In a matter of seconds, he stood atop the mountain. And in front of his eyes, lay the very thing he was looking for.
A beast core almost quadruple the size of normal, shimmering in a bright cerulean glow. Behind, there lay a small white egg—almost like that of a chicken, except it was several times bigger and covered in small white scales like the very skin of the snake.
Taixuan stared at the core for a few seconds with a stern eye, switching back and forth between the egg and the core.
He was thinking, if it truly was the right decision.
If he wanted, Taixuan could simply walk away and find a low-level beast's core easily for the rest of the time. Although, the core that he could see as of now, no doubt, it was the biggest that he had ever seen in his life.
Usually, Dantians or Cores are the same size as one's fingernails. But this— It was in a league of its own.
A dantian so big that it seemed to exceed the size of one's hand, it was truly unheard of.
No doubt, if he were to implant such a core in his body, his body would evolve and attain the characteristics of the beast itself due to it's higher lineage and bloodline, however, at the same time, since it had an unfathomable level of cultivation, the core still retained the soul of the beast and the very proof of that was the voice that he could constantly hear—not to forget, what had happened mere moments ago...
And because of that, if Taixuan were to betray or go back on his words to protect the young child of the snake, it held enough power to kill him once and for all in an instant.
It was a dilemma. One that no one would ever wanna fall into, and yet, Taixuan simply smiled at the core.
He extended his hand forward and softly let his fingers grasp onto the core.
"This is my answer to your proposal..." He said softly.
The cerulean energy that seemed to be resonating within the core, in that exact moment, flared up—causing it to glisten into a bright cerulean glow.
"Very Well. I will leave my child in your hands, Mo Tianxun" the beast's voice appeared once again, softly ringing through his mind.
"When the child hatches, it will feel a sense of kinship towards you due to my core; however, whether you can win its loyalty or not, I will leave that to your ability. Anyhow, do not attempt to hurt that child in any manner. Think of him simply as another child of yours."
With that said, the voice disappeared once and for all, leaving the core in Taixuan's hand.
The System on the other hand—which had been lying dormant up until now—suddenly materialized in front of his eyes.
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[#~System Notification~#]
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[Congratulations! You have successfully cleared your first Task!]
[Rewards are being provided...]
[You have obtained a White Rank: Demonic Qi Tempering Manual!]
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The screen in front of him, began to emanate a shimmering bright white light, pulsing through its centre in wave-like patterns.
Rays of light slowly stretched upwards, converging at a single point—forming a small fist-sized sphere of light.
The sphere then expanded, and the light began to shape itself into a rectangular shape, slowly transforming itself into a book—its cover black and roughly torn from the edges as though it had survived through time for ages.
The book simply hovered in the air, floating above the system screen as if waiting patiently for its new owner to quickly pick it up.
Taixuan stood there like a statue calmly staring at the screen with wide eyes. To some point, he was dazzled by the capabilities of the system because even he understood that what it had just done was well beyond the capabilities of a normal cultivator.
Creating things out of thin air was simply unheard of even in his world.
He raised his other hand towards the books and firmly tightened his grip on them before picking them up.
Then, a new system window appeared in front of him, overlapping the previous one.
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[#~System Notification~#]
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[Congratulations! You have obtained a Mythical beast's core!]
[The System can help you implant the core into your body. Would you like to proceed?]
[• Y/N]
[# Caution - During the process, the host will feel an excruciating pain as your entire body will go through a metamorphosis. The stronger the beast core is, the more pain you may suffer with.]
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"Yes."
Without hesitation, Taixuan answered almost instantly as if he had been waiting for that exact moment for an eternity. He was desperate and at the same time, calm like the sea.