Zhi Yan's brows creased as her eyes tracked Lin Fang's distant silhouette, vanishing into the shadowed burrow.
"What's in there?" she asked quickly, her voice edged with alarm. "Why is it bad?"
Li Changfeng exhaled through his nose, his voice almost turned into a hush, "It's not just any place in the Spirit Valley. It's a prison that holds an evil spirit king, one of the three rarest kings in this place, who retained its ability to attack humans even in its spirit form. Other spirits, if they don't like the plainfolk humans, they avoid, but this one attacks."
Zhi Yan stiffened.
Without another word, she surged forward.
But a firm grip caught her wrist, halting her movements before she even stepped into the valley.
"You can't," said Li Changfeng, gripping tighter when she struggled.
"Let me go!" she snapped. "I have to save him. I brought him here because I believed in his future, not to watch him walk into a damn grave!"
Li Changfeng's tone deepened. "There's a reason why only that boy was allowed in. He didn't have any mana. If someone like you enters this spirit valley, the spirits will go berserk; each would compete in order to possess you."
Zhi Yan gritted her teeth, heart pounding in her chest. "But…"
Li Changfeng cut her off with a stern tone. "I won't lie. He might get hurt. Broken ribs, internal bruises, or maybe worse. But he'll live. The spirit's bound in ancient chains. So, as long as he can see the threat and get away in time, the boy will not be harmed."
Zhi Yan's fingers trembled as she curled them to her chest, clenching the fabric of her jacket. She stared at the cave's dark mouth in worry.
Meanwhile, inside the cave… Lin Fang had already come face-to-face with the chained monster.
Golden energy chains stretched across the cave walls like living vines, pulsating with ancient symbols. In their center, shackled and thrashing, was a feline spirit, looking like a cat, with burning silver eyes.
It hissed in rage as soon as it saw Lin Fang.
Lin Fang, on the other hand, looked frozen in his spot. Not because he feared this evil spirit, but he had his breath hitched as the system's scans showed unexpected results.
Species: Nemesis
Grade: Mythical
Potential: Level 90 (Quasi-God Tier)
State: Spirit – Sealed
Condition: Violently unstable, deeply bound, soul-suppressed. It will attack anyone who comes two feet closer to it.
"Level ninety?" Lin Fang whispered. His legs nearly gave out in shock.
In his whole life, forget about encountering one, he had never even heard of a level-90 beast.
The strongest monster in Huaxi City was an Emperor Tier beast, a Level-63 monster named the Glacial Dragon. The strongest monster in the entire country of Northern Yan was the Emperor Qilin, a level-79 monster owned by the number one monster Tamer and the pride of Northern Yan, Ren Tianyu.
What was Quasi-God Tier? It was in the realm of mythical beasts.
How could the spirit of such a beast be imprisoned in a place like this?
And moreover, the System was offering him a chance to claim it and then even let him sell its eggs to the public? That will change his damn fortune.
"System," he murmured without any hesitation in his voice as he stepped forward, standing away three feet from the chained spirit, enough to pick it and still be out of its range. "I choose this spirit."
Ding!
[Initiating Soul Chain Binding…]
Suddenly, golden chains exploded out of Lin Fang's chest.
They danced like lightning bolts, whipping through the air and slamming into the shackled spirit cat, wrapping it tighter. The beast let out a bloodcurdling shriek as it was pulled toward Lin Fang.
"Argh…"
As it forcefully entered Lin Fang's body, he screamed too. "The hell. You didn't warn me this… You damn system…"
It felt like someone cracked his skull open. His head throbbed violently, his vision almost turned blurry, and for a moment, his breath even stopped.
His knees hit the ground with a thud. Fortunately, it only lasted a few seconds before his mind returned to peace. The effects disappeared soon after, as a notification chime filled his head and a new holographic window erupted out of thin air.
Ding!
[Emergency Quest Complete]
[New Monster Acquired: Nemesis]
[You added a new type of Prehistoric monster to the system. Mythical grade has been detected. Additional Bonus Reward: 100,000 Coins Earned]
[Nemesis Egg has been added to the Summoner's Shop]
His hands dug into the soft soil. Sweat trickled down his neck. However, going past the pain he went through for a few seconds, he started smiling.
"I did it," he whispered hoarsely. "I actually did it. Haha…" Lin Fang couldn't help but curse aloud, eyes wide with disbelief as the System's notifications kept blinking across his vision.
His eyes couldn't help but read a particular notification again and again in order to confirm that he didn't mistake a zero. "1… 2… 3… 4…5… Yup, five zeroes… 100,000 coins… Haha, I'm right…"
He almost dropped to the ground again. His hands trembled in excitement. "How much was it? That's… ten million credits? That's more than my former house… my debts… my entire life savings, all combined."
"I'm not dreaming, right?" he muttered, pinching his own cheek. "Ssss…. Ha… I'm not dreaming."
A moment later;
Opening Summoner's shop, he scrolled down to check the egg details.
Nemesis Egg
Grade: Legendary
Potential: Max Lv. 80 (Saint Tier)
Price: 100,000 Coins
"Legendary?" Lin Fang blinked in surprise. "Didn't I capture a mythical tire beast? Why is this one a legendary grade egg and its potential a Saint Tier instead of Quasi-God Tier? But then again, level 80 is the same as being the strongest monster in this country. I shouldn't complain about it. It's like complaining about paying taxes after winning a lottery. However, there is just one problem…"
His eyes lowered further to the last line, the price.
"100,000 coins to purchase one egg," he muttered. "That's a thousand times more expensive than the Direwolf eggs."
His excitement died, and a bit of frustration replaced it for a moment. "Who would even buy it?"
Who buys this egg from an unreliable and unknown seller like Lin Fang?
And anyone with the power to afford this egg would also have the power to take it by force.
"I'd be painting a damn target on my back," he grumbled, his mood turned sour from happiness.
In the end, he sighed.
"Forget about it," he decided. "At least for now. We have other things to sell anyway. Also, I don't think my heart would handle ten million credits of transactions anyway. Why all these stupid imaginations and waste my time…"
He grinned, rubbing the back of his neck. If he hadn't left the house with her… if she hadn't brought him here… none of this would have happened.
"Just… associating with her," he whispered again, "is changing my whole damn life."
He clenched his fists and gave a small, breathless laugh. "A second chance at everything…"
He'd never believed in fate, but…
"Zhi Yan," he murmured, eyes glowing. "Maybe you really are my lucky star."
After a while, he sat cross-legged in the cave before the holographic screen.
[Coins: 100,088]
"Okay, time to splurge."