“What is inside that egg?” Red asked.

Aurelia scoffed. “A monster, of course. However, it seems like it wasn’t able to develop fully.”

Red was confused. “Does that mean it’s really dead?”

She shook her head. “Not quite. How familiar are you with the breeding habits of the Great Serpent’s canyon monsters?”

“Not very much.” Red knew the basics, but again, specific information about those kinds of matters just wasn’t available to the public in general. After all, why would mortals need to concern themselves with how giant snakes they would never see in their lives behaved?

Aurelia turned to look at the cave. “Some monsters from the canyon often decide to lay their eggs in safer areas at the border. They do this because the environment they live in is very dangerous to rear their young, and they can’t really afford to look after them either. Snake monsters in general are no exception, not to mention the fact they were never really the most caring of parents.”

“So that is a snake’s nest?”

“Probably.” Aurelia nodded. “That’s beside the point, though. What you need to understand is that nature is cruel, even for monsters. It is not uncommon for even strong species of monsters to die while they are young and undeveloped, so through the ages, some of them have developed instinctual strategies to gain whatever advantage they can get from birth.”

Red frowned. “What is the point you’re trying to make?”

Aurelia smiled, relishing in keeping the youth in suspense. “One of the strategies they often use is to kill and consume their weaker siblings from the moment they are born. This gives them the edge they may need to survive to maturity”

The youth was at a loss. “Are you implying that…”

“Yes.” She nodded. “The egg you saw killed and consumed all its siblings before they were even born. That is why you didn’t see any traces of monsters coming out of the cave.”

Red was silent for a few moments. “… It’s an egg.”

Aurelia scoffed. “Are you doubting me?”

“I saw no openings in the egg, and I couldn’t even detect whatever was inside with my power.” Red shook his head. “What you are saying seems absurd, to say the least.”

The woman glared at him. “You think I am lying? A brat like you who hasn’t even broken through to the Lesser Ring Realm thinks they know better than me?”

“I am just stating facts.” Red said. “How could you even know that’s really what happened?”

“Bah, enough!” Aurelia waved him off. “If you really think I’m wrong, let’s enter the cave again and check.”

The woman turned around and walked towards the cave. For some reason, Red was expecting her to move the blockade he set up, but instead she just walked through the obstacle with her immaterial form and disappeared from sight.

This was something Red was still not used to.

It took him a few minutes to remove all the rocks and logs from the cave’s entrance, after which he saw the woman standing on the other side with an impatient expression. She didn’t say anything when she saw him, and turned around to go deeper into the cave.

Soon enough, they arrived at the chamber. Red took the environment in and looked around. When his gaze stopped on the egg, though, he froze.

The egg was still there, with no changes in appearance. However, Red noticed it was a few meters away from the place where he last saw it. He couldn’t wrap his head around this change.

Aurelia smiled, taking pleasure in his baffled expression. “Do you believe me now?”

Red frowned. “How is this possible?”

She laughed. “This is not even that weird in the grand scheme of things.”

The youth continued to examine the egg. “So, the egg is alive?”

“No, the egg is just a disguise.” Aurelia said. “The creature inside it was probably the first one to hatch from its clutch, and after it ate its siblings, it returned to its egg to hibernate and grow.”

“How can someone just reseal an egg? Why did it even return to the egg in the first place?” Red examine the object.

“Monsters can do all sorts of things.” she said. “Besides, the egg isn’t for its protection, but to hide itself and attract unsuspecting prey. After all, an unprotected egg is a delicacy for a lot of animals, so they would definitely try to break it apart and eat what’s inside.”

Red sighed. “And I suppose it would take that opportunity when they try to break the egg to strike?”

“Correct.” She looked at him with a smirk. “You were smart not to touch that egg, or else you might have been bitten by a very venomous creature.”

Red’s cautious nature was being rewarded in a lot of ways. There was another matter that was confusing him, though.

“Why can’t I sense it with my power?” he asked.

“How would I know?” Aurelia shook her head. “I don’t know how your power works exactly, but if I had to guess, you probably sense things by their blood essence. Some monsters in nature can do the same thing, so it isn’t far-fetched for certain creatures to develop defensive mechanisms for that.”

Red frowned. He didn’t think his crimson sense worked by simply detecting their blood essence, but it was probably a big factor, as the woman claimed. What made him weary, though, was that this was the second living creature that could hide from his power that he ever met.

First was that female cultivator from the Crystal Sky Sect. Now, it was this snake that hid inside an egg. Was it possible that his power would become obsolete the stronger and more skilled his opponents became? That would be a huge blow to the youth’s arsenal.

There was a way that he could strengthen his powers, but the price he needed to pay for that was too large for the youth to consider.

Red moved his gaze from the egg to Aurelia. “You said you would tell me how to use this egg.”

“And I will.” she nodded. “First, though, you will need to capture the monster.”

Red frowned. “I am not really equipped for dealing with venomous snakes.”

Aurelia scoffed. “It’s nothing too hard. You can do it with your bare hands and as long as you can immobilize its head, you will have nothing to fear.”

The youth stared at her. “So you have done this before?”

She scowled at him. “Of course not! You think I would waste my time capturing monsters while I had other people to do it for me? Who do you take me for?”

“How do you know how to capture a snake, then?”

“I read it in a book.” she said with an expression of confidence. “It shouldn’t be that hard to do the real thing. You just need to be careful not to get bitten.”

“... I hope you know that if I die here, no one will come to save you.”

Aurelia snorted. “If you are weak enough to die to a baby snake, then I would rather just be stuck in this place.”

Red didn’t say anything else and started to approach the egg. Now that he knew a snake might just jump out from inside the egg at any moment, he was more cautious. He drew out his blade and examined it.

“I told you to capture it, not to cut it apart!” Aurelia’s complaints came from behind him.

Red didn’t respond and continued to focus on the egg. He kept his right hand free, while using his sword with his left hand to touch the shell.

As soon as he did that, he felt a fluctuation suddenly appear inside the egg. Then, the next instant, the eggshell cracked in the spot where Red’s sword touched it, and an extremely fast shadow jumped out towards the youth’s throat.

If Red was caught off guard, then he most likely would have been bitten. However, the youth was prepared for this attack.

A sudden surge of electric energy burst from his special acupoints towards his right arm. Red’s hand moved in a flash, and his arm shot up to grab onto the charging monster midair.

The creature immediately started to struggle under his grip, and the rest of its body coiled around the youth’s arms in an attempt to break the limb. Unfortunately for it, Red was someone who opened all his twelve veins, so he didn’t crumble under its assault.

Like Aurelia said, this was indeed a snake. Its scaled body was completely brown with an earthy hue that seemed to serve as camouflage, and it was easily one and a half meters long, with a rather thick body. It looked like an ordinary snake if it wasn’t for the fact the creature seemed to have six eyes in total, three on each side of their head.

It had its mouth open, displaying its fangs at Red that seemed to drip with a dark, oozing liquid. Red didn’t need confirmation to know that this was venom.

“What kind of snake is this?” Red asked.

Snakes, in general, didn’t have good eyesight. The youth couldn’t imagine what use having so many eyes would be for this monster.

Aurelia frowned. “I have never heard of a snake with more than two eyes.”

Red examined the snake. “What do I do now?”

“Give it some food.”

The youth frowned. “I don’t have any food.”

“Then go look for some!” She looked at him as if he was stupid.

Red was at a loss for words. “… Was this your plan to domesticate this snake?”

“If you were stronger, I could have just taught you an enslaving technique. As you are now, you will need to do it the old-fashioned way.”

“… What is the old-fashioned way?”

“Feed it, train it, and earn its trust!” Aurelia said. “It’s still just a baby, so this is the best time to tame it!”

Red looked over at the snake, who was staring at him with its jaws open, eager even now to bite the youth.

He suddenly regretted having ever listened to Aurelia’s idea in the first place.