71: Total net worth

Su Chen's voice echoed through the canyon, bouncing off the rock walls with a buzzing resonance.

There was no response within the canyon, only the mournful whisper of wind passing through the rock crevices.

Su Chen, however, didn't mind and stepped towards the giant egg.

The giant egg was pure white. Without the life energy supplied by the crowd, the faint golden glow that once surrounded it had become extremely dim, with only a faint pulse remaining at its core, clearly indicating that its growth had stopped.

He raised the Wind-Splitting Blade, its body dark, its edge gleaming with cold light.

Spiritual energy slowly circulated within his body, flowing into the blade through his arm. The blade emitted a soft hum, clearly ready to strike.

"Stop!"

Just as the Wind-Splitting Blade was about to fall, three deafening roars suddenly erupted from within the canyon.

Three dark-red hillocks connected to the formation simultaneously vibrated violently. Countless rocks tumbled from their peaks, crashing to the ground with loud cracking sounds.

Even stranger, the rocks on the front of the hillocks slowly cracked open, revealing three pairs of huge, obsidian eyes.

At the same time, a magnificent (Páng bó) pressure spread from the three small hillocks, like a tangible tide, making the air thick.

This was the pressure of a half-step Nascent Soul Realm cultivator!

These three stone mountains were actually three Mountain Spirits that had lived for an unknown number of years.

"Boy, scram!" The hillock on the left spoke, its voice like grinding stones, carrying an unquestionable authority.

The largest Mountain Spirit in the middle also roared, "Do not test our patience, or we will ensure you die without a burial place!"

"As expected, Mountain Spirits. My guess about this formation was correct."

Su Chen grinned. Instead of retreating, he took another step forward, the Wind-Splitting Blade still pointing at the giant egg: "Your strength is indeed formidable; I cannot defeat you for now."

He changed the subject, his gaze sweeping over the Veins (mài luò) connected to the formation at the base of the three small hillocks, his tone carrying a hint of certainty: "But you seem to be trapped here, part of this formation, unable to leave, right?"

"And," Su Chen gently tapped the giant egg with the back of his blade, producing a dull thud, "you don't want this egg to be destroyed, do you?"

...

Deep within the canyon, the consciousness of the three Mountain Spirits communicated rapidly in secret.

"We were brought here by that person back then, trapped in this broken formation to guard this Emperor Egg. We were just half a day away from regaining our freedom, and I didn't expect to encounter something like this at such a critical moment!" The Mountain Spirit on the left spoke, its tone filled with irritation.

The Mountain Spirit in the middle said in a deep voice, "Our oath is to ensure the smooth birth of the Emperor Egg. We absolutely cannot let this little thief cause trouble."

The smallest Mountain Spirit on the right hesitated for a moment: "Forget it, just give him some benefits and send him away. We can't lose the big picture for a small gain."

A moment later, the largest hillock spoke first, its voice rumbling, shaking the entire canyon: "Boy, I know you humans are greedy. Take these, but you must swear an Oath of the Heavenly Dao, promising not to harm the Emperor Egg."

As its voice fell, three herbs radiating rich spiritual energy flew out from within the mountain and landed in front of Su Chen.

They were clearly not ordinary items, but precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures needed by Spirit Sea Realm cultivators for their cultivation, which would also benefit Su Chen's cultivation advancement.

Su Chen glanced at the items on the ground and shook his head: "Not enough."

He raised his head, looking directly into the obsidian eyes of the three Mountain Spirits, his tone calm but with an unyielding firmness that brooked no refusal: "I want your entire fortune."

"Heh heh." Su Chen chuckled lightly, "Life or wealth, you choose."

"You seek death!"

The three small hillocks simultaneously erupted in angry roars, the entire canyon seemingly trembling. A large amount of rocks rolled down from the peaks, crashing to the ground and creating a cloud of dust.

The pressure of a half-step Nascent Soul Realm cultivator erupted again, even more violent than before, almost tearing the air apart.

Su Chen gripped the Wind-Splitting Blade tightly, resisting the pressure with a calm expression, but his eyes showed no hint of retreat.

After an unknown amount of time, perhaps the burning of an incense stick, or half an hour, the three small hillocks finally gradually calmed down.

"Ai--" The largest Mountain Spirit let out a long sigh, filled with helplessness, "Human, I hope you don't regret today's decision in the future. You swear first."

Su Chen smiled and said loudly, "I, Su Chen, hereby swear that if the three of you bestow your entire fortune upon me, I will do nothing to harm the Divine Egg. Should I violate this oath, may I be struck by lightning, have my cultivation completely destroyed, and die a terrible death."

As the oath concluded, a faint rumble of thunder echoed in the sky, and an invisible Heavenly Dao contract formed, connecting Su Chen and the three Mountain Spirits.

The consciousness of the three Mountain Spirits communicated again.

"This oath sounds fine, doesn't it?" The largest Mountain Spirit asked.

The Mountain Spirit on the left spoke in a booming voice, "Third Brother, what do you think?"

The smallest Mountain Spirit, referred to as Third Brother, was silent for a moment, then hesitated: "Should we add a line about not harming us?"

"Third Brother, you're confused!" The largest Mountain Spirit scolded, "We are half-step Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, and Mountain Spirits, rooted in the earth. How could a mere Spirit Sea Realm boy possibly harm us?"

The Mountain Spirit on the left also echoed, "That's right, Third Brother. Do you think he can dismantle our mountains? You're overthinking it."

Third Brother thought for a moment and felt that his two elder brothers made sense, so he said no more.

A hint of cunning flashed in the eyes of the largest Mountain Spirit, and he said to the other two Mountain Spirits in their consciousness: "I have a plan; we must trick this greedy human."

Immediately after, countless items radiating faint spiritual energy flew out from within the three small mountains.

There were dense piles of low-grade spirit stones, ordinary quality ores, and some spiritual materials usable by Ning Yuan Realm and Solid Spirit Realm cultivators, accumulating into a small mountain in front of Su Chen, easily half the size of a football field.

Although these items were extremely numerous, their quality was generally low. For half-step Nascent Soul Realm Mountain Spirits, they were not considered precious at all.

"Brat, take these first. Let's see if you can even carry them away." The largest Mountain Spirit's tone carried a hint of triumph.

They were certain that Su Chen's storage ring had limited capacity, and these items would be enough to leave him helpless, forcing him to give up. After all, it was Su Chen's inability to take them, not their refusal to give.

However, Su Chen merely smiled faintly and raised his left hand.

On the ring finger of his left hand, an inconspicuous silver ring glowed slightly—it was precisely that spirit-treasure-grade storage ring.

"Swish!"

An invisible suction force erupted from the ring. The mountain of items piled in front of him was like fallen leaves swept up by a strong wind, continuously being absorbed into the ring. In just a moment, the items covering half a football field had vanished completely.

"If the three of you were counting on that, you might be disappointed." Su Chen shook the ring on his left hand, his tone calm.

"What?!" The Mountain Spirit on the left exclaimed in shock, his voice filled with disbelief, "I don't believe it. How could a mere Spirit Sea Realm human possibly possess a spirit-treasure-grade storage ring?"

Shocked as they were, the oath had been made, and they could only accept it.

At the command of the largest Mountain Spirit, more items flew out.

This time, they were all high-quality spiritual materials usable by Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, and there were still quite a few of them.

But the result was the same; they were easily stored by Su Chen's spirit-treasure-grade storage ring.

The three Mountain Spirits fell completely silent, their obsidian eyes flickering with shock and heartache.

Finally, more than ten Void God-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures radiating terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations, and three Yuanshen-grade treasures with faint traces of law flowing around them, flew out from within the three small mountains and hovered in front of Su Chen.

Each of these treasures emitted a heart-palpitating aura, clearly the treasured possessions that the three Mountain Spirits had nurtured for countless years, cultivated at the very core of their mountain bodies.

Handing these treasures over to Su Chen now was, for them, like personally giving their daughters to a scoundrel.

And it was a whole litter of daughters.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, you little brat, take your things and scram!" The largest Mountain Spirit let out an angry roar, its voice filled with unwillingness.

Su Chen contentedly put all the treasures into his storage ring. This was truly a huge haul.

He smiled brightly and cupped his hands towards the three Mountain Spirits: "Thank you for your generosity."

However, after he finished speaking, he did not leave.

Instead, he circled the giant egg a few times with interest, then squatted down, carefully observing the formation patterns carved on the ground, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Seeing this, the smallest Mountain Spirit couldn't help but mock, "You foolish boy, you're not trying to become the master of this Divine Egg, are you?"

"This is an Emperor Egg, containing supreme imperial might. Let alone a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator like you, even a true Nascent Soul Realm grandmaster would find it difficult to easily become its master. They can only slowly nurture it and wait for it to hatch." The Mountain Spirit on the left also chuckled.

However, in the next second, Su Chen took something out of his Pregnant (huái) and held it in his palm.

The mocking expressions on the faces of the three Mountain Spirits instantly froze. Their obsidian eyes widened abruptly, and their mountain bodies vibrated violently, as if they had encountered the most incredible thing.