Cocoon

The matriarch, Feng Mian took princess Yun away in haste, leaving the granny and a few dozen elite guards to keep an eye on the cocoon.

"Mother, what's wrong?" the princess asked when she saw her mother's agitated state. Feng Mian was more than 800 years old and was at a very high realm. There weren't many things that could startle her like this.

Feng Mian didn't answer and led her to the cultivation room under the hill she was staying at.

"What are the kid's origins? Do you know?" she asked after taking a seat.

Princess Yun also sat down next to her lovingly hugged her arm like a little girl before answering, "I don't know. The old demon came here himself so he must be important. I asked 112 to keep an eye on the people that came with him and let me know if any new information came to light."

"And? What did you hear?"

"Nothing much. Just that he is one of the chosen Nine directly under the demon himself. He is grooming them to be Great generals in the future and one of them will probably take over the entire Red Legion for him."

"Anything else at all? What about his background?"

"No idea. He is the newest member and has only been with them for less than a year."

"Hmm," Feng Mian went quiet after that and seemed like she was in deep thought.

"Is something the matter? Should I have not helped him?" the princess asked when she saw her mother's expression.

She smiled upon hearing that and patted her head, "No, it has nothing to with that. But if he comes out of this alive, I want you to get close to him. Ask the demon to put him in charge of the new city and take his side no matter what."

The princess frowned after hearing that, "But he is nothing special. Why go so far?"

"He might not be anything special now, but he just awakened his physique. Things will be quite different from now on. And you're already old enough. If you like him then just seduce him, he would make a fine husband for my little girl," she hugged her and sighed.

Although the princess looked young, she was already more than 40 years old. The main difference between humans and beast clans was their lifespans.

Just like humans, beasts also had clans. Once a beast reached a specific realm, they would be able to transform into a human shape and their offsprings would also have this ability.

Normal humans had very limited lifespans. At most, it would be a few thousand years. Only at higher realms would one be able to break free from the chains of mortality or rather, live for such a long time that time wouldn't be an issue.

But it was different for beast clans. They, even at lower realms, had very long lifespans and could easily live for thousands of years. The downside to this was that they matured extremely slowly. Like, take Feng Mian for example. She was hundreds of years old but still, she only looked to be about 30.

This was not because of some heavenly technique or physique, but only because she matured much, much slower than humans.

"Yes mother," princess Yun obediently nodded her head, although whether or not she was actually going to follow her mother's orders was an entirely different thing.

***

Time seemed to pass by in a blink. It had already been more than a month since Hao Xuan had been enclosed in the cocoon. The Mad Saints were still waiting at the spider clan but they didn't just sit idly by and waste time. Instead under Kuo's orders, they went out every single day to train by killing different beasts.

They gave all the corpses back to the spider clan to show their sincerity, especially since they were being taken care of by them without any compensation.

The world of cultivation was run by these beast materials. Every single part of the beast had its use and could be sold to earn money, make weapons, medicines, armors, vehicles, etc.

First and Third had dropped by to check on Hao Xuan's condition but weren't allowed to meet him. The princess said his recovery was in a very critical juncture and he could not be disturbed.

They waited around for several days until the HQ called them back.

It was not until two more weeks later that a crack finally appeared on the cocoon.

At this point, the cocoon looked like it was a giant scab. Anyone that looked at it would get a horrible feeling and several weak-stomached guards threw up when they first saw it.

It also occasionally moved which didn't help at all.

One night there were three guards sitting outside the sealed room casually chatting when they heard a noise from inside.

Startled, they got up and checked and saw several dozen web-like cracks appearing all over the cocoon.

*Boom*Boom*

Suddenly loud noises came from inside the cocoon and it started to move violently. The scared guards stood there in a daze for a good few seconds until one of them remembered that they were supposed to let the higher-ups know if something changed.

"Quick! Go and inform the princess," said one them and ran to the old granny's place herself.

"Elder! The cocoon is breaking!" she rudely shouted as she got close. As soon as her sentence finished the old granny appeared out of her residence and ran straight to Hao Xuan's location.

Meanwhile, in another room far away, the other guard reached the princess's room and told her the same thing, who also followed her back.

After more than six weeks, Hao Xuan was finally going to come out.