Chapter 291: The Giant Egg

The red-haired man, upon hearing Wang Yu's words, solemnly stepped through the gate.

Wang Yu gazed at the stone door closing again, a thoughtful expression flickering across his face.

Of the Three Golden Cores of the Four Symbols Gate, Silver Cloud Ancestor never shows himself to ordinary disciples; Fire Ancestor is severely wounded and has been in long-term seclusion; only Toad Ancestor now oversees affairs outside. It seems this master was indeed the right choice.

As Wang Yu pondered, he turned and left the stone chamber, finding a quiet corner on a platform to wait for the restriction to lift.

Meanwhile, from nearby stone chambers, disciples participating in the Jialan Secret Realm continued to come and go, but their inspection speed seemed unusually fast—each one entered and emerged safely within half a quarter-hour.

After a little more than half a day, the fine white threads enveloping the platform suddenly burst and vanished with a "pop."

The disciples, long impatient, immediately leapt into the air and scattered in all directions.

Wang Yu also rose into the air, heading straight for his cave dwelling halfway up the mountain.

He had been away from the mountain gate for an extended time and wondered how Da Lv and Xiao Bai, the two Iron-Headed Crocodiles he'd left in his cave, were faring.

Although he had left enough beast feed, he still felt a slight unease.

"Puff."

Wang Yu landed before a lush, green bamboo grove; with a flick of a token in his hand toward the empty air, the bamboo instantly dissolved into rolling mist, parting to reveal a narrow path.

Wang Yu strode inside, and the rolling mist closed behind him.

When he stepped out of the mist, the pond where the two Iron-Headed Crocodiles dwelled lay before him.

"Da Lv, Xiao Bai."

Wang Yu walked a few steps to the edge of the pond, glanced at the still water, and exclaimed in mild surprise.

The pond remained utterly still, not a trace of the two Iron-Headed Crocodiles to be seen.

Wang Yu frowned, scanned the surroundings, and found no sign of the two spirit beasts; he immediately pressed a hand to his forehead, closed his eyes, and released his spiritual sense toward the pond's bottom.

It was merely a small pond—the water could not be deep.

Moments later, he detected something unusual, opened his eyes, stared at the pond, and softly spoke, channeling his voice through spiritual sense to the pond's depths.

The previously calm water suddenly hissed and began swirling in one direction, accelerating rapidly until a large vortex formed, churning nearly all the pond water and exposing a small, open patch of the bottom.

Wang Yu's gaze sharpened—he clearly saw a dark, oval-shaped mound, half a person's height, newly formed at the pond's bottom.

Da Lv, covered in black-and-green mottled scales, crouched atop the oval mound, neck stretched upward, mouth wide open in a pleading, affectionate gesture toward Wang Yu.

Can Da Lv control the pond's water?

At this sight, Wang Yu's mind immediately formed this thought.

But the next instant, he realized he was wrong.

From beneath Da Lv, the oval mound suddenly emitted a familiar hiss; the violently swirling water instantly transformed into a white, misty water dragon that shot skyward, circled low in the air, then plunged back into the pond, refilling the bottom with rushing water.

Xiao Bai!

It was Xiao Bai controlling the pond's water!

After a brief thought, Wang Yu formed a hand seal, murmured incantations, and strode directly into the pond.

Wherever he stepped, the pond water slowly retreated, allowing him to reach the black mound in just a few strides.

This was a low-tier spell he had learned from the Scripture Hall—the "Water-Repelling Charm"—its effect simple: to temporarily repel water from around his body.

Of course, this "water" referred only to rain or streams; it had zero effect against the great waves of rivers or oceans.

There were many such minor spells in the Four Symbols Gate's Scripture Hall; though simple, they were deemed useless, so most disciples never bothered to study or master them.

Only Wang Yu, confident in his overclocking ability to "cheat" without expending much effort, had learned them all at once.

"Sssss."

Upon seeing Wang Yu approach, Da Lv swiftly slid off the mound, struck the ground with his thick tail, and launched his nearly seven-foot-long body into the air, landing expertly in Wang Yu's arms; he rubbed his rough head against Wang Yu's cheek repeatedly, showing extreme affection.

"Da Lv, stop it—how did you get here? Is Xiao Bai inside?" Wang Yu patted Da Lv's back twice, eyeing the black mound with suspicion.

"Sssss."

The black-and-green mottled crocodile hissed twice, then leapt to the front of the mound and slapped its side twice with its tail.

"Xiao Bai really is inside."

Wang Yu had raised these two crocodiles for years—he knew their habits and movements intimately; seeing this, he said in surprise.

He circled the half-person-tall oval mound twice, as if noticing something, then raised a hand and wiped twice at the black mound.

When the layer of black mud was wiped away, a layer of smooth, snow-white eggshell was revealed beneath.

This was no mound at all—it was a giant egg wrapped in black sludge.

Wang Yu was truly startled, but without hesitation, he silently murmured, "Overclock."

The next instant, his five senses rapidly amplified; everything around him slowed, and his mind entered a strange, heightened state.

He merely placed one palm gently against the eggshell—and with his hearing magnified countless times, he clearly heard the steady "thump-thump, thump-thump" of a heartbeat within the white shell.

After a brief thought, Wang Yu formed a hand seal and slowly extended his spiritual sense into the eggshell.

Immediately, another faint spiritual sense emerged from within, wrapping around his own with a tone of excitement and affection.

It really is Xiao Bai!

Wang Yu knew the spiritual signatures of his two spirit beasts intimately—but what was this giant egg?

Was it related to the water control he had just witnessed?

Had Xiao Bai mutated again?

Wang Yu's mind raced with thoughts.

He felt no sign of distress from Xiao Bai's spiritual sense; on the contrary, its subtle message suggested it was perfectly healthy—only unable to break free from the shell for some unknown reason.

At this moment, Da Lv let out low, persistent cries, unwilling to leave the giant egg.

"Da Lv, watch over Xiao Bai carefully—if anything happens, call out to me immediately." Wang Yu ultimately decided to return and consult the spirit beast texts to see if any records existed; he gave Da Lv his instruction.

The dark-green mottled crocodile nodded its head vigorously in response, then flopped onto the sludge atop the eggshell, looking utterly comfortable—whether it truly understood Wang Yu's words was unclear.

Wang Yu walked to the nearby cliff face, opened the entrance to his cave dwelling, stepped inside, and plunged into his personal library, where he began searching for the few books he remembered on spirit beasts.

These books had been collected for him by the Yin family; he recalled one that specifically mentioned spirit beast mutations.

But because the book was obscure and contained little useful information, he had only skimmed it briefly at the time and had not used his overclocking ability to memorize it fully—now he needed to find it again and examine the relevant passages carefully.