Chapter 4: The Beast Egg and the Mother's Will
The deeper Lin Xuan traveled into the forest, the thicker the qi in the air became.
Tall, twisted trees loomed overhead, their leaves faintly glowing with spiritual light. The wildlife grew more aggressive, each spirit beast radiating greater strength and bloodlust than the last. Yet with each battle, Lin Xuan could feel his arts refining—like a sword being sharpened through fire and blood.
His footwork became smoother. His spear strikes—faster and more precise. His qi flowed with better rhythm. Each battle was no longer just survival. It was cultivation.
> [Heaven-Grade Movement Art: Void Phantom Steps — Initial Stage]
[Heaven-Grade Spear Art: Thunderpierce Void Fang — Initial Stage]
[Mystic-Grade Cultivation Manual: Origin Chaos Sutra — Initial Stage]
After several hours of near-constant combat and breathless meditation between skirmishes, Lin Xuan sat cross-legged beneath a tree, letting his spiritual power settle.
> [Body Refinement – Peak Stage]
[Art Synchronization Achieved – Combat Rating increased]
He clenched his fist. "With this much… I can likely take on early-stage Qi Condensation cultivators. Maybe even third stage if I push myself."
His gaze turned to the darker reaches of the woods.
"I need to go deeper."
---
As he stepped through tangled undergrowth and crossed over moss-laden stones, a roar cracked through the forest like thunder.
BOOM—ROOARRR!
The trees shook. Birds scattered. A shockwave of qi pressure hit him like a hammer, forcing Lin Xuan to crouch low and conceal his presence. In a distant glade, two Spirit Realm beasts—massive and ancient—collided in a frenzy of claws, fangs, and elemental power.
One resembled a colossal serpent with shimmering silver scales and streaks of wind qi swirling around its body. The other, a horned lizard cloaked in stone armor, was covered in bleeding wounds.
"They're fighting for territory," Lin Xuan realized. "But…"
His sharp eyes narrowed. The stone-armored beast was bleeding heavily but repeatedly placed itself between the serpent and a cave entrance hidden behind a crumbling rock face.
"It's protecting something," Lin Xuan whispered.
The realization struck him like lightning: the serpent wasn't just fighting for territory—it was drawn here by something.
Fruit. Scent. Resources.
He waited, heart pounding.
Eventually, the lizard beast let out a long, defiant roar and fled deeper into the forest, the serpent chasing after it, eager to finish the kill.
The moment they vanished into the canopy, Lin Xuan moved.
---
Inside the Cave
It was dim, damp, and quiet.
The scent of spiritual energy was thick inside, coiling through the air like perfume. Lin Xuan crept deeper, eyes scanning the shadows, until he found it:
A nest.
Soft grasses and beast fur lined the floor, and in the center of it rested a glowing silver egg, about the size of a watermelon, pulsing with qi like a living heart.
"An egg…" Lin Xuan whispered. "That beast wasn't injured from battle. She was… weakened. She just gave birth."
His gaze shifted further.
Growing from a crack in the cave wall was a small tree, no more than three feet tall. Its leaves shimmered, and five fruits the size of peaches hung from its branches—each one glowing red and gold, filled with pure elemental energy.
A Flameheart Spirit Tree.
"Extremely rare," Lin Xuan breathed. "These fruits enhance fire affinity and qi recovery. The scent must've drawn the serpent here."
He stepped toward the tree, entranced.
He didn't hear the sound behind him.
Until it was too late.
---
Return of the Invader
A hiss like grinding stone. A guttural roar.
The air turned cold.
Lin Xuan spun around—just in time to see the serpent emerge at the cave entrance, scales cracked and bloodied but eyes blazing with fury.
"Dammit! The lizard led it away and circled back."
He grabbed his spear, stepping between the beast and the egg.
"I can't run. Not in a cave this small."
The serpent lunged, lightning sparking along its fangs. Lin Xuan's spear surged with qi.
> [Thunderpierce Void Fang – Second Form: Void Lunge!]
He blinked forward, dodging under the serpent's neck and slashing across its underbelly. It screeched, twisting violently, tail slamming into his ribs.
Crack!
He flew back into a wall, blood dripping from his mouth.
But he stood.
He fought.
> [Void Phantom Movement – Triple Step Fade]
> [Sky-Breaking Tyrant Fist – Meteor Crash]
> [Thunderpierce Void Fang – Third Form: Thunderburst Spiral!]
Blades of lightning screamed from his spear as he danced between strikes, avoiding the worst of the beast's rage.
Finally, after a dozen clashes, the serpent collapsed, its body twitching, its eyes dimming.
Lin Xuan dropped to one knee, gasping.
> [Spirit Beast Defeated – Combat Rating Exceeded Tier]
[Upgrade Point +1]
He blinked. "Did… did the system just give me a point?"
But he didn't have time to think.
Because a deeper, heavier presence entered the cave.
---
The Mother's Final Request
The injured lizard spirit beast—the mother—had returned.
She looked at the slain serpent, then at Lin Xuan.
Their eyes locked.
She didn't growl. She didn't attack.
Instead, her eyes softened.
She stepped to the egg and nudged it gently with her nose. Then she turned to Lin Xuan, and a gentle voice echoed in his mind.
> "You… protected my child."
Lin Xuan's breath caught. "You can speak?"
> "Spiritual awareness… limited… but yes."
The beast lowered her body, clearly exhausted and near death.
> "I am dying. But I can give you… a bond. A pact."
She turned, using her claws to scrape aside a patch of stone wall, revealing a hidden chamber. Within it lay a small treasure forge, made of silver and crystal—a spatial treasure designed to store, refine, and enhance spirit items and beasts.
She limped toward it, dragging the egg carefully behind her.
> "Take… everything. Hatch the egg with flame qi. Bind it to you. The egg will choose you now."
With the last of her qi, she drew a beast contract array in the air using her blood. It hovered, pulsing.
> "Do you accept this pact?"
Lin Xuan knelt.
"I do."
The array entered his body, and a burning line of red light connected him to the egg.
> [Companion Beast Contract Formed – Spirit Egg Bound to Host]
[Species: ??? – Unhatched]
[Bond: Inert – Awaiting Incubation]
The mother beast let out a quiet sigh, resting her head on the floor.
> "Take care of her… Raise her well…"
Her body began to fade into motes of spiritual energy—returning to the cycle of the world.
Lin Xuan bowed deeply.
"I swear I will."
He stood in the silence of the cave, the egg cradled in his arms, the treasures of the mother stored safely within the spatial forge behind him.
He had come to the forest for spirit beast cores.
Instead, he had earned a life bond—and inherited the dying will of a guardian.