Chapter 1173: Chapter 1173: Only the Great Emperor Can Solve

This challenge doesn’t have a countdown timer; it seems there’s no time limit.

But even without a countdown, picking out one Chaos Egg containing a pet from among a million is still an extremely difficult task.

Because these eggs don’t follow any discernible standard, Lin Shen and the others didn’t know what an egg with a pet even looked like or whether there were any specific traits to identify them, so they had no idea where to start.

If it’s left to sheer luck, the probability of one-in-a-million is just too low, and if they smash an egg that isn’t the right one, wouldn’t that mean failure?

“There should be some standard, right? They can’t possibly expect us to gamble with blind luck; what kind of exam would that be?” Ouyang Yudu remarked.

“You’re right–they must have provided some way to distinguish them. We need to find it, instead of blindly relying on luck,” Lin Shen said with a pained expression. “But the number is overwhelming–one million eggs. If we’re supposed to examine and compare the details one by one, who knows how long it would take?”

“Alive… dead…” Wei Wufu muttered.

“Wei might have a point. If there’s only one egg containing a pet, that implies only one egg is alive while the others are all dead eggs. If we could sense the life force, we might be able to pick out the egg that contains a pet,” Lin Shen said, contemplating Wei’s suggestion.

But Lin Shen wasn’t skilled at sensing life force; even if there were only one egg in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to tell whether it contained something alive or not.

“Let me try. If there is a life force, I should be able to sense some of it,” Ouyang Yudu offered when no one else had an idea.

Lin Shen was overjoyed and urged him to act quickly. Ouyang Yudu responded, flying up into the skies and hovering above the million eggs. He set down the jade parasol he was holding and slowly folded it shut.

As the jade parasol closed, it seemed as though some strange essence was being drawn into its folds.

The group felt an eerie chill sweeping through them, instinctively shivering as it seemed something vital was leaving their bodies and gathering toward the parasol in the sky.

This feeling soon vanished, as Ouyang Yudu had reopened the jade parasol.

The sinister sensation immediately dissipated, and their bodies returned to normal.

“Ouyang, were you able to locate the egg that has life force?” Lin Shen asked as Ouyang Yudu descended.

Ouyang Yudu shook his head slightly, saying, “I used the jade parasol to absorb life force. Aside from the energy coming from yourselves, there was no other trace of life force here.”

“So, either these eggs don’t contain living pets, or the eggs themselves have a way to block the life force, preventing you from sensing it,” Lin Shen speculated, feeling somewhat uncertain.

Di Esi opened his mouth to speak: “I have some skill in observing subtle details. Why not let me examine the intricate features of these million eggs and compare them? Perhaps I can extract some useful information and identify the right one.”

“How long would such comparisons take?” Lin Shen asked.

“Not long,” Di Esi replied, already ascending into the skies.

A shifting glow surrounded Di Esi, forming what seemed to be a Spiritual Body of him encasing his exterior. This spectral form opened its eyes, which gleamed like myriad stars illuminating the universe.

Lin Shen wasn’t sure what “not long” meant as a time frame, but in reality, it was very quick–Di Esi flew back down after merely circling the eggs once.

“That fast?” Lin Shen was astonished; if it had been him performing such a superficial scan, he wouldn’t even have been able to get a count of how many eggs there were, let alone examine any details.

“Exactly one million Chaos Eggs. These eggs come in thirteen thousand six hundred and fifty-three colors. No egg is unique in color–each color is shared by at least three eggs. The shapes and sizes are exactly identical, as are their textures, and all have identical particle arrangements. None have distinctive patterns. The depths at which they are buried in the sand vary, making it impossible to infer their weights. Other than the unknown weight, there are no other differences,” Di Esi reported.

Lin Shen was left dumbstruck, amazed that simply circling overhead could yield so much information. Di Esi’s keen ability to observe and his memory made Lin Shen wonder what it would be like to crack open Di Esi’s skull and see what made his mind different from his own.

Unfortunately, none of this revealed which egg contained something alive.

“No… that’s not right…” Wei Wufu muttered thoughtfully.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Shen asked.

“The count…” Wei Wufu pointed toward where they had emerged, where fragments of the Chaos Egg were scattered.

Their expressions shifted in realization–back where they had started lay the shattered remains of the Chaos Egg, identical in size and appearance to all the others except for its color.

The Chaos Egg was a jade-white hue–plainly white, without the vibrant colors of the other eggs.

Lin Shen and the others had subconsciously excluded the Chaos Egg from their thoughts of the eggs. However, with Wei pointing it out, all of them had a sudden epiphany–the Chaos Egg, if considered one of the million eggs, would hold them, the ones who emerged from it, as its “pets.”

Earlier, Ouyang had tried to absorb life force from the eggs but found none. Perhaps the issue wasn’t about blocking the life force; perhaps it was simply because there was no life within those eggs.

This challenge’s concept of pets might just refer to them–the beings born from the Chaos Egg itself.

“Wei, that’s a solid theory. Out of all the eggs, it’s the most unique and special one,” Di Esi chuckled. “If that’s the case, the answer is us. This test is about challenging our reasoning abilities. Wei really has a sharp mind.”

They all agreed that the reasoning made sense. If they misinterpreted it, it wouldn’t be a big deal since they hadn’t smashed any eggs–it was worth testing the theory.

Lin Shen shouted toward the sky, “We know the answer! The pets are us!”

But after his shout, there was no response–everything remained calm and silent.

“It seems that simply stating the answer isn’t enough–we must smash an egg for it to register,” Ouyang Yudu speculated aloud.

For a moment, none of them could come up with a solution. Smashing the Chaos Eggs felt daunting to Lin Shen, but picking one among a million was equally confounding.

Lin Shen glanced at Xiaona, hoping she had a solution, but she shook her head. She had even less of an idea.

“Why not summon my sister and ask her? She’s always been smarter than I am. Dad, you favored her the most in your past life–she’s bound to know something,” Xiaona suggested.

Lin Shen gave it some thought and agreed. He summoned Xiaoye.

As Xiaoye appeared, Lin Shen hadn’t had a chance to say anything before her expression immediately darkened. “Chaos Egg… This is Realm King Planet… How is it possible that you’re here…”

The four of them instantly became serious; Xiaoye clearly knew something. She wasn’t simple and naive like Xiaona.

Xiaoye turned her gaze sharply toward Xiaona, her voice raising in anger, “You gave him the teleporter, didn’t you?”

“Sis, this is no time to argue! You need to help us!” Xiaona tugged at Xiaoye’s arm, pleading.

“Help? What help? The Chaos Egg is a divine creation of the Chaos Gourd, an artifact of the Great Emperor. This challenge can only be solved by someone at the Great Emperor’s level. What’s your current level? You dare to meddle here recklessly? This is suicide!” Xiaoye snapped in irritation.