? I’ve never heard of Green Water Golden-eyed Beast Eggs cannibalizing their own kind..." Jiang Chen’s eyes widened as he stared intently at the egg.

The little thing was trembling constantly, as if it couldn’t wait any longer. The voice it transmitted grew more urgent. "Hungry! I’m hungry! I want to eat..."

Jiang Chen’s eyes flickered with uncertainty.

This Beast Egg was too bizarre. While still in its shell, it had already extended its claws toward its own kin.

Moreover...

It was communicating with him telepathically before it had even hatched. This was simply unheard of!

Not even a Green Water Golden-eyed Beast at its Peak could possess such an ability. The only possibility, then, was that this was a Mutated Beast Egg.

’If I let it hatch, it won’t eat me too, will it?’ Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. After a moment of hesitation, he finally made a decision. ’Damn it, a Mutated Beast Egg like this is a once-in-a-lifetime find. If I can tame it, it might become a great asset in the future. Besides, most of the Essence of Life in these other two eggs is gone, so they’re useless now. I’ll just let it have them!’

Jiang Chen placed the two broken Beast Eggs by the edge of the nest.

The Mutated Beast Egg instantly grew excited, rolling gently as it moved closer to the other two eggs.

Jiang Chen pressed a hand on the Mutated Beast Egg and said, "I can let you eat, but you have to remember that I’m the one giving you all this. You must repay me after you’re born!"

"Mhm, mhm! Repay, repay!" the childlike voice replied impatiently.

Jiang Chen then released his hand.

Almost simultaneously, the Mutated Beast Egg shot over to the other two eggs with a WHOOSH. Its body glowed with an emerald light as it extended two jade-green tentacles, plunging them fiercely into the other two eggs.

To the naked eye, it was clear that the essence within the two Beast Eggs was flowing through the emerald tentacles and into the mutated one.

In just over ten minutes, it had completely devoured the two Green Water Golden-eyed Beast Eggs. Even their shells turned to ash.

The light from the Mutated Beast Egg flared brilliantly, and its patterns erupted in a dazzling green glow. A series of crisp cracking sounds, KRAK KRAK KRAK, rang out as the entire eggshell began to break apart along its patterns. The cracks spread rapidly, shattering the shell in the blink of an eye, and then the emerald light suddenly receded.

From within the shattered eggshell emerged a strange demon beast. It was pure white and looked like a small dog, but with two transparent, emerald-green Qilin Horns growing from its head!

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

The strange demon beast lowered its head and began chewing on the shell fragments. It quickly ate the broken pieces, leaving only one half-shell that was mostly intact. With a gentle nudge of its head, it placed the half-shell on its head.

It looked just like a little emerald helmet!

Wearing the emerald-wok-like shell, the strange demon beast blinked its big, dark, watery eyes at Jiang Chen. It waddled over to his side, rubbed its furry body against his leg, and telepathically sent in its childlike voice, "Papa, I’m hungry..."

"..."

Jiang Chen’s eye twitched. He looked down at the strange demon beast, exasperated. "I’m not your papa!"

"Papa gave me food. You are my papa..." the strange demon beast said, blinking its eyes with a determined tone.

Jiang Chen rubbed his forehead, still exasperated. "I’m really not your papa. How about this? From now on, you call me Boss, and I’ll give you good things to eat. How does that sound?"

"Good things to eat?"

The strange demon beast paused, cocking its head in thought before nodding vigorously. "Boss! Boss! Give me good things to eat!"

"Since you’re calling me Boss, of course I’ll get you good food. But first, we need to give you a name. Hmm... from now on, I’ll call you Little White. How’s that?" Jiang Chen mumbled to himself, not waiting for Little White’s agreement before continuing, "By the way, Little White, what do you like to eat?"

"Meat! Boss, Little White wants to eat meat!" Little White said with an innocent expression, drool trickling from the corner of its mouth.

Jiang Chen laughed heartily. "Wait here for a moment. Boss will take you to get some meat right away!"

Jiang Chen rummaged through the Beast Nest and found a broken shield, a rusty iron sword, and various jewels and jade artifacts worth no less than 500,000 silver.

It was truly a bountiful harvest!

Satisfied, Jiang Chen immediately set off with Little White, heading back the way they came. Along the way, the pair teamed up to slay Demon Beasts.

Little White’s strength was equivalent to the Martial Arts Sixth Stage, but as Jiang Chen continuously fed it the corpses of Demon Beasts, its power rapidly increased.

In just a day and a half, Jiang Chen and Little White had slain over a hundred Tier One Demon Beasts together.

Among them were quite a few Tier One Intermediate Demon Beasts!

Little White’s stomach was like a bottomless pit; all one hundred-plus Demon Beasts had ended up inside it.

The little guy had some unfathomable abilities. Not only could it spew a strange white flame from its mouth that even Tier One Intermediate Demon Beasts couldn’t withstand, but its speed was also on par with Jiang Chen’s. What surprised Jiang Chen even more was that Little White actually knew how to cook meat like a human.

As it devoured more and more Demon Beasts, Little White’s aura grew thicker, already on par with an ordinary Martial Arts Eighth Stage expert!

This made Jiang Chen feel all the more that this little guy was anything but simple!

As time went on, the five-day hunt at the Yulan River was drawing to a close. In the ruins of Ancient River City, Jiang Chen no longer encountered anyone from the Four Great Clans. The water level was slowly starting to rise again, and Jiang Chen knew it was time to head back.

The man and beast immediately began their journey home.

...

「Meanwhile...」

Jiang Chen had no idea that Jiang Ziyou, who had used Chen Fan and Xu Qilin to stall him while she escaped, had already returned to Yandu City a step ahead of him.

She was having a secret meeting with Yun Haoran in a hidden chamber of the Jiang Family estate.

Yun Haoran’s brows furrowed. "Junior Sister Ziyou, are you saying that Jiang Chen can kill an expert at the Peak of Martial Arts Sixth Stage, and that even you are no match for him?"

"I didn’t fight him directly, but judging by how he completely crushed Chen Fan and Xu Qilin, his combat strength is likely no less than that of a Martial Arts Eighth Stage expert!" Jiang Ziyou clenched her fists, her delicate brows knitted together as a sharp, resentful look flashed in her eyes.

There was a time when Jiang Chen was nothing more than a pawn for her to use and manipulate.

But now, he had become so powerful that she didn’t even have the courage to face him. This filled Jiang Ziyou with an unprecedented sense of defeat.

’According to Jiang Ziyou, he only broke through to the Martial Arts First Stage Realm just over two months ago. It’s absolutely impossible to reach the Martial Arts Eighth Stage Realm in such a short time. If I’m not mistaken, he must have a Secret Treasure that enhances his strength... ’

Yun Haoran licked his lips, a greedy fire burning in his eyes. ’To allow a good-for-nothing with a Yellow Tier First Grade Martial Soul to gain such immense power in just two months... If I could get my hands on that Secret Treasure, my status within the Sect would soar. I have to find a way to get that Secret Treasure!’

At this thought, Yun Haoran took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Junior Sister Ziyou, based on what you’ve said, Jiang Chen is very strong, and you’re no match for him right now. Normally, I could have helped you deal with him, but that Bai Ling makes trouble for me at every turn, leaving me no opportunity to act. But don’t you worry. I have a Second-grade Treasure Pill I obtained from a Secret Realm, a ’Dragon Tiger Qi Condensing Pill.’ A single one can help you advance to the Peak of Martial Arts Ninth Stage, or even break through to the True Qi Realm."

"Senior Brother Lan said that you must enter the Saint Martial Sword Sect in grand style. Therefore, I’ve decided to give this Dragon Tiger Qi Condensing Pill to you. I only hope that after you kill Jiang Chen, you’ll let me dispose of his body. That bastard dared to defy my authority. I will use a Secret Technique to refine his corpse so that not even his body will remain whole in death!" Yun Haoran said with a vicious expression.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ziyou trembled, but not from fear. It was from excitement.

She stared intently at the Dragon Tiger Qi Condensing Pill, nodded sharply, and her eyes glinted with a cold light. "Don’t worry, Senior Brother Yun. With this Divine Pill, I will definitely be able to defeat Jiang Chen. Once I kill him, his body is yours to do with as you please!"

"Excellent!"

Yun Haoran nodded in satisfaction, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He was already fantasizing about obtaining the Secret Treasure and the brilliant spectacle he would create after returning to the Sect...