600: Chapter 600 Going Home

Zizhu Peak.

Gu Changge was still sitting by that stone table, as if he had never left.

Old Huang lifted his eyelids to glance at the sky, then lazily closed them again.

Ji Mie sat cross-legged not far away, his aura merging with the Dao Rhyme flowing over the peak.

In a stone hollow, that gray egg was sleeping quietly.

Several figures, carrying the dust of travel and a faint scent of blood, landed in the courtyard one after another.

“Revered Master.”

“Exalted One.”

Xiao Ruobai, Fang Hanyu, Ling Xi, Mo Yu, and Wang Xiaopang stepped forward in turn and bowed.

They stood straight, but the string in their hearts that had been taut for a month—never slackening even amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood—

had quietly loosened its first knot the moment they stepped into this familiar little courtyard.

Gu Changge's gaze swept over the five of them one by one.

They still bore lingering Battle Intent and minor scars, yet their auras were more refined and profound than a month ago, even showing faint signs of an impending Breakthrough.

Especially Xiao Ruobai; his Battle Intent had almost condensed into substance, clearly having benefited immensely from the successive bloody battles.

Gu Changge nodded slightly as his gaze swept over them, his tone indifferent: “Not bad. You have made progress.”

He withdrew his gaze and picked up the teapot by his side, filling the five prepared but empty teacups before him to seventy percent full.

“Sit down, have some tea, and relax.” Gu Changge pushed a teacup in front of each person.

His voice carried a certain rhythm that settled the mind, like a clear spring flowing through their tense hearts.

Wang Xiaopang plopped down and impatiently grabbed a teacup, taking a large gulp.

The crisp fragrance of the tea slid down his throat, and it felt as though even the trace of irritability deep in his Divine Soul caused by excessive killing was smoothed over a bit. Xiao Ruobai and the others also sat down in turn.

For a moment, the only sounds in the small courtyard were the rustling of bamboo leaves in the wind and the quiet sound of them drinking tea.

The life-and-death struggles, intrigues, and mountains of corpses from the past month were all temporarily shut out by this simple tranquility and tea fragrance.

“Eh?”

Xiao Ruobai set down his teacup, his gaze suddenly landing on a corner of the stone table. There, a gray, inconspicuous egg sat quietly in a shallow stone hollow.

“Why is there an egg here?”

He was somewhat puzzled. Given his Revered Master's Realm, every blade of grass and every tree on Zizhu Peak was extraordinary, yet this egg was so ordinary it was almost eerie.

Hearing this, Ling Xi, Fang Hanyu, and Mo Yu all looked over curiously as well.

Wang Xiaopang's eyes lit up even more as he leaned in to inspect it: “It really is an egg! It's all gray and dull; looks pretty sturdy, though?”

Gu Changge glanced at the stone hollow following their gaze, his tone casual: “I was idle, so I'm raising an egg for fun.”

“Raising an egg for fun?”

Wang Xiaopang was amused. He scratched his head, looked at the egg, then at Gu Changge, and with a twinkle in his eye, he chuckled:

“Revered Master, don't say it, your egg looks quite round! It'd be perfect for cracking walnuts!”

As he spoke, he actually fished out several Mountain Spirit Walnuts from his Storage Ring. They still had their green husks and looked incredibly hard.

He reached out toward the gray egg in the stone hollow, muttering:

“This Disciple will perform a special trick for you: cracking walnuts with an egg. One hit, one crack, and I guarantee the egg won't break!”

His fingers were still three inches away from the eggshell—

When a sudden change occurred!

There was no brilliance, no loud noise, and not even any fluctuation of magical power.

“Swoosh—!!”

The gray egg seemed to have suffered some unspeakable offense. The faint circle of golden patterns on its shell suddenly flashed.

In the next instant, Wang Xiaopang felt an utterly incomprehensible and irresistible surge of immense force explode outward with the egg as its center!

He didn't even have time to react before his entire person was hit head-on as if by an ancient divine elephant, turning into a blurred afterimage and shooting backward like a cannonball!

“Fat—ty—!!”

Mo Yu only had time to shout half a word.

“Bang!!”

Wang Xiaopang's flying figure hit Xuan Yangzi square on, who had just finished his duties and was turning into the courtyard from the mountain path!

Xuan Yangzi had originally wanted to use his cultivation to counterattack, but seeing it was Wang Xiaopang, he could only hurriedly withdraw his aura.

Under the impact of this sudden "human cannonball" mixed with Wang Xiaopang's terrified screams, he let out a muffled groan.

His feet retreated three steps in a row, and the protective immortal light around his body rippled violently before he barely managed to dissipate that strange, immense force and stabilize himself.

Meanwhile, Wang Xiaopang landed with a thud right at Xuan Yangzi's feet, seeing stars and feeling completely dazed, while the Mountain Spirit Walnuts in his hand rolled all over the ground.

The courtyard fell into an instantaneous, deathly silence.

Xiao Ruobai, Fang Hanyu, Ling Xi, and Mo Yu all stood up together. Looking at the pathetic Wang Xiaopang and the slightly startled Xuan Yangzi, they then snapped their heads around to look at the corner of the stone table.

The gray egg was still lying quietly in the stone hollow. The golden patterns on its shell had already faded away, as if the earth-shaking scene just now had nothing to do with it.

Old Huang lifted his eyelids, his ox mouth twitched into a grin, and then he closed them again as if nothing had happened.

Seeing Xuan Yangzi arrive, Gu Changge spoke softly:

“Senior Brother, you're back?”

Xuan Yangzi took a deep breath, calming the slightly churning blood in his body.

He looked down at Wang Xiaopang, who was still moaning at his feet and trying to climb up, then looked up at his Junior Brother's unperturbed face.

He took a step forward, slightly shielding the disoriented Wang Xiaopang behind him, and looked at Gu Changge with a tone of somewhat helpless reproach:

“Junior Brother, it's not that I want to lecture you, but Yue Chen has just returned from the bloody battles in the Immortal Realm and is still carrying injuries.”

“Even if he was a bit naughty or reckless, as his Revered Master, a few words would have sufficed. Why was it necessary to strike so heavily?”

He paused, a flicker of complexity crossing the depths of his eyes, and lowered his voice slightly:

“He fought outside for a month and never retreated even before the Great Army. Even if he is occasionally mischievous, he...”

Before Xuan Yangzi could finish, a weak and urgent voice suddenly came from beneath his feet:

“Sect Master! Senior Martial Uncle Xuan Yang! A misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!”

Wang Xiaopang had struggled to sit up at some point, one hand clutching his painfully bruised lower back.

He waved his other hand frantically, his face showing a mix of grievance and terror, along with the relief of having survived a disaster.

“No, it wasn't Revered Master! It really wasn't Revered Master who did it!”

His finger trembled as he pointed toward the stone table, his voice changing pitch:

“It was it! It was that egg!!!”

Hearing this, Xuan Yangzi's brow furrowed sharply, and he looked in the direction Wang Xiaopang was pointing.

In the corner of the stone table, that gray, inconspicuous egg still lay quietly in the shallow stone hollow.

The golden patterns on the shell had faded, making it look as ordinary as a common pebble from the mountains.

“An egg?”

A flash of bewilderment crossed Xuan Yangzi's eyes, followed by disbelief.

He looked back at Gu Changge, his tone becoming more certain and even carrying a hint of disapproval:

“Yue Chen, even if you want to excuse your Revered Master, there is no need to find such a reason.”

“How could an egg knock you back three steps along with me?”

Although he hadn't used his power to resist just now, how strong was the physique of the Earth Immortal Realm? A force that could make his blood churn and force him back three steps was definitely not ordinary.

To say an egg did it? This was simply absurd!

“I shall see for myself today exactly what kind of extraordinary treasure egg this is that can...”

As he spoke, he took a step forward and reached out toward the gray egg in the stone hollow!