The egg was significantly larger than a normal chicken egg. Nie Shiyun thought it might be the egg of some demonic beast and wondered if it would eventually drift into a rock and shatter if left to float downstream. Without hesitation, he fished the egg out of the water.
The winter stream was, naturally, bone-chillingly cold. As Nie Shiyun touched the shell, he realized the egg was as icy as the water itself, having likely drifted for quite some time. He activated his fire spiritual root and pressed his hand against the shell, but he was unable to restore any warmth to it. The egg remained motionless, devoid of any perceptible life force—a state of absolute silence. Nie Shiyun wondered if the creature inside had already frozen to death.
He hesitated, unsure whether to treat it as a dead egg and take it home as a refinement material or to observe it a bit longer. He didn't know much about demonic beast eggs, but as he held it up to examine it from different angles, he felt a faint intuition that this was no ordinary beast. The base color of the egg was no different from a common one—clean and white—but its entire surface was covered in dark yellow patterns of auspicious clouds. He had never heard of an egg with such a design.
Thus, cradling the egg, he flew upstream on his sword for a distance, but he found no nest or any other signs related to the egg.
*Perhaps it’s just in a deep sleep from the cold?* Nie Shiyun pondered. His fire spiritual root was ineffective; perhaps his cultivation was not yet sufficient, or the spiritual power of his dual roots was not pure enough. An idea struck him, and he took out the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover. Although Nie Shiyun was not yet capable of fully mastering this spiritual tool—and using it could easily lead to a backlash—simply channeling a small amount of spiritual power into it was safe enough.
The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover could summon nine divine dragons and release Samadhi True Fire. Of course, these were not true dragons, but merely concentrated spiritual shadows of the dragon race. The dragon race had ascended from this continent thousands of years ago and vanished completely; perhaps this artifact was a relic left behind from that era.
Nie Shiyun calmed his mind and channeled spiritual power into the Fire Cover. One of the golden-cast dragons circling the cover seemed to come to life, moving as sparks of fire flew in all directions.
To his surprise, the egg in his hand actually twitched. Nie Shiyun wondered if it was an illusion, but the patterns on the shell seemed to brighten slightly. Startled, he moved the egg closer to the Fire Cover, and he felt it begin to wobble.
"Do you... want to go in?" Nie Shiyun asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty. As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a bit foolish for trying to communicate with an egg.
The egg clearly hadn't developed sapience yet and gave no specific response, merely wobbling as it had before.
Nie Shiyun was somewhat worried. Even if only one of the nine dragons was summoned, the Samadhi True Fire of this artifact was no ordinary flame. He hoped the egg wouldn't go in raw and come out hard-boiled...
Regardless, since the egg had reacted, he might as well try. Nie Shiyun prayed silently that he wouldn't see a cooked egg in a moment. He placed the egg on the ground and lowered the Fire Cover over it.
After about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, there was a stronger reaction from within the Fire Cover. Nie Shiyun hastily retracted the artifact. The egg on the ground had not been cooked; instead, the previously dull patterns on the shell were now radiating pulses of golden light. Nie Shiyun took two steps toward it, only to belatedly feel the depletion of his spiritual power. He immediately swallowed a Spirit-Restoring Pill, thinking to himself that it was indeed safer to wait until his cultivation was higher before using the Fire Cover. Otherwise, he might collapse before his opponent even died.
As he touched the now-warm egg, a sudden sense of oppression weighed on Nie Shiyun’s heart. He had felt this kind of oppression once before—when he encountered Xu Yehua, the man who was supposed to have killed him, in the Misty Secret Realm. He panicked for a moment, but after looking around and confirming there was no one else nearby, he calmed down. Looking at the egg, a realization suddenly dawned on him.
This feeling, like an iron lock pressing against his heart, was the pressure exerted on him by the Heavenly Dao. From this, Nie Shiyun knew that this egg must be connected to Duan Mingyu and his companions. He hadn't made the connection earlier, but with this hint, he finally remembered.
Could this be the hybrid Phoenix-Crow egg that Duan Mingyu would obtain in the future? In the original story, after emerging from the Hantian Secret Realm and being pursued by the Yingyue Sect, Duan Mingyu fled the Central Plains in a panic and found this egg near the territory of the demon cultivators. At that time, the egg had been stuck in a rocky crevice of a spiritual lake at the foot of a mountain, where it had slept for years. Xu Yehua, who possessed the Fire Cover, helped Duan Mingyu awaken the egg. Afterward, Duan Mingyu—whose Heavenly Yin Physique seal had already been broken—carried it with him at all times, causing it to hatch quickly.
It was just that the egg had appeared far too early, which was why Nie Shiyun hadn't recognized it immediately.
If he hadn't picked it up, the egg would likely have drifted downstream and remained trapped somewhere until Duan Mingyu’s group discovered it.
Furthermore, if Nie Shiyun hadn't snatched Duan Mingyu’s opportunity back then, entering the scroll and obtaining the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover, he wouldn't have been able to awaken the egg even if he had intercepted it.
Nie Shiyun felt a wave of emotion, realizing how everything was interconnected. He couldn't help but feel fortunate about his past choices.
Though his chest felt a bit heavy, he could endure it. Nie Shiyun took a deep breath. Instead of letting the sense of oppression bother him, he felt a sense of triumph. Rather than a punishment for once again stealing a major opportunity from Duan Mingyu, it felt more like the Heavenly Dao was venting its helpless rage.
However, he didn't possess the Heavenly Yin Physique. In that case, how long would it take for the egg to hatch?
Nie Shiyun held the egg, stroking its smooth shell. The auspicious cloud patterns were no longer glowing, but they hadn't turned dull again either; they remained a steady golden color.
"Ah, hey! Wait—"
Suddenly, the egg in Nie Shiyun’s hand gave a "thump." As if drawn by something, it rolled out of his hand on its own and crashed into the jade pendant at his waist.
Nie Shiyun reached out to grab it but caught only air.
He immediately grew tense. To the space, this egg probably looked like a great tonic, didn't it? He feared the Chaos Space would swallow it whole, shell and all, in two seconds.
Nie Shiyun hurriedly chased after it into the space.
Fortunately, the egg was sitting perfectly intact within the space.
Nie Shiyun breathed a sigh of relief.
"Can you understand human speech?" Nie Shiyun tried to communicate. "Do you like it here? It’s very dangerous. Something as tasty as you could easily be eaten and turned into a supplement."
The egg wobbled once and then went still. Nie Shiyun didn't know if the Phoenix-Crow hatchling inside had understood a word he said. With the negotiation yielding no results, he had to manually carry the egg out. However, after only a few steps, the egg stubbornly burrowed back into the jade pendant on its own, as if the pendant were a magnet.
Nie Shiyun tried repeatedly to stop it to no avail, worrying for a long time. The jade space had started out eating everything, but it had gradually come to understand some of his intentions and no longer swallowed everything he brought in. At the very least, when Nie Shiyun tried to refine tools inside, many precious metals and plants were not mindlessly consumed. Despite this, Nie Shiyun still felt somewhat uneasy when he wasn't inside.
However, the Phoenix-Crow egg was very persistent. It seemed quite satisfied with the jade space and refused to come out. For one, Nie Shiyun couldn't control it, and for another, he figured that a demonic beast with the bloodline of a divine beast like a Phoenix would be born with great luck; it shouldn't be stupid enough to seek its own death. Perhaps it instinctively sensed that the Chaos Space was a good place and felt no sense of danger, which was why it felt safe staying inside.
Having obtained such an unexpected item, Nie Shiyun didn't dare linger in the wilderness and began his journey back to Flower City.
On the way, he stopped frequently to check. After several checks, there was indeed no sign of the egg being devoured. On the contrary, it seemed to have quieted down again, as if it had finally found a peaceful place and fallen into a sweet slumber. Nie Shiyun’s heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled—not that he had a choice, as the egg refused to come out even if it killed it.
Speaking of which, after the egg entered the jade space, the pressure sent down by the Heavenly Dao also vanished abruptly, as if it had lost its target. Nie Shiyun had experienced a similar sensation after obtaining the Spirit-Cleansing Pill.
Nie Shiyun felt a bit helpless. Although this was a good thing in terms of the outcome, did this count as being "latched onto" instead?
He had originally planned to wait until after emerging from the Hantian Secret Realm to follow the protagonist's group and try to intercept the divine beast early, or to raise his cultivation to a sufficient level and directly seize the exotic fire. He hadn't expected to stumble upon such a stroke of luck. Nie Shiyun felt that perhaps his previous efforts were truly not in vain, and he couldn't help but feel more confidence and motivation for the road ahead.
By the time he rushed back to Flower City, ten days had passed.
Nie Shiyun had left in the early morning, and it happened to be early morning when he returned.
After the snowfall, the accumulated snow had melted away without leaving much behind. Aside from the temperature dropping significantly, there was nothing unusual about the scenery in Flower City.
Walking through the alley, Nie Shiyun found that his shop door was already open. He glanced at the sky, thinking that Zhai Bairong was truly dedicated. Even he, the owner, would occasionally be too lazy to open for business, but if he entrusted the shop to the other man, Zhai Bairong wouldn't slack off for a single day. His attitude was almost too serious.
From outside, Nie Shiyun saw that there were indeed no customers in the shop—who would come running in the early morning during winter?
Zhai Bairong was nevertheless neatly dressed, sitting behind the counter reading a book. Although his posture was as upright as ever and an outsider might not see a difference, after living together for a while, Nie Shiyun felt he could tell that his expression was indeed a bit more languid than usual.
"I'm back."
Hearing Nie Shiyun’s voice, Zhai Bairong looked up from his book and gave him a faint glance. He seemed to have grown accustomed to this and didn't have much of a reaction.
"How was the harvest?"
Nie Shiyun felt a moment of conflict over whether to tell Zhai Bairong about the demonic beast egg. If it were an ordinary beast, he certainly would have brought it out by now, but this little Phoenix-Crow was something that belonged to Duan Mingyu in the original book, which made him hesitate.
Furthermore, the egg insisted on staying in the jade space. Nie Shiyun felt it wasn't yet time to reveal this secret, so after careful consideration, he decided not to breathe a word of it.
"Well... as expected, there’s not much in the wilderness during winter. Just some worthless things."
"I see," Zhai Bairong looked up at Nie Shiyun, staring intently into his eyes, and spoke in a declarative tone. "It’s rare for you to be gone for so many days and come back with nothing. Quite unlucky."
"Indeed. But it can't be helped." Nie Shiyun looked back at Zhai Bairong calmly and gave a helpless smile.
After a long moment, Zhai Bairong withdrew his gaze, smiled as well, and lowered his head to continue reading.
"Go and rest first. I'll watch the shop today. There haven't been many customers these ten days, so there's no rush."
Nie Shiyun did want to rest, so he didn't decline.
He returned to the courtyard and rested for half a day. Afterward, he went to the tool-refining room, closed the door, and entered the jade space once more to check. The egg was still safe and sound, motionless.
He tried feeding the space some pills and spirit stones. To his surprise, the items he threw in were not entirely consumed by the space as before; instead, half were absorbed by the Phoenix-Crow egg. After absorbing the spiritual power, the patterns on the egg brightened again—looking to Nie Shiyun like a charging signal—but they soon dimmed once more.
Considering that the space was rich in spiritual power and time flowed slower than outside, Nie Shiyun felt that the hatching time might be even earlier than in the original work.
However, now his "big eaters" had increased from one to two. Nie Shiyun sighed.
He would have to keep working hard to make money.
***
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Transmigrated into a Total Shou Novel as a Cannon Fodder, but Ended Up 1v1-ing the Male Lead | Chapter 28 | The Mysterious Egg | Novela.app | Novela.app
