Chapter 4

Duelo Star, the extreme north.

The snow in the canyon had been partially cleared. After a full twenty-four hours of various explorations, Lan Xiao and his reconnaissance team had confirmed that the place emitting the flashing gold and silver light, and the strong life energy fluctuations, should be safe.

Lan Xiao accurately judged that this should be a relic. In the absence of danger, a relic with the life energy of a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast was undoubtedly a significant discovery for them.

Next was the excavation of the relic.

Two work mechs had been busy for half a day, finally clearing the top layer of snow. But beneath the snow was solid ice, which had been frozen for countless years and was often even harder than steel. To avoid damaging the contents, they had to be particularly careful.

The ice layer was thick, but after clearing the surface snow, the transparent ice more clearly reflected the existence of the gold and silver glow inside.

The light flickered, not very intense, but very clear.

The life detector continuously monitored the situation inside, and the life energy remained constant, showing no fluctuations due to their activities outside.

This was a good sign, indicating a lower likelihood of danger.

Soul-guided energy slowly cut through the ice, continuously determining the exact position of the object inside.

After about two hours, cutting through about four meters of ice, they were able to roughly determine the size of the object.

"It's about half a meter in diameter, about thirty centimeters wide. It's an oval object. It's definitely not a soul beast. It looks a bit like an egg," Nan Cheng reported back to Lan Xiao.

Lan Xiao's eyes sparkled, "If this is really an egg, we might have accomplished something great. Although I can't determine what kind of soul beast's egg it is from the current situation, just the egg itself can emit life energy at the ten-thousand-year level. It's clear that this should be an egg left by a soul beast of the king level. It's rare that it still has such strong life energy under the ice, making it very likely to hatch. This is a treasure!"

Ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts existed on the two soul beast planets, but they had long been extinct on the Duelo Continent. Moreover, the Federation and the two soul beast planets had an agreement: once such a level of soul beast was discovered, it would be sent to the soul beast planet, and in return, the soul beast planet would provide additional resources to the Federation beyond the taxes paid.

As the discoverers, their research team would not only receive a promotion in rank but also a substantial material reward as an incentive.

"It seems this is a wedding gift from heaven!" Lan Xiao took the opportunity to put his arm around Nan Cheng's shoulder and said with a grin.

"Don't be overconfident. Let's get it back first," Nan Cheng said in a low voice.

Lan Xiao laughed, "I like you just the way you are..."

"If you call me stupid again, I'll get angry," Nan Cheng interrupted him, making a threatening gesture.

"Boss, it's out."

Lan Xiao quickly looked at the screen, where a mech was dragging a square block of ice they had cut out, lifting it in front of the camera.

Sure enough, inside the transparent ice was an egg, an oval egg with intricate golden and silver patterns intertwined on its surface.

The two patterns alternated, shimmering with a strange light.

"Quick, bring it back," Lan Xiao immediately ordered.

Soon, the ice-encased egg was presented to them.

The reconnaissance vehicle also had a series of inspection devices. After examination, the only thing that could be confirmed was that the egg contained very concentrated life energy.

Comparing it to the Federation's soul beast atlas, no egg of any known soul beast matched it.

"Should we store it in a cold environment?" Nan Cheng and Lan Xiao stood together in front of the strange soul beast egg. She asked this because the ice layer on the egg's surface was almost completely melted during their previous examination, allowing them to see the egg more clearly.

First, it was smooth. The golden and silver patterns on the egg were very smooth, and the patterns were elongated, whether golden or silver. They looked curved and intertwined.

Lan Xiao frowned, "Theoretically, with such strong life energy, the environment shouldn't have a significant impact. But to be safe, to prevent it from being affected by temperature if it's an ice-type soul beast, let's store it at a low temperature. We'll do a detailed examination and analysis when we get back to the research institute. This is a rare opportunity; such an experimental subject is unlikely to be replicated in the future." His eyes lit up when he talked about experiments, as he had a deep interest in ancient soul beasts and extensive knowledge. When he was in college, he was known as a living encyclopedia of ancient soul beasts.

"Crack, crack." The slight sound made them all pause.

"Is it making a sound?" Nan Cheng asked in surprise.

"Quick, everyone come over. Raise the soul-guided protective shield on the test bench." Lan Xiao quickly ordered. Given the massive life energy inside, if a life form emerged, it was unknown whether it would have innate aggression, although the likelihood was small, it wasn't impossible.

A white, hazy shield rose on the surface of the test bench, but the "crack, crack" sound appeared again inside.

"Crack, crack, crack..." The sound became more frequent, and the other members of the research team gathered around, curious.

Their expedition team consisted of eight people: Lan Xiao and Nan Cheng, two members responsible for external collection, two pilots, and two researchers. This was a standard expedition team configuration.

At this moment, except for the pilot who was driving the aircraft, everyone gathered around, looking curiously at the egg.

"Crack, crack, snap!" Suddenly, a small crack appeared on one corner of the eggshell.

"Is it coming out?" Nan Cheng instinctively hid behind Lan Xiao. The others also instinctively took a step back.

"Don't be afraid. Even if it's a powerful creature with innate aggression, it won't have much combat power when it's just born." Lan Xiao took a few steps forward, and a series of soul rings rose from his feet: two yellow, two purple, and one black, a total of five soul rings, representing his soul king level cultivation. At his age, this was an outstanding level, which was one of the main reasons for his rapid promotion in rank.

"Snap, snap..." The cracking sounds continued, becoming more frequent.

"Puff—" Finally, a corner of the eggshell broke open, and a white object emerged.

Everyone watched tensely, their eyes fixed on the white object.

It was...

The next moment, everyone was stunned.

Nan Cheng peeked out from behind Lan Xiao, staring at the white object in a daze, muttering, "That... it looks like a hand?"

Indeed, it was white, tender, and small. Although it was clenched into a fist, it clearly looked like a hand, a small hand of a human baby.

The next moment, the small hand slightly lowered, grabbed the eggshell, and easily broke off a piece, then retreated back into the eggshell.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

"Snap, snap, snap!"

The sound continued, and in just a moment, the small hand emerged again, breaking off another piece of the eggshell.

"Is he...?" Lan Xiao quickly moved forward, looking inside through the shield.

At this point, only a small part of the eggshell was exposed, revealing a white, tender presence, and the "snap, snap" sounds continued.

"The life energy is decreasing, decreasing significantly. It's only at the ten-thousand-year level now," Nan Cheng suddenly said.

"Huh?" Lan Xiao looked at her in surprise. Nan Cheng's eyes remained on the screen, "It's continuously decreasing, and the rate is getting faster."

"Snap!" The small hand emerged again, breaking off another piece.

"Snap, snap, snap!"

"It's only at the thousand-year level now," Nan Cheng's voice carried a hint of urgency.

Lan Xiao took a deep breath and made a decision, "Open the shield."

Only by opening the soul-guided energy shield could they observe further.

The shield opened, revealing the egg inside. No energy appeared, and as the tender hand continued to break the eggshell, the true form was finally revealed.

How to describe it?

When Lan Xiao saw it for the first time, he was instantly captivated by its appearance. He could confidently say that in his life, he had never seen such a beautiful baby, yes, a human baby, a human baby born from an egg.

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