I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

Ji Tian stored the stack of manuscripts in his Purple Mansion Space, intending to savor them carefully in his spare time to determine if there was any possibility of salvaging his reputation.

His gaze shifted from the direction Alice had disappeared to Ophelia's face.

"What about the others?"

Ophelia knew he was asking about her other disciples, and answered softly, "Shirley took Jenny down the mountain yesterday, saying she wanted to find a companion for her bear."

"...Find a companion for the bear?"

"Hmm." Ophelia's tone remained calm, but Ji Tian clearly caught a hint of helplessness in her eyes. "She heard from somewhere that there was a rather rare silverback bear in the mountains to the north, and felt that her 'Big Black' was of marriageable age, so she dragged Jenny along. Jenny originally wanted to practice her sword for half a day, but Sherry just hoisted her onto her shoulder and left."

Ji Tian's mind conjured up the image of his eldest disciple carrying his fourth disciple across mountains and valleys in search of the bear, and he twitched his lips slightly as he said:

"Let her be, she won't lose anything anyway."

Ophelia nodded slightly and said, "Fifth Brother is still in the Spirit Spring Cave in the back mountain. He occasionally glows, but he hasn't broken out of his shell yet."

Ji Tian turned around and walked towards the back of the main hall. The red dragon, coiled on the bluestone plaza, looked around. Seeing Ji Tian about to leave, it asked in a muffled voice, "Where are you going again?"

"Since you're from the same clan, why don't you come too? See if you can communicate with my fifth disciple."

The red dragon spewed two streams of hot air from its nostrils, reluctantly stood up, and its four claws stomped on the stone slab with a dull thud.

Ji Tian then turned back and said, "Ophelia, why don't you show your junior brothers and sisters around the sect first?"

Alex and Mason, who had dismounted from the dragon's back, were standing aside looking at the surrounding buildings. Upon hearing this, they followed their second senior sister and walked into the distance.

Lilith was still somewhat afraid of her seventh junior brother's sword and didn't follow her second senior sister. She tugged at Ji Tian's sleeve and whispered, "Master, is my junior brother or sister really in the Spirit Spring Cave? I haven't seen her yet, I want to go see her too."

"What's so interesting about an egg? Besides, you're the junior sister."

"Eggs have their own kind of cuteness too."

Lingquan Cave is located in the middle of the mountain wall behind the main hall. A stone staircase winds its way up, with various mushrooms transplanted by Ji Tian from all over the place using his great supernatural powers on both sides.

Moonlight spilled onto the leaves, giving them a silvery-white glow. A thin membrane of light covered the entrance to the cave, a nurturing array set up by Ji Tian to gather spiritual energy and maintain a constant temperature and humidity.

Ji Tian raised his hand to brush aside the light membrane and stepped into the cave first.

The cave was not dark; several fluorescent stones were embedded in the stone walls, and the soft light made the entire cave resemble a quiet secret room.

In the center of the cave is a natural stone platform, covered with a thick layer of spiritual grass, on which sits an egg.

The dragon egg was about the height of an adult dwarf, with a dark blue body and a shell covered with fine silver patterns. It lay there quietly, with the silver patterns on the shell occasionally shimmering slightly, as if it were breathing.

Ji Tian walked to the stone platform, looked down at the egg, and said, "I'm back."

The silver patterns on the eggshell flashed twice before falling silent.

The red dragon followed behind, squeezing into the cave entrance, its enormous body blocking most of the opening.

It stretched its neck, stared at the egg with its vertical pupils for a long time, and exhaled two streams of hot, sulfurous breath from its nostrils.

"It definitely has the aura of a dragon egg, and it's much larger than the one I was born from. That's strange... Is this how you usually keep it?"

"That's right," Ji Tian said. "After discovering this egg, I nurtured it with demonic essence (spiritual energy) and let it listen to the Dao all day long. Logically speaking, it should have been subdued by my profound Daoist techniques and hatched long ago, but it has not come out for three years."

"Have you ever been a dragon?" The red dragon tilted its head to look at him, its vertical pupils filled with a condescending disdain. "You just take some things for granted."

Ji Tian raised an eyebrow. He had indeed never been a dragon, otherwise he wouldn't have asked the red dragon how to hatch an egg. "I'd like to hear the details."

"The hatching of a dragon egg doesn't depend on the amount of magic energy or what doctrines one listens to." The red dragon snorted, its tail sweeping against the cave wall, knocking off a few pebbles. "My dragon cubs can hatch whenever they want. You just need to create a suitable environment for them to hatch naturally."

Ji Tian was silent for a moment, then his gaze fell on the egg. The patterns on the eggshell flashed again, as if echoing the old dragon's words.

"So what should I do?"

"Wait," the red dragon replied crisply. "You're not its father, why are you worrying about it?"

"It calls me Master."

"It doesn't even have a mouth, how can it make a sound?" The red dragon scoffed. "We dragons have our own rhythm, you don't need to worry about it, it will hatch naturally when the time comes. Instead of rushing it, you should adjust the formation at the cave entrance, raise the temperature by half a degree and lower the humidity by ten percent. The patterns on its shell are bluish, which means it leans towards the fire element, and it's uncomfortable if it's too damp."

Ji Tian was surprised that this "honest dragon" was actually knowledgeable. He immediately went to the cave entrance and began to adjust the parameters of the formation.

Red Dragon lay to one side, his vertical pupils half-closed, occasionally offering a few pointers.

"Move this small array half an inch to the right, and brighten that rune a bit... Yes, that one... Don't force it with magic, follow its lines."

Lilith squatted by the stone platform and gently poked the eggshell with her fingertip. The silver patterns on the eggshell flashed, as if it had been tickled.

She rested her chin on her hand, staring at the egg, and whispered, "Junior brother? Junior sister? If you can hear me, then step aside."

The patterns on the eggshell flashed.

Lilith's eyes lit up, and she leaned even closer: "Show another flash?"

It flashed again.

"Can you understand me? Do you know I'm your fifth senior sister? Can you hurry up and hatch? When you do, just call me senior sister and I'll take you out to eat and drink the best food..."

The silver patterns on the eggshell flashed three times before going completely dark.

The red dragon exhaled a puff of smoke from its nostrils: "It's annoyed."

Lilith pouted, stood up, brushed the dust off her skirt, and said indignantly, "It's already this temperamental before it's even hatched, what will it be like in the future?"

……

Ophelia led Alex and Mason through the side door of the main hall and into a long corridor paved with bluestone.

Unidentified vines climbed the pillars, their delicate purple blossoms drooping silently in the moonlight.

"This is the disciples' residence. To the east is the senior sister's courtyard, and there are a few empty rooms to the west. Junior brothers and sisters can choose whichever they like."

Mason followed behind her, but his gaze remained fixed on Ophelia's back.

The moonlight outlined her slender waist and the slightly exposed pointed ears. Her short, silvery-white hair swayed gently at the side of her neck with her steps, giving her an even better first impression than Anna from the Hero Squad.

"Senior sister?" Mason suddenly spoke.

Ophelia stopped and turned to look at her. Her icy blue eyes shone brightly in the moonlight, like glass.

"You're so beautiful," Mason exclaimed sincerely. "Gentle and serene, you'd definitely charm a lot of people if you were out in the world. No wonder the sect leader likes you so much."

Ophelia's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a smile that was hard for ordinary people to notice appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"Thank you, but my junior sister is also very beautiful, with her fiery red hair, which is quite rare."

Mason subconsciously touched the ends of his hair and chuckled.

"I'll take it as a compliment from you, Senior Sister..." Mason leaned closer, finally revealing his true intentions, "Um... Senior Sister Ophelia, do you have any new manuscripts for those books you've written? Could I... get a sneak peek?"