The Birth of Zhou Yuanbao

"That old busybody has reminded me," Zhou Hao mumbled, holding the box for the Foundation Strengthening Pill. "If this keeps up, I might really become impotent. I need to find a way to stop her endless demands, but how? Hmm..."

This sent him into deep thought. While he hadn't experienced any issues yet, with her coming at him hard three times a week, he felt he'd eventually have problems if this continued long-term.

Such indulgence needed moderation, but he still hadn't figured out a solution.

Zhou Hao pondered for a long time, finally shaking his head. "Forget it, I'll cultivate first."

With that, he took out a Divine Crystal. The Divine Crystal was indeed different from the crystals Du Tianhong had left behind; the energy difference was worlds apart.

Zhou Hao sat cross-legged and circulated his cultivation technique, guiding the energy contained within the Divine Crystal into his body.

As soon as the Divine Crystal's energy entered his body, he immediately felt a difference. The energy within him was actually being refined by the Divine Crystal's energy, making his internal energy progressively purer.

Especially the green core in his dantian; the Divine Crystal's energy primarily focused on the dantian.

In just ten minutes, Zhou Hao broke through, reaching the Spirit Profound Second Stage.

This made Zhou Hao's eyes light up. At this rate, the time for him to leave the secret chamber wasn't far off.

"Continue." Seeing the results, he felt even more motivated.

Then, as time passed, after a day of cultivation, Zhou Hao had actually advanced another minor stage, reaching the Spirit Profound Third Stage.

Two minor stages in one day—if others knew, it would likely cause a massive sensation. Undoubtedly, this was an achievement only a peerless genius could accomplish.

Just as Zhou Hao was concluding his cultivation, one of the eggs in the corner lit up with golden light.

Zhou Hao's eyes snapped open. He turned his head towards the corner, quickly got up, and walked over. Seeing the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon Egg emitting golden light, he happily murmured to himself, "Finally, I can form a contract."

The Metamorphosis Incantation came with a matching contract incantation. It was said that the limit was fifteen Spirit Beasts, and only contracted Spirit Beasts could maximally benefit from the evolutionary transformation brought about by the Metamorphosis Incantation.

Of course, Spirit Beasts without a contract could also receive Zhou Hao's services, but the effect would be greatly diminished.

Zhou Hao quickly formed a hand seal, then forced out a drop of his vital blood from his index fingertip. With a gentle wave of his hand, the vital blood detached from his fingertip and slowly drifted onto the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon Egg.

The next moment, the golden light of the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon Egg surged intensely, emitting a brilliant golden radiance.

Zhou Hao raised his hand to shield his eyes, squinting slightly, and looked at the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon Egg through the gaps between his fingers.

"Crack~"

Zhou Hao heard the sound of an eggshell breaking. Immediately after, the golden light retracted, gathering entirely onto the egg, and then slowly disappeared.

At this point, a piece of the egg had broken off, revealing a hole.

"Pop~"

Suddenly, a small dragon head burst through the eggshell, looking around. Its large golden eyes were filled with curiosity about the new world.

When it saw Zhou Hao, it immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Daddy!"

"Pfft~"

Zhou Hao almost fell to the ground, startled by the address. Did he really have such potential to be a father?

The busybody wanted him to have children, and now the newly hatched Five-Clawed Golden Dragon called him Daddy. This... was speechless.

The small Five-Clawed Golden Dragon scrambled out of the eggshell, finally revealing its full form. It was less than half a meter long, with horns like a deer, a head like a camel, eyes like a rabbit, a neck like a snake, a belly like a shen, scales like a fish, claws like an eagle, palms like a tiger, and ears like an ox. It was indeed as the legends described.

"Daddy," the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon flew to Zhou Hao's side and wrapped itself around his neck.

Zhou Hao's mouth twitched. He kindly corrected it, "Don't call me Daddy, just call me Big Brother."

"Why? You are Daddy!" the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon asked.

Zhou Hao helplessly covered his face and tried to explain. However, after five minutes, he gave up. This dragon was set in its ways.

Still, Zhou Hao had some success in the end, finally getting the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon to change from calling him "Daddy" to "father." That sounded a bit more pleasant to his ears.

Zhou Hao gently removed the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon from his neck and, after a moment of thought, said, "I should give you a name! How about Zhou Yuanbao? The nickname will be Bao'er."

Since it was calling him Dad, it naturally had to take his surname.

The Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, no, Zhou Yuanbao, was very casual about it, and thus its name was happily settled.

"Father, you're so weak!" Zhou Yuanbao circled Zhou Hao once and suddenly said this.

Zhou Hao's mouth twitched, and three black lines appeared on his forehead. He pouted, "You just hatched..."

He suddenly froze because he realized Zhou Yuanbao's aura was incredibly strong, and the power hidden within its body was terrifying. It felt like it could crush him to death with a single finger.

Zhou Hao stared for a good while, then stammered, "What... what's your cultivation level?"

"Profound God Paragon," Zhou Yuanbao said after thinking for a moment.

Its inherited memories told it so.

Zhou Hao was stunned again, taking a sharp breath and asking, "What's the ranking of the gods?"

Zhou Yuanbao placed its claws on its chest and slowly explained, "Gods are divided into Demigod, Earth God, Heaven God, Profound God, Gold God, God Lord, God King, God Emperor, God Emperor, God Venerable. Each major realm has twelve minor realms."

"Holy crap," Zhou Hao blurted out. So, this kid Zhou Yuanbao, right from birth, was already in the lower-middle tier of gods?

Zhou Yuanbao continued, "However, I need to suppress my cultivation here, otherwise, it will attract lightning tribulations. So, I should be at the Demigod realm right now."

Demigod was actually equivalent to the Divine Realm on the Sky Dome Continent.

Zhou Hao's mouth twitched, unsure of what to say. This was the benefit of bloodline inheritance; it was almost at the peak right from birth.

However, Spirit Beasts also have their drawbacks. They primarily rely on the accumulation of years to improve their cultivation, so they cannot advance as quickly as humans.

Just then, another egg began to emit a red glow.

Zhou Hao temporarily put aside thoughts of Zhou Yuanbao and focused his gaze on the Fire-Phoenix Egg.

Without hesitation, he formed the same hand seal as before, forcing out a drop of vital blood. Only vital blood could be used for contracts; regular blood was useless.

When the vital blood dripped onto the Fire-Phoenix Egg, it suddenly evaporated. The contract failed.

Zhou Hao was stunned. What was going on? Wasn't it said that the limit was fifteen Spirit Beasts for contracts? This was only the second one!

Could it be because Zhou Yuanbao was a Spirit Beast?

As he was lost in thought, a hoarse, powerful sigh echoed.

"Alas~"

Zhou Hao was startled. The voice sounded familiar. Although there was a bit of electronic distortion, he wouldn't mistake it. It was Du Tianhong's voice.

Could it be... this old man isn't dead yet?

Zhou Hao felt a flicker of anticipation. After all, Du Tianhong was practically his master.