Ling Zhenfei felt a sense of foreboding, remembering that during the battle with the Giant Python, its tail had swept across the Golden Egg, possibly causing the crack on the egg.

Ling Zhenfei was deeply worried, unsure about the condition of the creature inside, because he had previously confirmed that there was certainly a living being inside, or at least there had been.

By this time, the sky had already darkened, and the forest darkened much earlier. Ling Zhenfei knew that moving through the forest after dark was not suitable, so he decided to rest in the tree overnight.

Simply resting on the trunk seemed a bit impractical, so Ling Zhenfei used the Dragon Tooth Dagger to carve out a tree hollow in the trunk, like Ru Meng had done.

For someone of Ling Zhenfei's cultivation, carving a large hollow was no challenge at all.

In a short time, a tree hollow was ready. This hollow was far more comfortable than Ru Meng's, at least much more spacious.

Ling Zhenfei laid down some leaves below, then hid inside the hollow, blocking the entrance with branches so that even if someone passed by outside, they wouldn't notice the hollow on the trunk.

Ling Zhenfei took out a small lamp from the Heaven-Dropping Essence Marrow to examine the peculiar egg.

Holding the Golden Egg in his hand, the cracks on its shell were becoming more apparent, but despite using the Perspective Eye, Ling Zhenfei couldn't see inside it—truly a mysterious egg.

As Ling Zhenfei continued to watch, he suddenly felt a cool sensation on his hand, slightly stunned, as he sensed spiritual energy being absorbed into the eggshell.

Ling Zhenfei was astounded; who would have thought that the being inside the eggshell was absorbing spiritual energy? It was incredibly bizarre.

After a while of spiritual energy absorption, the creature inside the eggshell began to move again, causing the whole Golden Egg to stir briefly before it became still once more.

Ling Zhenfei noticed the surrounding spiritual energy started to move slightly again, and after a while, the eggshell reacted once more, as if caught in a cycle.

Ling Zhenfei quickly realized that the little creature inside must absorb spiritual energy to break out of its shell. Thinking of this, he decided to assist it by lightly transferring spiritual energy to the egg.

Channeling tiny wisps of spiritual energy from his body into the eggshell.

With Ling Zhenfei's spiritual energy transfer, the movements inside the eggshell grew increasingly vigorous, culminating in a loud crack as the eggshell broke open, with a small piece falling onto Ling Zhenfei's hand, revealing a tiny creature inside.

It was evidently a bird with golden feathers not yet fully grown, sticking its head out to look at Ling Zhenfei and stretching its neck to call out to him twice.

The bird's voice was piercingly loud and not quite pleasing, but perhaps all birds sounded like that.

Ling Zhenfei had no idea what the bird meant, and soon, the bird began pecking fiercely at the eggshell with its sharp beak until the shell shattered completely and the bird emerged.

The bird kept chirping loudly in Ling Zhenfei's hand, leaving him quite puzzled about its intentions.

Suddenly, he thought the bird might be hungry and swiftly took a piece of meat from his Heaven-Dropping Essence Marrow, placing it before the bird, but it merely sniffed and probed with its beak without eating.

Ling Zhenfei had previously raised birds like sparrows, typically feeding them grain, but the ideal would be catching some insects—could it be this bird needed to eat live insects?

With this in mind, Ling Zhenfei used his Perspective Eye to search the tree trunk nearby, discovering insects within and capturing them for the bird, which turned out to indeed eat live insects.

Devouring the insect in one bite with obvious relish, the bird seemed perpetually hungry, prompting Ling Zhenfei to feed it insects throughout the night.

Exhausting Ling Zhenfei to the point of collapse, raising it like this seemed unsustainable, yet releasing such a small bird now was impossible, so temporarily keeping it was the only choice, perhaps having Chunyu care for it when leaving the forest.

The pressing issue was how to leave; spotting that visibility outside had improved, Ling Zhenfei exited the tree hollow to resume his journey, placing the bird inside his pocket.

Traveling at an incredible speed thanks to his Blooming Step Technique and the abundance of spiritual energy, Ling Zhenfei's rapid pace reflected his unfettered mind.

Having previously prepared markers for his route, Ling Zhenfei recognized them, aiding his return.

Two hours into the journey, the bird in his pocket began calling again, evidently hungry once more, astonishing Ling Zhenfei with its voracious appetite.

There was no choice but to continue caring for it, unable to let it starve under his oversight.

Thankfully, the forest was teeming with insects, and Ling Zhenfei opted for larger ones, until the bird was satiated and fell asleep, closing its eyes.

This humorous bird accompanied Ling Zhenfei as he advanced, suddenly noticing a silk scarf along the path.

Ling Zhenfei was shocked, recognizing the scarf as Ru Meng's. He inspected it and confirmed it was indeed Ru Meng's.

Ling Zhenfei had seen Ru Meng wielding this silk scarf before, and its scent was unmistakably hers, yet puzzled by how it ended up here.

Ling Zhenfei was astounded—could there be some underlying reason?

Ru Meng, holding Zhiyi Realm Advanced Late Stage strength, would be aware if anything was lost, making the scarf's presence here suggestive of a few possibilities.

The first was Ru Meng purposely abandoning it to alert Ling Zhenfei of imminent danger or a warning of danger ahead.

The second might be Ru Meng encountering an attack, hastily fleeing, unable to retrieve the fallen scarf.

The final possibility was Ru Meng being captured, casting down the scarf as a signal for Ling Zhenfei to rescue her.

None of these possibilities were positive, but it was certain Ru Meng faced a predicament.

Ling Zhenfei quickly decided to chase forward, aware the scarf wasn't soaked by the damp forest air, indicating it hadn't been discarded long.

Thus, chasing would require minimal time. Ling Zhenfei surveyed the path, noting its strategic placement at a fork leading into one route, potentially Ru Meng's purposeful suggestion for him to take this path, without hesitation Ling Zhenfei pursued onward.

As expected, signs of combat emerged along the way, further validating Ling Zhenfei's accurate judgment.

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