Chapter 268: Nian Yu

"Elder Li, look..."

Seeing this, Meng Qianqian was about to turn back and say something.

Only to hear a soft "crack."

A crack at the bottom of the giant egg suddenly bulged outward, and a piece of eggshell the size of a human head fell off, revealing a hole.

Hearing the sound, Meng Qianqian quickly turned around, looking at the opening with a mix of nervousness and anticipation. From inside came the sound of tender chirps, "cheep cheep cheep," much like a chick.

Immediately after, a fluffy head about the size of the hole poked out from inside.

This not-so-small creature had its eyes half-open and half-closed, its surface down glowing with a faint green light. Its appearance was somewhat similar to a hen, with a short, straight beak that had two breathing nostrils above it. Its cheeks were puffy, giving it a somewhat dull and clumsy look.

It twisted its head left and right a few times before slowly opening its eyes completely.

First, it looked at Han Li, then at Meng Qianqian. Tilting its fluffy head, it slowly crawled out of the eggshell and wobbled step by step toward Meng Qianqian.

Its neck was long and thin, connected to a somewhat frail and slender body, which was extremely disproportionate to its large head. It was as if all the nutrients had gone into growing the head, leaving the rest somewhat deformed.

Looking at the bird in this state, Han Li wasn't particularly disappointed, but he did find it somewhat... ugly.

He wondered where Fang Pan had gotten this egg back then, and for what purpose.

Meng Qianqian watched the strange chick wobbling toward her, a glimmer of light shining in her beautiful eyes. She felt a pang of worry for it, afraid that its frail neck might not support its head and could snap at any moment.

Looking straight into the chick's eyes, she didn't find it ugly at all. Instead, she thought it was somewhat adorably clumsy. After all, this was the only thing that had accompanied her day and night during her years of solitary cultivation.

Sometimes, when she hit a bottleneck in her cultivation and couldn't break through, or when she lamented the difficulty of the arduous path of cultivation and couldn't bear the lonely years, or when she had something on her mind that she didn't even want to tell her brother, she would treat this giant egg as her only confidant.

Unconsciously, this unknown giant egg had become a good companion on her slow journey of immortal cultivation, accompanying her step by step from the Nascent Soul stage to her current realm.

One could even say that without the companionship of this egg, she might not have advanced to the Deity Transformation stage so quickly.

Now that the egg had finally hatched, her feelings were quite mixed.

She slowly crouched down, picked up the chick that had finally wobbled to her feet, and gently stroked its fine, soft feathers.

The fledgling gently rested its head on the feather in her hand, rubbing slowly against it while letting out a series of soft chirps.

"Elder Li, could you give it a name?" Meng Qianqian asked, holding the fledgling as she turned to Han Li.

"The feather in your hand is most likely its mother's. How about calling it 'Nian Yu'?" Han Li said after a moment of thought.

"Nian Yu, Nian Yu... Hmm, that's a beautiful name. From now on, it'll be Nian Yu." Meng Qianqian murmured it a few times, then broke into a smile and said happily.

Han Li watched this scene, and his expression softened slightly.

Meng Qianqian lifted the fledgling up and, regardless of whether it could understand, said to it earnestly, "From now on, you'll be called Nian Yu!"

Only then did Han Li notice that beneath the fledgling's head, hidden under the feathers, there was a small fleshy sac.

He furrowed his brow slightly, stepped forward, took the young bird from Meng Qianqian's hands, examined it carefully for a moment, then turned over its wings and tail. Seeing that beneath each were hidden feathers faintly glowing with light, he fell into deep thought.

"What's wrong... Elder Li, is there something amiss?" Meng Qianqian asked, a little worried.

"Nothing amiss. I've been trying every way I could to figure out the origin of this giant egg, but I never had any leads. Only now that it's hatched do I have some clues." Han Li smiled and said.

"Oh... could it be that Nianyu has a significant background?" Meng Qianqian's curiosity was piqued, and she quickly asked.

"I can't confirm it for now, but what's certain is that it's a wind-attribute spirit bird, and one of extremely high grade with the potential to evolve. Its body might even contain some true spirit bloodline." Han Li had no intention of hiding it, so he told her directly.

Upon hearing this, Meng Qianqian's gaze toward the fledgling changed slightly, and she clicked her tongue in admiration:

"Nianyu, you really are something..."

The young bird, naturally oblivious to all this, just opened its beak and chirped incessantly, as if filled with longing and curiosity for the world.

Seeing this, Han Li turned his palm over, and a cyan pill appeared in his hand.

A cyan light glowed in his palm, enveloping the pill entirely.

After a moment, the pill gradually dissolved within the layer of cyan light, transforming into a mass of spiritually vibrant cyan vapor.

Han Li guided the mass of vapor with his hand, and it slowly flowed into the cyan fledgling's sharp beak.

A streak of cyan light slid down Nianyu's slender neck into its belly, flickered a few times, and then vanished.

The young bird stopped chirping and let out a very human-like burp, which greatly amused Meng Qianqian, who couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle softly.

But before the burp had even finished, the young bird's eyelids slowly drooped, and its head lolled to the side as it fell into a deep sleep.

Meng Qianqian was momentarily taken aback.

"This wind-attribute spirit pill is still too high-grade for it for now. Although I've already dissolved the pill with my magic power, it still can't quite withstand it. But it's fine; falling asleep will actually help it absorb the spiritual energy," Han Li explained with a smile.

Meng Qianqian quickly nodded to show she understood.

"Keep that feather by your side for now. Nianyu was hatched under your care, so you'll continue to look after it from now on," Han Li said, handing the sleeping young bird to Meng Qianqian.

"Yes, Elder Li." Meng Qianqian hurriedly took it and accepted with a smile.

"I recall there are quite a few wind spirit grasses planted in the spiritual herb garden on the mountain. You can feed it those in the future. Start with some that are about ten years old, and as it grows older, you can feed it older ones. Don't rush it. And remember, don't give it any pills of other attributes," Han Li added after a moment's thought.

"Mm, Qianqian will remember that." Meng Qianqian nodded.

"Alright, take Nianyu back now." Han Li waved his hand.

Meng Qianqian took her leave and, carrying the young bird, walked toward the stone chamber door. Just as she was about to step out, Han Li called her back.

"What is it, Elder Li? Is there anything else you need to tell me?" Meng Qianqian turned around, puzzled.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're already a Deity Transformation stage cultivator, aren't you?" Han Li said with a smile.

"I wanted to tell you earlier, but I never found the chance. Then Nianyu delayed me, and I forgot myself," Meng Qianqian said with a slight smile, a bit embarrassed.

"Mm, your aptitude is better than your brothers', so your progress is indeed faster. Here's a bottle of pills for Deity Transformation stage cultivators, a gift to celebrate your breakthrough in cultivation." Han Li tossed over a white porcelain bottle, smiling.

Meng Qianqian quickly caught it and thanked him several times before turning and leaving joyfully.

Not long after she left, a streak of green light shot up from the courtyard of the cave dwelling and sped straight out of Chixia Peak.

The next day.

The sun hung high in the sky, the weather clear and crisp.

In the western part of the Zhongming Mountain Range, the snow had not yet melted. Most of the mountains were a dazzling white, with only a few areas revealing cleared halls and plazas, showing some different colors.

Apart from that, some places with underground fire veins or hot springs on the mountains were not covered by snow, and one could still see some not-so-bright greenery.

High in the sky, a streak of green light sped past, descending toward a crescent-shaped valley beside Xilin Peak.

This person was none other than Han Li, who had come to find Baique Valley.

Last night, after leaving Chixia Peak, he first went to the foot of the mountain and released the Essence Flame Firebird back into the entrance of the underground fire vein.

The little creature seemed very happy. After circling him twice, it flew swiftly into the cave as if familiar with the way.

After that, he made his way through the Teleportation Hall, traveling by stages to the western part of the Zhongming Mountain Range.

Originally, if he had chosen to teleport to the Teleportation Hall in Puling Valley and then transfer to Xilin Peak, he could have saved a lot of time and should have arrived at Banque Valley before dawn.

However, if a True Immortal realm cultivator descended upon Puling Valley, whether or not he came to select servants, it would most likely cause a stir, and Han Li did not want to attract attention.

Therefore, he chose to teleport to the more distant Huiyang Peak, which was why he had been flying until now.

Banque Valley, sharing the same plight as the neighboring Xilin Peak, was also an ordinary area with no special spiritual products. It had never received much attention from the sect. There were no cave dwellings built by elders or disciples, nor any sect facilities. It was essentially a pristine valley.

Han Li landed at the mouth of the valley and walked inward. Everywhere he looked, there was thick snow. Occasionally, reddish-brown rocks were exposed in some places, giving it a desolate feel.

After walking several hundred zhang into the valley, the terrain gradually opened up. However, compared to the outside, the terrain inside the valley was noticeably lower. Han Li could feel that he was walking downhill along a certain slope.

After walking for about half an hour, the valley ahead became shrouded in mist, and the scenery appeared somewhat hazy.

Han Li rounded a huge boulder that lay across the valley and saw behind it a large crescent-shaped lake, from the surface of which wisps of steam rose—clearly a geothermal hot spring.

The temperature around the hot spring was slightly higher, revealing a ring of exposed reddish-brown shore.

Han Li stopped at the edge of the hot spring lake. A blue light flickered in his eyes as he gazed into the lake water.

The lake surface rippled slightly, and the water was clear and transparent, allowing him to see directly to the bottom, where jagged rocks lay scattered. He saw no fish or aquatic creatures.

After a moment, Han Li withdrew his gaze and carefully released his divine sense, enveloping the entire valley.

However, after a thorough investigation, he found nothing—as if Banque Valley were truly just an ordinary valley.

"White Sparrow Valley, manifest the true wheel..."

Han Li silently recited the sentence he had seen that day in the Tai Xuan Hall, then composed himself and sat down cross-legged.