Sean Shaw Stares at the Flower Egg

"What's up with you? Why so tense?" Adrian Drake asked, looking puzzled.

Sean Shaw brushed Adrian's hand aside, staring at the sprout poking out of the eggshell. "Don't break it."

"Pfft!" Adrian snorted. "It's just a Flower Egg, isn't it? Look at you babying it! Lucia Lu gave it to you, right? Where are my two?"

Sean's eyes flickered. "You got some too?"

"Not just me—Xiao Yi, Yuan Xueyi, Yan Si, Qi Hao, and a bunch of folks from the Divine Radiance Realm all got one! She even gave me an extra!"

Adrian rolled his eyes, delighted by Sean's deflated look. "Did you really think she only gave it to you? Ha! Someone's got a big imagination!"

He raised an eyebrow, gave a mischievous grin, and walked away.

Sean stared at the egg, his gaze growing colder and colder.

Suddenly, he slammed his palm down toward the egg.

The tiny sprout wobbled in the gust from his palm.

But when his palm landed, it turned into a gentle flick.

He flicked it lightly.

The eggshell trembled, as if protesting.

...

Meanwhile, there was still no progress on the Xuanchen Clan situation, but they had their own problems to worry about.

His Majesty the Celestial Emperor announced that during their military strategy studies, there would be three rounds of live combat assessment.

He would split them into groups, downgrade them to low-tier immortals, and send them to war-torn places in the mortal world.

"The Ten Wilds Continent has thousands of kingdoms, big and small. Pretty much every day, somewhere is at war," the Celestial Emperor said. "To test what you've learned, I'll pick some countries that are losing ground in a standoff. You'll go down and use your military strategy to help them win—or at least get out of crisis."

He smiled and asked, "Got it?"

Everyone nodded that they understood.

"What I mean is, every battle you face will be the kind where the few defeat the many, or the weak beat the strong!

And you can ONLY use strategy, tactics, and brains!" The Celestial Emperor tapped his head. "All that godly power you have—enough to flatten a country solo—will be sealed!"

"Not only can you not use your own divine power, you can't ask relatives or friends for help either! Any connections above the god-tier are off-limits!

Remember, 'god-tier' is the landmine this time.

Anyone who touches it will be treated as cheating.

Cheating... means you're out."

"Ah!" Everyone groaned. "That's way too hard!"

"So we get downgraded to baby immortals, and we can't even ask for help!"

"And we have to win against the odds, too! Your Majesty, aren't you asking a bit much?"

The Celestial Emperor waved his hand. "No, no, no! You CAN ask for help—just not from anyone god-tier or higher! Other immortals, cultivators, and lots of clever mortals are fair game!"

Everyone kept groaning anyway.

When it comes to war, cultivation is everything. What good are a bunch of baby immortals?

Just then, someone raised a hand.

"Eh? Divine Lady Jin Xian, you have a question?" the Celestial Emperor asked.

"A lot of us have special abilities," Jin Xian said. "For example, Adrian Drake, Lucia Lu, and Lian-Lian are all top-tier Spiritual Alchemists. Some of their pills could wipe out an entire mortal army with one dose. Would that count as cheating?"

"It does," the Celestial Emperor replied. "Spiritual Alchemists can't use poisons or knockout drugs either—that's cheating! Down there, you can only use medicine to heal, not to harm. Got it?"