Once Liam got home, he went straight to the reclining chair beneath the tree outside his house.
It had become his spot for quiet work.
Whatever chaos was unfolding in the city tonight didn't concern him. It could wait.
None of it was more important than the eggs he had brought back.
The word "Ancient," spoken by the Dustpetal cult leader, had been enough to make him restless with curiosity.
But there was no need to rush. He decided to treat the egg Ilya gave him as practice before attempting the more valuable one.
The house and surrounding alleys were already secure.
Liam had stationed puppets in hidden places, each one quietly watching for trouble.
Anyone passing by would see only an ordinary spiritual planter's courtyard, never guessing that the so called Nascent soul ancestor lived here under the guise of a low-level planter and puppeteer.
That suited Liam perfectly.
He intended to stay in the shadows for as long as possible.
His goal was not fame but bait, bait strong enough to lure protagonist-level figures into his dungeon eventually.
To do that, he needed lore.
A story, a myth, something that would grow on its own and make others come searching for him.
And if crafting that story required him to step into the light from time to time, so be it.
He sat forward, taking out the egg from Ilya.
The egg was covered in faint blue scales that caught the light, small enough to sit in the center of his palm.
Far smaller than the eggs he had worked with before.
He set it down carefully and focused.
This was not the first time he had done this.
Since his last success hatching the Typhoon Eagle, he had spent every idle moment refining his control, splitting his golden spiritual energy into thinner and thinner strands until they could weave into a delicate net.
That precision mattered now.
To activate the system's identification function, he needed to reach the egg's core.
Not crush it, not disrupt its natural flow, but gently wrap it with his energy, like weaving a cocoon around it.
Closing his eyes, Liam exhaled and spread his energy.
Thin strands of gold light slipped from his fingertips, wrapping slowly around the egg's surface and sinking through the shell.
A panel appeared in front of his vision.
[Dungeon Creation System]
[Name]: Li Am / Liam
[Realm]: Foundation Building Realm [Perfected]
[Lifespan]: 57 / 850
[Universal Essence / Points]:2647
[Techniques]: Spiritual Rain [Intermediate], Soil Movement [Intermediate], Basic Fireball [Intermediate], Basic Earth Wall [Intermediate], Basic Body Movement [Expertise], Common Sword Mastery [Expertise], Azure Green Hand [Expertise], Imagination Spiritualism [Expertise], Iron Guard Dharma [Expertise]
[Spiritual Arts]: Spiritual Planter [Upper Level – First Grade], Spiritual Puppeteer [Low Level – Second Grade]
[Dungeon]
[Available Dungeon Slot]: 1
Tier 1: 1
[Pocket Space]
1.Wilden Wolves
Growth Limit: Qi Refining Realm (Peak)
Rarity: 0.1
Lifespan: 200 years
Special Skills: Blue Claws, Flaming Mantle
2. Wooden Boar
Growth Limit: Qi Refining Realm (Peak)
Rarity: 0.1
Lifespan: 300 years
Special Skills: Hardened Hide
3. Typhoon Eagle [Bounded]
Growth Limit: Foundation Building Realm
Rarity: 0.2
Lifespan: 700 years
Special Skills: Typhoon Blades, Wind Slash, Typhoon Shield
4. Shadow Worm
Growth Limit: Qi Refining Realm [Perfection]
Rarity: 0.1
Lifespan: 200 years
Special Skills: Shadow Movement, Shadow Strike, Cocoon of Darkness
Liam glanced over the familiar data before dismissing it.
The permission level continued to climb, slow but steady.
Liam watched the numbers tick upward with a mixture of satisfaction and confusion.
The way it increased still made little sense.
Every time he consumed points gained from Lucien's dungeon entries, the results varied.
Sometimes he spent five thousand points and saw the progress jump by one percent.
Other times, spending the exact same amount only earned half that.
There was no pattern he could see, no logic he could apply.
In the end, Liam simply accepted it as one of those mysteries that came with the system.
It wasn't something he could force an answer from.
Trying to understand everything at once was impossible, and he knew it.
One step at a time, that had always been his approach. Progress, no matter how slow, was still progress.
"One in a river, then the next day in the ocean," he murmured.
He paused.
That phrase sounded familiar. Where had he heard it before? He couldn't place it.
The thought stayed for a moment, then faded, replaced by the matter sitting before him.
The blue-scaled egg.
Liam turned it in his hands, its smooth surface catching the light.
What exactly was it?
And more importantly, what would hatch from it?
His confidence now was different compared to months ago.
Back then, he had doubted himself at every turn.
Countless trials and errors. Just to get to this point of absolute confidence in his control over the golden energy.
Now, his control over the golden energy had reached a point where he could trust it.
He had spent countless hours honing it, pushing it, and he had something to show for it.
His eyes shifted briefly to the second egg, the one lying to the side.
A faint reddish glow seeped from its shell, faint, like a heartbeat.
That had not been there before.
When he first got it, the egg had been dull and grey, its surface cold and lifeless.
He had assumed it was dead. Now it seemed to breathe with light.
Coincidence?
No. He didn't believe in coincidence.
Something had caused this change, triggered something inside it.
But he would deal with that later.
First, the blue egg.
He placed it carefully in his palm and took a slow breath.
Golden energy gathered at his fingertips, swirling like warm currents.
It flowed outward, wrapping around the egg until it was fully coated.
The energy didn't just cover it, it clung to it.
Liam guided it along every curve, every ridge, letting it seep into the smallest cracks of the shell.
It was as if the energy remembered the shape of the egg, tracing it with perfect arches.
Liam focused harder, feeling for the slightest response.
Then, the golden energy began to wrap the egg fully. Memorising every corners...