"Hahaha, I hope that egg gets lost!" The people of Spring City burst into laughter as they saw the egg fall.
"Hey, let's go look for it too. Maybe we can get it. They won't know if we hide it."
"That's right!"
Realizing that they too had a chance to find the egg, the people quickly rushed into the forest to search for it.
However, only a few moments later, they returned covered in wounds from being beaten by members of the Hundred Flames Sect.
'How foolish,' Zhen thought.
He had followed them to the city gate but fortunately hadn't acted in haste.
He had already suspected that the sect wouldn't allow others to search for the egg.
Of course, they wouldn't take the risk of letting the egg fall into someone else's hands.
"Huh? What's happening?"
Zhen suddenly felt confused as the Dragon Qi within his body started to stir.
The disturbance occurred because something seemed to be pulling at the Dragon Qi.
He couldn't help but wonder how something could pull on the Dragon Qi inside his body from such a distance.
Luckily, the pulling force wasn't very strong. It only caused his Dragon Qi to churn but didn't make him lose control.
He assumed that if he moved away, everything would return to normal.
However, he couldn't help but be curious.
Whatever was trying to pull his Dragon Qi might be in the same area where the golden egg had disappeared.
Zhen couldn't go there unless he wanted to be beaten by the members of the Hundred Fire Sect.
'Boy with Dragon Qi, help me with your Dragon Qi and I'll let you absorb my eggshell to cultivate!'
While he was still thinking, he suddenly heard a voice inside his mind—a voice that sounded like a boy under ten years old.
Zhen's eyes widened in shock.
This might be what's called Inner Communication, something only cultivators at the Sage Realm, which is above the Sky Master Realm, could do.
The voice spoke about its eggshell, and Zhen couldn't help but suspect that it was the creature inside the golden egg, because clearly only the golden egg had any value.
'I can't go there,' Zhen replied through his thoughts.
While connected through Inner Communication, he could also speak back to the one who initiated it.
'I fell into a tunnel hole. You can come here if you find another entrance to the tunnel,' the voice replied.
"A tunnel?"
Zhen hadn't expected there to be a tunnel underground.
But where would he find another entrance?
As he wondered about this, he suddenly remembered the city lord's residence.
There was a tunnel in the forest outside the city. If such a tunnel existed even outside the city, it would make sense for it to extend beneath the city too.
If there were tunnels under the city, one of the entrances could very well be the city lord's residence.
Besides, the city lord had escaped unnoticed—he might have used the tunnel to flee.
Zhen quickly headed to the city lord's residence.
Everyone had already left, and the place was now empty. Zhen entered easily without being seen.
There, he found a large hole that appeared to have opened recently.
Without hesitation, he jumped in, feeling like he was falling into an abyss because of its depth.
It took a while before he finally landed at the bottom.
He found himself in a wide basement with many shattered gemstones scattered around, still radiating faint Qi and Spirit Energy.
They appeared to be shards of Formation Cores.
Looking around, Zhen then found five tunnels branching off in different directions.
"That way!"
He immediately chose one of the tunnels, as he could feel the force pulling his Dragon Qi coming from that direction.
He ran at high speed, wanting to quickly find the voice that was speaking to him because it was most likely from a Golden Crow, as it was said to be the egg of a Golden Crow.
If that was true, then it was essentially a Sacred Beast.
"Is that it!"
After a while, Zhen suddenly saw a blinding golden light up ahead.
He then realized it came from golden flames.
The heat was palpable even from afar, though the flames were small.
Inside the golden flames, Zhen saw a bird. It was a crow, but golden in color with some black markings on its body.
Its size was similar to that of a normal crow. Stranger still, Zhen couldn't sense any cultivation from it.
It seemed to still be a mortal, yet even in a mortal state, a Golden Crow was no ordinary beast.
"Quick, give me your Dragon Qi so I can fly!" the Golden Crow spoke, surprising Zhen even more.
It seemed that his Dragon Qi could help the Golden Crow grow.
Zhen didn't respond immediately. He first examined the shattered eggshell, which had apparently broken when it fell.
It had split into five pieces, and each shard seemed to contain immense Qi.
Zhen felt that each shard was like a Tier 3 Flowing Qi Pill.
In other words, they might each contain up to 100,000 Qi, which sounded unbelievable.
He could use them to break through to the Tenth Stage of the Qi Master Realm, then absorb the rest to get closer to the First Stage of the Earth Master Realm, which was said to require 100,000 Qi.
"Boy, hurry!" the Golden Crow said again as Zhen remained silent.
Zhen couldn't help but roll his eyes at being called "boy" again.
He was already 30 years old—that word didn't suit him at all.
Still, he chose to ignore it for now.
He released his Dragon Qi toward the bird.
The crow then opened its beak, absorbing the Dragon Qi as if drinking it.
Its body began to glow brighter, with golden flames so hot they made it hard for Zhen to breathe.
Shua! Shua!
He saw the crow's wings begin to flap, slowly lifting its body into the air.
"How can you use Inner Communication when you're not in the Sage Realm?" Zhen asked, curious about the bird's cultivation.
"I am in the Sage Realm. Golden Crows are born at the Sage Realm and inherit the memories of our ancestors. However, my cultivation hasn't awakened yet. Once it does, I'll be as big as the city above in my full form. If you want to see it, give me more Dragon Qi every day so my cultivation awakens faster," the Golden Crow replied.