From the crack in the eggshell, a green light pulsed like breathing. Hua Qian Gu held the egg to her ear, hearing a faint "dong dong" sound from within, like a heartbeat, or someone knocking.
“Soon, soon,” Hua Qian Gu whispered soothingly, “Don’t rush, Mother is waiting for you.”
She placed the egg on the stone bed and went to pour a bowl of water for herself. Just as she lifted the bowl, the stone chamber door was kicked open from the outside.
It wasn’t Sha Qian Mo.
Sha Qian Mo wouldn’t kick down a door.
Hua Qian Gu turned, her pupils contracting sharply.
Ni Mantian stood at the doorway.
She wore a black dress, her hair unbound, her eyes dark red—not human eyes, but a mark left by demonic energy corrosion. Black mist coiled around her, and she exuded a cold, evil aura.
“Ni Mantian?” Hua Qian Gu put down the bowl, instinctively shielding Tang Bao’s egg, “How did you get in?”
“I walked in,” Ni Mantian stepped into the stone chamber, her voice much lower than before, as if squeezed from the depths of her throat, “The guards at the Demon Emperor Palace? Hmph, a bunch of useless trash.”
Hua Qian Gu’s heart sank.
Ni Mantian had become stronger. Not just a little, but significantly stronger. The demonic energy emanating from her was so potent that even Hua Qian Gu, a mortal, could feel the oppressive pressure.
“You’ve become a demon,” Hua Qian Gu stated.
“Become a demon?” Ni Mantian laughed, a chilling sound, “No, I’ve evolved. If the Immortal Realm can’t contain me, I’ll go to the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm is better than the Immortal Realm; at least people there don’t pretend.”
She took a step forward, and Hua Qian Gu retreated a step.
“Hua Qian Gu, you ruined my reputation, making me infamous in the Immortal Realm,” Ni Mantian’s voice dripped with bone-deep hatred, “You think that’s enough to defeat me? You’re too naive.”
“I never intended to defeat you,” Hua Qian Gu said calmly, “I just wanted you to stop harming others.”
“Stop harming others?” Ni Mantian burst into laughter, a sharp, piercing sound, “I harm others? Hua Qian Gu, in your previous life, you stole my things! Bai Zi Hua was supposed to take me as his disciple, but you snatched him away! The Power of the Demon God was supposed to be mine, but you took that too! You stole everything from me, and now you tell me to ‘stop harming others’?”
Hua Qian Gu offered no defense.
The matters of the previous life were impossible to explain clearly. What Ni Mantian believed, no amount of words from her could change.
“What do you want?” Hua Qian Gu asked.
“I want—” Ni Mantian’s smile turned ferocious, “—to kill you.”
She attacked.
Without warning, without a hint. Black demonic energy surged from her palm, transforming into a black python that lunged at Hua Qian Gu with its jaws wide open.
Hua Qian Gu dodged to the side, but as a mortal without cultivation, her speed was no match. The black python grazed her shoulder, drawing a mist of blood.
“Hiss—” Hua Qian Gu gasped, a gash torn on her left shoulder, blood flowing down her arm.
“Dodge, keep dodging,” Ni Mantian sneered, conjuring another black python, “Let’s see how many times you can dodge.”
The second black python was faster than the first. Hua Qian Gu had no time to evade and could only use her arm to block.
Just as the black python was about to strike her—
Tang Bao’s egg on the stone bed suddenly erupted with a blinding green light.
The green light acted as a shield, blocking in front of Hua Qian Gu. The black python collided with it, emitting a "chichichi" sound, like hot iron dropped into water, instantly evaporating.
Ni Mantian’s smile froze.
“What is that?”
Hua Qian Gu looked back at Tang Bao’s egg—the cracks on its shell were rapidly expanding, the green light so intense that the entire stone chamber turned emerald green. A powerful spiritual power surged from the egg, spreading outwards in waves.
Tang Bao was protecting her.
But Tang Bao hadn’t hatched yet, its power was limited. It could block once, but not twice.
Ni Mantian clearly realized this too. She let out a cold laugh, unleashing both hands, and four black pythons lunged at Hua Qian Gu simultaneously.
Hua Qian Gu had nowhere to run.
She closed her eyes.
At that very moment—deep within her Dantian, the slumbering Godhead trembled violently.
It wasn’t the slight tremor from before, but a violent, earth-shattering quake. The shell sealing the Godhead shattered like an eggshell, and golden light erupted from the cracks, instantly filling her entire Dantian.
The Godhead had awakened.
Hua Qian Gu opened her eyes, her pupils turning golden.
An unprecedented power surged from within her, like a dam breaking, rushing through her meridians, bones, and flesh. She felt as if she had ignited, her entire body glowing.
The four black pythons lunged forward, and the moment they touched her golden light, they dissolved like snow meeting a scorching sun.
Ni Mantian’s expression changed.
“What is this power?” she stumbled back a step, fear flashing in her eyes.
Hua Qian Gu didn’t answer. She didn’t even know what she was doing. The power seemed to have a will of its own, surging from her body, protecting her, repelling the enemy.
She raised her hand, and a ball of golden light condensed in her palm.
Ni Mantian turned and fled.
The golden light ball flew from Hua Qian Gu’s palm, chasing Ni Mantian through the corridor, and exploded in the main hall of the Demon Emperor Palace. With a roar, two pillars of the hall broke, and a section of the roof collapsed.
Ni Mantian was thrown back by the shockwave, crashing to the ground and spitting out a mouthful of black blood. She scrambled up and fled without looking back.
Hua Qian Gu stood in the stone chamber, the golden light on her body slowly dissipating.
Then her legs gave out, and she collapsed.
“Hua Qian Gu!”
Sha Qian Mo’s voice echoed from afar, growing closer. He rushed into the stone chamber, saw Hua Qian Gu lying on the ground amidst the bloodstains, and his face instantly turned pale.
“Hua Qian Gu!” He knelt down and gathered her into his embrace.
Hua Qian Gu was still conscious, but her eyes wouldn’t open. She heard Sha Qian Mo’s voice and wanted to speak, but her lips moved, and no sound came out.
“Don’t speak, I’ll take you to a doctor,” Sha Qian Mo picked her up, his voice trembling.
Hua Qian Gu wanted to tell him: I’m fine, just exhausted. But she couldn’t speak. Her eyelids grew heavier, her consciousness more blurred.
In the last moment before losing consciousness, she heard the sound of Tang Bao’s eggshell cracking.
“Crack—”
A crisp sound, like the first thunderclap of spring.
Then, everything fell silent.
Sha Qian Mo, holding the unconscious Hua Qian Gu, looked down at the egg on the stone bed—the shell had completely split open, and a tiny, green insect crawled out, shook off the residual egg fluid, and opened its mouth, emitting a faint sound:
“Mother…”
It looked at the empty stone bed, then at Hua Qian Gu in Sha Qian Mo’s arms, its small eyes blinking twice.
“Mother!”
Sha Qian Mo looked at the small insect, then at the unconscious Hua Qian Gu in his arms, complex emotions swirling in his purple eyes.
“Someone,” his voice was hoarse.
“Here!”
“Search the entire city for Ni Mantian. Bring her back alive, or dead.”
“Yes!”
Sha Qian Mo strode out of the stone chamber, holding Hua Qian Gu. The little green insect crawled out of its eggshell, climbed up his robes, then onto his shoulder, and finally into Hua Qian Gu’s embrace, curling into a ball against her chest.
“Mother, don’t be afraid,” the little insect’s voice was faint, like wind chimes, “Tang Bao is here.”
Sha Qian Mo looked down at the little insect, then at Hua Qian Gu’s pale face, and quickened his pace.
Hua Qian Gu, you must not be harmed.
You promised to save me.
You cannot break your promise.
【End of Chapter·Comment Section Discussion: Tang Bao has finally hatched, are you happy?】
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