Yisha froze for a moment, then looked up. She was particularly sensitive when it came to this Magical Beast. A few days ago in the Imperial Capital, she, her grandfather, and Qin Kang had gone to the Huangpu Family’s auction house. One of the Tier Five Magical Beasts sold that day was a Snow Mountain Lightning Falcon. At the time, Yisha had even imagined that Ling Xiao was the one who had slain the beast, but she knew that was far too unrealistic. Considering Ling Xiao’s strength, his safe and sound return from the Holy Mountain was already a miracle in the eyes of those who knew the truth.

To hunt a Tier Five Magical Beast, you’d need the participation of a Demon Sword Master at the very least. Flying Magical Beasts were especially difficult to hunt. Typically, Magical Beasts that reached Tier Five possessed a certain level of intelligence. Unless thoroughly enraged, they rarely fought humans to the death. If they couldn’t win, they would choose to flee. If escape was impossible, High-Tier Magical Beasts could even self-destruct their Crystal Cores to end their own lives rather than be captured by humans.

But Ling Xiao’s question made it all too easy to draw conclusions. With a slightly odd expression, Yisha said, "Of course. The Snow Mountain Lightning Falcon is an extremely proud Magical Beast..."

"Oh, I know that," Ling Xiao cut her off, asking, "What I want to know is, do you know anything about a Snow Mountain Lightning Falcon’s Magic Beast Egg?"

"What?" A shocked expression appeared on Yisha’s face. She immediately stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and stuck her head out to look around. Seeing no one in the hallway, she closed and bolted the door from the inside. She walked back with a serious look on her face and said, "A Snow Mountain Lightning Falcon’s egg... The Magical Beast Compendium doesn’t mention it. But as a Magical Beast that starts at Tier Two, a Lightning Falcon would normally hide its eggs in the most secret of places. I’ve never heard of anyone finding one!"

Ling Xiao was a little disappointed. ’If even Yisha, an expert on medicinal herbs and Magical Beasts, doesn’t know, then it’s unlikely anyone else would,’ he thought. He said aloud, "Then I suppose you don’t know anything about raising Flying Magical Beasts either?"

Yisha’s eyes gradually lit up. Looking at Ling Xiao, she said, "Ling Xiao, you... you got a Magic Beast Egg, didn’t you? Can I... can I see it? I-I’ve never seen a Magic Beast Egg before. I’m just curious..." Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Ling Xiao take a Magic Beast Egg from his Space Ring that was slightly smaller than a human head. It was crystal clear and flawlessly white. Yisha’s eyes immediately went wide, her fervent gaze fixed on the egg as she exclaimed in admiration, "Heavens... Th-This is a Magic Beast Egg? It’s gorgeous! So beautiful!" She then looked up, gazing at Ling Xiao in a daze. "Ling Xiao, thank you for trusting me so much... Huh? Ling Xiao, what’s wrong?"

Yisha saw Ling Xiao staring blankly at the ring hanging from a string. At that moment, Ling Xiao felt like crying. One of the two Tier Five Crystal Cores he had placed inside the ring was gone!

He looked again at the damn Magic Beast Egg. It had changed dramatically from when he first got it!

Its once-dull exterior was now as smooth as a pearl and emitted a soft glow. It even seemed somewhat translucent; he could vaguely make out the silhouette of the little thing inside, seeing its embryonic form.

Having spent so many years in the Cultivation Realm, how could Ling Xiao not realize what had happened? That Tier Five Crystal Core had been absorbed by this little thing that hadn’t even hatched yet!

But it had been less than two months!

A Tier Five Crystal Core, packed with immense energy, had been completely drained! How could Ling Xiao not be utterly aghast? One had to know that even a Demon Sword Master would need at least two months to fully absorb a Tier Five Crystal Core.

And this little unborn creature did it in less than two months... ’Could it be that it’s even more... than a Demon Sword Master?’ Ling Xiao couldn’t help but shake his head, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. ’If that’s the case, then I’ve truly struck it rich.’

Back in the Cultivation Realm, the thing Ling Xiao envied most was the powerful Beast Cultivator followers that many of his sect’s seniors had. Some had even reached a state where they could transform into human form!

Powerful Beast Cultivators could practice human Cultivation Techniques and help their masters with all sorts of tasks... Ling Xiao looked at the other Tier Five Crystal Core in his Space Ring, hesitating. ’Should I let it continue absorbing? But... I really can’t bear to part with it. A Tier Five Crystal Core... I never even considered selling it at auction!’

Instead, he had planned to use it to increase his own strength by absorbing the Crystal Core’s energy after he became a Demon Sword Master. So, right now, Ling Xiao was undecided.

Ling Xiao only snapped out of it after Yisha had waved her cute little hand in front of his eyes several times.

"Ah, Yisha, were you calling me?" Ling Xiao gave Yisha an apologetic smile.

"Weren’t you afraid I’d just run off with the Magic Beast Egg while you were spaced out?" Yisha gave a mischievous smile. Cradling the priceless Magic Beast Egg, she seemed less shy and spoke much more fluently. At the same time, she reluctantly and carefully handed the egg back to Ling Xiao. "Generally speaking, the eggs of Flying Magical Beasts need their mother’s warmth to hatch. Now that it’s been taken away, it needs energy items to provide that warmth. Ling Xiao, you don’t have any Crystal Cores on you, do you? I have a Tier Two Crystal Core here. You can take it for now. It should be enough for the egg to absorb for quite a while. You can always buy more later!"

As she spoke, she took a light-blue Tier Two Crystal Core from her Space Ring. The air in the room instantly grew fresher; it was the Crystal Core of a Water-type Magical Beast.

Ling Xiao didn’t take it. A single Tier Two Crystal Core was worth tens of thousands of Gold Coins—no small sum! Instead, he took the opportunity to ask, "Yisha, you said a Magic Beast Egg can absorb energy from a Crystal Core? How long would a Tier Two Crystal Core last?"

Yisha first placed the Crystal Core in Ling Xiao’s hand. "Just take it first!"

"Yisha..."

"Ling Xiao, you should understand my feelings. You accepted the Enchanted Sword from Teacher Shangguan, so why can’t you accept something from me?" Yisha blinked her beautiful eyes at Ling Xiao, on the verge of tears as she said, "Please don’t make me sad, okay?"

’Fine, I’ll just have to repay her someday,’ Ling Xiao thought as he nodded. Only then did Yisha light up with joy. She continued, "If it’s the egg of a Tier Two Magical Beast, a Tier Two Crystal Core should last for two months! And it should hatch within those two months! For a Tier Three, the absorption time is about a month and a half. For a Tier Four, it’s a month, and for a Tier Five, it’s half a month... Of course, the numbers for Tier Four and Tier Five are just my own deductions, so they might not be accurate!"

Ling Xiao was shocked. He thought, ’If it doesn’t hatch for a long time, won’t the cost of Crystal Cores become astronomical? If I weren’t relatively flush with Gold Coins right now, I probably wouldn’t even be able to afford to feed this little thing Crystal Cores.’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

’Such a money-burning little thing... If you turn out to be useless in the future, I’ll roast and eat you!’ Ling Xiao thought viciously.

Inside the translucent Magic Beast Egg on the table, something seemed to twitch, but neither of them noticed.

"Ling Xiao, you should put it away quickly. It’s best not to let anyone else know about something like this, or they’ll definitely come after you for it!" Yisha advised Ling Xiao with a serious expression. "Besides, this Magic Beast Egg of yours doesn’t look like it’s just Tier Two. Who knows, it might become the number one Magical Beast in the entire Empire one day!"