The Supreme Sky Eagle.
This primordial desolate beast was something Fang Yuan had heard of long ago, though he wasn't entirely sure what the bird's egg actually looked like.
The Supreme Sky Eagle was a Space Dao primordial desolate beast. A fully grown Supreme Sky Eagle could travel freely between the Primordial Nine Heavens and the Cave Heavens.
This ability alone was incredibly powerful.
Beyond the Primordial Nine Heavens, impenetrable Heavenly Force Walls blocked all passage. Cave Heavens were hidden deep within the firmament, and unless they chose to reveal themselves, they were virtually undetectable from the outside.
But once a Supreme Sky Eagle had visited a place, it could follow its instinct, pierce through the void, and return there again.
As a primordial desolate beast with Eighth Transformation combat strength and extraordinary flight speed, Hei Fan must have paid an enormous price to find such a Supreme Sky Eagle egg — unless he had stumbled upon some incredible fortune.
The Supreme Sky Eagle's only flaw was probably its lifespan.
It lived only eighty years.
An ordinary mortal could expect a full century.
For a majestic primordial desolate beast, the Supreme Sky Eagle's lifespan was embarrassingly short compared to a mortal's. Other primordial desolate beasts lived for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years — the Supreme Sky Eagle couldn't hope to compete.
Still, it had its own way of extending its existence.
Before dying of natural old age, it would lay a single egg.
Within that egg were stored all of its past memories, and even all of the Space Dao markings it had accumulated over its lifetime.
When the hatchling broke free of its shell, the Supreme Sky Eagle would live again — growing up anew, but retaining the memories and accumulated Dao markings of its previous life. Barring any mishaps, the Supreme Sky Eagle would only grow stronger with each cycle.
Of course, the egg and hatchling stages were undoubtedly the Supreme Sky Eagle's most vulnerable periods.
Understanding this, Fang Yuan boldly speculated: "This Supreme Sky Eagle egg must have been deliberately left behind by Hei Fan!"
Why would he leave the egg behind?
Obviously, the Supreme Sky Eagle had likely visited Hei Fan's Cave Heaven. It served as the bridge to reach Hei Fan's Cave Heaven.
After Hei Fan's death, his Cave Heaven remained. The Gu Immortals of the Hei family had been exploring it. According to Hei Cheng's memories, those explorations had yielded nothing.
"Hei Fan's true inheritance is probably stored within his own Cave Heaven. That's not surprising — he had no Food Path methods, so he left his Immortal Gu inside his Immortal Orifice to feed itself. That would be the safest approach."
"As for the calamity problem in Hei Fan's Cave Heaven, that shouldn't be an issue either. According to Hei Cheng's memories, Hei Fan had obtained a fragment of some Primordial Nine Heaven during his lifetime. If my guess is correct, Hei Fan must have fused that fragment into his own Immortal Orifice before he died."
"Unfortunately, although this rendered him free from calamities and tribulations, he had no Life Span Gu, and the lifespan-extending methods he employed had reached their limit. So he could only perish."
"But then why is the Supreme Sky Eagle egg in the nest dead?"
Fang Yuan faced yet another puzzle.
There were two possible answers.
The first was simply that this Supreme Sky Eagle egg had died naturally. Hei Fan left the egg behind, and to prevent it from hatching on its own, he used this Sky Crystal Eagle Nest to perform some kind of arrangement. But after a very long time, no one came to inherit or open the Sky Crystal Eagle Nest. Over time, the egg had truly and completely died.
The second possibility was that the Supreme Sky Eagle egg appeared lifeless entirely because of Hei Fan's own doing. The egg wasn't truly dead — it simply required a specific method to be unsealed.
If it was the first possibility, then Fang Yuan naturally wouldn't gain much more — just a Sky Crystal Eagle Nest and the dead egg of a primordial desolate bird. Though even those two things were quite valuable in their own right.
From Fang Yuan's perspective, he naturally hoped it was the second possibility.
But if it was the second possibility, then where was the specific method needed to unseal the egg?
"Assuming it's the second case, how exactly should I go about unsealing this dead egg, restoring its vitality, and maybe even hatching it?" Fang Yuan fell into deep thought.
He pondered for a long time without reaching any conclusion.
And no wonder.
Looking at it plainly, the egg was indeed completely dead. If it weren't, Fang Yuan wouldn't have been able to confirm that fact right from the start.
"If I were Hei Fan, leaving behind a dead egg for future generations to inherit my legacy, I would certainly leave behind the means to solve this problem." A flash of insight suddenly struck Fang Yuan.
He realized that he had unconsciously overlooked one possibility.
That was the very set of Refinement Path methods that Hei Fan had improved and deliberately passed down.
"I used these exact methods to open the Sky Crystal Eagle Nest. What if I applied these same methods to this dead Supreme Sky Eagle egg?" A bold idea surfaced in Fang Yuan's mind.
But he didn't act on it immediately.
Because this was merely a pure guess and notion, with no factual basis to support it.
Fang Yuan was cautious. He began employing his Wisdom Path methods to thoroughly analyze these Refinement Path techniques, focusing his calculations on them.
He quickly noticed something strange.
What was strange about them?
Some of the Refinement Path killing moves had been modified by Hei Fan in incomprehensible ways. The original versions of these Refinement Path killing moves were actually slightly superior and more refined than his modifications.
Hei Fan's alterations seemed deliberately counterproductive.
What exactly was he trying to do?
Fang Yuan suddenly recalled a passage from Hei Cheng's memories — a record of Hei Fan's life.
As an Eighth Transformation Gu Immortal, Hei Fan in his later years enjoyed mentoring juniors. He would often teach them: "When studying, you must think for yourself. Don't blindly worship the ancients, nor should you copy their experience and achievements wholesale. Only by thinking for yourself and applying what you've learned can you walk further on your own path as a Gu Immortal."
Recalling this, Fang Yuan looked at these Refinement Path killing moves once more with a fresh perspective.