[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-immortal-path-among-the-stars":3,"chapter-the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-77":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Immortal Path Among the Stars",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2320009,4537,"Chapter 77: Choice","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-77",77,"\u003Cp>“Master Li, may my brother and I take a closer look at this mutated juvenile crocodile?” Zhou Chu couldn’t help asking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old man nodded, shook his sleeve toward the cage door, and the door opened on its own; then he reached out with one hand, grasping the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The newly born juvenile crocodile floated out of the cage on its own and landed steadily in the old man’s palm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You two may examine it closely, but I advise you not to waste your effort. Even if this newborn spirit beast has mutated, there’s no visible abnormality yet,” Master Li said coolly, then handed the juvenile crocodile to Wang Yu first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu took it with both hands and examined it carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The juvenile’s skin was covered in black spots, its belly pure white; when he touched it, the skin felt slightly cold and soft, with a pleasant elasticity—otherwise, it showed no difference from an ordinary juvenile crocodile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a moment’s thought, Wang Yu suddenly formed a hand seal; a faint yellow magical pattern flashed in his eyes, and the surrounding air instantly turned pale yellow, revealing a thin, faint crimson glow over the juvenile’s skin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the Technique of Observing Qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu instinctively glanced at Master Li and Zhou Chu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One had a crimson aura two inches high; the other, barely half an inch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that glance seemed to alert Master Li—he immediately glared at Wang Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu’s heart tightened; he quickly forced a smile at the old man, then turned his gaze to the three crocodile eggs inside the cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All three eggs were wrapped in crimson aura, thicker than the juvenile’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially the largest egg, whose crimson aura nearly reached half an inch in height—almost matching that of the man in the yellow robe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu pondered, then handed the juvenile crocodile to the man beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Wang, could you let me have this mutated Ironhead Crocodile?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve had this long-armed rabbit since early on—it has no great abilities. I’ve always wanted to raise a second spirit beast, and this mutated Ironhead Crocodile seems perfect. I’d like to gamble on my fortune.” After inspecting the juvenile, the man in the yellow robe suddenly turned to Wang Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This…,” Wang Yu looked from the juvenile in the man’s hands to the other three eggs in the cage, his expression hesitant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Li smiled silently, letting the two negotiate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother Wang, if you’re willing to give up this juvenile, I won’t forget this favor. Coincidentally, I still have my personal notes on raising spirit beasts from years ago. Though not for the same species, they still hold some reference value—I only ask you not to leak them to others.” Zhou Chu hesitated, then reluctantly pulled out a book and offered it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A disciple’s personal insights from the Inner Sect hold considerable value—enough to be stored in the Scripture Hall for other disciples to purchase with spirit stones.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhou’s boy may be low in cultivation, but he’s skilled in raising spirit beasts,” Master Li finally spoke, though his meaning remained unclear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since Brother Zhou likes it so much, how could I refuse? Master Li, I’ll choose another Ironhead Crocodile egg instead.” Wang Yu thought again, then smiled and accepted the book.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Brother Wang!” Zhou Chu beamed, afraid Wang Yu might change his mind, and hurriedly turned to the old man. “I’ll sign the spirit pact immediately!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spirit pact?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu’s expression turned curious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I were you, I wouldn’t rush to sign the spirit pact.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Though signing it accelerates the juvenile’s growth, this is still a mutated beast—its early growth won’t be slow anyway. Better to raise it for a while first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If something’s wrong, you can still back out. Otherwise, you’ll suffer the backlash of the pact.” Master Li spoke calmly to Zhou Chu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master’s advice is wise—it’s safer this way. I don’t want to endure the backlash of a spirit pact. By the way, how many spirit stones for this juvenile?” Zhou Chu shuddered, thanked profusely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A normal Ironhead Crocodile juvenile costs two hundred spirit stones. This mutated one? Five hundred.” The old man named a price that made Wang Yu gasp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So expensive? That price would be better spent using Brother Wang’s free quota.” The man in the yellow robe paled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Zhou, you know the Spirit Beast Hall’s rules: free quotas cannot be transferred or indirectly transferred—doing so violates sect regulations.” The old man’s face hardened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I was just joking. Five hundred spirit stones are a lot, but I can still gather them.” Zhou Chu startled, pulled out a storage pouch from his robe, and spilled out a heap of white crystals and four crimson ones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were mid-grade spirit stones!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu’s pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the red crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d read in books that spirit stones came in low, mid, and high grades, and that mid-grade and above had elemental properties and were far rarer—one mid-grade stone equalled a hundred low-grade ones—but this was his first time seeing them in person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No—wasn’t that blue crystal inside the cage also a mid-grade spirit stone?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu glanced again, instinctively, at the cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Four mid-grade fire spirit stones, one hundred low-grade ones,” Zhou Chu scanned them with his spiritual sense, swept his sleeve, and the stones vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Chu’s face twisted in pain, but then he looked at the juvenile in his hands and beamed with delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Master Li took the largest Ironhead Crocodile egg from Wang Yu’s finger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then asked Wang Yu for his Inner Sect disciple token, examined it with a hand seal, returned it, and said calmly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“New Inner Sect disciples receive a free spirit pact when using their free spirit beast quota—but you’re a flesh-blood lineage cultivator, so the pact will naturally become a blood pact.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, drip your essence blood onto this egg. Then leave the ritual to me—don’t resist the pact’s force.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Li instructed Wang Yu to hold the egg while biting his finger and squeezing several drops of essence blood onto its surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then pulled a black scroll from his robe, muttered incantations, and slowly unrolled it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Puff.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scroll ignited in the air; a silver glow shot out and vanished into the egg.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The essence blood on the egg’s surface vanished instantly, then a crimson glow burst from within the egg and flashed into Wang Yu’s brow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yu heard a faint “hiss” in his ears, then felt no further anomaly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The smaller the beast, the stronger the blood pact. By binding directly with the egg, your connection is even better. This Ironhead Crocodile will sense you from birth and will never recognize another as its master.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, I have here a basic guide to spirit beast cultivation—every Inner Sect disciple receives one free copy. You two may leave now. Once the egg hatches, I’ll send word.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Li returned the egg to the cage, cast a white light barrier over it, tossed a thick tome to Wang Yu, and then dismissed them bluntly.\u003C\u002Fp>",1184,"2026-06-20T15:44:30.991Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","aa2d94380c7b2cde1e7b65279c1bc8970f6a94fb7a82e434204ff90247a6beea","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-78","the-immortal-path-among-the-stars-chapter-76",530,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-immortal-path-among-the-stars-cover.jpg"]