Xiao Wu had been examining the silver egg for quite some time but couldn't find anything special about it.
Nor did she discover a way out of the secret realm, as Gu Yuena had mentioned.
Her rabbit ears drooped slightly in disappointment as she looked up at Ye Tian.
"Come take a look too. I can't figure out the secrets of this egg alone."
Ye Tian glanced at her and chuckled. "What's the rush?"
"Didn't Gu Yuena give you a drop of Dragon God's blood? Hurry up and absorb it."
"I'll handle the research on this silver egg."
"This secret realm is filled with dense spiritual energy—it's the perfect place for cultivation."
Hearing this, Xiao Wu's rabbit ears perked up again.
She nodded eagerly and laughed. "Then I'll leave it to you, Ye Tian."
Without hesitation, Xiao Wu sat down cross-legged.
She held the Dragon God's blood in her left hand and the Sacred Blossom Pill, which she had traded from Ye Tian, in her right.
Swallowing both at once, she began to meditate and cultivate—aiming to break through to the Spirit Saint realm.
On the other side, Ye Tian crouched next to the dragon egg, holding a Taiyi Divine Needle in his hand.
With a gentle motion, he pricked the needle into the core of the egg's silver patterns.
A sharp buzz rang out.
The silver patterns instantly lit up, and a faint bluish glow spread across the surface of the egg.
A powerful force repelled Ye Tian's arm, sending it flying backward.
But that wasn't all.
The dragon egg began to emit waves of threatening spiritual energy, warning Ye Tian to back off.
Seeing this, Ye Tian's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
As expected of a high-level dragon species—even before hatching, it already had such a strong sense of vigilance.
To avoid further provoking the egg, Ye Tian withdrew the Taiyi Divine Needle and switched to using his hands to investigate.
With a delicate stream of spiritual energy, he sent his consciousness into the egg's patterns.
Successfully, he established a connection with the egg.
However, inside the egg, a layer of pure golden liquid encased everything.
Ye Tian's spiritual power wasn't strong enough to penetrate it, preventing him from fully exploring the egg's interior.
Even so, just by examining the outer layer, Ye Tian was able to make some interesting discoveries.
The golden liquid pulsed in a highly regular rhythm—like a heartbeat.
That meant the dragon egg was already alive.
Though Ye Tian had never hatched a dragon egg before, he had personally helped incubate Fire Spirit Chickens back at the Butterfly Farm.
For an oviparous creature, the presence of a heartbeat signified that birth was imminent.
At this thought, Ye Tian's expression turned a little strange.
Newly hatched dragons were born without memories.
Even if this was a clone of Gu Yuena, it couldn't escape this natural rule.
A newborn clone would be far too weak to bear the full power of the Silver Dragon King.
So, Ye Tian speculated that Gu Yuena must have sealed its memories away.
Only when the clone reached a certain age would the memories be unsealed—at that point, the clone would truly become Gu Yuena.
But until then, it was just an ordinary person with dragon-like powers.
What if he deliberately prevented the clone from awakening its memories?
Ye Tian couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.
Gu Yuena had meticulously planned everything, yet she had still underestimated his abilities.
Since she miscalculated, she couldn't blame him for taking the clone away.
He wouldn't allow Gu Yuena to appear on the Douluo Continent ahead of schedule.
After all, as the spokesperson for soul beasts, Gu Yuena harbored a deep hatred for humans.
If she emerged too soon, it would bring disaster to all sides.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Ye Tian carefully observed the dragon egg again.
It was rapidly absorbing the scattered glowing energy around it.
Seeing this, Ye Tian confirmed his suspicions.
With a helpless smile, he realized that they wouldn't be leaving this place until the egg hatched.
No wonder Gu Yuena had said that the way out was connected to the egg.
This secret realm required her presence to open.
At that moment—
Xiao Wu suddenly let out a cry of pain.
"Ahh!"
Her agonized scream startled Ye Tian.
He quickly turned around and saw sweat pouring down her forehead in large droplets.
Her entire body was trembling violently.
"What's going on?"
Ye Tian rushed to her side.
Xiao Wu gritted her teeth and groaned, her expression twisted in pain.
"I feel like... my dantian is going to explode…"
Ye Tian's face darkened as he grabbed her wrist to check her pulse.
"You didn't... take the Dragon God's blood and the Pill together, did you?"
"...Yes!" Xiao Wu confessed, sweat dripping from her face.
Ye Tian sighed.
"Both of these are top-tier treasures. Just one of them would take you a month to fully absorb."
"Taking both at once doesn't strengthen you—it only risks destroying your meridians."
"At best, you'll become crippled. At worst, you'll die right here."
Xiao Wu no longer looked shocked.
There was no point in reacting—it was too late.
She could already feel that her dantian and meridians wouldn't hold out much longer.
Xiao Wu forced a bitter smile and looked at Ye Tian.
"I never thought... that I, the great Xiao Wu... would die like this."
"Ye Tian... if you ever go to Shrek Academy…"
"Please tell someone named Tang San... that I… love him very much…"
Hearing this, Ye Tian felt an inexplicable sourness in his heart.
What had Tang San done to deserve such devotion—even at the moment of death?
"You can tell him yourself," Ye Tian said casually.
Xiao Wu was stunned.
She didn't understand why he would say that.
After all, it wasn't a difficult request, right?
Still bewildered, Xiao Wu watched as Ye Tian walked away.
He picked up the silver dragon egg and placed it in front of her.
With a sigh, he said, "If we were anywhere else, treating you would be troublesome."
"But you're lucky—there's a dragon egg here that absorbs energy."
"Focus on keeping the egg safe and transfer all your excess soul power into it."
"Thank you, Ye Tian."
Xiao Wu's pained expression softened with gratitude.
Without him, she would have surely died here.
His abilities were far more important to soul masters than she had ever realized.
Not daring to waste any time, Xiao Wu immediately followed Ye Tian's instructions.
Three Days Later
The turbulent soul power around Xiao Wu finally calmed down.
She let out a long breath and slowly stood up.
Her body looked gaunt, and even her hair was a tangled mess.
Releasing her soul rings, she was pleasantly surprised to find that she now had a seventh ring.
As a reincarnated soul beast, she didn't need to hunt for soul rings—they appeared automatically.
She gasped in excitement.
Her efforts had paid off. She had finally reached Spirit Saint.
This meant she could now safely enter the human world for the Seven Devils' five-year reunion—without fear of being discovered.
Overjoyed, Xiao Wu sighed.
"The effects of the Dragon God's blood and the Sacred Blossom Pill were incredible."
"Not only did I break through to Spirit Saint, but I even gained two extra levels!"
"And that's after transferring most of my energy to the dragon egg."
"If I had absorbed everything, I might have reached Soul Douluo!"
Hearing her exclamation, Ye Tian, who had been napping nearby, slowly opened his eyes.
He glanced at her disheveled hair and chuckled.
"I barely recognize you now."
Xiao Wu realized how terrible she must look.
She averted her gaze awkwardly. "Don't worry about the details."
Hurriedly, she tried to fix her hair—
But without water in the secret realm, she couldn't wash away the grime from her body.
All of it was the impurities expelled during her breakthrough.
Xiao Wu lowered her head to glance at her current messy state. Her delicate face flushed red, and she immediately covered her eyes.
This was peak social embarrassment.
Crunch, crunch.
As she covered her eyes, the crisp sound of chewing arose beside her.
Gurgle.
Xiao Wu's uncooperative stomach, seemingly enticed by the aroma of food, started protesting.
"Uh, Ye Tian, do you have any food left? I haven't eaten in three days."
Xiao Wu released her hands, throwing aside any concern for her image.
After all, over the past three days, Ye Tian had already seen her at her worst.
Eating was far more important.
"Nope."
Ye Tian shrugged.
He had only brought a few snacks when he left, and those were long gone.
"Then… where is that chewing sound coming from?"
Xiao Wu asked in surprise, scanning her surroundings.
Ye Tian also revealed a look of confusion at her words.
The two exchanged glances and fell silent at the same time.
The crunch sound became even clearer.
Following the sound, they both looked down.
Only then did they realize—the base of the dragon egg had already cracked open.
A small, delicate, pale hand had stretched out from the egg, groping around for fragments.
"That's a human hand!" Xiao Wu exclaimed, pointing at it in shock.
"Is this dragon egg hatching a child?!"
She had been expecting a dragon all this time!
"Looks like it."
Ye Tian's expression remained indifferent.
He had already suspected that the one inside the eggshell had a human-like form.
Perhaps because of Xiao Wu's soul power infusion, the dragon egg had fully absorbed the energy ahead of schedule, leading to an early hatching.
For Ye Tian, this was actually a good thing.
If Gu Yuena hatched early, that meant they could leave sooner.
Otherwise, if they had to stay in this secret realm for another half a month…
They might actually have to survive by gnawing on tree roots.
Ye Tian crouched down.
He flipped the dragon egg over.
A silver-haired, completely soaked little girl emerged.
Her small head peeked out from the cracked shell, her tiny hands still clutching fragments of the egg.
Her deep blue eyes, like a starry sky, gazed curiously at Ye Tian and Xiao Wu.
She showed no fear at all. Instead, she happily called out in a clear, sweet voice:
"Daddy, Mommy, hungry!"
The moment those words were spoken—
The air seemed to freeze.
Ye Tian and Xiao Wu locked eyes.
Then, they immediately stepped apart.
Xiao Wu was by far the most embarrassed—she wasn't prepared for this at all.
This was the Dragon King's child!
She didn't dare just accept a daughter like this.
Ye Tian forced a smile and explained,
"This is probably an instinct of dragon-type soul beasts. They regard the first person they see as their parent."
Hearing this, Xiao Wu's expression softened a little.
She knew about this behavior.
In fact, it wasn't exclusive to dragons—most soul beasts had this instinct.
Feigning composure, Xiao Wu pulled herself together and praised,
"As expected of the Dragon King's offspring! She's just been born, yet she can already speak."
Ye Tian didn't bother correcting Xiao Wu's misconception that this was Gu Yuena's child.
Instead, he turned to her and asked,
"Do you have any spare clothes in your storage space?"
He quickly pointed at the soaked little Gu Yuena, afraid Xiao Wu might misunderstand him.
"I do."
Xiao Wu immediately caught his meaning and retrieved a set of clothes from her storage space.
Ye Tian took them and examined them carefully.
Then, he summoned a Taiyi Divine Needle and quickly threaded it through the fabric.
Before long—
A dress took shape.
Watching the whole process, Xiao Wu was surprised.
"I didn't know you had such skills."
"Basic stuff," Ye Tian replied casually.
He asked Xiao Wu to dry off little Gu Yuena, then helped her into the dress.
As for the eggshell, Ye Tian simply tossed it aside.
Although dragon eggshells were considered the first nutritious meal for newborn dragons,
Since Gu Yuena had called him "Daddy," he naturally wouldn't let her eat something so crude.
"Since the Dragon King entrusted you to raise her, what will you name her?" Xiao Wu asked curiously.
"Gu Yuena," Ye Tian said seriously.
Xiao Wu was stunned.
"Isn't that the Dragon King's name?"
"This is a dragon tradition," Ye Tian fabricated on the spot.
"Oh, I see." Xiao Wu nodded in half-understanding.
She then gently grasped little Gu Yuena's tiny hands and smiled.
"Little Nana, do you know how to leave this secret realm?"
"Hungry."
Little Gu Yuena didn't quite understand the question. Instead, her deep blue eyes fixated on Xiao Wu's chest.
Xiao Wu's face instantly turned red, and she covered her chest.
"...I don't have any," she explained earnestly to little Gu Yuena.
Ye Tian couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Xiao Wu's face grew even redder.
Fortunately, little Gu Yuena was simply hungry. Seeing that she couldn't get food from Xiao Wu, her blue eyes dimmed slightly in disappointment.
But her hands instinctively moved in a gesturing pattern.
Seeing this, Ye Tian thought for a moment and said,
"Xiao Wu, you should memorize this—it might be the formation to leave."
Hearing this, Xiao Wu quickly nodded.
She mimicked little Gu Yuena's gestures, channeling her soul power as she traced the pattern.
However, Xiao Wu had never drawn a formation before.
Her movements were clumsy, and she failed several times in a row.
Luckily, on her final attempt, her luck exploded—
She successfully drew the formation!
"It worked!" Xiao Wu breathed a sigh of relief.
Drawing this formation had consumed so much soul power.
If it hadn't worked, she would've run out of energy.
—
When Ye Tian, Xiao Wu, and Gu Yuena's figures stabilized once more—
A towering primeval forest reappeared before them.
"Whew! We're finally out!" Xiao Wu let out a joyful cheer.
Though the secret realm was beneficial for cultivation, the environment was far too stifling.
"Sister Xiao Wu, you're finally back!"
"Yeah! We've been waiting here for ten days!"
The Titan Giant Ape sighed in relief.
Not far away, the Azure Bull Python, who had been waiting for Xiao Wu's return, called out excitedly.
"Ye Tian."
The Sea Witch, standing elegantly nearby, smiled upon seeing him.
"Wait a second—was the time flow different inside the secret realm? You two already have a child?!"
Xiao Bai approached curiously, staring at the silver-haired little girl in Ye Tian's arms.
The moment those words were spoken—
The previously warm atmosphere instantly stiffened.
The Sky Azure Bull Python also took note of Xiao Wu's disheveled state, which was vastly different from her usual appearance.
Its tone turned wary.
"Sister Xiao Wu, tell me—did Ye Tian do something to you in there?"
(End of Chapter)