Xenomorph Egg

Chapter 49: Xenomorph Egg

"Ghost-Faced Soul-Absorbing Moth, born amid the phosphorescent fires of shadowy graves. It feeds on souls, and its mouthparts secrete a special saliva. Effect: the secreted saliva can inscribe special formations and runes within the body; the inscribed formations and runes will permanently merge with the soul. Current state: larval stage."

Inscribe formations and runes within the body?

A puzzled look appeared on Chen Lin's face, and he communicated with the Guide again.

"Some special immortal techniques can only be cultivated after formations and runes have been inscribed within the body."

"I see. In that case, this insect seems somewhat useful. I just wonder what immortal technique it inherited."

Chen Lin stroked his chin, a glint flashing through his eyes as he stared at the strange insect in his palm and tried to communicate with it.

The insect seemed exceedingly lazy. It lay listlessly in Chen Lin's palm, its wings folded together, utterly motionless. If Chen Lin had not been connected to it in mind, he might even have thought it was dead.

Only when Chen Lin tried to communicate with it in his mind did it gently squirm in his palm. It seemed to understand what he meant. The Ghost-Faced Soul-Absorbing Moth spread its wings, and then Chen Lin felt as though something extra had appeared in his mind.

"Soul Parasite Art, Human-Grade Immortal Technique. After the cultivator's physical body dies, they can sense their soul and swiftly parasitize the body of another living creature. The cultivator's soul must be stronger than that creature's soul. After parasitizing, the soul will be unable to return to its original body."

Chen Lin's expression turned strange. It was not because the immortal technique was powerful, but because it was practically as useless as chicken ribs.

Once a cultivator reached the middle stage of the Sea Opening Realm, their soul could temporarily survive outside the body for three hours. If they truly faced a life-or-death crisis and their soul escaped, they could naturally use those three hours to find a host and possess it again, gaining a new life.

Thus, in the eyes of cultivators above the Sea Opening Realm, cultivating this immortal technique was simply superfluous.

No wonder this immortal technique was only Human-Grade. Chen Lin shook his head listlessly, somewhat disappointed.

Of course, this immortal technique was not entirely without merit. If one had not yet cultivated to the middle stage of the Sea Opening Realm, then when facing true mortal peril, one could naturally use this immortal technique to parasitize another creature with their soul. It was still a method of clawing one's way out of death.

Chen Lin's eyes flickered. At last, he had found some value in the immortal technique's existence.

Next, Chen Lin temporarily cast these matters aside. He carefully placed the Ghost-Faced Soul-Absorbing Moth to one side, then swiftly hatched all the remaining insect eggs. Unfortunately, apart from the Ghost-Faced Soul-Absorbing Moth, no other strange insects hatched. They were all dead eggs.

Only after Chen Lin had finished hatching every insect egg did the notification of task completion sound.

"Ding!"

The Contractor's main quest has been completed. A living insect egg has been successfully hatched. Current progress: complete.

The system will issue the reward. Would you like to receive it now? Yes/No.

"Yes."

The Contractor may randomly draw one precious item from another plane.

Would you like to begin the draw now? Yes/No.

"Yes."

Chen Lin felt somewhat nervous. He absolutely could not draw some useless chicken-rib item, or the more than ten thousand points of Death Energy he had spent this time would have been a loss.

Drawing item... Draw complete.

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the item: Xenomorph Egg."

Xenomorph Egg (sealed state). Produced by the extraterrestrial life-form Xenomorph Queen. It possesses heat sensitivity and is extremely sensitive to its surroundings. Once a living creature approaches, it will cause the Xenomorph Egg to begin hatching and use the nearest creature as a host to implant a Xenomorph embryo. It absorbs nutrients and DNA from the host's body, cultivating a Xenomorph (originating from the world of 'Xenomorph'). Warning: Extremely dangerous.

Whoosh!

Amid Chen Lin's twitching lips and utterly disappointed expression, a cylindrical culture vessel appeared before him.

The vessel was sealed. Inside it stood a brownish-yellow oval object, quiet and still, looking remarkably like a fossilized bird egg.

Chen Lin knew that this was the so-called Xenomorph Egg.

Chen Lin looked speechlessly at the egg before him, unsure how to deal with it. He simply had no use for such a thing.

"This time, I've taken a loss. I didn't gain a single benefit."

After storing the Xenomorph Egg in his storage pouch, Chen Lin sighed. He did not know whether this harvest counted as profit or loss. At the very least, none of these things were of any use to him for now.

Suppressing his gloomy mood, Chen Lin disposed of all the dead eggs in the room. Only then did he assume a strange posture in the room, close his eyes, and begin cultivating the Mysterious Ancient Scripture Dao Heaven.

Not far from the inn where Chen Lin was staying, five people—four men and one woman—were quietly discussing something in a room.

The room was dim and gloomy, lit by two candles. Its furnishings were simple: wooden tables and chairs, half rustic and half refined.

These five people had ordinary appearances, but murderous aura radiated from them. They were clearly ruthless people with blood on their hands.

"Bu Mazi, did you see clearly?"

The Black-Faced Man seated in the middle of the five lightly tapped the tabletop. His expression shifted between light and dark as he asked the somewhat thin, grim-faced middle-aged man beside him.

"Without a doubt. That Demon Cultivator indeed checked into the inn alone, with no elder from his sect accompanying him. He doesn't look like someone with status—more like a Rogue Cultivator. Big Brother, let's make our move!"

The man called Bu Mazi gave a sinister smile, greed flashing in his eyes.

Hearing this, the Black-Faced Man looked hesitant. In the end, however, he slowly shook his head and said gravely, "With cultivation at the middle stage of the Innate Realm, he took out so many Spirit Stones to buy insect eggs without even blinking. An ordinary Rogue Cultivator would not have such boldness. This Demon Cultivator may have some backing. Acting rashly would be unwise."

"Hehe, so what if he has some backing? As long as we do it without a trace and dispose of the body properly, who will know it was us?"

At that moment, a man on the other side sneered. His face was covered with black cloth, leaving only his eyes exposed, while his body remained buried in the shadows. He spoke in a chilling voice.

"Second Brother is right."

The only woman, dressed in a light green long skirt, also let out a coquettish laugh. A black dagger danced nimbly across her palm as she said with a giggle, "Boss, human cultivators and Demon Race cultivators have been enemies since ancient times. Killing demons is only right and proper. Besides, so many cultivators disappear in Silent Spirit City every year. A mere little demon at the middle stage of the Innate Realm will die and be done with it. Even if he has some background, can the power behind him trace it back to us?"

The last man said nothing, but the obvious temptation in his eyes and his indifferent expression showed that he too agreed to act.

The person they were talking about was naturally Chen Lin.

It turned out that when Chen Lin had bought those insect eggs, someone had already begun secretly watching him. He had only been focused on completing the task at the time, and in his carelessness, had failed to notice anything at all.

After all, he had casually spent more than fifty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones without batting an eye, while his own cultivation was extremely low. In the eyes of others, he was naturally a fat sheep waiting for the slaughter.

The Black-Faced Man was also a decisive person. Once he had made up his mind, he naturally did not hesitate any longer. He slammed his hand onto the table and said viciously, "Bu Mazi, go keep an eye on him. The moment that brat leaves the city, we make our move!"

"Fine!"

Bu Mazi gave a sinister chuckle, and with a flicker of his body, vanished from the spot.

Naturally, Chen Lin had no idea that, without realizing it, he had already been targeted by a group of greedy cultivators.