“What just happened?” Wan Chou mumbled to himself. Then he suddenly remembered something and screamed out, “This is a beast that chooses its master!”

“Hahaha, Brother Chou, you never thought about this before, did you? You can’t take the egg back now. Only a Xian level beast or higher can choose its own master!” Fung Lie knew that the black egg must contain an incredible beast, so he smirked at Wan Chou.

In this world, there was a ranking for beasts. There were thirty-six known Shen Beasts and seventy-two known Xian Beasts, which were all extremely powerful. When a practitioner entered the imperial realm, he could even transform into a beast, like Fang Yun, who transformed into a roc which carried Fang Yuyou away.

“How is this possible? My master found this egg thousands of years ago in a remote land in the south. He couldn’t figure out what kind of beast was dwelling inside, so he put it in the Gestation Room. During the past millennium, the egg only absorbed the power from one crystal every year, much slower than the other eggs. How could this be a Xian Beast…” Wan Chou was shocked, and finally realized he had said too much, “What I mean is since the egg considered young brother Xuanyuan as its master, then of course it’s yours. Hahaha….”

Wan Chou sounded like his heart was breaking as he gave the egg away. Xuanyuan returned a smile, just to rub it in, “Thank you Brother Wan.”

“You must have karma related to the devouring emperor. I knew it wouldn’t be dead, even after all this time. It looks like it used a Reverse Reincarnation. This is still only the first of its nine lives. Hahaha, it’s even greedier than I am, you’ll have to wait and see, boy.” Greed was very excited, like he was meeting an old friend after a long time.

“It’s greedy but also very scared of death. Only it would think of surviving on one crystal a year. It would have no danger of being thrown away, while also not costing much to sustain, that way it would never be abandoned and instead kept as a mysterious treasure. It’s still as devious as usual.”

Xuanyuan couldn’t understand what Greed was saying, but he remembered what Greed once asked, “Is this the mount of the devouring emperor?”

“You’re not as stupid as you look. That’s right. It followed the emperor for a long time, much longer than myself. It was by the emperor’s side ever since birth and it grew up with the emperor as a child. But it has used a Reverse Reincarnation, which means it’s in a severely injured state. It will need a lot of life essence and Natural Fighting Qi to restore its power.”

“Natural Fighting Qi?” Xuanyuan couldn’t understand.

“Fighting stones, jades, crystals and concentrates are all formed by the most natural and purest of Qi. They all have different classes according to their levels of purity, but they are all much purer than a human’s fighting Qi. Do you understand?” Greed sounded very happy. However, after a while, it continued calmly, “It’s not going to be easy to hatch it. It will also have to devour life essence. So it looks like you’ll have to provide enough life essence for the two of us now, boy.”

Xuanyuan was irritated at the notion, “Damn it, all you ever do is take stuff from me.”

“Boy, you’re hard to please. All the sects around the world would surely fight over the emperors’ legacies, if they know our existence, but they will also try to control us. Since you have a Body of All Creations, we can restore our strength by using you instead, but we don’t like to be controlled. We enjoy freedom!

“Not to mention all the various techniques that we provide to you are unbuyable, even with all the money in the world. If you can find another Origin of Memories, then I can teach you the way of refining the five organs. Of course, it’d be better if you could find more techniques from other schools for us.”

Xuanyuan rolled his eyes in annoyance. ‘Greed was no better than a thief’ he thought.

“Who is a thief? It’s survival of the fittest! That’s the way of martial arts. Do you know why one sect can own so many different techniques? There used to be many sects which were scattered throughout the lands. But after all the wars and battles, there’re only a few sects left standing. The techniques they possess were all taken through the slaughter of another school or sect. You’ve killed many people on your way here and you even robbed their money. How dare you call me a thief. You are same as us!”

Xuanyuan had to agree that Greed was right on this point. He then put the egg inside his ring for the meantime. When he turned around and saw that Wan Chou was distraught, he bowed deeply and said, “Thank you, Brother Wan.”

His voice drew Wan Chou’s attention. Wan Chou smiled rigidly, “You’re very welcome. You must have other things to tend to, so I won’t send you off. Farewell!”

Fung Lie laughed, “Then we’ll take our leave, brother Chou. Take care. We’ll be sure to visit you from time to time.”

Fung Lie and Xuanyuan quickly left the mountain, leaving Wan Chou to wallow in regret and self-pity. Wan Chou swore to thoroughly check every single strange egg in the Gestation Room from now on.

“Haha, brother Xuanyuan, you’re very good at finding hidden gems. I wonder what is inside the egg, it might actually be a Xian Beast!” Fung Lie was delighted. He had already taken a liking to Xuanyuan, so he was extremely happy for him.

“I don’t know. I just touched it lightly and afterwards it shook. It felt like it was calling out to me, so I chose it. I won’t mind even if it’s not a Xian Beast.” Xuanyuan replied calmly. It was once the mount of an emperor, so there was no chance of it being weak when it matured. “Brother Fung Lie, are there any judgment stands around here? I want to exchange what I collected on the way here for some rewards.”

“Of course, but you still need a Token of Fighting Dragons to exchange them for merit points. We’ll go back to Mt. Fighting Dragon first. There’s a stand on that mountain as well. Then, we will go our separate ways and you will need to make your own way.”

“No problem!” Xuanyuan answered. Then he said to Greed, “If the egg absorbs the power from those nine stones from the emperor of acquisition, will it be able to restore its power? Then I won’t have any need to worry for my own safety.”

“If it can absorb the stones’ power, it would have done it the moment it entered your ring. It’s not strong enough to handle that much power. It might be killed just trying to absorb a fraction of the power inside the stones. Even I don’t dare to absorb their power. It has sustained even greater damage than I did over the years. When you grow more powerful, I only have one thing to ask of you, boy – kill everyone who was connected to the downfall of the devouring emperor. Massacre them all!” Greed said venomously.

“I will. When I become powerful, I will avenge the Emperor. I’m practicing the technique that he created, so he is in many ways, my benefactor.” Xuanyuan swore to himself and Greed.

The Dragon Scale Horse galloped through the air, heading towards a gigantic mountain. That mountain was the home of the Fighting Dragons Sect.

“This is Mt. Fighting Dragon. You’ll have to continue your cultivation here in the future. With your strength as it stands, you will easily become a top inner disciple. You should head over to the examiner inside the Inner Hall. If you pass his test, you will obtain the Token of Fighting Dragons. You can head over to the judgment stand afterwards.” While looking at the mountain, numerous memories of the past flashed through Fung Lie’s mind.

“You will be at the Inner Hall after you pass through the forest. This is the lowest level for all inner disciples. Beneath here is where the outer disciples live. Remember, you should slowly climb the ladder until you reach the top and receive your ranking in the List of Merits. Then you will truly be part of the Fighting Dragons Sect.”

Fung Lie dropped Xuanyuan at the halfway point of the mountain, before he flew back into the air on his horse.

“I understand, Brother Fung Lie!” He looked at Fung Lie and watched as he left. He turned around to see a green forest ahead of him. He took a deep breath and ran into the depths of the forest.

“Help me!” A woman’s cry for help suddenly filled the air. Xuanyuan frowned and turned to head towards the sound.