Seeing this, Meng Qianqian wanted to turn around and say something.
But then she heard a soft "ka" sound.
The crack at the bottom of the giant egg suddenly protruded outwards, and a piece of eggshell the size of a human head fell off, revealing a hole.
Hearing this, Meng Qianqian hurriedly turned around, a little nervous, but also a little expectant, looking at the hole. She heard a series of childish cries coming from inside, similar to that of a chick's.
Then, a furry head that was about the size of the hole popped out from inside.
This small creature's eyes were half open, and the fluff on its surface glowed with a faint green light. Its appearance was somewhat similar to that of a hen, with a short and straight beak, two nostrils for breathing, and a bulging face, which made it look a little stupid.
The head twisted left and right a few times, and then slowly opened its eyes completely.
It first looked at Han Li, then at Meng Qianqian. Its furry head tilted to one side, then its body slowly crawled out of the eggshell. It staggered towards Meng Qianqian's direction step by step.
Its neck was thin and long, and it was connected to a somewhat weak and slender body. Compared to its huge head, it seemed extremely disproportionate, as if all the nutrients were used to grow the head, causing it to look a little deformed.
Looking at the appearance of this bird, Han Li couldn't say he was disappointed, but he felt that it was a little … ugly.
He didn't know where Fang Pan got this egg, nor did he know what his purpose was.
Meng Qianqian looked at the strange nestling that was swaying left and right as it walked towards her. Her beautiful eyes lit up, and she broke into a cold sweat for it. She was afraid that its delicate neck would not be able to support its head and it would break at any time.
She looked directly into the eyes of the nestling, and in her heart, she didn't feel that it was ugly, but rather a little cute. After all, this was the only thing that accompanied her all these years when she was cultivating alone.
Sometimes when she reached a bottleneck in her cultivation, or when she couldn't break through, or when she felt that the path of cultivation was very difficult and lonely, or when she had something on her mind that even her elder brother didn't want to tell, she would use this giant egg as the only person she could talk to.
Unknowingly, this unknown giant egg had become a good companion on her path of cultivation. It accompanied her step by step from the Nascent Soul Stage to the realm she was at today.
It could even be said that if it weren't for this giant egg, she might not have been able to progress to the Soul Formation Stage so quickly.
Now that the egg had finally broken out of its shell, she was in a rather complicated mood.
She slowly crouched down and picked up the nestling that had finally walked to her feet. She gently stroked its soft feathers.
The nestling gently leaned its head against the feather in her hand, slowly rubbing against it and letting out low cries.
"Elder Li, can you give it a name?" Meng Qianqian turned around with the nestling in her arms and asked Han Li.
"The feather in your hand is most likely its mother's. Why don't you call it 'Nian Yu'?" Han Li said after thinking for a moment.
"Nian Yu, Nian Yu … mmm, what a nice name. I'll call it Nian Yu from now on." Meng Qianqian repeated the name a few times and said happily with a smile.
Seeing this, Han Li was a little moved.
Meng Qianqian picked up the nestling and said in a serious tone, "From now on, you'll be called Nian Yu!"
Only now did Han Li notice that below the nestling's head, there was a small sac of flesh hidden under the feathers.
He frowned and walked up to take the nestling from Meng Qianqian's hands. After looking at it carefully for a moment, he flipped up the nestling's wings and tail. Seeing that there was a feather that was faintly glowing, he fell into deep thought.
"What's wrong … Elder Li, is there something wrong?" Meng Qianqian asked worriedly.
"There's nothing wrong. Previously, I tried to figure out the origin of this giant egg, but I couldn't find any clues.
Now that it hatched, I finally have some clues. "Han Li smiled and said.
"Oh … Does Nian Yu have a great background?" Meng Qianqian's curiosity was piqued and she asked hurriedly.
"I can't be sure at the moment, but I'm sure that it's a wind-elemental spirit bird. Moreover, it's a high-grade wind-elemental spirit bird that has the potential to evolve. It might have some kind of true spirit bloodline in its body." Han Li didn't want to hide it, so he told her directly.
When Meng Qianqian heard this, the way she looked at the nestling changed a little. She clicked her tongue in praise.
"Nian Yu, you're really something …"
Of course, the nestling was completely unaware of this. It only opened its beak and chirped non-stop, as if it was filled with curiosity and longing for this world.
Seeing this, Han Li flipped his palm and a green pill appeared in his palm.
A green light lit up in his palm and enveloped the entire pill.
After a while, the elixir gradually melted in this layer of green light and turned into a ball of green gas with abundant spiritual power.
Han Li guided the ball of green energy with his palm and it slowly flowed into the nestling's sharp beak.
A ray of green light flowed along Nian Yu's slender neck and into its abdomen. After a few flashes, it disappeared.
The nestling stopped chirping and opened its beak to let out a very human-like burp. Meng Qianqian was very amused and she couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.
However, before it could finish burping, the nestling's eyelids slowly drooped. Its head tilted to one side and it fell into a deep sleep.
Meng Qianqian was slightly stunned.
"This wind-elemental spirit pill is still too high-grade for it at the moment. Although I've already used my spiritual energy to nourish the pill, it still can't take it.
But it's okay. It'll absorb more spiritual energy when it's asleep, "Han Li explained with a smile.
Meng Qianqian quickly nodded to show that she understood.
"Keep that feather by your side for now. Nian Yu has been under your care since it hatched, so you'll still take care of it in the future," Han Li said as he passed the sleeping nestling to Meng Qianqian.
"Yes, Elder Li," Meng Qianqian quickly accepted it and smiled.
"I remember that there are many Wind Spiritual Herbs in the spiritual medicine garden. You can feed it with these herbs in the future. Feed it with those that are around ten years old at the beginning. When it grows up, you can feed it with those that are older. Don't be too hasty.
Remember, don't feed it pills of other elements, "Han Li thought about it and reminded her.
"Okay, I'll remember," Meng Qianqian nodded and said.
"Alright, bring Nian Yu back," Han Li waved his hand and said.
Meng Qianqian excused herself and carried the nestling to the door of the stone room. Just as she was about to step out, she was stopped by Han Li.
"What is it, Elder Li, do you have any other instructions?" Meng Qianqian turned around and asked curiously.
"If I'm not wrong, you're already a Soul Forming Stage cultivator, right?" Han Li smiled and said.
"I wanted to tell you before, but I didn't have the chance. Because of Nian Yu's delay, I forgot about it," Meng Qianqian smiled and said embarrassedly.
"Mmm, your aptitude is better than your brother and the rest, so you'll be able to progress faster.
This bottle of pills for Soul Forming Stage cultivators is for you, it's a congratulatory gift to celebrate your advancement, "Han Li threw a white porcelain bottle over and said with a smile.
Meng Qianqian quickly accepted it and after thanking him a few times, she turned around and left happily.
Not long after she left, a ray of green light flew out from the courtyard of the cave and went straight out of the Crimson Afterglow Peak.
The next day.
The sun was high up in the sky and the weather was clear.
The snow on the west side of the Zhong Ming Mountains had not melted yet, so most of the mountains were bright white. Only a few areas could see that some of the halls and plazas had been cleaned, revealing a different color.
Apart from that, there were some places with underground fire veins or hot springs that were not covered by the snow, so one could still see some green that was not bright.
High up in the sky, a ray of green light flew past and landed in the crescent-shaped valley next to the Xilin Peak.
This person was none other than Han Li, who came to find White Sparrow Valley.
Last night, he left the Crimson Afterglow Peak and went to the foot of the mountain to release the Refined Flame Firebird back into the cave that led to the underground fire vein.
The little guy looked very happy, and after circling around him twice, it flew into the cave with familiarity.
After that, he went through the Pavilion of Inheritance and rushed to the west side of the Zhong Ming Mountains.
Originally, if he had chosen to teleport to the Pavilion of Inheritance in the Pu Ling Valley and then to the Xilin Peak, he would have saved a lot of time and would have arrived at the Half Que Valley before the sun rose.
However, if a True Immortal came to the Pu Ling Valley, regardless of whether he was here to pick a servant or not, it would most likely cause a commotion. Han Li did not want to attract the attention of others.
Therefore, he chose to teleport to the more distant Peak of Unity and flew all the way to where he was now.
Half Fault Valley shared the same fate as the Western Forest Peak beside it. It was also an ordinary region that didn't have any special spiritual resources, so it had never been valued by the sect. There weren't any cave residences built by elders or disciples, and there weren't any sect facilities either. It could be considered a primitive mountain valley.
Han Li landed at the entrance of the valley and walked straight inside. Everywhere he looked, there was thick snow. Occasionally, there were some reddish-brown rocks that were exposed, making it look a little desolate.
After walking for hundreds of feet, the terrain gradually widened. However, compared to the outside of the valley, the terrain inside the valley was obviously lower. Han Li could feel that he was walking down a certain slope.
After walking for about an hour, the valley in front of him became misty and the scenery became a little hazy.
Han Li walked around a giant rock in the valley and saw a rather large crescent shaped lake behind him. On the surface of the water, there were strands of hot air coming out. It was obviously a geothermal hot spring.
The temperature around the hot spring was slightly higher and he could see a circle of exposed reddish-brown shore.
Han Li walked to the shore of the hot spring and stopped. His eyes lit up with blue light as he looked into the lake.
He saw that the surface of the lake was rippling and the water was clear. He could directly see the rugged rocks at the bottom of the lake. However, he did not see any fish or aquatic animals.
After a while, Han Li retracted his gaze and carefully released his consciousness, enveloping the entire valley.
However, after some investigation, he found nothing. It was as if this Half Que Valley was really just an ordinary valley.