Chapter 104: Private Duel – Silver Crane vs Green Bean

Feihai Pavilion, Artifact Refiner’s exclusive room.

The quiet room was only filled with the sound of wind howling outside the window. The night was deep, and the cool air was biting.

Xu Xianxing lay on the table, propping his chin with one hand, staring intently at Lian Mu’s actions.

After closing the door, Lian Mu took out the freshly opened Refined Jade from her treasure box. It was a dark red piece, smooth and delicate, with a slight warmth still emanating from it.

Xu Xianxing glanced at it and was stunned. “…Four million worth? How did you get such high-quality Refined Jade?”

“I didn’t spend four million, it was only fifty thousand,” Lian Mu replied, then told him how she had acquired it.

Xu Xianxing: “Your luck… What great deeds did you do in your past life? This is way too amazing.”

Lian Mu hadn’t done much in her past life. Since she could remember, she had been dedicated to cultivation. Her previous luck hadn’t been good, and just before ascending, she had almost missed an opportunity. After decades of hard work, she found herself back at square one.

This life, however, her luck was extreme—sometimes making life or death unpredictable, and at other times, bringing the most unexpected of rewards.

“Still, it’s all about hard work,” she said. “Actually, my luck is pretty average.”

As she spoke, Lian Mu put the treasure box aside and took out an uncut raw stone, casually picking up the Magic Crystal Knife.

After Green Bean grew larger, it couldn’t rest on her shoulder anymore, so it had to lie flat, occupying about forty percent of the room. It squatted in the corner, its tail hook hanging from the beam, giving off a somewhat intimidating vibe.

It insisted on following her in and almost cracked the door, refusing to stay outside.

Xu Xianxing silently turned his back to it, trying to ignore its eyes.

Following the method of the silver-faced man from her memory, Lian Mu used the Magic Crystal Knife to cut the raw stone open and extracted the Refined Jade inside.

This piece of Refined Jade wasn’t as good as the one she had chosen herself, but it had intact meridians. After removing the wind meridian, it could enhance wood and fire properties.

Lian Mu first used this dual-element meridian Refined Jade, channeling her spiritual energy to awaken the forging table. She tossed the Refined Jade into it, and the soft jade immediately turned into a flowing liquid.

She took out the Wealth Bringer, carefully placing the sword body in the liquid while keeping the sword hilt exposed.

Xu Xianxing noticed a carving of a begonia flower and a small Green Bean figurine on the hilt of her sword. Suddenly, it seemed familiar to him. “…”

The begonia carving… he felt like he had seen something exactly like it before, but the memory was too distant, and he couldn’t recall where.

The more he thought about it, the more it gave him a headache, so he decided to just focus on watching her actions.

After placing Wealth Bringer in the liquid, Lian Mu raised one hand above it, while the other hand placed a Spirit Stone beneath.

She tried to resonate with Wealth Bringer, hoping it would actively absorb the jade into itself. She succeeded halfway—Wealth Bringer did resonate with her, but it couldn’t go deeper.

The Spiritual Energy from the wood and fire meridians began to merge with Wealth Bringer, covering the sword blade in a thin aura.

After adding the Spirit Stone, Lian Mu casually picked out some supplementary materials from the pile of Spiritual Materials beside her, adding them to the mix.

Xu Xianxing widened his eyes, every step surprising him. She didn’t even plan ahead for which Spiritual Materials to use before refining; instead, she chose them on the spot.

After the first piece of jade was absorbed, Wealth Bringer indeed became much stronger. Lian Mu took it out and dipped it in cold spring water.

The first refinement was complete. Lian Mu tested the sword, feeling satisfied, and began preparing for the second refinement.

Xu Xianxing whispered, “Is this how you’ve always refined weapons?”

Lian Mu: “Pretty much.”

Xu Xianxing took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. “Be careful. Some things may look good on the surface, but after long use, their flaws will show.”

Lian Mu didn’t understand what he meant. “What flaws?”

Xu Xianxing pointed at Wealth Bringer after it had been refined.

Lian Mu understood. “It should be fine. If you don’t believe me, you can check for yourself.”

Xu Xianxing touched the warm sword body of Wealth Bringer and carefully felt its changes. To his surprise, every supplementary material she had added, seemingly at random, was perfectly balanced. Not only did it stabilize Wealth Bringer’s quality, but it also worked in harmony with the Refined Jade’s marrow to enhance it.

Xu Xianxing finally relaxed, silently noting down the types and ratios of the Spiritual Materials. He then handed Wealth Bringer back to Lian Mu.

With the experience from the first refinement, the second one went much faster.

The second piece of Refined Jade was of excellent fire-only meridian, and it had a matching meridian with the previous one. After being incorporated, Wealth Bringer’s blade slightly changed color.

“Just one more to go.”

Lian Mu packed up her things and said, “While I still have time, I’ll go for another match.”

She felt extremely excited. The thought that she was about to complete the highest possible upgrade for this item made her previously overwhelming drowsiness vanish. She felt like she could keep going for days and nights.

However, Xu Xianxing couldn’t keep up. His eyelids were heavy, and as soon as she said she was leaving, he immediately said, “I’m done for. I’ll take a nap first.”

He wrapped his fox fur coat around himself, closed his eyes, and fell asleep on the table.

Lian Mu had Green Bean crawl out from the corner, she closed the door. She had rented this Artifact Refiner’s exclusive room, which had a protective barrier, so she wasn’t worried about anyone intruding.

She left Xu Xianxing resting inside and took Green Bean to the Beast Arena.

At this hour, the Beast Arena was more crowded than ever. Nighttime was when many magical beasts were most active, making it the perfect time for matches.

Green Bean, too, was more lively at night, usually looking listless during the day.

“Who do you want to challenge?” the silver-faced man at the registration desk asked when he saw her.

Lian Mu: “Someone in the top one hundred.”

The silver-faced man flipped through the register, paused for a moment, and raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

Without hesitation, Lian Mu replied, not even glancing at her opponent, “Mm.”

The silver-faced man issued a challenge decree and informed the beast master, who almost immediately accepted.

“Your Spirit Pet leveled up during the previous match. Take this jade pendant and go find your opponent.”

The silver-faced man smiled and reminded her, “If you lose this time, your ranking will drop back to its original position. If you want to get a stone exchange token next time, you’ll need to climb two hundred more spots.”

Lian Mu nodded, indicating she understood, and then took the jade pendant to the fifth-tier sixth-level arena.

Green Bean followed behind her, crawling slowly without a hint of hurry.

When she arrived at the arena and saw who her opponent was, Lian Mu immediately fell silent.

A silver crane dressed in fine robes stood at the entrance, smiling as he stared at her. “Young friend, I remember you.”

Lian Mu: “…”

“Haha, what’s with the reaction? Surprised?” The silver crane closed his folding fan and said with a smile, “You should have seen my match with Young Master Weng. I lost to him, and my Spirit Pet died. According to the promotion rules, I had to start over. What a coincidence that we meet here.”

The silver crane continued, “I also saw your match with Young Master Weng. Your Spirit Pet is quite special.”

Lian Mu came to her senses and said, “I’ve heard much about you.”

It was a good opportunity for her to get to know this Silver Crane, and she wanted to make an introduction.

Silver Crane extended his hand, gesturing for her to go ahead: “In this match, I hope you will show me some guidance.”

Lian Mu glanced around him and noticed a hopping golden toad perched on his shoulder, its body entirely golden, with gray eyes and pink claws, looking quite comical.

“…”

Was this his new Spirit Pet?

It still resembled a water beast, and there was a transparent patch of skin on its back. However, compared to the one before, it was much smaller—she wasn’t sure if it was in a shrunken state.

“It’s also called Silver Crane. You can just use its name to refer to me.” Silver Crane seemed very interested in her, talking non-stop as they walked.

Lian Mu, however, detected a hint of danger in his words. She was about to distance herself and take another route when, turning a corner, she bumped straight into several burly men.

Lian Mu: “?”

The leader of the men pointed at her and said fiercely, “You’re General Dou’s master? You dare to harm my brother? You’re asking for death!”

So they were people friends of Linghu Meng.

Lian Mu squinted slightly. “What if I am?”

The burly man grew angry and without further words, he swung his fist straight toward Lian Mu.

Lian Mu immediately drew her sword, using it to block the incoming punch. When the sword met the fist, a crisp sound rang out.

So it was a physical cultivator.

Lian Mu didn’t hesitate. To protect herself, she stabbed her sword toward his arm.

The silver-faced man saw this and was horrified. “Private duels are strictly prohibited in the Beast Arena. Stop immediately!”

However, the burly men were not beast masters. They were just Linghu Meng’s friends, seeking revenge on his behalf.

The burly man directly used his spiritual energy and hurled a punch toward Lian Mu. As it was about to land, she blocked his elbow with her sword and struck hard.

In response, Lian Mu used her spiritual energy as well, causing Wealth Bringer’s spiritual energy to ripple outward.

Silver Crane caught that faint ripple of spiritual energy and froze for a moment. “This sword…”

Lian Mu pointed the tip of her sword at her opponent. Having stayed up all night and suddenly being ambushed, she was feeling a bit irritable. “Just in time. Let me test my new blade on you.”