Egg Gambling

Chapter 46: Gambling on Eggs

Silent Spirit City was a unique place, a city of freedom.

It was said that this city was managed by a cultivation family, and its City Lord was a supreme powerhouse among humans. Their strength was comparable to the sect leader of a first-rate immortal sect, which had established Silent Spirit City's status as a hegemon. The various sects of the Nanli Continent would not easily offend it, and instead, they tacitly allowed the city to exist.

The entire airspace above Silent Spirit City was covered by a flight-prohibition array, and patrolling cultivators moved back and forth through the streets.

Fighting was strictly forbidden within the city; those who violated this rule would be shown no mercy and executed on the spot. Consequently, Silent Spirit City had become a melting pot of dragons and snakes, where humans, the Demon Race, and ghost cultivators could be seen everywhere. Cultivators who had offended powerful enemies or were seeking refuge would often choose to settle here.

Of course, Silent Spirit City did not accept these cultivators for nothing. Those entering the city had to pay a hefty sum of Spirit Stones, and leaving also required a fee. Within the city, whether for lodging or cultivation, everything required Spirit Stones. Therefore, it was clearly very difficult to gain a firm foothold in Silent Spirit City for long.

After a long journey, Chen Lin and Yang Qianqian finally arrived at the city before nightfall.

After paying a significant amount of Spirit Stones, the two entered the city.

Having delivered Yang Qianqian to Silent Spirit City, Chen Lin's promise was fulfilled. Since the Forget-Emotion Valley also had assets in Silent Spirit City managed by sect disciples, Yang Qianqian only needed to find her sect's property to return home safely.

Chen Lin and Yang Qianqian stood quietly in front of an elegant pavilion with carved beams and jade rafters.

On the plaque of the elegant pavilion, four characters were written in a bold, sweeping hand: "Forget-Emotion Treasure Pavilion." The pavilion was three stories high, grand and imposing yet elegant. This was the Forget-Emotion Valley's property in Silent Spirit City.

"Hey, you stinky demon, are you really not coming in with this young lady?"

Although Yang Qianqian's small face was still fierce, her tone clearly carried a hint of reluctance. She found this emotion inexplicable herself; humans and the Demon Race had been at odds since ancient times, and besides, this stinky demon in front of her was truly infuriating. Sometimes, she wanted nothing more than to smash his annoying face flat...

Chen Lin shook his head and said slowly, "It is full of your sect's disciples. If they see you with a Demon Race cultivator, it will inevitably lead to trouble. Better not."

Yang Qianqian opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say. For a moment, the two fell into silence.

"Let us part ways here."

In the end, it was Chen Lin who spoke softly.

Yang Qianqian nodded, remaining silent.

Chen Lin took a deep look at the young girl, then turned and walked away.

"Hey! Stinky demon, will we... ever meet again?"

"If fate allows, we shall meet again. Farewell, little girl."

Chen Lin waved his hand behind him.

"Stinky demon..."

Watching Chen Lin walk further and further away without ever looking back, Yang Qianqian bit her lip, a flash of sadness crossing her eyes...

※※※※※

The sky grew dark, a quiet and peaceful night. The night sky was dotted with twinkling stars, the moonlight was soft, and the air felt slightly chilly.

After bidding farewell to Yang Qianqian, Chen Lin found an inn to stay at. Even for an ordinary inn, a single night cost three Spirit Stones.

After resting briefly in the inn, Chen Lin walked out onto the street alone.

Even at night, Silent Spirit City was incredibly lively. Precious night-luminescent stones were hung on both sides of the streets throughout the city, illuminating it as brightly as day.

Rarely having come to such a bustling city, seeing the cultivators constantly passing by, Chen Lin had the illusion of being in another world.

Unknowingly, he arrived at a massive plaza.

This plaza covered nearly a hundred acres. There were no pavilions or shops; instead, it was filled with various stalls. Cultivators came and went, stopping to haggle, the sounds of which were endless. Chen Lin glanced over and understood: this place was essentially a marketplace.

"All kinds of Dharma Artifacts and Spirit Artifacts, on sale cheap!"

"Puppets, medicinal pills, immortal techniques—we have it all! Come take a look, fellow Daoists!"

"High-quality spiritual herbs and pill formulas! Fellow Daoists looking to refine pills, don't miss out!"

Clearly, the prosperity of this place far exceeded the marketplace of the Myriad Demon Sect. As Chen Lin walked along, the variety of novel cultivation materials dazzled him, and his knowledge naturally grew significantly.

"Gambling on eggs! Gambling on eggs! Come try your luck, fellow Daoists! You might just win a rare insect egg and soar to the heavens!"

Suddenly, amidst the noisy shouting, a rough, middle-aged man's voice caught Chen Lin's attention. Many cultivators nearby stopped upon hearing this, their expressions curious as they gathered toward the source of the sound.

Chen Lin's eyes flashed, and he followed the crowd.

He saw a middle-aged man with a rugged face shouting at the top of his lungs in front of a stall. His cultivation base was extremely profound—Chen Lin couldn't discern it, but it was clearly above the Innate Stage.

Seeing the crowd of onlookers growing, the middle-aged man grew spirited, his shouting becoming even more vigorous: "Fellow Daoists, these are fresh insect eggs from the Fierce Insect Forbidden Land! They are all in a dormant state and have yet to hatch. Why not try your luck?"

The Fierce Insect Forbidden Land? Chen Lin's eyes flickered.

In the Nanli Continent, there was a saying of the Four Forbidden Lands and Three Desolate Lands. The Forbidden Lands were dangerous, but there was still a possibility of survival; the Desolate Lands were places of absolute doom where no one who entered ever survived.

The Fierce Insect Forbidden Land was one of the Four Forbidden Lands. Chen Lin only knew the basics; he had heard the name, but knew nothing else about it.

Chen Lin looked with curiosity at the various insect eggs of different shapes displayed in front of the stall. Most were oval, while a small portion were irregular. Without exception, every egg was wrapped in layers of strange, multicolored substances, making them impossible to see through.

"How does one gamble on these eggs?"

At this moment, a cultivator wearing a black veil, whose face could not be seen, asked in a hoarse voice from the crowd.

Hearing the inquiry, the middle-aged stall owner replied without hesitation: "My eggs may not compare to the Exotic Insect Workshop of the 'Insect Taming Studio,' but they were obtained from the Forbidden Land at the risk of my life. The price naturally cannot be low—the cheapest one costs twenty Spirit Stones!"

"What? Twenty Spirit Stones? That's too expensive! The prices at the Exotic Insect Workshop are only thirty Spirit Stones. Isn't that a bit of a lion's roar, fellow Daoist?" The tone of the cultivator who asked changed significantly, sounding somewhat displeased.

Upon hearing the steep price of twenty Spirit Stones, many of the surrounding cultivators began to murmur, all agreeing that twenty Spirit Stones was indeed a bit too expensive.

"Heh heh, friend, you cannot say it like that. A place like the Exotic Insect Workshop is not something we ordinary cultivators can easily access. Besides, this humble one's insect egg was obtained from the Forbidden Land at the risk of a nine-in-ten chance of death; it is not necessarily inferior to those from the Exotic Insect Workshop."

The middle-aged man, however, remained unhurried and composed, as if twenty Spirit Stones were a perfectly fair price, and he did not budge in the slightest.

Chen Lin listened, feeling bewildered. His gaze flickered, and he quietly nudged a fellow Demon Race cultivator standing beside him, asking, "This friend, what is this talk of 'gambling on eggs' all about?"

This member of the Demon Race only possessed the cultivation of the early Xiantian stage and had not maintained a human form; instead, he had manifested his true body, appearing as a strange-looking Porcupine Demon with a round body and pointed ears.

A strangely human-like expression appeared on the Porcupine Demon's round face. He glanced at Chen Lin and said in a gruff voice, "Has this friend just stepped into the cultivation world? You know nothing of this 'gambling on eggs'?"

Chen Lin gave a wry smile. It seemed he was indeed lacking in some of the common knowledge of the cultivation world. He nodded and replied honestly, "This humble one has indeed only recently come into contact with the cultivation world. I ask that you please enlighten me, friend."

"So that is how it is." The Porcupine Demon nodded in a guileless manner. Perhaps because they were both of the Demon Race, or perhaps because Chen Lin's cultivation realm was higher than his own, he proved quite easy to talk to and spoke to Chen Lin with enthusiasm: "Actually, this talk of gambling on eggs has only flourished within the last thousand years..."

Listening to the Porcupine Demon's explanation, Chen Lin gradually understood the origins of egg gambling.

As it turned out, the Fierce Insect Forbidden Land, one of the four forbidden zones of the Nanli Continent, had not existed since ancient times but had suddenly formed a millennium ago.

For a period after this forbidden land formed, experts from all walks of life flocked inside to investigate, but the vast majority of them perished within. According to rumors from the few experts who survived and returned, this forbidden land connected to another special world—a world filled with insects, containing peerless, fierce creatures with vast supernatural powers that were simply not something cultivators could contend with.