Unaware of what was happening outside, You Lang and Chu Lanqiu were still hatching the demonic egg.
The little demonic beast inside the egg was already taking shape. Its hideous features were the same as those of the giant demonic beasts.
However, Chu Lanqiu noticed from the slight differences that this demonic egg originally belonged to a spiritual beast called the Azure - Blue Peacock.
But it had lost the characteristics of an Azure - Blue Peacock and was instead affected by demonic qi.
The Azure - Blue Peacock was supposed to have beautiful blue - purple feathers, but this spiritual beast only had uneven growths on its body, like pustules.
Moreover, its claws had changed from slender to thick, and instead of three toes, it now had six.
"What kind of demonic qi could cause these spiritual beast eggs to mutate in the womb?"
Chu Lanqiu had also seen some spiritually - disabled or mutated spiritual beasts in the Beast - Taming Sect. But those spiritual beasts still retained their original appearance. They were not like the demonic eggs, which, once infected, seemed to turn into a different species.
You Lang wiped the sweat from his forehead. "If it were that easy to figure out, I wouldn't have made up my mind so firmly to do this."
"I once saw demonic beasts return to normal. Their appearance didn't change at all; only the demonic qi was removed. I wonder if this unborn little spiritual beast will be the same?"
You Lang was referring to the secret realm he had created, where the demonic beasts buried underground had been purified over ten thousand years. Unfortunately, those demonic beasts had been affected by Lin Yibai and had turned into demonic creatures again.
Thinking of this, You Lang couldn't help but feel discouraged. If the demonic beasts that had been purified for ten thousand years could return to their original state after being slightly contaminated by demonic qi, then what they were doing now was just a waste of effort.
The inheritance of the Dragon Clan was incomplete, and their Nether - White Wolf Clan had only received a part of it.
That part of the inheritance had changed the shortcoming that the Nether - White Wolf Clan had to cultivate to transform into human form. He had received the inheritance in a hurry and hadn't had time to understand it thoroughly.
Now, being forced into this situation, he really had no confidence.
"Chu Lanqiu, if you still want to pass the disciple selection, I advise you to go find an egg and start hatching it again. I'm not sure if I'll succeed here. If it delays you from taking the exam, it won't be worth it."
Chu Lanqiu's face darkened, and she felt a bit dejected.
But then she thought that if their research was successful, they could save countless lives. So she cheered up.
The disciple selection was indeed important, but the current matter couldn't be easily given up either.
This egg had almost broken several times when You Lang was casting spells. If it weren't for Chu Lanqiu using herbs to strengthen the spiritual beast inside, the spiritual beast in the egg would have died long ago.
"No, I'll stay here."
"I believe you can do it, and you should believe in me too. I can help you hatch this egg!"
There was an unusual determination in Chu Lanqiu's eyes. You Lang knew he couldn't persuade her, so he focused on the task at hand.
"Okay, your herbs are almost used up. Why don't you go out and find some more? I'll watch over here and take a break..."
Seeing that her herbs were really running out, Chu Lanqiu realized it was time to go out and look for some. She nodded in agreement.
They had known that a group of people had passed by their barrier earlier. Chu Lanqiu also knew that True Lord Kunshan had strengthened the barrier for them.
This barrier could originally only withstand the attacks of cultivators in the God - Transformation stage. But after being strengthened, only cultivators in the Unity stage could break it. So Chu Lanqiu was still at ease.
Since these herbs were rare, Chu Lanqiu decided to go deeper into the Beast Forest. She first prepared two batches of herbs for emergencies.
"These are the herbs I've already prepared. If I don't come back in five days, you can use them first."
You Lang nodded and叮嘱 her, "Be careful!"
After opening the barrier, Chu Lanqiu was about to walk deeper into the forest. But as soon as she stepped out, she was shocked by the scene in front of her.
The ground was covered with the corpses of spiritual beasts and fresh blood. It was bloody and terrifying, and there was also an unpleasant smell.
"No way..."
Chu Lanqiu quickly opened her sound - transmitting jade pendant and found that she had received several messages from Shen Qing.
Afraid that Chu Lanqiu would be scared when she saw the scene, Shen Qing had explained what had happened. She also said that she and Li Xian had just survived the thunder tribulation and had returned to the Beast - Taming Sect first. They would come back in a few days.
Only then did Chu Lanqiu feel relieved, and she sent a message back to Shen Qing.
Looking at the spiritual beasts all over the ground, one could imagine how hard Shen Qing and Li Xian had fought here...
Chu Lanqiu, who was very familiar with the habits of spiritual beasts, also noticed that the feathers on the wings of the White - Crested Flying Tigers were all gone.
She immediately thought that the feathers on their wings were poisonous and very difficult to cure. So she sent another message to Shen Qing, telling her how to counter the poison of the flying tigers.
Shen Qing was worried about how to treat the wound on Li Xian's back. After knowing the reason, she immediately called Xian Shiyu over and explained the situation. Xian Shiyu then immediately found a medicinal plaster for Li Xian to apply.
Li Xian's pale face finally showed a hint of color, and the way she walked was no longer awkward.
After doing all this, Chu Lanqiu put away the jade pendant, hid her aura in a special way, and walked deeper into the forest.
Among the herbs she needed, two were very hard to find: the Celestial - Fairy Seed and the Drunken - Dragon Grass.
The Celestial - Fairy Seed was a crystal - like substance formed by the long - term accumulation of the secretion of a spiritual beast called the Celestial - Fairy Insect.
The Drunken - Dragon Grass grew beside a lake deep in the forest.
Both of these things were relatively hard to find, so Chu Lanqiu quickened her pace on the way. She didn't stop even when she passed by some rare herbs that she usually didn't see.
The Hundred - Mile Beast Forest was named so because only the area within a hundred - mile radius around it was suitable for cultivators to explore. It was very dangerous deeper inside.
Chu Lanqiu was on tenterhooks all the way, afraid of getting contaminated by poisonous insects or poisonous plants.
After finally avoiding several large spiritual beasts and some poisonous plants, it took her almost a whole day to reach the lake.
There were many reeds growing around the lake. These reeds were all taller than a person, and the Drunken - Dragon Grass grew among them.
Chu Lanqiu walked with difficulty in the reed marsh. Since the color of the Drunken - Dragon Grass was very similar to that of the reeds, she had to look carefully bit by bit. Then she found that there were some bloodstains on the reeds.
She remembered that there had been no such things the last time she came. The bloodstains didn't look black, so they must have been left not long ago.
But Chu Lanqiu couldn't tell whether it was the blood of a spiritual beast or a cultivator. So she took out a dagger and held it in her hand. Holding her breath, she slowly walked towards the place with more bloodstains.
The deeper she walked into the reeds, the stronger the smell of blood became. Chu Lanqiu twitched her nose slightly. She didn't smell the fishy smell of a spiritual beast's blood, so she concluded that someone was injured and lying in the reeds.
But Chu Lanqiu still didn't relax her vigilance. She slowly walked towards the center.
But before she could push aside the reeds in front of her, a woman with a blood - stained face panicked and pushed aside the reeds. She shouted loudly, "Please save my father!"