Unknowingly, Dumb Egg had already absorbed a hundred billion immortal stones.
Even though Ian Song had quite a few immortal stones, he still felt a sting of pain and asked, "About how much more do you need to absorb before you can hatch?"
"Master, please, don't make me absorb any more, okay? Dumb Egg is about to die from disgust!"
Ian Song snorted coldly, "Hmph, if you don't absorb, I'll roast you! Either absorb immortal stones or get roasted—your choice!"
Dumb Egg said aggrievedly, "Master, I'll choose to absorb immortal stones, but the energy in these stones is really trash! Even if I absorb tens of trillions more, I still can't meet the requirements for hatching. Why not just feed me with the power inside your body instead?"
"You wish!"
Ian Song sneered, then simply summoned all his immortal stones and shattered them, forcing Dumb Egg to absorb.
This time, Dumb Egg spent an entire month to finish absorbing all the immortal essence from those stones, yet still couldn't reach the hatching requirement.
"Damn it! I'm out of immortal stones!"
Ian Song grumbled, then walked straight out of the Divine Temple, determined to figure out a way to get more immortal stones.
Soon, he arrived at Stuart Situ's residence.
"Junior brother, you're here! Please, have a seat."
Stuart Situ greeted him very politely.
Ian Song laughed, "As the saying goes, you don't visit the Temple of Three Treasures without a reason—I've come to ask a favor of senior brother!" Ian went straight to the point.
"Oh? Junior brother, just say it—whatever it is!"
Stuart Situ replied.
"I want to borrow some immortal stones from senior brother!"
Stuart Situ waved it off, "I wondered what it was—just immortal stones, right? Junior brother, take as many as you need, no need to talk about borrowing. By the way, how many do you need?"
"A hundred billion!" Ian Song said.
Stuart Situ's face changed instantly, "Uh, junior brother, your senior isn't exactly flush right now—where am I supposed to get a hundred billion immortal stones?!"
"Deal, of course deal!"
Stuart Situ blurted out, but immediately realized it was a bit improper, and quickly added, "What I mean is, if junior brother needs immortal stones, as your senior, I can't just sit by and do nothing!"
"I understand!"
Ian Song smiled, then handed over three top-grade Law Pills, while Stuart Situ gave him a Storage Ring in exchange.
With a hundred billion immortal stones in hand, Ian Song immediately took his leave and went to see Miles Gongsun, exchanging three top-grade Law Pills for another hundred billion immortal stones. Then he visited Thomas Zheng and Henry Wang, his other senior brothers.
He successfully exchanged for another hundred billion immortal stones from each.
Next, he went to Jenny Gu, who offered to lend him a hundred billion immortal stones, but Ian insisted on trading pills for them.
Finally, he arrived at Kathy Wenren's place.
When he proposed trading pills for immortal stones, Kathy Wenren gave a sly smile: "Three hundred billion for ten pills—deal or not?"
Ian Song replied, "Five hundred billion for twenty—deal or not?"
Now that he had created an immortal medicine field in the Divine Temple, fertilized with god corpses and boosted by the temple's thousandfold time acceleration, he could harvest a batch of immortal medicines in just one month. So, for him, top-grade Law Pills—which were extremely precious to others—weren't a big deal.
Kathy Wenren was taken aback and asked, "What do you need so many immortal stones for?"
"It's important!" Ian Song said.
"Take it, consider it a loan from your senior sister. No need to give me pills!"
Kathy Wenren tossed Ian Song a Storage Ring. Sweeping it with his immortal sense, he found over 1.3 trillion immortal stones inside. He was surprised; he hadn't expected Kathy Wenren to be so wealthy.
"Senior sister, I can't let you take a loss. Besides, I can refine pills myself, so they're not a big deal for me. You must accept this bottle of pills!"
As he spoke, Ian Song stuffed a bottle of pills into Kathy Wenren's hand.
Kathy Wenren's face darkened. She said angrily, "Take it back! If you really consider me your senior sister, then take it back. Otherwise, return the immortal stones!"
"Thank you, senior sister!"
Ian Song didn't insist further and took the pill bottle back, feeling deeply moved. He silently resolved to repay Kathy Wenren well if he ever got the chance. Although this senior sister was unreliable at times, she was truly dependable in critical moments.
He had now obtained 1.8 trillion immortal stones from his six senior brothers and sisters.
Ian Song entered the Divine Temple once again.
However, even after forcibly feeding the egg, he still couldn't meet the requirements for hatching.
"Just how much more do you need to absorb?"
Ian Song asked, a little frustrated.
"Probably another three to five trillion!" the egg replied, sounding cautious.
"Nima!"
Ian Song was speechless. Another three to five trillion... Where was he supposed to get so many immortal stones?
Suddenly, he thought of the two Ancestral Immortals in Snowgoose City.
They had lived for hundreds of thousands of years and surely had accumulated plenty of resources.
Since Greenvine City was peaceful and safe, even if he left for a few days, there wouldn't be any problems. So he quickly made arrangements and rushed to Snowgoose City.
"Young master, you've returned?"
Uncle Yule was surprised to see Ian Song. The young master had only been gone a little over a year, and now he'd returned.
"Uncle Yule, I'm back to see Ancestor Martin about something!"
Ian Song chatted briefly with Uncle Yule, then went to Ancestor Martin's residence to pay his respects.
"Come in!"
At that moment, Ancestor Martin was refining a batch of pills.
"You came to see me for something, didn't you? Did you get into trouble outside?" Ancestor Martin asked with a smile. He was always very tolerant toward his only disciple.
Ian Song's face darkened: "Master, look at what you're saying. Is it only when your disciple gets into trouble that he comes to see you?"
"So, what do you need? No need to beat around the bush!" Ancestor Martin chuckled.
"Master, your disciple wants to borrow some immortal stones from you!"
Ian Song said, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Did you go see your other master yet?" Ancestor Martin suddenly asked.
"Not yet!"
"That's fine, then!"
Ancestor Martin smiled, tossing Ian Song a Storage Ring: "Immortal stones are of no use to me anymore. Take them all!"
Ian Song took the Storage Ring and found its space was tens of thousands of times larger than an ordinary ring. Inside, there were over five quadrillion lower-grade immortal stones, plus many middle-grade, upper-grade, and top-grade stones.
Altogether, the total reached a staggering nine quadrillion.
With so many immortal stones, this was probably Ancestor Martin's entire life's savings.
Ian Song was moved, and after a moment's thought, he took out a Storage Jade and presented it: "Master, your disciple also has something to offer you!"
"Oh?"
Ancestor Martin was touched when he saw the jade, remembering the Pill Canon Ian Song had given him before.
"Your disciple takes his leave!"
After Ian Song left, Ancestor Martin inspected the jade with his divine sense. Upon seeing its contents, he couldn't help but tremble with excitement and mutter to himself: "I've truly accepted a good disciple!"
After Ian Song left Ancestor Martin's residence and was about to enter the Divine Temple, Ancestor Cyrus's voice rang in his ears: "Disciple, why didn't you come see your other master? Is it that in your eyes, your master can't compare to your other master?"
"How could that be! Your disciple is coming right now!"
Ian Song hurried toward Whitewater Courtyard.
As soon as Ancestor Cyrus saw Ian Song, he tossed him a Storage Ring and said, "Why didn't you come to me for immortal stones? Take them, they're useless to me anyway!"
Ian Song inspected the Storage Ring and found that the total amount of immortal stones inside was even greater than what Ancestor Martin had given him.
Ian Song was deeply moved, and likewise presented Ancestor Cyrus with a Storage Jade before leaving.
With the immortal stones from the two Ancestral Immortals, Ian Song now had almost thirty quadrillion stones.
He returned to the Divine Temple and began feeding the egg again.