CHAPTER 74: DOES CULTIVATING IMMORTALITY STILL FOLLOW THE LAW OF ENERGY CONSERVATION?

Lu Chen stood before the stone monument in front of the first floor of the Tower of Time and called out, "Eggy, come down."

The moment it spotted him, Eggy swooped down onto his shoulder, squeaking excitedly. "Squeak, squeak."

Its gaze fell on Wind Dragon dozing atop Lu Chen's head. With a sudden puff of flame from its round body, it set the dragon's tail ablaze.

Wind Dragon jerked awake with a roar of pain, hurriedly smothering the fire. He expanded his claws, seizing Eggy and pinning it hard against the wall.

"Creak... Squeak!"

Eggy shrieked in protest and launched a barrage of pebbles from its body, striking Wind Dragon square in the face.

Wind Dragon quickly conjured a wall of wind in front of himself, deflecting the incoming stones. "Hah? Since when did this little thing gain such abilities?"

His claws tightened, the pressure pinning Eggy in place. At the same time, long whiskers unfurled from the corners of his mouth, poking and prodding Eggy in mockery. "Go on then, show me what else you've got."

Eggy's face flushed red. It kept calling out to Lu Chen. "Squeak! Pfft!"

Lu Chen's eyes lit up at the sound. "Hm? Wind Dragon, stop!"

It was the first time Eggy had ever made a sound other than a squeak or a creak.

Wind Dragon loosened his grip and glanced back at Lu Chen. "What?"

In that instant, a mouth-like crack split open on Eggy's body. From it erupted a torrent of attacks—flames, ice arrows, wind blades, chunks of earth, and iron spikes—all being hurled straight at Wind Dragon.

Lu Chen rushed forward and shouted, "Wind Dragon, look out!"

It was too late. Wind Dragon turned his head toward Eggy at once, only to be slammed in the face by dozens of attacks.

Wind Dragon let out a thunderous roar, his face bristling as if his scales had blown apart, now blackened and filthy.

Eggy squealed in evident delight at the sight, "Pfft, squeak! Squeak!"

Its round body gradually revealed a faint, blurred face with eyes and a mouth.

"You little rascal... sneaky as ever."

Wind Dragon had lost it. He roared at Eggy, grabbed it in his claws, and shot into the sky.

Startled by the dragon's roar, Eggy twisted and wriggled in midair. Spotting Lu Chen and Nantian Wan'er, it let out a few clear droplets from its blurry eyes, crying out frantically, "Creak, creak!"

Noticing Eggy's obvious distress, Nantian Wan'er tugged on Lu Chen's arm. "Lu-gege, Eggy just recovered. Don't play around with it."

"Alright. I think it's evolved," Lu Chen said, turning his gaze to the Wind Dragon. "Wind Dragon, stop playing around and come down."

"Roar..."

At the sound of his voice, Wind Dragon gave Eggy one last grumble before shrinking his body. He descended and perched atop Lu Chen's head, still clutching Eggy in his claws. "Little Lu, you noticed too?"

Lu Chen gently took Eggy into his arms, examining the faint marks that had appeared on its surface. "Yes. Its facial features are starting to take shape, and its intelligence has evolved.

"Before, it could only show vague emotions, but now it's like a two- or three-year-old child—able to express joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness distinctly."

As she smoothed Wind Dragon's ruffled fur, Nantian Wan'er added, "Lu-gege, Eggy seems to have gained some special abilities. It couldn't use things like fire or wind blades before."

Wind Dragon pondered for a moment. "I think it's because of the core essences my main body and the other chieftains released earlier. You also kept flooding it with primordial spirit qi. Why not try making it use an elemental attack?"

Lu Chen turned to the dragon. "Should we give it a try?"

Wind Dragon rose swiftly and set up a defensive barrier around them. "Go ahead."

Lu Chen held Eggy in front of the barrier. "Eggy, if you can use a flame attack now, hit that barrier."

The moment he said that, Eggy flew from his hands, opened its small mouth, and spat a ball of flame.

"It really can!"

Lu Chen felt excited and picked it up again. "If you can understand, nod."

"Squeak."

Eggy's mouth opened and closed as its body wobbled, tilting toward him twice.

Nantian Wan'er's eyes sparkled. "Lu-gege, it nodded! It really nodded!"

Without delay, the Wind Dragon took Lu Chen to the stone monument and summoned the Hunyuan Greatsword from the Heavenly Pool. "Little Lu, try using the sword. See if you can unlock this floor."

"I'll try."

Lu Chen gripped the greatsword and brought Eggy close to its hilt. With a firm tone, he ordered, "Eggy, strike here."

Hearing Lu Chen's call, Eggy's body instantly transformed into a streak of blue light, trailing four other colors—red, yellow, green, and white—before swiftly merging into the slot etched with a planet pattern on the sword's hilt.

Lu Chen lowered his gaze to the Hunyuan Greatsword in his hand.

The first five blue buttons on the Planetary Jade Token slowly lit up with symbols of the five elements—fire, earth, water, wood, and metal. "What's this?"

He brought his right hand close to the first button. Initially, it had been the button used to open a teleportation portal, but now a flame symbol had appeared on it.

When he touched the button, he sensed Eggy's will in his mind, asking him to choose between using fire or opening a teleportation portal.

"So now I can directly use the Hunyuan Greatsword to control fire for attacks? Let's try."

Lu Chen sent a thought to Eggy to unleash flames. He pressed the button with his right hand, and flames slowly ignited along the blade.

"It seems I was right."

A delighted smile spread across his face as he studied the flames. "If only they could look more imposing... say, like a fire dragon."

"Creak!"

As soon as he said that, Eggy's voice rang in his mind, and the flames instantly twisted into the shape of a fire dragon.

Lu Chen's eyes widened at the sight. "Eggy, how about a fire mouse next?"

"Creak."

The fire dragon immediately shrank into the form of a flaming mouse.

"Flame arrow, flame shield.Wind blade, tornado.Water wall, ice storm.Earth wall, stone stack."

***

Wind Dragon watched from the side as Lu Chen repeatedly called out commands and pressed the fire, earth, water, wood, and metal buttons, testing one attack after another with the Hunyuan Greatsword.

Ten minutes later, he finally stopped.

Wind Dragon examined the marks left on his defensive barrier and said, "Little Lu, it seems you can freely alter the technique's pattern, but it's limited to the most basic attacks."

Lu Chen dispersed the flames from the sword and glanced at the barrier. "That's right. I can change its form at will without using hand seals or incantations. The damage remains unchanged, but the fire can assume various forms, such as a rain of flames or a flaming arrow. But in the end, it's just the same attack in a different form."

Hearing his words, Nantian Wan'er shook her head. "Lu-gege, you can still treat them as different types of attacks. A flame arrow is a single-target attack, while a rain of flames covers multiple targets. Even if their essence is the same, the results are completely different."

Thinking back on his earlier tests, Lu Chen circulated his spirit qi, forming a one-meter-long flame in one hand and a mere inch-long flame in the other.

Though the energy within them was identical, their effects varied greatly.

Watching the flames dance in his hands, he felt he had gained a faint insight into the Five-Elements Law.

He dispersed the flames, patted Nantian Wan'er's head, and smiled. "You're right. Wan'er, that was clever."

Wind Dragon stared at her in surprise. "Little girl, mastery over the Five-Elements Law is something only cultivators at the Earth Core Realm can truly grasp. How do you know it so well?"

The reason he was the weakest of the five chieftains was precisely because he had never fully comprehended the Five-Elemental Law. Yet her words had sparked a vague inspiration in him. He immediately circulated his spirit qi and transmitted the insight to his main body.

Nantian Wan'er replied with a bright smile. "My grandpa taught me that. He said the energy of the five elements is always conserved."

Her smile deepened. "He realized this during the Heavenly Fire Tribulation. Grandpa believes all techniques in the cultivation world share the same origin—master one, and you master them all."

She paused to think, then added, "Grandpa also said that regardless of size, amount, or form, as long as you learn to control the flow of energy, the result of an attack will be completely different."

Lu Chen thought back to the techniques he had used in the past and realized they all followed this principle. "Haha, Grandpa Xiu truly is a wise man."

"Energy conservation?" Wind Dragon scoffed. "We're cultivating immortality, and you're talking about energy conservation? Then tell me. Where did the first energy come from?"

Lu Chen chuckled at his reaction. "Wind Dragon, you just don't understand. Cultivation today isn't as crude as it was in your time. It's the understanding of its principles that truly matters."

Wind Dragon snorted. "Hmph..."

Despite the disdain he displayed, Wind Dragon secretly relayed the principle of energy conservation to his main body. After that, he slowly coiled himself atop the Hunyuan Greatsword.

His gaze lingered on the buttons as he said, "Little Lu, why not try pressing two at the same time?"

"Two? I'll try."

Lu Chen pressed both buttons, but nothing happened. "No response?"

Just as he was about to press harder, Eggy's will surged into his mind, carrying a strong sense of rejection.

Seeing the lack of reaction, Wind Dragon flitted up to hover above Lu Chen's head, yanking on his hair. "Little Lu, why isn't it working?"

"Ah, you're too loud."

Lu Chen rubbed his aching ears. "Eggy says my endurance is too low. I can't handle higher-level attacks yet. Even for regular teleportation, I can only use the first four buttons."

Wind Dragon released his grip and perched on the stone monument. "Fine. Then let's try activating this layer."

"Alright."

Lu Chen inserted the Hunyuan Greatsword into the center of the stone monument. Although the sword didn't sink in completely, Lu Chen felt the spirit qi in his body rapidly flowing into the stone monument.

Nantian Wan'er shouted, eyes fixed on him. "Lu-gege, what's going on? The spirit qi in the Heavenly Pool is draining fast!"

"I don't know," Lu Chen said.

He focused on channeling his spirit qi to pull the sword free. "But I can feel the monument constantly absorbing it."

The moment it seemed to have absorbed a certain amount of spirit qi, the stone monument suddenly ejected Lu Chen and the Hunyuan Greatsword together, hurling them into the wall of the Tower of Time.