My Pet Beast is Super Fearsome

[Name]: Unknown egg

[Growth]: Incubation period

[Status]: Awaiting hatching

[Potential]: 0~2★

[Description]: Egg of an unknown creature, with a high probability of being a Black Waterfowl egg based on big data calculations. Friendly reminder: Whether oviparous mutant creatures can reach their potential after hatching depends on whether they receive sufficient energy before they are born.

Seeing the information in front of him, Shao Zifeng's eye twitched slightly, is this it?

Does this thing even have the face to be called a Golden Finger?

Goddamn big data, is this how big data is supposed to work?

Not being able to issue tasks is one thing, but you can't even do a lottery or exchange items. The most amazing part is, the delay in identifying items is ridiculously high. If the delay was high that would be one thing, but not even being able to distinguish between items is too much, isn't it? This thing must have been a factory reject with defects, right?

Shao Zifeng inwardly ranted furiously, staring at several Black Waterfowl eggs with a pensive look.

The highest quality it can hatch into is two-star, which means it could be evaluated as B-level by official standards, which could definitely sell for a good price. But the problem now is, no one would really buy the egg if I tried to sell it directly, and even if someone did buy it, it wouldn't fetch a good price.

If I hatch it myself and don't spend a fortune providing energy, there's a high chance it will fail. No matter how I think about it, it doesn't seem like a good deal.

"Chirp chirp~!"

The two Black Waterfowls grew increasingly anxious, their cries becoming progressively louder. Their black feathers fluffed up, wings flapping on the water's surface, and the red fleshy bumps on their foreheads showed faint energy fluctuations. It seemed like if Shao Zifeng dared to take the eggs, they were ready to use their Charge skill and go all out with him.

As for why they didn't use Water Defense...because Water Defense is a defensive skill.

Only knowing one Charge skill is really pitiful.

Shao Zifeng sighed, no matter what excuse he found, he ultimately couldn't harden his heart to rob mutant creatures of their offspring.

He's a strange person, always keeping others at a certain distance in daily interactions. When it comes to robbery and murder, if it doesn't involve him, he would always look the other way. Even with his mother, he rarely displayed typical mother-son affection. Even if he constantly thought about her, he would seldom call her first, and never talk about what was on his mind.

To others, he always seemed to be smiling, but hard to get along with or connect with. Some of his relatives on his mother's side thought he was rather cold-hearted.

Yet when he watched videos alone, he would be moved seeing children salute soldiers, be touched by teenagers putting masks on scavengers, and be tearful over pets waiting endlessly for their owners.

Beneath his relatively tough exterior was a soft heart. He remained guardful toward everyone but maintained a hint of ridiculous kindness. All in all, he was a very contradictory person.

Offering an apologetic smile to the Black Waterfowl couple, Shao Zifeng turned and started walking upstream along the river. The two Black Waterfowls glanced at each other, flapping their wings as they flew into the reed bushes to carefully protect their eggs.

...

"Jingle jingle~"

About ten minutes later, Shao Zifeng stood in front of a dilapidated ancient building, looking up at a Taoist temple that carried the legend of the Phoenix. On the mottled, peeled paint of the large door was a decayed signboard, with once gilded characters corroded over time, faintly revealing the words "Qi Feng Temple."

Two bronze bells hung from the flying eaves on either side of the mountain gate. When the evening wind blew through them, they issued clear, bright chimes, accompanied by the sound of flowing water, creating an ethereal ambiance that seemed able to cleanse the spirit.

The surroundings of the temple were filled with mountain peach trees, reportedly planted by the last temple master. Unfortunately, for some reason, the trees that were supposed to be in full bloom in March now looked withered, their black, twisted branches appearing eerie in the nighttime.

"Crunch."

Shao Zifeng stepped forward to push the door. The decayed copper lock broke with a little force, and the doors ground open with a teeth-clenching sound.

Gazing into the temple, Shao Zifeng drew in a sharp breath. "Hiss, this tree..."

Just kidding.

At the center of the courtyard stood a gigantic, bald wutong tree. The tree trunk had around a two-meter diameter, with its roots lifting the surrounding bluestone slabs off the ground. Cracks spread outward from the trunk.

However, the wutong tree seemed to have a segment missing, leaving only a tree trunk as tall as two people. A layer of beige powder scattered around its base, likely from the decayed missing portion.

Upon closer inspection, it was evident that the large wutong tree wasn't entirely dead. Some small shoots emerged from the roots but had also lost their luster, looking as if they could die off at any moment.

"Hmm?"

As Shao Zifeng's gaze swept over the tree's top, he noticed some blue dots in his peripheral vision slightly moving. He quickly refocused on the wutong tree, staring intently at the broken part.

The blue light dots trembled slightly again.

"There's definitely something wrong," thought Shao Zifeng.

As he took a step closer to the tree, the blue light dots shook more violently than before.

Shao Zifeng felt a surge of joy. It seemed he had found something valuable; this might not be a loss after all.

With every step he took closing the distance to the wutong, the blue light dots would shiver intensely. Shao Zifeng reached the wutong tree, touched the rough trunk, and the blue light dots in his periphery began to swirl slowly.

Shao Zifeng stood still for a while, noticing that the light dots continued to spin without forming a light screen.

"Looks like the problem is at the treetop, I'll have to climb up and take a look," he muttered to himself.

The withered wutong wasn't very tall, and its decayed trunk was extremely fragile. A few strikes with a kitchen knife created enough footholds.

Shao Zifeng bit the kitchen knife between his teeth, hugging the trunk tightly as he carefully climbed up.

Using both hands and feet, he clambered to the top of the withered wutong. The flat surface looked as if it had been cut straight across and was coated with a thick layer of beige powder, identical to that on the ground.

Shao Zifeng cleared some of the powder with his hand and discovered the surface wasn't flat, but funnel-shaped, dipping inward at the center.

The blue dots in his peripheral vision began spinning frantically, urging Shao Zifeng to finish cleaning the powder quickly.

"Cough cough~" Shao Zifeng impulsively took a deep breath and blew hard. A cloud of powder flew up, making him cough loudly.

At that moment, the moon emerged from behind the clouds, casting a clear, faint light through the swirling powder, illuminating an object at the base of the tree hollow. That object emitted a quiet bluish-green glow.

The rapidly rotating blue dots converged into a pale blue light screen, unfolding in front of Shao Zifeng.

[Name]: Unknown Elemental Egg

[Growth]: Incubation period/Condensation period

[Status]: Awaiting hatching/Element extremely deficient

[Potential]: 3~5★

[Description]: An unknown element, having been cleansed over millennia, has condensed into an energy egg that may give birth to a pure elemental creature. Due to the abundance of withered trees nearby, big data calculations suggest a high likelihood that this egg is a wood-attribute elemental lifeform. Friendly reminder: This elemental egg is extremely weak right now. If it does not receive a large infusion of wood-element energy within one week, it will dissipate soon.

Damn you and your big data calculations, do you think I need you to calculate this? Am I blind or are you?

You might look all serious and impressive, but the information you identify with is really "smart" huh?

You're a mature plug-in already, you ought to learn to upgrade yourself automatically!

Daily rants done, the blue dots won't talk back anyway, so it's a way to relieve stress.

Honestly, given the vibe, Shao Zifeng felt a bit chilly.

Carefully picking up the elemental egg, it felt weightless, as if it wasn't there at all. The elemental egg seemed to sense something, flashing rapidly in his hand. It emitted a faint bluish-green glow as if resisting something, but ultimately, too weak to fight, it slowly dimmed down.

The elemental egg seemed to accept its fate: "Alright, I'm lying down, do what you want."