Obtaining the Phoenix Egg

The corridor was pitch-black. Strange runes were carved into the stone walls on either side, and there was no way to make sense of what they meant.

Ye Lin had no idea how long he had been walking when a glimmer of light appeared up ahead. His heart leaped with joy, and he quickened his pace.

He emerged from the cave, and the space before him suddenly opened up. A vast chamber stretched out before him. Looking up, he saw strange crystals glittering across the stone ceiling.

In the distance, at the center of the enormous chamber, a fiery red egg half as tall as a man lay quietly on a stone table.

Ninety-nine steps led up to it. Five massive stone pillars stood around them, wreathed in purple-red flames.

Ye Lin started up the steps. With every step, the pressure on him doubled.

"Some kind of trial?"

He walked on, pondering the matter.

The pressure was easy enough for him to withstand at first, but by the ninetieth step, he was drenched in sweat, and his legs felt like lead.

"No. Hold on. As a descendant of the Phoenix, I can't give up."

Gritting his teeth, Ye Lin took another step forward. In an instant, the previously dark chamber blazed with light. The purple-red flames atop the five pillars suddenly surged, rushing toward him.

"Oh no!"

Ye Lin's face changed. He was just about to take out his Sword Talisman to defend himself when the Spirit Fire in his dantian burst out of his body and devoured the incoming flames one after another.

"Is this... an advancement?"

Ye Lin was overjoyed as he watched the Spirit Fire above his head grow stronger from absorbing the purple-red flames.

The Spirit Fire was absorbing the flames and advancing. Already at Mysterious Grade High Tier, it now seemed on the verge of reaching Earth Grade.

Not daring to waste time, Ye Lin quickened his pace and headed for the top.

Just then, a loud crash rang out behind him. The five pillars crumbled, and the Spirit Fire hovered quietly in the air, a faint aura of world-destroying power emanating from it.

At the heart of the Spirit Fire, the phantom of a Phoenix soared.

Then the round ball of Spirit Fire suddenly transformed into a fiery red Phoenix and plunged into Ye Lin's body.

Ye Lin's entire body turned crimson. He brimmed with inexhaustible strength, and a few strides later, he finally reached the stone table.

"What is this...?"

Ye Lin discovered a Phoenix phantom inside his dantian, circling a condensed ball of spiritual energy at its center.

Every so often, it swooped down to take a bite, as mischievous as could be.

"Earth Grade Low Tier Spirit Fire? Phoenix Fire?"

Ye Lin was stunned. The Spirit Fire inside him had transformed into the Phoenix's companion flame, the Phoenix Fire, belonging to the ancient divine beast.

Though it was only a weakened version, its power was boundless. Even among Earth Grade Low Tier Spirit Fires, it was top-tier.

The Phoenix Fire at its full strength was an immortal flame, after all.

"I hit the jackpot!"

Ye Lin was ecstatic. The Phoenix Fire alone had already made this trip worthwhile. With it bolstering him, he dared call himself invincible among Qi Refining cultivators.

"Right, and the Phoenix Egg."

After his brief burst of excitement, Ye Lin turned his attention to the fiery red egg before him, half as tall as a man.

Mysterious patterns flowed across its shell, beautiful beyond compare.

"Why can't I sense any life inside?"

Ye Lin frowned. There wasn't the slightest sign of life within the egg.

"Could the Phoenix descendant be dead? Impossible. The panel showed that Lin Zisheng really did hatch the Phoenix offspring. What's going on?"

Frowning, Ye Lin stood there and thought. He could clearly sense not the slightest trace of life inside the egg before him. It seemed like nothing more than a dead egg.

Then Ye Lin circled the table, feeling around here and there.

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps came from the cave entrance behind him. Ye Lin's expression shifted. With no time to think, he picked up the egg and hid beneath the rubble at the bottom of the chamber.

The pillars had collapsed, leaving huge chunks of stone strewn about. Ye Lin squeezed into a gap, where no one standing above could see him.

"Lin Zisheng?"

Peering through the gap, Ye Lin saw that the person who had entered was Lin Zisheng.

"Has someone already been here?"

Lin Zisheng frowned at the ruins before him, then glanced around.

He slowly walked up the steps and reached the stone table with ease. The five pillars were broken, so there was no trial left to speak of.

Standing before the table, Lin Zisheng placed a hand on it. A crimson light screen emerged as if a mechanism had been activated, then sank into the space between his brows. The next moment, Lin Zisheng closed his eyes and sat cross-legged.

Lin Zisheng sat there for three whole hours. Ye Lin waited beneath the rubble for just as long. He was no match for Lin Zisheng right now, and he had the Phoenix Egg with him. Staying hidden was the best choice.

"Heaven Grade High Tier cultivation technique, the Phoenix Bathing Heaven Technique?"

Lin Zisheng opened his eyes and cried out. A fiery red Phoenix phantom appeared behind him, its presence awe-inspiring.

Ye Lin: "..."

Watching from beneath the rubble, Ye Lin was utterly speechless. Was this what it meant to be the Child of Fortune? This was unbelievably terrifying.

Ye Lin had nearly blown up the stone table just now and hadn't triggered a single mechanism. Lin Zisheng had merely touched it and obtained an incredible Heaven Grade High Tier technique?

"Hahaha! This trip was worth it. The world of the future will surely have a place for me, Lin Zisheng."

"Even though it's only an incomplete version, it's still Heaven Grade High Tier. It's enough to let me cultivate to immortality."

Lin Zisheng laughed heartily. Freshly gifted with a divine technique, he was in excellent spirits. He stood and looked around.

After finding nothing else of value, he dusted himself off and left.

A few minutes after Lin Zisheng had departed, Ye Lin finally pushed aside the stone slabs above him and emerged with the Phoenix Egg in his arms.

This time, he had truly witnessed the terror of a Child of Fortune. Heaven itself practically shoved opportunities into his hands. What could anyone do about that?

"Incomplete version? The Phoenix Bathing Heaven Technique is a hereditary technique of the Phoenix Clan. As long as I hatch the egg in my hands, I'll be able to get the complete version."

"The Phoenix is a divine beast, so its hereditary technique must be terrifying. If an incomplete version is already Heaven Grade High Tier, how powerful would the complete version be?"

After all, even some great immortal sects lacked Heaven Grade High Tier cultivation techniques. They were extraordinarily precious.

"But carrying this thing around is too conspicuous. Let's see if I can put it in my Spatial Ring."

Ye Lin muttered to himself and activated his Spatial Ring. The next moment, the enormous egg vanished from his hands and lay quietly inside the ring.

"Phew. Good thing I can put it away. Once I get out, I'll take my time figuring out how to hatch you."

The Spatial Ring could only hold lifeless objects. Since there wasn't the slightest trace of life inside the egg, it could be stored there too.

"Lin Zisheng managed to hatch you, which means you aren't truly dead. I'll take my time investigating once I'm out."

After looking at the egg inside his Spatial Ring and saying this, Ye Lin left the cave.