Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Bai Xiaoyu's words infuriated Bai Qi, even making him think the other had gone mad.

However, the situation was now settled. The giant snake hissed at Bai Xiaoyu but, seeing the two people beside him, realized it couldn't swallow them and turned to leave.

After driving Bai Qi away, Bai Xiaoyu completed the handover with the staff. He needed to send all the chips he had placed in the stakes to the Royal Pharmacy. Only after they verified would they provide him with the exchanged items. Normally, verification and collection were done on-site, but given the long distance, Bai Kan offered to help receive the items.

When it came to the insect crystal, an elderly man who seemed quite kind received him.

This old man was the steward of his adoptive father, surnamed Fan. Smiling warmly at Bai Xiaoyu, he even wanted to reach out and touch Bai Xiaoyu's virtual image, maintaining his expression even after being dodged. "Young Master Yu, you look very good lately. Would you like to meet His Majesty?"

The little tiger shook his head; he wasn't the original owner with a deep affection for the other, so he preferred not to see him.

Steward Fan didn’t insist. "I will be responsible for your exchange items this time. Since your stakes are quite special, we will deliver the items to your planet for an on-site exchange. The Royal Guard will escort the supplies in two days. Please prepare for the handover then."

Hearing this, Bai Qi, who hadn't gone far, logged off immediately.

With the Royal Guard personally escorting the supplies, he couldn't secretly interfere.

When did Father start valuing that waste so much?

Another faction, seeing this, also backed off, as their backer guessed that Bai Qing’s move was specifically to guard against them.

Bai Xiaoyu naturally had no objections, as this meant he wouldn't need to trouble the Lu family, who supported Bai Kan.

After Steward Fan left, Bai Chufan also rose to bid farewell: "Ninety-second brother and hundredth brother, I have something else to attend to. Remember to keep in touch."

Before leaving, he gave them a warm smile, leaving a good impression. As he walked away, many greeted him.

Bai Kan: "Twenty-fifth brother is always easy to get along with."

Bai Xiaoyu looked at his departing figure. "Indeed."

But there seemed to be a veil around this person, making him hard to read.

Bai Xiaoyu didn’t think he would have much interaction with him, so he didn’t bother probing further.

At this moment, many people gathered around. They were Bai Xiaoyu's brothers and sisters, some in human form, some in beast form, offering various unexchanged herbs and raw materials, hoping to trade with Bai Xiaoyu.

Bai Xiaoyu didn’t refuse, gaining more herbs and raw materials before logging off.

Two days later in the afternoon, the Royal Guard delivered the items.

Bai Xiaoyu watched as a dozen fighter mechs circled overhead. Lou Hao commented, "All 2S-level fighter mechs. What kind of treasure are they escorting?"

Bai Xiaoyu found it a bit exaggerated. "I don’t know."

The exchange went smoothly, and the Royal Guard didn’t linger, leaving quickly.

Steward Fan reported this to Bai Qing, cautiously asking, "Your Majesty, if other factions really go after Bai Xiaoyu, it might be hard for him to keep the insect crystal. Should we give him a warning?"

Bai Qing showed no emotion. "No need. If they can’t defend what they seize, they should bear the consequences themselves. Keep an eye on the situation and see if we can find out which faction is trying to steal the insect crystal."

In fact, the two factions watching Bai Xiaoyu chose not to act during this sensitive period.

The reason was simple. Bai Xiaoyu had won the insect crystal out of spite, and even if the master alchemist behind him studied it, the consumption would be minimal.

Bai Qi, who hadn’t fully controlled the insect prince, couldn’t use it yet, so it was better to leave it with Bai Xiaoyu for now.

The other faction already had insect crystals stored and wasn’t desperate. Keeping it with Bai Xiaoyu was better than having it in the palace, and they could reclaim it when needed.

Neither faction realized that Bai Xiaoyu had a hungry insect prince egg and a deep blue tentacle eyeing the insect crystal.

Bai Qing also didn’t know that each of the three factions vying for the insect crystal had urgent needs. Even Bai Xiaoyu, whom he thought least likely to involve the insect prince, had been raising one for a while.

Bai Xiaoyu organized the herbs and watched Tao Limeng rush over with people to move the raw materials, unwilling to stay a second longer before speeding back. It amused him a bit.

Tao Limeng behaved this way because Bai Xiaoyu had recently given him two more refining devices to study.

To Tao Limeng, it was like having four beautiful wives, each wanting attention. The already mastered nutrient solution refining device was now neglected, receiving occasional glances at best.

After Tao Limeng left, Bai Xiaoyu put the insect crystal into the system slot and prepared several batches of potions. Thinking it was time to feed the tentacle egg, he returned to his room.

The deep blue tentacle was still confined in a spherical container, playing with the tentacle egg.

Since they were in the alchemy room rather than the incubation chamber, the container was transparent. The tentacle didn’t react much to Bai Xiaoyu’s arrival, but the tentacle egg welcomed him, rubbing against his hand.

Bai Xiaoyu stroked the egg and released the tentacle from the container.

The tentacle became excited, wrapping around the egg twice before reluctantly letting go to hunt.

After feeding the egg, the tentacle, covered in blood, tried to absorb plant essence. Bai Xiaoyu then presented the herbs for the life essence potion.

The tentacle refused and leaped out the window.

Watching the tentacle disappear, Bai Xiaoyu slowly took out the insect crystal. Turning around, he found a thick tentacle on his shoulder, its tip heading straight for the insect crystal.

The tentacle was extremely excited, even forming an S-shape. Just as it was about to dive into the insect crystal, Bai Xiaoyu used his mental power to pull it away. The tentacle tried again, only to be pulled back once more.

Unable to eat, the tentacle grew impatient and, mimicking how it usually rubbed the tentacle egg, awkwardly rubbed Bai Xiaoyu’s cheek with its tip.

Thinking of how indifferent it had been before, Bai Xiaoyu found it amusing. He used his mental power to toss it into a pile of herbs. Surprisingly, within three minutes, all the herbs were converted, and the tentacle carried several ping-pong-sized balls of medicine, wriggling toward Bai Xiaoyu.

Remembering that the medicine balls were usually fingernail-sized, Bai Xiaoyu realized the tentacle must have been hoarding a lot. Each ball could produce ten times the amount of life essence potion.

Seeing its good behavior, he collected the medicine balls and let the tentacle approach the insect crystal. After all, the egg could sense the large amount of insect crystal and was jumping anxiously in its box.

Perhaps due to the lack of insect crystal these days, the tentacle quickly wrapped around it, leaving slight marks on its smooth surface. This time, Bai Xiaoyu didn’t limit the tentacle, as there was plenty of insect crystal.

Soon the tentacles were fully engorged, and the entire mass grew larger before jumping into the nursery box to nourish Dandan.

Once Dandan absorbed everything, its body visibly expanded at an astonishing rate.

Bai Xiaoyu probed into the egg with his mental energy and found that the tentacles inside had thickened and increased in number. They welcomed his presence warmly. After checking, he confirmed there was no sign of over-absorption from the insect crystals, leading to forced growth. Instead, it seemed as if the necessary energy had finally been replenished, making them healthier and more lively.

This egg now reached his knee height. After its recent growth spurt, it surpassed the size of the other eggs in this batch. This trend was almost matching the initial development speed of the multi-yolk egg from before.

Watching the lazy, well-fed tentacle and egg, Bai Xiaoyu took out the medicinal ball and began refining the Life Essence Elixir.

This time, the quality of the Life Essence Elixir was even better, crystal clear and emerald green, containing twice the amount of essence and vitality compared to before.

After injecting it into the dormant egg, the toes of the creature inside moved this time.

With the youngling being nurtured like this every day, Bai Xiaoyu needed to prepare more high-quality Life Essence Elixirs while he still could, as the daily dosage required would increase soon.

The vitality within the egg was gradually recovering, improving day by day.

Time passed swiftly as Bai Xiaoyu busied himself each day, and before he knew it, a month had gone by.

Bai Xiaoyu noticed that ten pounds of insect crystals had already been consumed, leaving just over six pounds.

Meanwhile, the deep blue tentacles had grown as thick as an adult's thigh. The egg, encircled by these tentacles, stood at a height of 1.2 meters.

The yolk inside the egg had completely transformed. It was still two weeks away from full development, but the shape of the embryo was already faintly visible.

It was a curled-up fetus, with limbs and facial features not yet fully differentiated, only roughly formed. Clusters of deep blue tentacles surrounded the fetus, writhing menacingly. These tentacles enveloped the entire body of the fetus, wrapping around its limbs, neck, and even head, constantly swaying and thrashing. Most people would find this unsettling and might worry about the fetus surrounded by these alien forms.

When Bai Xiaoyu probed into the egg with his mental energy, he immediately noticed countless tentacle tips pointing towards his mental energy thread.

Seeing this, his expression softened. This mischievous little one had remembered the time he checked every day and seemed to be waiting for him. Its intelligence appeared to match that of Little Dot.

In the next moment, the tentacles reached out to "grab" Bai Xiaoyu's mental energy thread. The little one wanted to play, and Bai Xiaoyu played along.

Soon, all the internal tentacles joined in the chase, creating a chaotic tangle of large and small tentacles, some even knotting together. However, they quickly untangled themselves.

The youngling, wrapped in tentacles, gradually had fewer tentacles covering it, revealing its face. The youngling even danced along with the tentacles' movements.

As Bai Xiaoyu's mental energy circled around the youngling, the tentacles helped it turn, though slightly slower. Eventually, the youngling's face always ended up facing where Bai Xiaoyu's mental energy was.

Watching the little one follow him around without getting dizzy and growing increasingly excited, Bai Xiaoyu gently poked its forehead with his mental energy.

The little one tried to grab Bai Xiaoyu's mental energy with its undifferentiated fingers. After a few failed attempts, it suddenly sprouted a slightly lighter-colored tentacle on its forehead, reaching towards Bai Xiaoyu's mental energy thread.

While playing with the little one, Bai Xiaoyu had already begun examining its body. His mental energy thread traced from the little one's head to its tiny feet, revealing the deep blue tentacles that had sprouted unexpectedly.

The first time Bai Xiaoyu saw this, he was startled.

He had initially thought the tentacles and the yolk would develop separately, but later realized that the tentacles had fully merged with the little one. Any part of the little one's body could now sprout a small tentacle at any time.

Bai Xiaoyu teased the little guy, who was having so much fun that he ignored the large tentacle encircling his egg. The disgruntled tentacle began to gently sway the egg in protest and even flicked Bai Xiaoyu's hand with its tip, clearly telling him to scram.

Bai Xiaoyu paid no attention to it; this happened every day.

At this moment, the little guy's tentacles spread out, revealing his entire form, which looked no different from an ordinary youngling. However, he had a cluster of tentacles growing on his back. They now parted and swayed to the sides, resembling a pair of blue wings at first glance.