Chapter Ninety-Nine: Taking Stock of the Harvest

"And the farmed Purple Thunder Eagles aren't even eagles anymore; they're nothing but bald chickens!"

The Purple Thunder Eagle opened its eyes slightly, a final thought flashing through its mind: "I refuse to let my offspring become bald chickens."

Suddenly, the eagle seemed to catch sight of something. Its pupils contracted, reflecting profound shock and disbelief. Before it could react, its limp head slammed into the earth. A sharp, searing pain flashed and vanished as its skull shattered instantly. It died with its eyes wide open, never finding peace.

What had it seen? That human had actually leaped from the middle of the cliff face and snatched away its most prized egg!

Chen Qi cradled the egg in his arms, his body still plummeting. He was thirty or forty meters above the ground. With a physique far superior to the average person, he wouldn't die from the fall, but hitting the jagged rocks would be agonizing.

Tucking the egg against his soft abdomen, Chen Qi curled his knees into a fetal position to brace for the impact. Despite preparing for the landing, he had no desire to endure the pain, so he tried shouting at the top of his lungs: "Senior Sister, catch me!"

With a loud crash, the expected soft embrace never materialized. Chen Qi slammed into the stones, creating a small crater where he landed, sending gravel scattering in every direction.

At the very instant he neared the ground, Chen Qi straightened his bent legs, slamming them hard against the earth.

"Bang!"

A massive surge of force traveled up his legs and through his entire body. If one could slow down time to observe his muscles, they would see his leg muscles swell instantly from the violent impact, followed by the muscles in his waist and chest. Even with the cushioning of his flesh and blood, his head continued to snap downward due to the unstoppable momentum.

Ignoring the agonizing pain as if his body were falling apart and the snapping of tendons and bones, Chen Qi forced himself to roll continuously to dissipate the residual force.

Finally, his body came to a halt. He couldn't help but vomit a mouthful of blood, his aura rapidly wilting to a visible degree. He felt the world spinning, and a bone-breaking pain radiated from his legs, where even some fascia had torn. More than that, his internal organs had been damaged by the powerful shockwave, which was the cause of his blood-spitting.

Fortunately, his Physique attribute was at 18 points—his highest stat. For context, a normal adult's physique was only 5 points.

His health remained at 22%.

Yet, the physical agony could not mask the profound sense of loss in his heart. His Senior Sister, had she really refused to catch him?

"With her strength, it should have been easy for her to do so."
"Could it be that Senior Sister Yun no longer wants physical contact with me?"
"Did she just let me fall like that? What if I hadn't prepared for the landing?"

A flurry of distracting thoughts flooded his mind. Chen Qi forcibly suppressed his disappointment. No, he lowered his head for a few seconds, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill, and only raised his head once he felt he had hidden his expression.

He saw Yun Tianxin with her hands bound, her eyes overflowing with a clear, ethereal light, gazing at him with curiosity.

In an instant, Chen Qi's sense of grievance vanished, and he nearly laughed through his tears.

Yun Tianxin had chosen to bind herself the moment before she lost control! So, Senior Sister hadn't refused to save him at all!

On the mountain boulders, the youth’s smile was like morning clouds clearing from the mist; the maiden’s expression was like the mysterious starry sky.

"Pat, pat, pat!"

Seeming to instinctively crave proximity to the man before her, the irrational Yun Tianxin wiggled her feet and ran toward Chen Qi, her soles making crisp sounds on the stone. Chen Qi, naturally, did not choose to dodge. After placing the hard-won egg into his storage space, he smiled and opened his arms, welcoming her embrace.

Well, even if it was taking advantage of the situation.

One second Chen Qi was anxious, and the next, he felt soft jade in his arms. A familiar fragrance drifted from her hair into his nostrils. Chen Qi felt intoxicated; his injuries seemed to heal a little, hurting less.

Yun Tianxin’s weak-force collision didn't move him; instead, it sent her entirely into his arms. She didn't seem to care, resting her lovely face on his shoulder and twitching her nose, as if familiarizing herself with his scent. Chen Qi watched this with a silly grin, his right hand brushing a lock of her hair, mimicking her naive, adorable behavior by twitching his own nose.

For a moment, the two of them sniffed each other like puppies, a sight so ridiculous that if anyone else had seen it, Chen Qi would have had to ensure they never spoke of it again.

After playing with Yun Tianxin for a while, Chen Qi ignored the warm, soft figure clinging to him and walked over to the carcass of the Purple Thunder Eagle. Perhaps because it had been "contaminated" by Yun Tianxin’s intervention, the corpse didn't drop a treasure chest, much to Chen Qi's disappointment.

"I thought there would be at least a blue chest, but this stingy space won't even give me a hundred credits," Chen Qi muttered to himself, pulling out his blade to carve up the beast.

Thanks to the temptation of contribution points and the knowledge from his Basic Blade Technique, Chen Qi—a shut-in who had never seen blood before—had mastered such skilled dissection techniques in just a month. Was this a loss of humanity or a lack of morality?

"With these skills, I could open a butcher shop at the market and get rich..." he thought, mocking himself as he laid out the severed eagle claws and beak.

He was drifting further and further from his image of an immortal swordsman, looking more like a butcher instead. It was also worth mentioning that he had plucked every single one of the eagle’s difficult-to-handle plumes. The feathers, marked with lightning patterns and stained with blood, possessed an eerie beauty.

Chen Qi couldn't help but touch one. The next moment, he jolted; the palm that touched the feather went numb. It seemed the plume was still slowly generating electricity. Seeing this, he was delighted rather than angry. He didn't even need to think to know that these precious feathers, longer than his palm, were worth a good amount of contribution points.

While the joy was still fresh, Chen Qi took the egg out of his storage space. Instantly, Yun Tianxin, who had been clinging to him and trying to climb his back, focused her attention on it. With a goofy smile, she leaned in. Fearing she might break the precious egg, Chen Qi gently pressed his left hand against her head while rushing to observe the egg's attributes.

[Purple Thunder Eagle Egg]
Origin: Cangxing Continent
Quality: Purple
Category: Biological (Awaiting incubation)
Effect: Once hatched, it can become a follower under the notarization of the 'Sprout Space.'

Note: Each selectee/contractor has a limited number of follower slots, which are difficult to expand; please cherish them.
Note: If a follower dies, they are gone forever!
Current Follower Slots: 1/1
Purple Thunder Eagle Potential: B+
Rating: 320 (Maximum value for Purple quality items)
Description: An egg of a Purple Thunder Eagle, containing a poor creature that nearly died before even seeing the world. But having survived a great disaster, who knows what the future holds for this little one?
Price: 4,000 Universal Points

"Awesome!"

A satisfied smile spread across Chen Qi's face, followed by a long sigh, looking exactly like a man after an intimate encounter. Beside him, Yun Tianxin looked hesitant, as if debating whether to stay away from this lecherous man.

Rubbing the soft hair of the woman still clinging to him, Chen Qi waited for his injuries to ease slightly before continuing his journey. Before leaving, he couldn't help but look back at the remains of the Purple Thunder Eagle.

"No chest! Garbage beast!"

Suddenly, he felt a tug from the woman whose hand he was holding. It turned out Yun Tianxin was throwing a tantrum, refusing to leave.

"There, there, my dear," Chen Qi tried calling out to her, using the gentlest voice he could muster to coax her.

But the irrational Yun Tianxin wouldn't cooperate. So, he hoisted her onto his back again. She began to twist and struggle, but soon, her spirit-filled face fell into deep thought, as if she had thought of something fun.

Shortly after, a new set of tooth marks appeared on the back of Chen Qi’s neck. They were quite fresh and red, standing in stark contrast to the older, darkened marks nearby.

Chen Qi, still walking through the mountains, didn't mind at all. In his heart, he was shouting: "Harder, a little higher. Yeah, licking is fine too."

Of course, on the surface, he remained calm and indifferent, maintaining the image of a mature father tolerating a child's play.

Chen Qi looked at the sky. By his estimation, it was around three in the afternoon, with plenty of time before dark. He was already to the east of the Cloud Sea Sect and not far away; if he sprinted, he could return to the sect by nine or ten at night.

However, a dilemma stirred in his heart. He was considering a very serious question—one that might concern his future!