"Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"

Chen Che hadn’t held out much hope for this safe deposit box. He never expected it to have been left behind by a Golden Core True Master.

However, countless Nascent Soul Great Powers had perished in the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall. A Golden Core was a mere child in comparison.

"If not a Golden Core True Master, then someone not far from it! Look, this box is gilded on all four sides, and these are all Tier Three Array Patterns. An ordinary Cultivator couldn’t lay these down. Don’t tell me this was a gift from a friend again? Your friends are really generous. Why don’t I have friends like that?"

Wu Neng didn’t ask where Chen Che had gotten the item.

Because every time he asked, Chen Che would just brush it off, saying a friend gave it to him.

So, he had always suspected that Chen Che had a large criminal syndicate behind him. They were responsible for pickpocketing, lockpicking, and even robbing ancient tombs, while Chen Che was the key member in charge of fencing the goods.

"A friend really did give it to me!"

Chen Che replied, then asked nervously, "Can you open it?"

"It’s a bit tricky. This is a Tier Three Array Lock, and it’s just like that first safe deposit box you brought me. It can only be opened by a bloodline descendant..."

Wu Neng kept his head down, fiddling with the safe deposit box, his words implying it would be difficult.

But Chen Che breathed a sigh of relief.

’Once Wu Neng starts on a long-winded explanation, it means he’s 100% confident he can open it. If he were silent, that would be the real trouble. All this talk is just to justify raising the price later.’

"Just tell me the price!"

"Fifty-six hundred!"

’That’s actually pretty cheap!’

Last time, for opening the lock from the side hall, the guy had charged him twenty-two thousand.

He had originally thought this Golden Core True Master’s safe deposit box would cost at least six figures.

He took out his phone, paid the bill, and then asked, "How long will it take to open..."

Just then, Wu Neng took out five steel needles and inserted them into the top of the box.

Before the words had even left his mouth, he saw Wu Neng form a Seal Technique. The five steel needles suddenly flared with five colors: red, black, gold, yellow, and cyan.

Immediately after, a CLICKING sound, like a spring-latch or mechanism releasing, echoed. Before their eyes, the perfectly square safe deposit box suddenly bloomed open like a flower, its four gilded sides unfolding on their own.

"That fast?" Chen Che was stunned.

"Of course. I’m a professional."

Wu Neng puffed out his chest. His gaze fell upon the box, and he suddenly let out a gasp of surprise.

"There’s an egg in here..."

"An egg?"

Chen Che quickly looked over.

Inside the opened box was a wooden pedestal lined with silk.

Resting on the pedestal was an earth-yellow egg about 15cm in diameter, roughly the size of an ostrich egg.

Chen Che curiously picked it up. It was heavier than he expected, weighing around twenty pounds. He held it to his ear and shook it but didn’t hear the sloshing sound of yolk and egg white he anticipated.

"Do you recognize this thing?"

"I only know how to pick locks! For this, you’ll probably have to ask a Beast Tamer. Maybe they can figure out what it is."

Wu Neng shook his head vigorously; he was completely helpless when it came to matters outside his expertise.

"Why don’t you take it to school and ask your teachers? Or maybe take it to a Beast Taming Shop and ask there?"

There were no Beast Taming Teachers at his school.

As for Li Xiaoshuang...

Last semester, an "egg-hatching" craze had swept through the student body. Students would buy mystery boxes online and compete to see who could hatch their egg first. Later, the school decided this activity was seriously interfering with the students’ Cultivation and strictly banned it.

If he asked Li Xiaoshuang about it, he’d definitely get a lecture.

The Beast Taming Shop was an even worse idea.

If they discovered it was the offspring of a Demon Beast protected by the Immortal Sect, they would immediately notify the Law Enforcement Team and confiscate the egg.

Chen Che let out a dry laugh. "Forget it. I’ll take it home and study it myself."

「Back home.」

Too preoccupied to eat, Chen Che immediately took out his phone, snapped a picture of the egg, and hit search. In an instant, hundreds of thousands of similar photos appeared. He studied them for the better part of the day but found that while every picture bore some resemblance to the egg, none of them were a perfect match. It was impossible to identify.

Next, he consulted the vast community of netizens.

Unfortunately, there were too many types of oviparous Demon Beasts, and online opinions were all over the place. Some said it was a turtle, some a penguin, some an ostrich, and some even a spider. The discussion continued until one netizen suggested it was Nezha, completely derailing the thread.

That netizen, whose username was "Road Rage Driver," suggested he try using his Divine Sense to look at it.

’That’s a good idea.’

Chen Che tried it at once. Enveloped by his Divine Sense, the egg became like a chicken egg held up to a candling light. He could vaguely make out the embryo inside and even hear a THUMP-THUMP-THUMP heartbeat.

Unfortunately, his Divine Sense was blocked at that point.

"Looks like I’ll have to wait until it hatches to figure out what kind of Demon Beast it is."

Compared to identifying the type of egg, hatching it was actually simple.

It didn’t require constant temperature like a brooding hen. The only condition was a sufficient supply of Spiritual Qi. The more abundant the Spiritual Qi, the faster it would hatch. With his Cave Mansion’s Spiritual Energy Value of over 200, it was more than enough to hatch the eggs of most Demon Beasts.

So, Chen Che placed the egg directly on the Lotus Platform where he cultivated. The Lotus Platform faced the Spiritual Well, the spot in his entire Cave Mansion with the most concentrated Spiritual Qi.

Now, all he had to do was leave it alone and wait for it to hatch on its own.

However, he guessed that since this egg came from a Golden Core True Master’s safe deposit box, it couldn’t be anything mediocre.

It would probably be at least at the Golden Core Realm when it grew up.

If he raised it well, it could become a powerful ally in the future.

He positioned the egg carefully, lit three sticks of Concentration Incense, and began to meditate and cultivate while listening to the Shocking God Song.

He had been locked in a fierce internal competition with Tributor Li recently, which had taken a considerable toll on him. The competition was in a few days, so he had to get himself into peak condition to prevent any unexpected problems.

This was because Chen Che didn’t know if he could achieve Foundation Establishment within the remaining year and a half.

As for getting into the top ten of the Immortal Sect and securing a guaranteed admission spot, that was even harder than the college entrance exams. Even many provincial top scorers from the standard exams couldn’t break into the Immortal Sect’s top ten. That’s because everyone who dared to walk the competition path had exceptionally high talent in this field, making it all the more competitive.

Therefore, his plan was to break into the provincial top ten to earn ten extra points on the college entrance exam. That way, his chances of getting into one of the Four Greats would increase.

Of course, Li Xiaoshuang and Ding Dawei had both advised him to do the same.

「In the blink of an eye, it was December 1st.」

「8:00 AM.」

At the Six Continents People’s Park, the air was filled with the sound of gongs, drums, and firecrackers. Red flags fluttered amidst a sea of people.

Besides the parents seeing off the students for the exam, many city residents had also gathered in front of the park to join the excitement. The school hadn’t organized transportation; instead, students were told to assemble at the competition site on their own. After eating breakfast at home, Chen Che took a taxi directly to the meeting point.

The other students hadn’t arrived yet. Only Li Xiaoshuang was there, chatting with a young girl.

"Teacher Li!"

Chen Che went up to greet him. He glanced at the girl, and his eyes immediately lit up.

The girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, with the delicate features of a porcelain doll, and was dressed in ancient-style clothing.

"Is this a relative’s child? She’s really cute!"

As Chen Che asked, he reached out to pat her on the head.

"Hey there, little one, what grade are you in? Are you here to watch the competition today?"

This sort of thing was common. Ding Dawei’s son and daughter-in-law both worked for the municipal government and were sometimes too busy with overtime to look after their child, so he would bring his granddaughter to the classroom. During breaks, the students would all play with her.

’In short, you should always be friendly to a teacher’s family.’

Seeing this, the corner of Li Xiaoshuang’s mouth twitched. "Chen Che, this is my older sister..."

Chen Che’s outstretched hand froze, and he slowly pulled it back.