That was right. It was a Spirit Beast egg, oval in shape, with a dull, dark-silver shell covered in strange, fiery-red patterns.
The aura emanating from those patterns was exactly the same as the fiery aura around Little Flower.
But weren't all canines born live? What the hell was this Spirit Beast egg?
Could Little Flower not be a canine after all?
Mu Qian studied Little Flower's appearance again, then shook his head, thinking he must have lost his mind.
How could that be possible?
Unfortunately, he couldn't sense any life force from the egg. It had clearly lost any chance of hatching.
Otherwise, they could have hatched it and found out.
"Woof, woof..." Little Flower barked urgently again.
Mu Qian turned to him and asked, "Brother Flower, are you saying you want to eat it?"
After all these years, he was used to understanding what Little Flower meant right away.
This time, Little Flower didn't keep barking. He wriggled free of Zhu Zhuqing's arms, then trotted in a circle, nodding repeatedly.
"I agree, but how are you going to... eat it..."
Mu Qian had only gotten halfway through his sentence when Little Flower, having received his master's permission, darted over to the stone and hopped onto it.
Perhaps Little Flower hadn't expressed himself accurately. Rather than eating it, absorbing it would be a better way to put it.
A powerful burst of fire-element energy erupted around Little Flower in the room. In an instant, the layer of rock encasing the eggshell crumbled to dust, revealing its true form.
"It's an egg?" Zhu Zhuqing exclaimed. By now, she had surely realized that the thing Mu Qian had bought was connected to Little Flower.
Mu Qian immediately shielded Zhu Zhuqing behind him. His Soul Power surged wildly, forming a transparent barrier that cut off the fiery energy from the outside.
He didn't dare let his guard down. In Spirit City, countless powerful figures were watching. The slightest leak of a treasure's aura could bring the two of them a deadly threat.
Gradually, the fiery energy gathered, forming a light cocoon about half a person tall around Little Flower.
"I always thought Little Flower was just an ordinary puppy... I never imagined..." Zhu Zhuqing's eyes still held a trace of doubt. Her warm, rosy lips parted in a wide, surprised expression, which looked rather cute to Mu Qian.
Mu Qian looked somewhat worried as he explained, "To be honest, even I don't know what kind of creature Little Flower is. I found him in a hidden volcano."
"When I found him, he was already extremely intelligent. He seemed starving, and kept rubbing against my feet..."
"Hopefully, this will be a good thing for Little Flower."
With that, Mu Qian let out a long sigh.
Zhu Zhuqing hugged his arm tighter and rested her head gently on his shoulder. "Don't worry. Little Flower was so eager just now, so this thing must be very helpful to him. He'll be fine."
The thoughtful girl had noticed Mu Qian's concern and gently reassured him.
Mu Qian nodded. "I hope so. It's getting late, Zhuqing. Go rest in the main bedroom. I'll stay here and watch Little Flower."
Zhu Zhuqing didn't get up as he'd asked. "Let's stay together. Even if I lie down, I won't be able to sleep."
Mu Qian smiled and rubbed her hair. "You're already exhausted. You even spent all that energy merging with the Jade Scale Ice Armor Spirit Bone today. Just say you want to keep me company."
"Hmph!" Zhu Zhuqing chided him softly. "Who said I wanted to keep you company?"
Despite her words, she still made no move to get up. She leaned against Mu Qian's shoulder, her expression showing a trace of worry as well.
Mu Qian didn't press her.
Time always seemed to crawl when you were waiting. An hour later, the red light cocoon around Little Flower finally began to change.
The fiery energy that made it up began to contract rapidly, gathering toward the center.
Mu Qian and Zhu Zhuqing focused their attention at once. At last, they could see Little Flower again.
The strange Spirit Beast egg had disappeared. Little Flower, meanwhile, had undergone a tremendous transformation.
His body, which had originally been only as large as an arm, had grown considerably. Standing on the ground, he now came up past Mu Qian's knee. His fiery-red fur looked somewhat dull, no longer as bright as before, but he didn't seem sickly. Instead, his muscles had grown even more solid.
Purple-black patterns dotted the dark-red fur, radiating a terrifying fiery aura and giving him a far more imposing presence.
Most astonishing of all was Little Flower's head.
At that moment, two more heads had strangely appeared on his shoulders!
The three heads seemed to have independent awareness, each looking at Mu Qian and Zhu Zhuqing. Yet all three wore the same expression of affection and delight.
"What... happened to Little Flower?" The bizarre appearance startled Zhu Zhuqing, who had never seen anything like it.
Mu Qian patted the back of her hand to reassure her, then began examining Little Flower's condition with his Spiritual Power.
His strange appearance could wait. The most important thing was his cultivation.
His cultivation had originally been equivalent to that of a Ten-Year Soul Beast, but in just one hour, it had soared to the level of a thousand-year Soul Beast!
That was right—a thousand years. He had skipped over the Hundred-Year Soul Beast stage entirely!
As far as Mu Qian knew, nothing like this had ever happened before.
"Little Flower, can you change back to how you were before?" Mu Qian asked tentatively.
Little Flower seemed to understand. His expression took on a thoughtful, almost human look.
Before long, he appeared to make the change himself. His swollen body visibly shrank, while the other two heads gradually faded, turning into pure energy that merged with his main head.
The dark-purple patterns on his body slowly disappeared too. At last, he returned to his former appearance and size.
"Whew..." Zhu Zhuqing let out a sigh of relief. Even without any ill intent, Little Flower's appearance had just now put her under inexplicable pressure.
Now that he was back to normal, she felt much more at ease.
Mu Qian felt the same. The worry in his expression faded as Little Flower returned to normal.
"It looks like Little Flower has evolved in the direction of becoming stronger. That should be a good thing."
"But it's too late to test how his strength has changed. We'll have to wait until we reach Death Canyon."
It was good news that Little Flower could return to normal. At least he wouldn't draw as much attention when they took him out with them.
The night grew deeper. The sky outside remained dark, and torrential rain poured down as if a floodgate had burst.
Spirit City was exceptionally quiet. Now and then, a few swallows that hadn't made it back to their nests let out lonely chirps.
The hotel room had long since fallen quiet. Little Flower lay on the soft carpet, fast asleep. Whether he was dreaming of some delicious food or not, a thin string of drool trickled from the corner of his mouth.
In one of the bedrooms, Mu Qian had chosen not to cultivate for once. He stared blankly up at the dark ceiling, lost in thought.
He was thinking about the path he and Zhu Zhuqing would take from here on out.
Before you continue