Egg

Upon exiting the hidden realm, Xiao Xiang collapsed to her knees. Her surroundings at the entrance to the hidden realm were somewhat chaotic, but not as much as one might expect considering the devil that had appeared in the hidden realm. Most of the chaos was being created by Mo Suyin, who was screaming at the top of her lungs. However, Xiao Xiang could not focus on it as the distant hymns echoed through her mind, guiding her to something she instinctively felt fear towards.

It felt suffocating, as if she was drowning in a grand pressure. As she began to lose consciousness, her surroundings shifted, and the last thing she saw was the silhouette of her master.

...

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...

Back at the hidden realm's entrance, Mo Suyin desperately argued with the presiding elder. "As I've been telling you, Senior brother is-!" Despite her attempts, the elder didn't do anything as he had already rescued all the disciples that could've been saved. Moreover, as Grand elder Xin remained still, it meant that either the situation was under control or...

Either way, there was nothing he could do. Also, considering the fact that while Mo Suyin had recently become quite famous, or rather infamous, for continuously winning multiple battles in the sect's sparring arena and refusing any of the elders' offers of accepting her as their disciple, being yelled at by her was definitely unacceptable for an elder.

However, the current situation was one where he couldn't help but swallow his dissatisfactions. After all, Mo Suyin was concerned about Xin Jianyu, Grand elder Xin's only grandson, and only a mad man would say anything in such a situation.

Especially since the hidden realm was under the management of the discipline hall alongside the Realm Keeping Commission, of which he was an elder...

"T-this?!" Abruptly, the arena was filled with gasps as the spatial boundaries of the hidden realm began to fluctuate. The gate that had been stable now turned into a swirling mess, spewing out motes of light filled with qi at a rapid rate.

"The realm seals hav-!" One of the elders began, wanting to inform others of the undoing of realm keeping seals that held the realm's spatial boundaries in place but couldn't finish as a faint hymn resounded.

A wordless hymn, guiding one's mind, telling them about something unspeakable. Their minds were thrown into disarray as they felt affected by the hymns to different degrees in different fashions.

Some screamed in pain and fear, some fell to their feet in despair, some fell into a deeper state of meditation, and some felt nothing...

Of course, the sect wouldn't simply sit on their hands, and soon, five figures appeared in the skies above, each figure made from a different color. They were of red, black, green, white, and yellow, representing the elements of fire, water, wood, metal, and earth respectively.

They shone with a bright gleam and conjoined to form a pentagram formation that enveloped the entirety of the area, suppressing the wordless hymns.

The grand elders and the sect patriarch did not make a move. After all, the figures in the sky were none other than their main bodies' spell incarnation left behind for emergencies.

Yet, the hymns weren't isolated and continued to resound... and even so, the grand elders made no move.

After all, they themselves felt affected by the wordless tales of the distant hymns. The source of the hymn was far greater than them, the clones at the very least...

So, they simply decided to observe and gather strength for any change or the worst-case scenario, and they didn't have to wait for long as the spatial boundaries near the hidden realm entrance soon contracted at a rapid rate, condensing into a dark orb pushing in on itself.

As the tumultuous orb warped and shifted till it shattered into countless pieces resembling broken glass, Yin Meili, the Yin Family matriarch, looked towards Xin Dongyang, who remained still with his eyes closed.

Then her gaze shifted to her disciple and granddaughter who remained unconscious upon the floor by her side...

Her granddaughter's fiance was still inside the now shattered realm, and his grandfather was not doing anything... Which would've been fine if her granddaughter wasn't nearly as dependent on that brat.

If something happened to the brat, her daughter's dao heart might just shatter but...

'Not much I can do...'

Yin Meili herself was having trouble resisting the Hymn's influence to do anything, and so, she continued to watch what was ongoing.

Finally, the shattered fragments of the hidden realm's space effluxed into a spectacular swirling mess of small spatial fragments containing parts of the hidden realm disintegrating into gray mist at a rapid pace.

And there was one other thing in between all that, a multi-colored orb with two pearls of gold and silver revolving around it. Soon, the spatial fragments and residual mist began to follow the pearls revolving around the primary orb, condensing.

Eventually, all the fragments were gathered and formed a crystalline black egg-like structure that reflected no light, and the hymns began to fade away. As if on cue, clouds began to gather in the sky, and heavenly intent made its presence known; a tribulation was to begin.

It was at this very moment that Xin Dongyang opened his eyes and appeared right before the mysterious egg, leaving alongside the egg in an instant.

Leaving the Cloud Soar arena in a grand uproar as everyone who was conscious began to discuss what had just happened.

...

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...

Atop Lunar Yin Peak, Xin Dongyang carefully positioned the egg in a location saturated with abundant spiritual qi, maintaining a vigilant distance as he observed the unfolding tribulation.

He had enough time to prepare, as he had let the wordless hymns guide him... Not the wisest decision to make but, not the worst one either... at least to him it wasn't.

If he couldn't save his grandson, his daughter's Dao heart will suffer and so will his wife's.

He, himself also wished to save his grandson and the hymns guided him towards the answer when he felt powerless, he wished to protect his family unlike his main body who primarily wished to protect the Xin family... So he just did what he had to.

Soon, under his gaze the tribulation began.

The first trial of the tribulation manifested itself as a relentless Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, a trial of heavens for cultivators growing further and further away from their origin. Hours passed, marking a continuous onslaught of lightning, yet the egg remained the same, showing not a single crack.

Following this, the Karmic Winds Tribulation commenced, testing one's deeds, Karmic ties, and their path, ensnaring the individual in a maze of seemingly boundless illusions.

However, the Karmic Winds abruptly ceased, possibly due to an incomplete ascension, Xin Dongyang himself wasn't so sure as this was a rare event even amongst his generation no one had a half ascension so early.

Next came the Five Elements Tribulation, the trial of one's body as well as the nurturance of one's body.

The Five Elements Tribulation unfurled its majestic display. First, the Earth Element manifested in a series of quaking tremors, yellow motes of light enveloping the egg, covering its entirety in a stony skin.

Next came the Water Element, cascading waves of ethereal liquid that sought to drown the egg. The sharp torrential water soon caused the egg to lose its stony skin as well as a single layer of its "shell."

The Fire Element roared to life, engulfing the surroundings in intense flames that scorched both the physical and spiritual. The egg shed another layer which turned into ashes soon turning into mist.

The Metal Element followed suit, unleashing sharp metallic particles swirling around the egg, leaving multiple scratches on its surface.

Finally, the Wood Element enveloped the egg, moss took root upon the egg's surface eating away at the scratches and taking off yet another layer...

After which the cycle continued

...

After hours of arduous struggle, the tribulation waned, and heavenly intent faded. The egg, having absorbed the quintessential qi of the five elements, greedily refined itself, undergoing a transformative process for an entire day.

And finally, the first crack appeared upon the egg, followed by another and another till it opened to form a dark cloud as the cracked shell rapidly changed to dark mist of chaotic qi.

A man appeared from the mist, unblemished skin, deep dark hair, amethyst eyes that had now melted into a warm violet, and crystalline antlers like a young tree branch crowning his head.

The dark mist gathered and formed into black daoist robes for him.

He walked majestically towards Xin Dongyang and others who stood beside him until...

"Feh?!" He tripped and fell, hitting his antler, inciting a loud scream "AAAAAAAAARRRHHH!!!"