Chapter 337: It Has Suddenly Started Hatching

Lin Yifan examined Ling Ling's fur closely and couldn't help but marvel.

Because Ling Ling's fiery red coat was not an illusion but had truly shifted from the earlier gray‑yellow.

It seemed as if the glow of the cave‑wall spirit crystals had been molten, presenting a restrained yet vibrant dark‑red sheen that faintly flowed with a glimmer in the dim surroundings.

What made his heart flutter even more were Ling Ling's eyes—within the originally jet‑black pupils, a faint, almost imperceptible silver glimmer had appeared, like distant stardust in the night sky, giving a depth not belonging to a young beast.

When Lin Yifan met Ling Ling's gaze, he felt a subtle palpitations, as if confronting a great threat.

But it was only for a moment, because Ling Ling's look at him was filled with intense admiration and dependence, with no trace of hostility or murderous intent.

"It seems this place is very beneficial for your growth."

Lin Yifan could clearly feel that the aura emanating from Ling Ling was indeed much stronger than before, bearing a vigorous life force and a hint… of Overwhelming Pressure originating from the same‑origin bloodline.

This Overwhelming Pressure was extremely faint, yet it caused the Bloodsucking Vine bracelet on his wrist to contract imperceptibly, its dark‑gold pattern flowing more vigilantly.

"Hmm! Warm, very comfortable!" Ling Ling tried moving its injured foreleg; although the cloth strap limited large motions, its subtle movements were clearly visible.

Clearly, the injury had truly healed.

Lin Yifan's admiration made Ling Ling a bit embarrassed; the little fox flicked its fluffy dark‑red tail, about to speak, when its gaze suddenly fixed on the space behind Lin Yifan, its pupils snapping shut to needle‑point size!

"Brother Yifan! Egg! That egg is moving!"

Lin Yifan's heart jolted violently, and he abruptly turned around!

In the cavern's center, within the clasped front paws of the massive, sacred Moon‑shadow Fox skeleton, the huge azure cocoon was undergoing an astonishing transformation!

The silver star‑river pattern that previously flickered like breathing now surged in brilliance, no longer a faint glow but a blinding, searing silver radiance.

The entire giant cocoon seemed to become a bizarre celestial body composed of solidified liquid star‑river, with countless silver light streams raging, spiraling, and colliding beneath the deep azure backdrop!

Buzz!

An indescribable terrifying Overwhelming Pressure, mingled with ancient, wild, and… a hint of icy, annihilating cold that made Lin Yifan's very soul shiver, erupted from the cocoon like an invisible tsunami!

This pressure was not directed at them; it was merely the natural energy wave released as it awakened.

Yet, even as this aftershock passed, Lin Yifan felt as if an invisible giant hammer struck his chest, let out a muffled groan, and staggered back two steps before barely regaining his footing.

The wounds inside his body, which had just begun to settle, churned again, and a sour‑sweet taste rose in his throat.

The Bloodsucking Vine bracelet on his wrist instantly became scorching hot, its dark‑gold pattern flashing wildly, conveying an unprecedented, almost maddening fear and ferocious killing intent.

The vine bracelet quivered violently, as if trying to break free and lunge at the giant cocoon, yet also like a small beast locked onto by a predator, yearning only to flee far away!

"Sss…" Lin Yifan pressed firmly on the agitated vine bracelet, letting his spiritual energy pour out, forcibly suppressing the Bloodsucking Vine's core, whose destructive will originated from the dark‑gold giant cocoon.

The aura emitted by this giant cocoon seemed to share the same origin as the darkness that the Bloodsucking Vine devours, yet it was purer, older, and… more dangerous!

That is an absolute suppression in terms of rank!

"Squeak!" Ling Ling's reaction grew even more intense.

It was not the Overwhelming Pressure itself that frightened it; the ancestral skeleton's shared aura instinctively made it feel close.

But the "nihilistic" aura emanating from the cocoon made its fur stand on end, a warning from deep within its bloodline screaming wildly.

It was a natural fear etched into its bones, a primal dread of some predator or forbidden existence.

Its tiny body curled into a ball, emitting a terrified whimper, trembling as it hid behind Lin Yifan, revealing only a pair of eyes flashing with fearful silver light.

Crack... snap...

A faint yet extremely clear cracking sound rang sharply amid the humming roar of energy!

On the surface of the eerie blue cocoon, a fine crack was quietly spreading along a rushing silver star‑river pattern!

With the emergence of this crack, the Overwhelming Pressure emitted by the cocoon suddenly subsided partially, yet the sense of a terrifying, unspent power became even more concentrated, as if some ancient dormant beast were about to break its shell!

Lin Yifan's pupils constricted, his heart hammered.

He didn't hesitate, snatching the trembling Ling Ling into his arms, shielding it in his embrace while his body tensed to the limit,

the remaining primordial energy surged wildly, channeling into the Dawnbreak Sword on his right arm, ready to strike at any moment.

This was his only trump card at present; even though he knew that using the Dawnbreak Sword would cost him a great amount of energy, he had no choice.

His left hand pressed firmly on the wildly trembling Bloodsucking Vine bracelet, which was nearly scorching his skin, ready to respond to any sudden circumstance.

Is it a blessing? Is it a curse?

This mysterious giant egg, which had lain dormant for an unknown number of years and, under the guardianship of the Moon‑shadow Fox ancestor's skeleton, had waited for millennia, now harbored—was it hope, or a calamity that would bring destruction?

The eerie blue light pulsed like a breath, and the crack, highlighted by the silver star‑river, resembled a gaping maw of the abyss.

All the pure spiritual energy within the cavern was ravenously devoured by the cocoon, forming a visible energy vortex whose center was precisely the crack!

The glow of the spirit crystals on the cave walls seemed to dim slightly, their brilliance all taken by the eerie blue cocoon.

The moonlight flowing over the massive skeleton grew hurried, as if responding to the cocoon's summons, yet also as if performing a final suppression.

Time seemed to freeze.

Lin Yifan held his breath, cold sweat sliding from his temples, his spirit highly focused, his gaze locked onto that fine yet lethal crack.

He could clearly feel a massive, icy will, bearing endless deathly silence yet containing destructive vitality, slowly awakening through that crack.

What exactly lies within?

While Lin Yifan was extremely apprehensive, he also harbored a faint sense of anticipation.

That fine crack was like a fuse igniting the detonator.

"Crack... snap snap snap!"

A dense, crisp shattering sound suddenly rang out.

On the surface of the eerie blue cocoon, more cracks spread wildly like a spiderweb, the rushing silver star‑river pattern blazing to its limit, as if ready to explode at any moment.

The entire cocoon throbbed violently like a heart; each pulse drew the cavern's dense, almost tangible spiritual energy into a swirling milky vortex, which the crack greedily devoured.

At the clasped fingertips of the skeleton, the massive rhombus spirit crystal at its core, emitting a soft moon‑white halo, flickered like a dying candle in the wind; its vast energy was being forcibly drawn out by the cocoon.