Venerated venomous consort

Gu Xijiu gently stroked the egg in her hand as she replied, "Thank you very much."

From a distance, the candle dragons could be heard howling in resentment. But soon, the doleful cries faded away, finally allowing the sun to penetrate through the dark clouds again.

Once the sky was bright again, the two finally saw each other. Swiftly, Di Fuyi took the opportunity to examine their surroundings. Apparently, he had been here a few times. Therefore, the place was familiar to him. As soon as he decided which direction he wanted to go, he left without saying goodbye and did not even look back at Gu Xijiu. As he walked away, the edges of his purple robes gently caressed the tip of the grass around him.

With the egg in her hand, Gu Xijiu could not find a way to express her gratefulness. She could only watch helplessly as he slowly disappeared into the distance. All she could do was sigh at the sight of the egg.

The starry map had all the answers she sought for. Her death would definitely take place a month from now, and no amount of cradle dragon eggs could keep her alive. Logically speaking, the egg could be put to better use.

"Master!" Fan Qianshi could be seen approaching her from afar and was dumbfounded as soon as he caught a better look at the egg in her hand. "What… What is this?"

"It is a candle dragon's egg." Gu Xijiu then handed the egg over to Fan Qianshi. "You are required to hatch it within two months. If not, I will never see you again."

"Master, I know nothing about hatching an egg like this," Fan Qianshi replied rather innocently.

Within seconds of his reply, a book was then handed over to him. "You will find every piece of information you need in this book."

"All right!" Fan Qianshi promptly accepted the challenge.

…

Since the master and her apprentice had gotten what they came for, there was no need for any further delay. The two of them headed back in the same direction from which they came.

Dumfounded, Fan Qianshi could not believe how easy it was for the egg to come into their possession. "Master, I am aware that candle dragons despise anyone who comes to steal their eggs. The dragons will typically pursue the thieves to the end of the world. However, I have not seen you being pursued by any creatures so far."

With a flick of her wrist, Gu Xijiu presented him with a bottle of herbs that carried an unusually pleasant scent.

Fan Qianshi had no idea what it was but kept his eyes on it.

Gu Xijiu took the time to explain it to him. "This is known as the Track Masking Scent. With a spray, the candle dragons could no longer trace my tracks. Furthermore, there was no way that they would waste time in a blind pursuit."

Her last experience with the candle dragons had taught her a great lesson. Since then, she had been studying a way to hide her tracks in case she ever countered one again. The scent that she concocted was the proud result of her experiments, which had also conveniently served its purpose this time.

Fan Qianshi was intrigued by the effectiveness of the scent and wanted to keep it for further studies. To his surprise, Gu Xijiu kept the bottle away. "If everything goes right, you should be able to own a candle dragon as your majestic being very soon. There is no use for this scent anymore," she briefly explained.

Fan Qianshi was certainly not on the same page. He was ambitious and wanted to revisit the place to hunt for another egg. That way, he could have two majestic pets.

Gu Xijiu threw him a quick, unimpressed look in the eye. "Don't even think about it. Candle dragons are already at the edge of extinction. Even the powerful mythical beings cannot foretell their chances of survival. You already have one. You should not be greedy about it."

Fan Qianshi dismissed the idea and bowed in acknowledgment of his master's words.

…

As soon as they returned to the Tianyin Valley, Fan Qianshi isolated himself in his laboratory. He needed to quickly study the manual handed to him by Gu Xijiu in order to hatch the candle dragon's egg.

Based on her knowledge and experience, Gu Xijiu assumed that he would not show himself for at least two months.

By the time he left his laboratory, she would be long gone, but with the candle dragon's help, he would be able to make his way into the Forbidden Land of God. There, he would rise and become the mighty being that he was destined to be. She would also leave him with some books and information so that he could transition into the role seamlessly.

In the span of two weeks, Gu Xijiu finally completed all of her tasks.

She made a count and realized that she had about 12 days left to live. Those were the days that she reserved for herself. To live boldly was her last reward to herself.