Wu Tianmo sat there watching the egg shake its shell starting to crack.
A violent serpent was writhing within attempting to break free, the process was really incredible. As in its struggle the egg rolled and shifted. Shattering the other eggs which were drained of all life.
Incredibly this green egg was now much stronger and the scales were much thicker. Small hisses could be heard from within when finally the top of the egg started to crack open.
The egg stopped trembling and the shell started to be devoured, it still retained nutrients for the new serpents.
Wu Tianmo was filled with anticipation, a tamed beast was a lifeline for a cultivator and a guardian for its family. Since his goal was to create an immortal clan, this was the first step to their longevity.
Waking him from his internal thoughts was a green large head of a serpent with white scales around its eyes.
As it rose from within the remaining shell, it revealed a golden pattern across its whole body which intertwined with its green leathery skin.
He smiled, looking his new tamed beast up and down,
"Incredible, you're already so big."
The serpent raised its head and hissed loudly releasing a divine sense.
Wu Tianmo's jaw dropped, shocked, yet it was to be expected. This beast was a tier two beast, at birth!
The serpent slithered onto Wu Tianmo and wrapped its two-foot long body around his forearm. He tapped the serpent on its head.
"You may be a tier two beast, but you're so small.... You need to grow up quickly little green!"
He raised and lowered his forearm,
"Heavy one... Even for me! You eat to much."
The snake hissed and the sound of wood creaking echoed behind him.
The door.. I guess I was right, to leave this place I had to pass the test.
He stood and walked towards the door with his new companion in tow, with one last look behind him the pavilion started to blur.
The next moment, he was outside.
He looked around at the night sky, the moon was covered by the clouds and only the stars showed the path down.
Wu Tianmo looked at the pathway up, which now was much less daunting now that he was in the Meridian Opening Realm. He shook his head, he had plenty to do and no time to continue exploring.
He reached into his robes to find a leather pouch,
"A beast storage pouch, quite useful for hunting. These were sold for tens of thousands of silver in the capitals. Now it's mine for free, along with Little Green."
He opened the leather binding on the pouch and pointed it towards the dead snakes, a vortex within the pouch sucked in all their bodies in an instant.
Wu Tianmo's eyes widened and he smiled proudly,
"How useful! This will make hunting much more convenient.. I will be able to rescue my clan member after selling this stuff easily."
He began to quickly run down the mountain path,
I'm so much quicker, and I feel like I have endless energy! Is this what it means to be a Meridian Opening Realm? I will need to explore the differences, thoroughly.
It didn't take long for him to descend the mountain, nor for him to go hundreds of miles to the gorge. What originally took him many days could be completed in one.
The change in his abilities was astonishing, it also made him realize how tight of a rope he was walking. He mistakenly walked with his head high, on par with the other patriarchs. Yet they have always been so much more powerful.
If not for this being a new village and his accumulated merits, he might have been slain by the patriarchs for being an arrogant weakling.
Saving the Liu Clan Patriarch is likely the only reason he is alive.
He wandered towards the edge of the gorge, suddenly his divine sense picked up something. People, many mortals led by one cultivator were rushing his way.
Wu Tianmo hid nearby, watching and waiting for them to arrive.
Yellow robes led by a tall man resembling Zhang Guowei walked by, towards the Thousand Serpent Sect.
Little Green started to hiss but was quickly quieted. The leader of their group quickly turned and looked their direction.
Seeing nothing he quickly ushered his clansmen towards the mountain hundreds of miles away. They would take weeks to arrive, only to find it already partially looted.
Wu Tianmo felt slightly sorry for them they lost so many men only to arrive and find the place partially looted.
None of them were high level cultivators, they were mostly mortals!
They should be grateful I cleared out the serpents, their lives will be spared. If that tier two beast were to have found them, even more of the Zhang clan would end up dead.
He cleared his head and after they were long gone he rushed through the gorge and back to town.
---
At the Gate of Heimu Village's Outer Wall
---
Wu Tianmo walked towards the torchlit wall to find two guards standing on top of it, one of them was the Zhang Clan's Mingyu.
Wu Tianmo smiled, he had a good impression of this guard. Only a mortal yet he dared to guard the gate against monsters. Not many had this courage.
He walked towards the guards who immediately yelled,
"Stop! Who goes there!"
Wu Tianmo's serpent companion hissed but he tapped it on the head comfortingly.
"Mingyu, it's to cold out, allow me inside."
Mingyu raised a lantern to get a better look,
"Wu T-- Patriarch?!? You're alive?! Come in!"
Wu Tianmo frowned,
"What do you mean, of course I'm alive!"
Mingyu sighed in relief,
"You have been gone for almost a month we thought you dead like our scouts."
He smiled,
"I'm glad we were wrong"
He couldn't place his finger on it, but there was something different about Wu Tianmo. Something that reminded him of his own Patriarch.
He has gotten stronger, much stronger.
He chuckled,
"You made it just in time! The black tower is hosting an even tonight. I'm on duty and cannot go but you should check out the Slaugh--"
Wu Tianmo immediately jumped over the wall at speeds a mortal could barely follow.
Within, the sounds of celebration and slaughter echoed from the village.
He was too late.