NOVPUB"Eh?"
Wang Ba looked at the egg in surprise.
A golden-red light flickered faintly through the cracks of the eggshell.
Having raised spirit beasts for so many years, he immediately recognized that there was something extraordinary about this egg.
"Could this be a Fanming’s egg? But the one from before seemed much, much larger than this one..."
A few guesses rose in Wang Ba’s mind.
He told the Wu Monkey King not to disturb it, then carefully felt the temperature around the egg, making sure there were no fluctuations before withdrawing.
"How did you find it?"
Wang Ba asked with some curiosity.
However, as soon as the question left his mouth, he realized the answer.
The Wu Monkey King was always fond of sitting in trees to cultivate; finding this egg was not that unusual.
Indeed, the Wu Monkey King made a sitting gesture, as if meditating.
Then, as if thinking of something, it quickly scratched in its fur-laden crotch, and pulled out a large handful of rings of various appearances.
It pushed them in front of Wang Ba. 𝘯𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝑐𝑜𝑚
"Storage treasures?!"
"So many? Where did you get these from?"
Wang Ba looked at the Wu Monkey King in astonishment.
He only swept a glance over them, but he could tell that each of these storage treasures was of exceptional quality, clearly belonging to owners of high status.
The Wu Monkey King stretched out its arms, fluttering them like wings, and then pointed at a snow pit in the distance.
Wang Ba suddenly understood.
"You mean, you found them inside the feathers that fell from the Fanming?"
"Heehee!"
The Wu Monkey King grinned wide and laughed without taking credit.
Although it could speak already, it seemed to prefer not to.
After handing over the rings to Wang Ba, it jumped onto a fork in the tree canopy and sat down cross-legged.
Wang Ba couldn’t help but sweep his spiritual mind over these rings, and his eyes soon widened in shock.
"This is..."
Among the dozen or so rings, many spirit items were hidden.
The quality of these spirit items was almost all above Class IV.
Talismans, elixirs whose uses were unknown, magic tools overflowing with demonic Qi, unidentified bones, blood basins, and more.
Most of the manufactured treasures carried a somewhat strange aura of the Demon Dao.
But there were also some rare heaven-and-earth treasures.
As the Chief Division Master of the Five Elements Division in Diwu Hall, Wang Ba was able to identify most of these materials.
But he was even more astonished.
"This... this could probably be the entire accumulation of a small country, and yet there might not be so many treasures, right?"
"Some of these items would even be of great use to a Nascent Soul Cultivator."
He couldn’t help but pick up a piece of purple stalactite milk, as thick as half an arm and crystal clear.
He recognized it; it was something that could only form in special caves with extremely dense spiritual energy, aided by countless years of dripping from a substance named ’Purple Fluorite Water.’
Taking it could help a Nascent Soul Cultivator during their Crossing Tribulation, reducing the disturbance of Heart Demons.
A piece the size of a fingertip was worth as much as a Fourth-Grade Magical Treasure.
Yet it was hard to come by.
"Heart Demon..."
Wang Ba pondered inwardly.
He had the Heart Calming from the Wanzhou School, so he wasn’t too worried about disturbances from Heart Demons.
Moreover, the quantity of this purple stalactite milk was exceptionally large; he wouldn’t need much of it for himself.
After some thought, he cut the purple stalactite milk into more than ten parts.
He took two parts for himself, and picked out a few other spirit items of similar value.
"These look like they might be magic treasures from Demon Sect cultivators... I wonder who the Fanming has robbed."
A trail of thought flickered through Wang Ba’s mind.
But he quickly pushed it aside.
Regardless of how the Fanming had done it, everything was his now.
He would examine everything later when he had the time, to prevent any hidden traps.
He then took the two portions of purple stalactite milk and a few spirit items with him, and found Ying He and Li Yingfu, who were hiding in an iron ship healing their injuries.
"Chief Division Master."
Upon seeing Wang Ba, Ying He’s face showed a bit of shame.
As someone responsible for protecting Wang Ba on this journey, he had been defeated by the Fanming in just an encounter.
This situation truly left him somewhat embarrassed to face Wang Ba.
Wang Ba, however, stepped forward first, speaking with gratitude, earnestly saying:
"If not for Enforcer Ying and Enforcer Li’s timely intervention, Wang Ba might have been swallowed by that Fanming. Please allow me to bow in thanks to you both."
With that said, he immediately bowed to each of them in turn.
Ying He and Li Yingfu, feeling that they had not protected him well enough, quickly dodged aside, repeatedly saying they didn’t dare accept it.
But Wang Ba still sincerely said:
"Both enforcers needn’t feel ashamed for losing to the Fanming... Enforcer Li should know, the day Martial Uncle Ling Weizi and Martial Uncle Qiu Zhongqiu encountered the Fanming, they too were caught off guard in an instance. After all, that bird has the empowerments of a Primordial Spirit, and its Illusion Techniques are difficult to counter below Immortal Ascension; this is nothing unusual."
Hearing Wang Ba’s words, Ying He was somewhat surprised:
"Even the peak master Ling Weizi and Guardian Qu were tricked?"
Li Yingfu, who had once been in the Sen State, was aware of the situation and promptly nodded.
Seeing this, Ying He felt slightly relieved.
Although he also counted as one with considerable combat prowess in the Tianyuan Hall, compared to seasoned Fulfillment-stage Nascent Soul Cultivators like Ling Weizi, especially beings like Qiu Zhongqiu who stood out even among those at the Fulfillment of Nascent Soul, there was a significant gap.
If even these two had lost to the bird, then his defeat was only natural.
However, he quickly realized the intention behind Wang Ba’s words and bowed slightly, gratitude apparent on his face:
"Thank you for the reminder, Chief Division Master."
If Wang Ba hadn’t taken the time to counsel him, he might have left some mental scar or flaw.
Although the probability was not high, Wang Ba’s words undoubtedly severed that chance.
The effort behind his actions was clear.
Wang Ba quickly waved his hand to dismiss it, then, remembering why he’d come, he took out the two prepared portions of purple stalactite milk and a few spirit items he temporarily had no use for and handed them to both men.
