Chapter 1067: Unacceptable Praise

Wang Qingling poured the Spirit-Nourishing Jade Liquid onto the spirit beast egg. The egg remained normal, slowly absorbing the liquid.

She took out a cyan gourd, uncorked it, and a surge of pure wood-attribute spiritual energy gushed out.

Considering that Huangfu Rong had previously wanted to purchase the Ice Wind Flood Dragon, Wang Qingling harbored some suspicions about Huangfu Rong's intentions. She took out a blue porcelain bowl, placed a black insect egg with a faint vitality inside, and poured some light cyan liquid from the cyan gourd into it.

Wang Qingling had acquired this insect egg at an exchange fair. A Core Formation rogue cultivator claimed it was from an ancient cultivator's dwelling. Despite spending several years, Wang Qingling had been unable to hatch it.

Wang Qingling possessed several spirit beast eggs and insect eggs supposedly obtained from ancient cultivator dwellings. Though she couldn't hatch them, she would still buy them if she encountered them.

The black insect egg rapidly absorbed the light cyan liquid. Soon, the egg cracked, and a palm-sized black spider crawled out. The spider had over a dozen legs, an unusually tiny head, and emitted extremely strange hissing sounds.

"Oh, it's a Soul-Devouring Spider!"

Wang Qingling was somewhat surprised. The Soul-Devouring Spider was ranked thirty-second on the Heavenly Wonders Insect List. Not only was it incredibly venomous, but it could also perform soul attacks, making it a relatively high-ranking spirit insect.

The Soul-Devouring Spider let out a strange hiss, but Wang Qingling showed no unusual reaction.

"Cousin Haitang wants to raise a spirit insect with powerful abilities. This Soul-Devouring Spider would be perfect for her!"

Wang Qingling murmured to herself, placing the Soul-Devouring Spider into a spirit beast bead.

The Jade Mulberry Divine Water should be able to hatch spirit insect eggs without any problem.

Wang Qingling poured some Jade Mulberry Divine Water onto the spirit beast egg. The divine water visibly sank into the egg and disappeared.

A surprising scene unfolded: the spirit beast egg suddenly began to shake, and the water-attribute fluctuations it emitted became significantly stronger.

"Are you about to emerge?"

Wang Qingling was immediately overjoyed. She poured all the remaining Jade Mulberry Divine Water onto the spirit beast egg. The egg shook violently, and after absorbing all the divine water, it stopped moving.

A faint cyan glow emanated from Wang Qingling's right hand, enveloping the spirit beast egg. She could clearly see tiny blood vessels on the egg's surface, and the egg's life fluctuations had grown considerably stronger.

"It's a pity it's diluted Jade Mulberry Divine Water. If it were undiluted, you would probably have emerged already!"

Wang Qingling murmured to herself, gently touching the spirit beast egg.

The spirit beast egg suddenly began to spin violently, and wisps of mist appeared around it.

This scene took Wang Qingling by surprise. She had hatched at least eighty to a hundred spirit beast eggs, but this was the first time she had encountered such a phenomenon.

It seemed this was no ordinary spirit beast egg; it might be the offspring of a powerful spirit beast.

After a long while, the spirit beast egg stopped spinning, and the mist vanished.

"I wonder where Ninth Uncle got this spirit beast egg. It can manipulate water spiritual energy even before hatching. It truly isn't an ordinary spirit beast."

Wang Qingling put away the spirit beast egg and returned to her room to cultivate.

Fiery Dragon Island, located at the junction of the Five Dragon Sea Region and the Fire Pig Sea Region, had fallen into enemy hands during the foreign race invasion. After a human counter-offensive, Fiery Dragon Island was recaptured.

On Fiery Dragon Island, a city stretching for a thousand li lay in ruins. Most of its towering walls had collapsed, the ground was stained crimson with blood, and a strong scent of gore permeated the air. Numerous corpses of demonic beasts and cultivators lay strewn across the ground.

Within the city stood a magnificent red palace, its plaque gleaming with the three large characters: "Fiery Dragon Hall."

Inside the hall, Li Tianyang and over a dozen Nascent Soul cultivators were discussing the war, smiles gracing every face.

During the great human counter-offensive, the sea race had diverted a large number of forces to encircle and suppress Nascent Soul cultivators causing trouble in their rear. As a result, the strength of the foreign races was greatly diminished, unable to withstand the fierce human onslaught. The forces led by Li Tianyang had already reclaimed all lost territory in the Five Dragon Sea Region.

"Fellow Daoists, in today's battle, we have recaptured Fiery Dragon Island and the Fire Pig Sea Region. This old man and Daoist Du from the Sun Moon Palace have discussed this, and we should press our advantage, expand our gains, and absolutely force the foreign races back to the Myriad Demon Sea Region."

Li Tianyang said in a deep voice, his expression extremely excited.

The ten major sects of the South Sea had been busy for so long, not merely coveting a few thousand islands; they aimed to secure at least one entire sea region.

"Thanks to Daoist Li's wisdom, otherwise we might not have recaptured the lost territories so quickly."

Hai Dashan praised with a smile.

Li Tianyang, smiling broadly, humbly replied, "Daoist Hai, you flatter me. This is not the achievement of Li alone. Without the other Daoists, we wouldn't have recaptured Fiery Dragon Island so quickly. In fact, much credit goes to Daoist Wang and his companions for infiltrating behind enemy lines and disrupting them, which greatly reduced pressure on the front lines. Without their efforts, we wouldn't have been able to recover the lost territories this swiftly."

"Indeed! Slaying ten Nascent Soul foreign cultivators is a feat that directly rivals the Sun and Moon Sages."

Chen Ang's face showed approval and deep admiration.

In the cultivation world, strength was paramount, and Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan had proven themselves through their battle achievements.

"Rivals the Sun and Moon Sages? Daoist Chen, you jest. My wife and I dare not accept such praise."

A man's voice, tinged with a hint of resentment, suddenly rang out. As soon as the words fell, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan entered.

Their faces were pale, indicating severe spiritual energy depletion.

The sea race had been madly pursuing them. Fortunately, they encountered a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who diverted most of the pursuers. Even so, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan nearly died at the hands of the sea race.

"Daoist Wang, Madam Wang, you've returned! That's wonderful."

Li Tianyang's face lit up with joy upon seeing Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan.

Upon seeing Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, Hai Dashan and the others spontaneously showed expressions of admiration.

"Haha, Daoist Wang, we were just speaking of you! Slaying ten Nascent Soul foreign cultivators has greatly boosted our human race's prestige. You are already famous throughout the South Sea; now, when the 'Azure Lotus Immortals' are mentioned, everyone knows who you are."

Wang Ruyan shook her head and said, "Daoist Hai, you misunderstand. We did not slay ten Nascent Soul foreign cultivators."

On their way back, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan had already discussed that no matter who bestowed such a high honor upon them, they absolutely could not accept it.

As the saying goes, "The tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind." Slaying six Nascent Soul foreign cultivators was already very conspicuous; adding another five Nascent Soul foreign cultivators would make it not a merit, but a liability.

If they were to acknowledge this achievement, the Wang family's every future move would come under intense scrutiny. Even a small mistake would be infinitely exaggerated by their enemies. Although the human race was currently united, internal strife over interests would surely erupt once the war concluded.

For the sake of their future, they could not accept this prestigious title.

Hearing Wang Ruyan's words, Li Tianyang and the others were dumbfounded. Li Tianyang had learned this news from sea race prisoners of war. He had performed soul-searching techniques on multiple captives, and the results were all consistent; the information had come from deep within enemy territory and could not be mistaken.