Watching an Egg

Seeing Zhang Yuan about to leave, the maid named Xiao Shi knitted her brows.

"Stop!"

The moment her voice rang out, Zhang Yuan froze in place.

Taken aback for a second, Zhang Yuan looked down and discovered a stone shackle around his ankle, then raised his gaze slightly.

[Stone from the Outer Heavens][Innate Lifeform][Great Dao Affinity for Earth].

Three golden tags. This maid was no simple figure, but the less simple she was, the stronger his desire to leave became.

Zhang Yuan made a blade of his hand and shattered the stone shackle with a chop.

Seeing this, Xiao Shi grew anxious and hurriedly said, "Please stay, Immortal Master. My young miss has something to say to you. You can leave after hearing her out!"

"Besides, the Heavenly Being at the city gate is an elder of my young miss's family. Even if you leave here, you won't be able to leave the city without her permission."

At those words, Zhang Yuan halted and slowly turned around.

"I'm merely a rogue cultivator. What business does your young miss have with me?" Zhang Yuan asked coldly, his face still expressionless.

Xiao Shi breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that she had finally managed to keep him here. It certainly hadn't been easy.

It was strange, really. They were hardly raging floods or savage beasts, and her young miss was a direct descendant of the Aohai Cui, one of the Five Surnames and Seven Houses. Her status was exalted, and others couldn't meet her even if they wanted to. Why was this man trying to run without another word?

"Young miss, he's stopped," Xiao Shi said to the person inside the carriage.

"Mm. Please invite the Immortal Master into the carriage for a chat." That cool voice sounded again.

Xiao Shi paused, then said hesitantly, "Young miss, isn't that against propriety? If the master finds out, I'll be punished."

"Xiao Shi, you still haven't broken your habit of talking too much."

Xiao Shi shut her mouth and pursed her lips, then prepared to invite Zhang Yuan into the carriage.

"No need. Whatever you have to say can be said outside. I have important business to attend to and cannot stay long," Zhang Yuan refused.

Xiao Shi parted her little lips and looked innocently into the carriage.

She hadn't even said anything yet, and he had already refused. Surely her young miss couldn't blame her this time.

Really, neither oil nor salt could get through to this man. Her young miss had personally invited him, yet he had flatly refused on the grounds that he had other business.

The person inside the carriage wasn't annoyed. Instead, she used a voice-transmission technique to say, "I am Cui Yuanxi of the Aohai Cui. I stopped you because a great tomb of an ancient cultivator has emerged in Jianning City today. It holds abundant fortuitous opportunities. Would you be willing to lend me a hand, fellow Daoist?"

"No," Zhang Yuan answered decisively.

She distinctly fell silent for a second, clearly unable to understand why Zhang Yuan had refused so firmly. She hadn't even mentioned the benefits yet.

"If you agree, fellow Daoist, I promise that once the matter is settled, I will unconditionally give you a strand of earthly baleful force, regardless of what we obtain. Moreover, as far as I know, heavenly dipper is highly likely to emerge within this tomb."

Zhang Yuan remained unmoved.

At this, she seemed somewhat disheartened and let out a soft sigh. "In that case, please go ahead, fellow Daoist."

With that answer, Zhang Yuan turned to leave and opened the [Heavenly Vision] panel.

[Heavenly Vision]

[1. Faced with the Eldest Miss of Aohai Cui's invitation, you forget the pain once your scars have healed and readily agree. Both of you fall into a Heavenly Being's trap. In the end, Cui Yuanxi survives thanks to her status, while you perish, your Dao extinguished.]

[2. Faced with Cui Yuanxi's invitation, you decisively refuse. In the end, you see through the Heavenly Being's scheme. Without your assistance, Cui Yuanxi can only linger on the outskirts of the great tomb, escaping the Heavenly Being's trap by sheer luck.]

[3. You refuse Cui Yuanxi, but the fortuitous opportunities tempt you, and you enter the great tomb alone. Your outstanding performance wins the admiration of the Heavenly Being behind the scenes, who ultimately refines you into a puppet with six-turn qi refinement. You will never be free for all eternity.]

There really is a Heavenly Being plotting behind this.

Zhang Yuan thought to himself.

Come to think of it, Cui Yuanxi ought to thank him.

Making his way against the flow of people, he reached the city gate, only to find it sealed shut. No one was allowed in or out. The Heavenly Being who was an elder of Cui Yuanxi's clan sat cross-legged atop the city wall, eyes lowered to survey the entire city and safeguard Cui Yuanxi.

The city gate was sealed. He was still a step too late.

Zhang Yuan furrowed his brows and made his way back to the inn from earlier.

Although the inn was cheap and its rooms were sparsely furnished, it did have quite a few floors.

Taking advantage of that, he found the innkeeper and booked another room on a higher floor with a view of the city center.

"Why have you come back, honored guest? Could it be that you aren't interested in the fortuitous opportunity in the city?" the innkeeper asked in confusion.

"As the saying goes, knowing oneself is a precious virtue. I know my strength is insufficient, so I'd best not join the excitement," Zhang Yuan said, shaking his head.

The innkeeper looked somewhat surprised, then laughed heartily. "Well said, honored guest. People really ought to know their own limits."

Zhang Yuan went to his room and looked toward the city center through the window.

Although Jianning City was neither a provincial capital nor the Capital City, it was still quite wealthy. In its center, every inch of land was worth an inch of gold, and the area was filled with the mansions of wealthy households.

Now, however, all those mansions had been demolished, revealing an enormous tomb beneath the ground.

An impenetrable barrier sealed off the tomb.

Countless Outer Dao and Gang Sha Path cultivators who had come upon hearing the news stood around the great tomb, along with mortals desperate to step onto the path of immortality.

"What a pack of fools."

Zhang Yuan couldn't help shaking his head, though he also felt somewhat relieved.

If he hadn't possessed [Immaculate Primordial Spirit], he probably would have been just like them, his head turned by these so-called immortal blessings and fortuitous opportunities.

Just then.

The Foundation-Building Heavenly Being sitting cross-legged on the distant city wall pointed lightly at the barrier around the great tomb.

In an instant, an opening appeared in the barrier, allowing people to pass through.

At the sight, the surrounding crowd swarmed inside like sharks scenting blood, terrified of falling even half a step behind the others.

Cui Yuanxi, who had stopped Zhang Yuan in the street, also entered the barrier. Unlike the others, however, she had a private passage opened for her in a corner by the Foundation-Building Heavenly Being atop the city wall.

Then, less than a quarter of an hour later, cries of delighted surprise began coming from the tomb. Despite the barrier and the several miles between them, Zhang Yuan could hear them clearly from the tall building.

Clearly, quite a few people had obtained fortuitous opportunities inside the tomb.

As time passed, the delighted cries grew more frequent. Some of the less greedy people had already emerged from the great tomb, intending to return the way they had come.

Yet when they came out, they discovered that the barrier had sealed shut again.

"What's going on? Why has the entrance been sealed?"

"Could the Heavenly Being have done this to stop us from leaving early?"

"Why would that be...?"

It wasn't just those inside the tomb who were surprised. The Heavenly Being sitting cross-legged with closed eyes on the city wall abruptly rose, brows furrowed and gaze fixed firmly on the great tomb.

"Something's wrong."

Suddenly!

While everyone was still bewildered, the barrier surrounding the great tomb turned scarlet in an instant. At the same time, pillars of light descended upon the cultivators and mortals holding their various fortuitous gains.

In a flash.

The various treasures in their hands fell, and their bodies dissolved into clouds of bloody mist. The mist slowly gathered in midair, gradually forming a pill that hovered between illusion and substance.

There really was something wrong, and it was far from a minor problem!

Zhang Yuan's pupils contracted slightly, and he fell silent for a while.

"So I really am just watching an egg."