Chapter 147 Drawbacks —
The demon race has its own thresholds too…

Hidden Guest Mountain, Returning Immortal Sect.

At the top floor of the library pavilion, the doors and windows were wide open. Snow and wind drifted in from above, melting into wet patches on the floor.

As soon as Lian Mu stepped inside, a wave of cold swept over her, stirring the hair by her ear.

The library pavilion was wedged between Fragrance-Attracting Peak and Thousand Spirit Peak. This place was not shielded by a barrier, and could not compare to the warmth within the two peaks.

Inside, the fire chamber of the alchemy furnace was burning steadily. Feng Tianche lay sleeping on the couch, oblivious even as she entered.

“Why keep the furnace burning while leaving the windows open?” Lian Mu shut the door, sat down by the alchemy furnace, and warmed her hands.

Feng Tianche stirred, rolled over, and said lazily, “Haven’t seen Returning Immortal Sect’s snow in ages. Wanted to take a few more glances—but it’s too cold.”

“Can a soul body feel cold?” Lian Mu asked.

“No. I’m afraid you would feel cold.” Feng Tianche replied. “Did you bring back all the spiritual plants?”

Lian Mu placed the spatial pouch on the table. “All here.”

Feng Tianche glanced at her, noticing she still carried traces of blood. He said, “You went into the Third Domain? Their tower master saw that token and still let you take such a risk. Truly heartless.”

Lian Mu said, “…You have a grudge with that tower master? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

From the moment she’d taken the plants until she left Star-Plucking Tower, she’d been on guard, afraid the tower master would stab her in the back.

Feng Tianche thought for a moment. “Not exactly a grudge… Did he speak ill of me in front of you?”

Lian Mu said, “No. But I heard a few rumors about you from others.”

Feng Tianche finally opened his eyes, looking tired. He sat up from the couch, his messy black hair falling loosely. Half-squinting, he fumbled on the table for a while before finding the spatial pouch.

As soon as he opened it, a stench of rot filled the room.

Feng Tianche took out all the spiritual plants and stored them in a crystal box, but the smell still lingered.

Lian Mu said, “Aren’t you going to mask the smell?”

Feng Tianche said, “You find it stinky? There are plenty of spiritual plants in this world that smell far worse. If you want to be a good alchemy cultivator, you have to endure it.”

“I’m fine with it, but the people below…” Lian Mu pointed at the floor. “Might be a problem.”

Feng Tianche: “?”

He walked over to the window and looked down. The two disciples guarding the library pavilion had already fainted from the stench, lying twisted on the ground.

Feng Tianche: “…”

The odor of high-grade spiritual plants could be ignored by those with a Heavenly Spiritual Root or cultivators of higher cultivation, at most it would make them dizzy. But for those with weaker cultivation, it was no different from poison gas.

Feng Tianche set up a barrier to isolate the smell from the outside, then spread out a pill formula.

“These spiritual plants are rare. You’ve been into the Third Domain, so you know how dangerous it is,” Feng Tianche said. “But alchemy can’t succeed in one try. This amount is only enough for practice.”

As he spoke, he sprinkled water into the crystal box, drew a trace of spiritual energy from each plant, and condensed them into seeds.

“This is the Spirit Extraction and Life Renewal Method. I’ll teach you how to use it. Figure out a way to plant them again. Fragrance-Attracting Peak is rich in spiritual energy but has no demonic beasts. These plants are used to the Third Domain’s environment—without demonic beasts to coexist with, they won’t grow.”

Lian Mu took the seeds and asked, “Where am I supposed to find a plot of land with demonic beasts?”

“Well… I can’t help with that. If I could, you wouldn’t have had to go to Star-Plucking Tower,” Feng Tianche said. “The first batch of pills should last you a good while. If you’re not in a hurry, wait until you return for the Immortal Sect Grand Competition and ask Shen Minglu to transplant a piece of Shifang Nether Soil for you.”

Lian Mu: “???”

Feng Tianche said, “Why so surprised? You’ve met him—you must know his unparalleled skill at moving mountains and shifting waters. Taking a piece of heaven and earth and holding it in the palm of his hand is nothing. That Azure Profound Sect you mentioned earlier rose to the top because of their artifact refiners, right? Their chief artifact refiner, Yuan Gui, I know him too. Ask him for a spiritual tool, seal the land inside, and carry it with you.”

Lian Mu: “…”

So this is how big shots operate? A completely different plane of existence from ordinary people.

But getting their help was far from realistic. Except for Sect Master Shen, whom she had met a few times, she didn’t know the others at all—let alone ask for help out of nowhere.

“I’ll figure something out myself,” Lian Mu said. “At worst, I’ll just make a few more trips to Star-Plucking Tower.”

Speaking of places with demonic beasts—maybe that luminous stone realm could count too… The first time Xuan Che pulled her into it, she’d seen plenty of demonic beasts.

And Xuan Che had once said that all the demonic beasts she slaughtered in her nightmares were his subordinates. Aside from him, there must be more demonic beasts hidden inside that luminous stone.

“Master, what kind of people can control demonic beasts?” Lian Mu asked.

Feng Tianche paused, then said, “Why ask that all of a sudden?”

“Only two kinds of people can control demonic beasts. One is a beast tamer. A beast tamer can resonate with the spiritual energy of a single demonic beast at a time to control its actions. These people usually lack talent in cultivation. Even if tainted by the beast’s miasma, they won’t stir up much trouble—at most they’ll die from body rupture.”

“The other is a demon race member. Birds of a feather. Anyone who can control a whole pack of demonic beasts is a high-level demon,” Feng Tianche said. “I once met a man who could single-handedly command all the demonic beasts in Black Tortoise North. Shifang Nether Soil, the land overrun by demonic beasts, exists because of him. But aside from his demon race identity, he wasn’t a bad person—just took the wrong path.”

Lian Mu fell into thought: a high-level demon…

Seeing her deep in thought, Feng Tianche tapped her forehead. “Don’t go messing with ways to control beast packs just to grow plants. Even a beast tamer can only handle one at a time. In this world, the demon race is not tolerated. Even if you know one, hide it well—don’t let the righteous sects find out.”

Lian Mu said, “I understand.”

“Keep these seeds. If you can’t find a place, do as I said—ask those seniors for help,” Feng Tianche said. “If you have a demon race friend, let them handle it. Hide it well. Don’t meddle yourself.”

Lian Mu: “…Master, you don’t seem the least bit worried about me associating with the demon race.”

She felt Feng Tianche was completely unlike other elders. Those she’d met all deeply hated the demon race, sheltering disciples fiercely and withholding even a shred of information about them.

“Girl, do you think just meeting a demon race person will turn you into a demon?” Feng Tianche laughed. “The demon race has its own threshold. Only those with an unstable mind will be tainted by the miasma. Someone like you—toss you in Shifang Nether Soil for a lifetime and you’d never turn.”

“I can tell—you’re different from the rest.” Feng Tianche patted her shoulder. “Anyone chosen by a spirit beast is extraordinary. With it protecting you, there’s nothing to fear.”

Green Bean in Lian Mu’s sleeve stirred, poking out half its body. Its dazed green eyes fixed on Feng Tianche’s outstretched hand.

It crawled up Lian Mu’s arm and pinched Feng Tianche, but since he was a soul body, it was instantly lifted by the scruff.

Feng Tianche said, “This little thing has quite a temper.”

He tossed Green Bean aside. Lian Mu saw it creeping toward the bracelet that housed Feng Tianche’s soul and warned, “Master, it’ll gnaw on spiritual tools.”

“It’s fine. Let it chew.” Feng Tianche dusted off his hands. “It gets in the way if it stays on you while you refine pills. Pack up and try the new formula I gave you.”

Lian Mu immediately opened the alchemy furnace, pulling out all the demonic beast inner cores, rinsing them clean, and filling a whole basin with them.

This version of the spirit replenishing pill uses demonic beast inner cores as the most crucial ingredient. Feng Tianche didn’t sit idle either, rummaging through the basin full of inner cores.

Feng Tianche stared at them for a while and asked, “Where did you rob someone to get so many demonic beast inner cores?”

“When I went to the Third Domain, I ran into someone who lured all the nearby demonic beasts over, so I just collected them.”

Feng Tianche chuckled. “Star-Plucking Tower makes a living off demonic beast bounties. With your haul, you probably cost them half a year’s profit.”

Lian Mu: “…They’re probably used to it.”

After all, it wasn’t the first time.

Feng Tianche fished out a crimson inner core, examined it for a moment, and said, “This one’s good—rich in spiritual energy and quite high grade.”

“I got that in the Pangu Illusion Realm,” Lian Mu said as she tossed fire fuel into the alchemy furnace. “It’s the inner core of a first-tier metamorphosis stage flame beast.”

“First-tier metamorphosis stage?” Feng Tianche thought for a moment. “After metamorphosis, it should reach extreme grade—king level among demonic beasts.”

Feng Tianche turned over the pile and found another similar one. “Two extreme grade demonic beasts… you’ve got some skill. With these two inner cores, you won’t have to worry for at least two months.”

“Only two months?” Lian Mu asked.

She’d thought they’d last at least three to five years.

“You have three Heavenly Spiritual Roots—your situation is even more complicated than mine. A body can normally hold only one Heavenly Spiritual Root. Yours suppress each other, and currently the fire root dominates. The other two are suppressed for now, but they still need plenty of spiritual energy to stabilize.”

“Before, Yi Zifei insisted on seeing me and even brought the image-recording stone of your duel in the Pangu Illusion Realm. I watched it,” Feng Tianche said. “You can already turn your sword into a spirit blade at such a young age, but you’re easily influenced by demonic beasts, right?”

While tossing spiritual plants into the furnace, Lian Mu replied, “Master saw through it all.”

After activating Flame Blade a few times, she’d realized she could only summon it under the influence of feral demonic beasts. Otherwise, she couldn’t call it forth at all.

“Your spirit-blood fusion body and the spirit blade are actually linked to demonic beast inner cores. Before you met me, you must have consumed quite a few inner cores. Inner cores and crystal cores are vital parts inside a demonic beast; when someone consumes them, they inevitably form a psychic connection with the beast.”

Lian Mu glanced at her own hand: no wonder, in the illusion realm, when she tried to pierce the flame beast’s heart in the second realm, she felt the pain herself.

“So this is the downside of eating demonic beast inner cores?”

Feng Tianche said, “It’s not exactly a downside—just limits where you can summon the spirit blade. Only with feral demonic beasts present can you use it. For someone your age to have such power already far surpasses other chief disciples.”

Lian Mu was about to ask more when the alchemy furnace hissed. She looked down and saw the spiritual plants already merging.

“Add some of your blood,” Feng Tianche said. “You have a spirit-blood fusion body—use it.”

Lian Mu did as told, letting a few drops fall in. As soon as the blood hit the furnace, the drops contracted into a black mass, and the noise inside the furnace grew more chaotic.

A vague sense of foreboding rose in Lian Mu’s chest.

Feng Tianche squinted, then immediately raised a protective barrier.

The next moment, the furnace exploded with a thunderous boom.