Chapter 163: Natural Counter—Demonic Beast Refining ×, Spirit Beast Refining √…

From the rift came a twist of space, and out squeezed a giant bird with a green head and crimson feathers. Its claws split into three talons, sharp as blades. A layer of shimmering green feathers covered its crown, and as it shook its flame-tipped tail, it let out a piercing cry.

The shriek echoed through the entire space, loud enough to startle Green Bean, who was nestled in Lian Mu’s sleeve.

Green Bean poked out halfway, crawling out to see what was going on.

The Red Fire Green Phoenix spread its flaming wings and circled twice in the air. Its golden eyes flicked around before settling on Xuan Che. Then it landed beside him, lowered its neck, and nudged its head under his hand.

Lian Mu: “!”

Xuan Che raised a foot and kicked it away, saying coldly, “Scram. You stink like bird. Don’t get near me—stand over there.”

The Red Fire Green Phoenix strutted a few steps away, then noticed Lian Mu nearby. Tilting its head, it gave her a curious once-over.

Lian Mu, who had been about to compliment it: “…”

Why does it look like a glorified chicken?

She couldn’t help but glance at its tail feathers, which resembled a cluster of flowing flames. As they shed and fell to the ground, they transformed into blooming fire lotuses—eerily similar to her own spiritual blood.

“This is a Spirit Beast?” Lian Mu asked. She couldn’t sense even a trace of demonic taint from it. In fact, its aura felt quite similar to Green Bean’s.

Green Bean was always hypersensitive to high-level demonic beasts. The Red Fire Green Phoenix was clearly a top-tier creature, yet Green Bean wasn’t agitated at all—instead, it stared wide-eyed at the bird.

Xuan Che said, “A divine bird descended from the Vermilion Bird. In ancient times, the southern divine bird broke through the Nine Heavens, and one of its feathers fell to earth, becoming the Vermilion Bird Southern Ridge. This one was born there. It’s a Spirit Beast. But the Red Fire Green Phoenix bloodline—only this one remains.”

“I heard from a friend that your four guardians were all vicious demonic beasts. So that was just a rumor?” Lian Mu leaned in a little to get a better look. “Can I touch it?”

The Red Fire Green Phoenix widened its golden eyes, tapped its beak a few times, and let out a clucking sound—clearly a warning.

“Of course you can,” Xuan Che said, patting the bird’s wing. More flames scattered with the motion. “As long as you don’t mind it shedding feathers all over your spirit herb fields and burning your plants to ash.”

Lian Mu stomped out a stray flame that had crept toward the spirit herb plot. “Then maybe not.”

“I remember you have a fire spiritual root, so I let it out to spar with you,” Xuan Che said. “A same-element matchup is the best test of skill.”

Lian Mu asked, “You’ve got three more guardians, right? Can I see them too?”

She was genuinely curious what the others looked like. Xuan Che’s Spirit Beasts were way more beautiful than Green Bean.

“They’ve been holed up in the tower too long—lazy and gluttonous now. No need to let them out just to embarrass themselves.”

Just as he finished speaking, the rift twisted again—something else seemed to be trying to come through. But Xuan Che struck with a single sword slash, forcing it back and sealing the rift shut.

“I didn’t expect someone from the demon race to keep so many Spirit Beasts,” Lian Mu said. “Do demon race artifact refiners use Spirit Beasts for forging?”

She’d heard the rumors but had never met a real demon race person before. Now that she had, she wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by—maybe she could even learn something new.

Xuan Che replied, “It’s true. Our artifact refiners prefer capturing Spirit Beasts for forging. The artifacts made from them are flawless. As for using demonic beasts? That’s second-rate—always comes with some kind of flaw.”

“But the strongest Spirit Beasts are already under This Venerable One’s command. Even if others wanted to find them, they wouldn’t be able to.”

He lifted his chin slightly.

Lian Mu already knew he was powerful. Just from observing Green Bean, she could tell—Spirit Beasts were notoriously difficult to tame. They wouldn’t submit to just anyone.

The fact that Xuan Che had four under his command meant he was far from an ordinary demon race cultivator.

As she pondered this, Green Bean crawled to the ground and grew to match the Red Fire Green Phoenix in size. The two—bird and scorpion—stared at each other in mutual confusion.

“What’s its name?” Lian Mu asked.

“No name,” Xuan Che replied. “You want to name it?”

“Sure.” Lian Mu thought for a moment. “How about ‘Turkey’? Flaming feathers, walks like a chicken.”

Xuan Che fell silent for a moment. “…Whatever you want.”

“I’ve never fought a Spirit Beast before,” Lian Mu said, clearly excited. “Green Bean refuses to spar with me. I wonder what the difference is between demonic beasts and Spirit Beasts.”

“There’s a big difference,” Xuan Che said, raising a hand. “You’ll see soon enough. Qing Feng, prepare for battle.”

The Red Fire Green Phoenix blinked, seemingly not understanding.

Xuan Che added, “This Venerable One is talking to you.”

The bird finally reacted, lifting its head and letting out a long cry. It flapped its wings, hopped a few times in place, and scattered more flames as it moved.

Before the fight began, Lian Mu asked a question that had been on her mind for a while. “Xuan Che, why are you teaching me? I’m from the Immortal Sects—sworn enemies of the demon race.”

Xuan Che replied, “Because you’re the first person I’ve ever met who was so poor it made me laugh.”

Lian Mu: “???”

“Five years ago, when the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda fell into your hands, I realized—you’re the poorest sword cultivator I’ve ever seen,” Xuan Che said with a perfectly straight face.

“A useless Spiritual Root, an outer sect disciple sweeping floors. A sword cultivator who can’t even afford a sword, forced to teach herself. And someone like you still managed to enter an Immortal Sect, even qualify for the Immortal Sect Grand Competition? The Four Great Sects these days really aren’t what they used to be.”

Lian Mu: “…So you’ve been secretly watching me since five years ago?”

“Who’s got nothing better to do than watch you? This Venerable One just happened to wake up and saw you by chance,” Xuan Che replied. “At first, This Venerable One thought you were destined to live and die as a mortal. Never expected you’d make it this far. I was just curious, so I taught you a couple of moves.”

“Besides, if you died on Penglai Island, who would bring This Venerable One food?”

Lian Mu: “Fine. Just don’t spy on me again. And one more thing—you can relax. The Pangu Illusion Realm doesn’t actually kill people.”

Xuan Che: “…”

After an awkward moment of eye contact, both chose to drop the subject.

Lian Mu drew her sword. At Xuan Che’s command, the Red Fire Green Phoenix spread its wings and took flight.

But just as it lifted off, Green Bean swung its pincers and clamped onto its leg, refusing to let go.

The Red Fire Green Phoenix looked down, then kicked hard at Green Bean’s shell with its other foot. Its talons were sharp—one strike pierced the shell. But where the crack appeared, black mist oozed out and the wound quickly sealed itself.

Green Bean positioned itself in front of Lian Mu, letting out a series of high-pitched warning squeaks. The Red Fire Green Phoenix was provoked, its beak clicking furiously. It grabbed Green Bean with both talons and beat its wings hard, trying to lift it into the air.

Before Lian Mu could even move, the two Spirit Beasts were already locked in a fierce scuffle—clawing, kicking, grappling—neither willing to back down.

Lian Mu: “…”

Xuan Che: “Looks like that ugly thing still has some fight in it. This Venerable One thought after being with you so long, it had turned into a useless freeloader.”

“Actually, it’s been starving with me this whole time,” Lian Mu said. “I can barely afford to feed it anymore.”

She had promised Bai Su that once they returned to Vermilion Bird South, she would sell Green Bean to the Flying Sea Pavilion. They specialized in raising spirit pets—at least it wouldn’t go hungry there.

Xuan Che: “Starving with you? It only needs to eat once every few days. The fact it’s still alive is a miracle.”

“Then how often did you feed it when it was with you?”

Xuan Che frowned. “Feed it? This Venerable One gave it food once every two years. It wasn’t going to starve. Spirit Beasts absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy. Eating isn’t necessary—it’s just a snack now and then.”

Lian Mu: “…”

So Green Bean didn’t need food at all. It could survive on air. And here she’d been wasting piles of demonic beast materials feeding it. Turns out it wasn’t hungry—just greedy.

Xuan Che: “If it keeps clinging on, dawn’s going to break soon.”

Lian Mu remembered—the flow of time here was much faster than outside. She activated a restriction and forcibly ordered Green Bean to stop.

The Red Fire Green Phoenix finally broke free and soared into the sky.

It immediately locked onto Lian Mu, swooping overhead and deliberately shaking off a flurry of feathers—each one a tiny flame, raining down like sparks.

Lian Mu had a fire Spiritual Root. With a slight channeling of spiritual energy, she caught the burning feathers barehanded and extinguished them on the spot.

The Red Fire Green Phoenix noticed and suddenly accelerated, streaking past her in a blur.

A wave of heat surged toward her. She turned and struck with her sword—but the blade was caught mid-swing by the Phoenix’s talons.

In that instant, she felt the difference—her sword was about to shatter.

Not because of its grade, but because of the overwhelming difference between species…

Her sword was forged entirely from demonic beast materials. And now, in front of a Spirit Beast, it faltered.

She sensed that Wealth Bringer didn’t want to resonate with her—it wanted to retreat from the fight.

Their bond had never been deep, and now even their shallow resonance was barely holding. Spiritual energy couldn’t flow properly through the blade. One light squeeze from the Red Fire Green Phoenix, and it would crumble to dust.

“Now you understand?” Xuan Che hovered in midair, watching her. “That’s the flaw of forging with demonic beast materials. They’re innately suppressed by Spirit Beasts. Even after death, even forged into Spirit Artifacts, their nature can’t be changed. Simply put, a dog can’t stop eating shit.”

Lian Mu barely managed to pull her sword back. The Red Fire Green Phoenix flew upward, brushing past her shoulder. The fire feathers grazed her, nearly setting her alight.

Xuan Che said, “Penglai Island used to be the territory of the greatest sect under heaven. There are few demonic beasts here—mostly Spirit Beasts. You Immortal Sect folks bring in Spirit Artifacts forged from demonic beasts, and you’re bound to get targeted. Spirit Beasts won’t hurt people, but how many Spirit Artifacts you’ll lose… that’s another story.”

Lian Mu dodged the Phoenix’s next attack. Though they shared the fire element and her spiritual power was no weaker, her sword was clearly outmatched by its claws.

She’d never cared about weapon grades before—if a fight came, she fought. But this time, without her Flame Edge and under suppression, the odds were against her from the start. If this continued, she would definitely lose.

But… could she kill a Spirit Beast?

She remembered Xu Xianxing once said that Spirit Beasts were nearly extinct in today’s world. If there were any on Penglai Island, they probably couldn’t be killed casually.

That was exactly what she was worried about. That’s why her first strike had been light—meant to drive it off, not kill it.

But if it didn’t die, her sword would.

If her sword had been forged from Spirit Beast materials too, maybe she wouldn’t be at such a disadvantage.

“I remember back in our time, there was a strict prohibition among the Immortal Sects—righteous cultivators were absolutely forbidden from killing Spirit Beasts to forge artifacts. I wonder if that rule still exists today,” Xuan Che said slowly.

Lian Mu replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never looked into it. But Spirit Beasts are rare to begin with—even if someone wanted one, there’s no way to get it.”

“Then that means there are no Spirit Beast Spirit Artifacts,” Xuan Che concluded.

He drifted behind Lian Mu, gently taking hold of the hand she used to wield her sword. In his other hand, he held the Moonlight Sword. The lunar phase etched onto the blade had already reached the full moon.

“In that case,” he said, “This Venerable One will teach you how to use this demonic beast sword to defeat it.”

“From this moment on, listen carefully. Remember every word I say.”