Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Bai Xiaoyu saw President Luo off. President Luo looked at the young man, growing more and more satisfied. He brought up the previous topic again, "Xiaoyu, are you really not considering participating in the Cultivation Association's grassroots selection? You should know that cultivators who pass the selection can be groomed as future association officials and are highly sought after in various cultivation centers. Even the popular cultivation centers on Imperial Star can give you priority. If you want to go back, why not consider it?"

Bai Xiaoyu politely declined, "Thank you for your kindness. I think everything is fine as it is; I don't need to return to Imperial Star."

The one who wanted to return to Imperial Star was the original host, but he had no interest in anyone or anything there.

President Luo, seeing that he could not persuade Bai Xiaoyu again, sighed with regret, "Alright, when you change your mind, let me know. I always have recommendation slots available."

He had personally witnessed the healthy growth of those eggs over the past month.

Bai Xiaoyu nodded, "Okay, thank you."

After seeing President Luo off, Bai Xiaoyu turned and went back inside.

As President Luo stepped out of the door, a spacecraft was already waiting for him.

Once aboard, his assistant glanced behind him, "President, you've been here for a month. When do you plan to return? The association has been urging you."

President Luo huffed, "I have my reasons. Do I need to report to them?"

The assistant said, "I don't think the ministers mean it like that. They just have many important matters that require your attention, so they..."

President Luo interrupted impatiently, "Here, I have more important things to handle."

The assistant fell silent, then remembered something, "By the way, President, you still have a recommendation slot, right? Recently, an excellent newcomer graduated from the Imperial Military Academy's cultivation program and is now the top performer in the newcomer cultivation area. Perhaps..."

President Luo waved his hand, "I have better candidates."

"But that clueless Bai Xiaoyu..."

The assistant tried to convince President Luo but was interrupted, "Enough, let's depart."

At the same time, Ding Lan received a message.

Fuming, he nearly smashed the cup beside him. It was Bai Xiaoyu again!

And that old fool, was he blind to favor a cultivator who spends all day boiling eggs?

Ding Lan, the top performer in the newcomer area, had both popularity and talent. How did he fall short compared to that wastrel Bai Xiaoyu?

He wondered how much Bai Xiaoyu must have bribed the old man. After all, Bai Xiaoyu had spent lavishly on Imperial Star before.

Bai Xiaoyu must have done this deliberately. Back in school, he knew Ding Lan always wanted to join the Cultivation Association. He even promised to secure a spot for him if he got the chance. Now, he was directly competing with him!

With the incubation period now at one month and twenty days, another month would see the eggs hatching one by one.

When he won against Bai Xiaoyu, he would snatch the recommendation slot.

For now, he would add another tally to Bai Xiaoyu's account and settle it later.

Unaware that he had once again earned Ding Lan's enmity, Bai Xiaoyu re-entered the cultivation room and found several eggs becoming restless.

After a month of incubation, the eighteen eggs had grown like fermented bread, becoming round and large.

Especially the first nine eggs, which had undergone deep purification, were now mostly active. Even the quietest human egg sometimes rolled around out of curiosity.

Those restless ones...

Bai Xiaoyu narrowed his eyes, focusing on the three most energetic and fully developed eggs, which were rolling around on the energy shield, trying to climb out several times.

The three eggs seemed to have coordinated their efforts, using every method to roll out of the cultivation energy shield. The other eggs gradually mimicked their actions.

A collective escape attempt, a rebellion indeed.

Egg One moved smoothly, having learned to use leverage. With a strong push, it almost rolled out of the energy shield when Bai Xiaoyu walked in without hiding his footsteps.

Egg One suddenly stopped, rolled back quietly to the edge, and gently swayed, pretending to be well-behaved.

The other two eggs did the same, moving in perfect unison.

Bai Xiaoyu found their actions strangely familiar. Turning his head, he saw a large black egg effortlessly perform the same action, rolling down and coming to him, swaying obediently.

Indeed, he found the culprit.

In the middle to late stages of incubation in the interstellar era, mental powers can sense everything around them. Those with particularly good mental powers can project them outward. Some can reach within a meter, while others can extend five or ten meters. Others need to learn these skills later.

This situation is rare, with few eggs showing high mental power during incubation.

However, Bai Xiaoyu discovered that most of his eggs had externalized mental powers, almost all of them!

His inherent mental ability made him sensitive to mental powers. Whenever the eggs showed abnormalities, he felt them. Later, he realized that these younglings were directly or indirectly influenced by his mental power guidance, similar to Egg Seven, which spontaneously sensed and followed his mental power. Combined with the reduction of dark matter, the eggs' immature mental bodies moved through the effects of the cleansing medicine, rapidly improving their mental powers.

Thus, while other cultivation centers' eggs could only be carried around by cultivators, his eggs could observe their surroundings and attempt a collective escape using their externalized mental powers.

On this day, the three eggs' first escape attempt was foiled by Bai Xiaoyu.

The next day, Bai Xiaoyu started a live stream.

Due to the presence of the large black egg beside him, the audience in the live stream was less daring today.

While he was focused on guiding impurities out of Egg Ten, the live stream suddenly erupted.

"Streamer, look behind you! Eggs One, Two, and Three are about to jump out!"

"Eggs Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Nine are also getting restless. Only Egg Eight is just shaking, not trying to roll out."

"Heavens, I've watched cultivation streams for years, but I've never seen such lively and active eggs."

Fortunately, Bai Xiaoyu had just finished purifying Egg No. 10 and walked over to pick up Egg No. 1, which was precariously hanging.

Who knew that No. 1 kept rolling around in his arms, clearly unwilling to return to the incubation compartment, and pointed its body like a needle towards the alchemy furnace.

Not only No. 1, but the other eggs inside the transparent energy shield seemed inspired and became large egg-shaped pointers, all pointing in the same direction, creating an impressive sight. Even No. 8 was no exception.

Bai Xiaoyu: "…"

The audience in the live stream fell silent, then erupted the next second.

"Hahaha, No. 1 egg wants to be cooked!"

"Not just No. 1, look at the other eggs, they're hilarious, hahaha."

"Streamer, add me too; there's another human pointer here."

"Add my brain ID, I want to be cooked, ahahahah!"

Bai Xiaoyu felt a headache coming on and helplessly said to the eggs, "You can't do this. You've all had your turn this time. Now it's the turn of the eggs behind you. You have to wait for the next round, understand?"

The eggs started swaying, as if pouting.

Bai Xiaoyu couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "Who did you learn this from?"

The egg-shaped pointers turned again, this time all pointing at the Big Black Egg.

The Big Black Egg stood innocently, "Bai Bai, I didn't do anything."

The audience in the live stream found it amusing, and stars filled the screen, with occasional shooting stars streaking across.

"Well done, eggs."

"The Big Black Egg is baffled, looking like it’s wondering how it will remain the favorite now that so many eggs have learned to seek attention."

"Poor Big Black, feeling so wronged right now."

Bai Xiaoyu felt even more helpless and soon realized this was just the beginning.

On the third morning, he discovered a group of white eggs of various sizes following the Big Black Egg.

Bai Xiaoyu was stunned; in just two days, they had managed to escape collectively!

Watching them roll and tumble behind the Big Black Egg, some even trying to mimic its jumping.

He was shocked and quickly checked under the shell of one of the eggs. Thankfully, nothing was wrong.

He patted the egg, "Little No. 15, do you know your shell isn’t as strong as the Big Black Egg's, which not even an energy cannon can penetrate? If you follow him, you might end up shattered."

No. 15 was the last egg to transform from a half-beast back into a humanoid. All the eggs after him were pure human children. Initially, he was the most neglected apart from No. 1, but he eventually surpassed others, especially after the dark matter within him was expelled. He grew to become the third largest and the most curious and lively among all the eggs.

No. 15 Egg swayed, looking incredibly obedient, making it hard to scold him.

Seeing Bai Xiaoyu, all the eggs became excited and rolled towards him.

Within ten seconds, Bai Xiaoyu was surrounded by eighteen eggs. Soon, the eggs started moving restlessly, each trying to squeeze into his arms. No. 15 Egg naturally took advantage of its proximity and successfully entered Bai Xiaoyu's arms.

The other eggs, of course, were not pleased. The closest egg, No. 1, immediately rammed into him.

Then Bai Xiaoyu watched helplessly as the eggs rolled and collided, actually fighting.

In his entire life, he had never seen eggs fight. Fortunately, their collisions were gentle, and the shells' density and hardness meant no harm was done.

Bai Xiaoyu watched this scene, rubbing his forehead, feeling overwhelmed.

Just as the eggs were fighting fiercely, a loud bang echoed.

Bai Xiaoyu looked puzzled as the Big Black Egg jumped over, standing in front of all the eggs.

Seeing the eggs stop, Bai Xiaoyu felt relieved, grateful that the Big Black Egg was sensible.

The next moment shattered his expression.

The Big Black Egg slowly lay down and rolled towards the eggs.

This guy wanted to join in!

Bai Xiaoyu: "Big Black!"

Who could withstand your invincible bulk?!

Half an hour later, Bai Xiaoyu opened the live stream.

"Streamer, you’re late by half an hour; you must double or even tenfold the duration this time!"

"That’s right! Finally, I got a chance!"

"Aren’t you cooking eggs today? Streamer, what are Big Black and the eggs doing in front of the wall behind you?"

Bai Xiaoyu smiled very kindly, sending chills down the spines of the live stream audience, "They’re facing the wall."

He turned sideways, revealing a row of eggs lined up against the wall, from tallest to shortest, standing still without moving.

The Big Black Egg led the way, with a cup full of its most hated drink balanced on its head, filled to the brim, ready to spill with the slightest movement.

The live stream quickly became lively.

"Hahaha, Big Black, you deserve this! This black history must be screenshotted; we’ll show it whenever you get too aggressive, hmph."

"I recorded it too, hehe."

"By the way, streamer, why are you so relaxed? The eggs will have been incubating for two months in a week. Don't you need to notify the parents?"

Bai Xiaoyu: "Parents?"

"Yes, after the eggs have been incubating for two months, the cubs' mental powers start to awaken and need guidance from their parents' compatible mental powers. It also allows the eggs to familiarize themselves with their parents' presence and build affection, so they won't be too unfamiliar when they hatch a month later and can adjust more easily."

"That someone, your PK opponent, started notifying the parents a few days ago, busy as a bee. After all, the awakening of mental powers is a crucial step, and once it's done, you can basically just wait for the eggs to hatch."

"If you don't prepare soon, you'll lose to Ding Lan, and that means we'll lose too! Remember, the fans and the reputation accumulated in the live stream are all capital for nurturing the streamer in PKs. If you lose, the system will transfer everything to the other side!"

"Even though we can always leave, we absolutely cannot allow you to let us down. So, you can't lose, understand? If you lose, just wait and see what happens when we come back!"

Bai Xiaoyu: "Oh."

"Streamer, what do you mean by 'oh'? Are you dissatisfied with such high-quality fans like me?"

"This streamer might actually be doing this on purpose. Look at those one million fans above your head; doesn't your conscience hurt?"

"Streamer, speak up. Do you love us or not?"

"Don't ask; I'm afraid he might say he has loved us before."

"At least if he said he has loved us before, but I fear..."

Bai Xiaoyu looked up, and the live stream chat exploded.

"Streamer, please shut up."

"Streamer, please hold it in."

"Streamer, don't hurt our fragile hearts."

These peculiar creatures kept asking questions but didn't want him to answer.

Bai Xiaoyu glanced at them, then lowered his head to open his light brain, finding that it was indeed as the live stream audience had said.

He wasn't afraid of PKs, but notifying the parents...

He also turned to look at the row of eggs. These little guys seemed to have learned some bad habits, fighting even before hatching. How would he explain this to their parents?

Hopefully, nothing goes wrong.