I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse-Chapter 974 - 1063: Jing Shu’s Awesome New Pet—Black Egg Appears!!

Chapter 974: Chapter 1063: Jing Shu’s Awesome New Pet—Black Egg Appears!!
Jing Shu’s mouth gradually opened wide, even though Jing Shu was a seasoned survivor of the apocalypse, having seen all sorts of oddities, her mouth could still have room for several eggs when she saw such a bizarre black giant egg growing wildly like a plant.
Is that actually considered a plant? Are there plants that are entirely black?
But if it’s not a plant, why does it resemble—
Yes, Jing Shu suddenly remembered a famous experiment from the past, Pharaoh’s Snake, where white sugar, baking soda, and alcohol are mixed, causing it to expand rapidly into a snake-like chemical reaction from just a tiny amount.
Jing Shu squinted as her consciousness deeply penetrated the space, touching the black plant briefly with her hand.
The black giant egg grew wildly in all directions using a 1-cubic-meter root system as its base, transforming into a towering tree tens of meters high, with distinct veins running through its leaves and trunk.
The main trunk was six to seven meters thick, and there were thousands of elongated branches extending with countless twigs, laden with black leaves.
As Jing Shu’s consciousness brushed past the leaves, the giant egg let out a sigh, stretching openly, having been quite stifled these days.
"Holy crap! Scary stuff, this is a conscious living being!!" Jing Shu was nearly scared witless upon sensing its thoughts.
"Swish, swish, swish~~"
The branches shook in discontent, and in a blink, they extended, enveloping Jing Shu’s consciousness, gently brushing her cheek, telling her not to fear.
Then Jing Shu’s mind started receiving perceptions from this new dark species:
It was very pleased with the growth environment, finding it the place of its dreams. It was finally able to settle down, having been searching for a spot to take root but never finding anything satisfactory, remaining in seed form.
However, if it couldn’t find a place soon, it would randomly select an energy-rich spot to root first, ready to uproot and shrink if needed, just a bit troublesome, anticipating Jing Shu babbling on—
A flood of fragmented thoughts gushed in.
It’s not as if the plant could speak; Jing Shu felt it was more like a consciousness exchange with a new species, similar to the fat chicken.
"So, are you ultimately a plant or something else?"
The giant egg tree shuddered across its body and informed Jing Shu:
It belonged neither to plants nor creatures; it didn’t even know what it was but began merely as an energy body, possibly gaining consciousness from absorbing too much dark energy.
It was just an embryo now, fragile, in need of protection, requiring development in a stable environment.
"Embryo?" Jing Shu’s mouth twitched, gazing at something towering tens of meters high, its branches extending hundreds of meters, bigger than millennia-old trees, yet it claimed to be merely an embryo? Fragile?
This is ridiculous!
Perhaps due to a drop of Spiritual Spring and space, Jing Shu felt as if she had completely tamed the Black Egg, feeling unusually close to it.
"You’re pitch black all over, neither tree nor plant, and not an animal. How about I call you Black Egg? What do you think?" Jing Shu fancily named the thing.
Black Egg: "..." Why does this name sound unpleasant?
However, when Jing Shu handed it fruits, plant scraps, weeds, and various items, Black Egg disregarded its name, eagerly absorbing everything.
Jing Shu mainly wanted to see what Black Egg ate typically, requiring water for plants, feed for livestock, rotten mud, and waste for Dark Creatures; what counted for Black Egg?
Black Egg wasn’t picky, accepting everything put in front of it, wrapping and dissolving it with its branches.
"Black Egg, if you existed before the apocalypse, I might have bid for a nationwide waste management plant manager position, devouring garbage daily, and money would flow in from all directions," Jing Shu joked.
Black Egg shyly waved its branches, thinking this owner was quite nice.
But in the next second, Jing Shu’s smile faded, "However, there is an unwritten rule in the Jing family: to live here, you must demonstrate your value. Your big sister, fat chicken, can lay many eggs, one brother produces many snakelings, another sister, the Sulfuric Acid Ant, produces acids daily.
So, what about you? What’s your use? This pitch-black body, doesn’t seem to bear any edible fruits, what’s your use? You’re occupying a precious spirit field—"
What’s your use?
Black Egg felt confused, having just been born, clueless about its purpose.
Bearing fruit? It indicated it could bear fruit, but being in embryo form, it needed to mature before that.
"Does this mean being useless?" Jing Shu squinted, dangerously.
Black Egg’s branches whimpered, retreating far.
Jing Shu’s eyes brightened: "Your body is rather amusing, how about trying to harvest foods in the spirit field?"
Black Egg’s branches could reach very far, extending as far as its energy allowed.
Black Egg quickly learned to use its slender branches to pick various ripe fruits in the spirit field, presenting a more efficient harvest than Jing Shu’s manual collection.
"Good, good, not bad at all. How about trying assisted birthing for a sow?"
Black Egg: "???"
Alright, no joking, Black Egg is still young, these complex tasks can wait, Jing Shu first trained it on managing dozens of spirit fields.
This included watering bees, periodically harvesting honey, ensuring that ripe fruits were immediately picked to avoid wasting time before the next growth cycle; vegetables and fruits could also be collected for storage in adjacent space.
With numerous tasks in the space, Jing Shu would spend over three hours daily, though able to do them while attending meetings or distracted. With Black Egg’s help, it was considerably more relaxed.
Concerning sow birthing, postpartum care, castration, cow birthing, daily milking tasks, these could gradually be taught to Black Egg, as they weren’t too difficult.
As for Black Egg’s diet, Jing Shu found that it wasn’t picky, devouring anything but preferred energy, capable of a terrifying growth spurt in its presence.
Moreover, Jing Shu believed Black Egg wasn’t without purpose; she simply hadn’t discovered it yet. Such a formidable new species must have important roles.