Evan Chu's worries weren't baseless—if the stellar force was too strong and his Earth Star Pellet couldn't fully absorb and refine it, there was a real risk that the pellet could explode and kill him.
Just as he was hesitating, something strange happened: of the seven beams of stellar force shot down by the Big Dipper, six were instantly absorbed by the Bloodshadow Berserker Lion egg on the ground.
All six beams went straight into the monster egg, catching Evan completely off guard. "What a glutton—you only left me one measly beam! This world really is full of freakish surprises!"
That single remaining beam of stellar force was naturally much weaker, but Evan had no other choice. He could only watch helplessly as the monster egg absorbed the other six, pinning his hopes on it hatching soon—otherwise, he'd have wasted everything.
Day after day passed. Evan remembered that it was only after he took his third hunger-relief pill that the Big Dipper’s beams started to change—the Starstones on the altar were almost spent, and the beams had grown dim.
Meanwhile, the Bloodshadow Berserker Lion egg had stopped absorbing energy. Evan noticed that the cracks on its shell were even more pronounced, as if it could hatch at any moment.
"All those Starstones weren't wasted after all—I broke through to the third layer of the Earth Martial Realm, and the monster egg is about to hatch. In a word: awesome!"
"Awesome my ass! Evan, there's a restriction on the Bloodshadow Berserker Lion egg—if you don't break it, you can forget about ever hatching it." Luna, the Sword Spirit, immediately cut in.
Another bucket of cold water dumped over Evan’s head—restriction? He had no idea how to break any restriction. "Just spit it out, Luna. Tell me the method straight up."
Since Luna, the Sword Spirit, said so, she clearly knew how to break it. Evan was already guessing her plan.
Sure enough, Luna, the Sword Spirit, laughed and said, "You always want the easy way out, but this time you have to break the restriction yourself. The price might be small, or it might be huge—it all depends on the grade of this monster egg."
Evan started feeling uneasy. Based on past experience, he could tell Luna definitely meant the 'huge price' option—he just didn't know how huge. Hopefully it wouldn't cost him his life.
"Just get to the point! I'm running out of time, so stop beating around the bush!" Evan snapped, impatient. Whatever had to be faced, he'd face it—hiding wasn't an option.
"You're a descendant of the Divine Dragon, so your blood naturally carries dragon power. Maybe you can break this restriction with your dragon blood. I can't say how much you'll need to bleed—but if you succeed, this Bloodshadow Berserker Lion might turn into something even scarier."
Luna spoke honestly, and didn't get mad at Evan's tone—after all, they'd been together nearly three years now.
"My blood? Are you kidding me? That's insanely precious! Is there really no other way? If I end up bleeding to death, that's just tragic." Evan started regretting it—the price was way steeper than he'd thought, and even a thousand eggs wouldn't make up for it.
"Nope—this is the only way. You'd better hurry. If you can't break the restriction this time, you'll have to wait until next time, and maybe you won't have enough Starstones left for it to absorb."
Evan looked at the monster egg on the ground and saw the cracks slowly shrinking. If it went back to its original state, all those Starstones really would have been wasted.
"Fine, then! If I die, so be it! Let's see just how much blood you want from me!"
With that, he grabbed the Frostbane Sword and sliced his fingertip. Blood welled up instantly, and Evan hurried to drip it onto the monster egg.
After a few drops, the wound on his finger healed on its own and the bleeding stopped. "Seriously? It healed that fast?"
"Don't be so stingy—you've already reached the second tier of the Starforge Body, so your healing is insanely fast. Stop embarrassing yourself in front of me. If you really want results, go all out and slash your wrist instead." Luna reminded him, a bit speechless at Evan's antics.
Evan steeled himself. "Damn it! Fine! Let's see how much you can eat today!"
He rolled up his sleeve, grit his teeth, and slashed his wrist hard with the Frostbane Sword.
This time, it was no joke—blood gushed out, staining the ground red. Evan quickly pressed his wrist to the monster egg, letting the blood flow over it.
Evan's heart ached at the sight of his own blood—that was valuable stuff! But before he could dwell on it, the monster egg started acting strangely, leaving him stunned.
Blood kept flowing from his wrist, but none of it stayed on the monster egg—it was all instantly absorbed.
"What the hell? Are you a bottomless pit? I've bled so much and you still haven't reacted at all!" Evan was getting pissed.
Gradually, his wrist began to heal and the bleeding slowed, but the monster egg still showed no reaction—except the cracks stopped changing.
"One more time!" Evan frowned and slashed his wrist again. Two pointless sword wounds in a row—he was so frustrated he wanted to spit blood. If spitting blood would work, he'd gladly do it instead of suffering through all this pain.
Under the Big Dipper's beams, the stellar force grew weaker and weaker. If he didn't add more Starstones to the altar soon, his life would be in real danger.
Evan was starting to panic. "Fine, if I die, I die—I'm going all in today!"
His freshly cut wrist was still bleeding, so he slashed his other wrist too—letting blood pour from both onto the monster egg, double the effort.
Time passed slowly, and Evan kept bleeding—his face grew pale, completely drained of color.
"Monster egg, you've played me to death. Hurry up and hatch already!" Evan felt despair setting in—he was starting to get dizzy from blood loss.
Maybe the heavens heard his plea—because at that moment, the monster egg finally reacted.
A dazzling white light shot out from the egg, and a six-pointed star appeared in the air above it. In the center of the star, a huge lion's head phantom twisted and roared.
Then a deep, powerful voice echoed: "Thank you, young one. Because of you, my child will survive and soon be born. In gratitude, I have helped it form a Soul Contract with you—it will belong to you forever and never betray you."