Chapter 91: Fire Spiritual Root Artifact Refiner — He Made the First Move

The second-seat sword cultivator of the Clear Thought Sect stepped forward. He had been the first to be eliminated in the initial round. Despite being a dual spiritual root cultivator, he had lost to someone with three spiritual roots. In the second round, he wanted to redeem himself but never got the chance.

Now that the second-seat sword cultivator from the Returning Immortal Sect was right in front of him, he naturally couldn’t let the opportunity slip away.

Lian Mu gave him a glance. His face looked familiar, but she couldn’t place him. She said, “Outside the illusion realm, I don’t fight strangers.”

Just as she spoke, mocking laughter rang out from the Crimson Sky Sect’s side, aimed at the Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat:

“She doesn’t even remember you. Going up there is just asking for humiliation.”

“So embarrassing. You thought you were a worthy rival, but she doesn’t even see you.”

“All right, all right, ease up a bit. Don’t make this fellow cultivator look too pitiful.”

The disciples from Crimson Sky Sect played good cop and bad cop, deliberately stoking the flames as they waited for drama to unfold.

The second-seat from Clear Thought Sect took the bait. His face turned bright red as he immediately drew his sword and pointed it at Lian Mu. “You and I must settle this today! Lian Mu, do you have the guts?”

Lian Mu ignored the chatter around her. She didn’t even draw her sword, just said, “Nope.”

Guan Shize, watching: “…”

This scene felt oddly familiar.

Guan Shize was somewhat relieved. At least this time he wasn’t the one being targeted. Last time, Senior Brother Zuo had really beaten the hell out of him.

He had thought that becoming a disciple would help him avoid notice, but then one day he was suddenly tracked down. He still didn’t know who had tipped them off.

Guan Shize looked calm and entirely unconcerned about Lian Mu. He was just waiting to see what the other side would do next.

Baili Que couldn’t help glancing at her. He’d long known Lian Mu had thick skin, but he hadn’t expected her to admit defeat right in front of the four major sects.

Wen Yun looked up at the challenger facing Lian Mu and, realizing it wasn’t any of the familiar Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators, instantly lost interest. He crossed his arms and leaned against a wall, silent.

Everyone: “?”

Some began to doubt their own ears. “Wait, what…?”

Not far off, the first-seat cultivators of each sect had just arrived at the scene and heard everything.

The newcomers were the top-ranked body cultivators and sword cultivators of the other three sects, as well as those supporting artifact refiners and pill cultivators.

Yuan Wuxu of the Clear Thought Sect was surprised at first: “Why’s the Returning Immortal Sect chickening out all of a sudden?”

With two swords at his waist, Gong Rumei glanced at Ying You and Lu Feishuang nearby, instinctively rubbing his sword hilt.

His face was blank and tone flat, as if his thoughts were elsewhere: “The Returning Immortal Sect backing down isn’t anything new. That second-seat sword cultivator only made it this far by luck—who knows how much real strength she has.”

Yuan Wuxu commented thoughtfully, “It’s rare to see a second-seat with three spiritual roots. Even rarer for one to outpace the first-seat team and pluck the Wood Core Flower. Looks like she has close ties with the sect’s top cultivators. I’d like to know what makes her so special.”

“The relationship between first-seat and second-seat is naturally close. That’s normal. But our target isn’t some little three-root sword cultivator.”

The first-seats from the three sects watched nearby, none stepping in to interrupt.

Lu Feishuang arrived with Zhangsun Li, her face expressionless at the sight.

“Another round of useless trash biting each other,” Zhangsun Li said coolly. “Our elders really shouldn’t lump us in with this lot.”

Lu Feishuang didn’t even bother watching the lower-level spiritual root fights and turned to head in another direction.

Over at Azure Profound Sect, the atmosphere was relaxed. They were on home turf and felt little threat from any of the competitors.

Feng Yunyì finished checking the basic pill supply lists, then turned to Ying You and said, “Leader, I…”

He paused, noticing that Ying You was staring intently at the center of the arena, seemingly lost in thought.

Feng Yunyì looked too and saw that it was someone from the Returning Immortal Sect again—specifically, the second-seat sword cultivator.

Yuan Huai followed their gaze and muttered, “What’s so interesting? Just look at their swords—both are totally unimpressive.”

Ying You said nothing, silently watching. The others, seeing his reaction, also put their work on hold to observe.

“Tsk tsk tsk, she already gave up before the fight even started?”

Near the arena, Crimson Sky Sect members jeered loudly, putting their trademark flair on full display.

Lian Mu and the Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat hadn’t even stepped into the dueling arena. They were still facing off outside it.

The Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat was momentarily stunned by her response before snapping out of it.

She had used an unexpected trick to beat him inside the illusion realm, and he had never gotten over it. He hadn’t expected her to surrender so easily once they were outside.

If she had no guts, then what did that make him, who had already lost to her?

“I don’t have time. Go bother someone else. Don’t annoy me.”

Lian Mu turned to leave. She’d only come over to stir up some fun and ask about Xu Xianxing’s whereabouts, but instead got caught in a storm.

“You’re not leaving!” the Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat roared and rushed her with sword in hand.

“Even if you won’t fight, I’ll make you!”

He didn’t hesitate. A sword strike flew toward Lian Mu, causing the surrounding crowd to scatter to avoid getting caught in the fight.

No one expected this—most thought he’d get angry and pressure her to fight inside the arena. Instead, he chose to start a fight right outside.

By the rules, any fighting outside the arena was considered stirring up sect disputes and was a clear violation.

“Is he done with competitions or what?” The spectators backed off to safety.

“Who knows? That second-seat has always been crazy.”

The Clear Thought Sect’s team leader tried to step in but was blocked by the first-seat pill cultivator.

“Leave them be,” said Feng Huanyin. “Time to replace that second-seat sword cultivator anyway.”

Tang Wuxun paused, frowned, but eventually stepped back.

The sudden attack annoyed Lian Mu, who had already turned around. Just before the strike landed, she dodged to the side.

The ground where she’d just stood split open from the force—it was clearly meant to be a serious blow.

There were no protective talismans outside the illusion realm, and she wasn’t wearing her spiritual armor. If that strike had landed, she would’ve been badly injured or worse.

Her expression darkened, and the annoyance peaked. The Green Bean hidden in her sleeve twitched restlessly.

She stepped aside and quickly pulled Wealth Bringer from her spatial pouch.

Everyone: “…”

Who keeps a sword stuffed in a pouch?

Lian Mu hadn’t even unsheathed it yet, and the Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat was already upon her. With a twist of his wrist, his sword spun into a vortex, its tip leaving afterimages as it lunged.

He was using the Clear Thought Sect’s signature sword technique. Lian Mu hadn’t seen it before, but his speed was far too slow to escape her eyes.

She unsheathed Wealth Bringer and swung it, precisely hitting the tip of his sword. A crisp clang rang out.

Both sides had imbued their strikes with spiritual power. The resulting fluctuations immediately rippled outward, caught by the artifact refiners of Azure Profound Sect.

“…What was that?” Yuan Huai’s face showed surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

Yuan Huai replied, “That sword of hers is… weird.”

Feng Yunyì asked, “Weird how?”

Yuan Huai said, “Hard to explain, but my gut says—it’s no ordinary sword.”

Moreover, that spiritual fluctuation felt… off. The sword didn’t seem like the work of a master refiner, but rather resembled something forged by a novice.

If it really belonged to the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat, there was a good chance it came from Xu Xianxing’s hands.

“Has Xu Xianxing’s artifact refining really reached this level?” Yuan Huai murmured. “I always heard his family was just wealthy, and aside from an old ancestor, they haven’t had cultivators in generations. I didn’t expect him to be capable of this…”

“It doesn’t seem like Xu Xianxing’s work.”

Ying You, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. “Xu Xianxing has a lightning spiritual root. When he forges a sword, some traces of that lightning qi inevitably get infused. But this sword was made by a fire spiritual root artifact refiner.”

Yuan Huai froze for a second. “…I see.”

Even though he was the artifact refiner in the core team, Ying You was born with a Sword Bone and had a unique sensitivity to swords. When it came to identifying swords, he couldn’t compare to him.

“Tingzhou, it’s really a pity you didn’t become an artifact refiner,” Yuan Huai chuckled.

Ying You didn’t take his eyes off the battle unfolding in the trial grounds. Then he suddenly said, “Go find the Elders. Tell them something’s happened in the arena and they need to come handle it.”

Yuan Huai: “You’re not going to keep watching?”

“Go,” Feng Yunyi added, “Or else the mess will fall on the team leader again.”

Inside the crowd ring, Lian Mu was still locked in combat with the second-seat sword cultivator of Clear Thought Sect. He was already fighting in a frenzy, no longer caring about life or death.

His attacks were wild and chaotic, as if he had entered complete resonance with his sword—disordered moves filled with brutal force.

“Today, I will defeat you!”

Lian Mu was beginning to sense something was wrong. She had been countering all his strikes and landing heavy hits, yet he seemed completely unfazed—like he had become numb to pain, running purely on obsession.

She twisted her sword and feinted a thrust toward his abdomen. He instinctively blocked it, but she abruptly stopped mid-motion, shifted positions, switched the sword to her other hand, and aimed for his throat.

He had fought in the arena before and wore defensive armor, which was why he dared to be so ruthless.

Lian Mu, on the other hand, wasn’t wearing any protection. One hit could mean serious injury—if not death—so she had to avoid taking any damage at all.

But it seemed he anticipated her feint. He twisted his torso into a strange angle, narrowly dodging her strike.

Then, spotting an opening on Lian Mu’s left side, he thrust his sword straight at her.

But instead of defending, Lian Mu put her sword away and swiftly closed in.

“You’re walking right into my trap? Looks like you—”

He didn’t finish his sentence. His face suddenly twisted in pain.

Lian Mu had slammed her knee into his groin and sent him flying.

The second-seat sword cultivator of Clear Thought Sect lay face-down on the ground, head to the dirt. His expression couldn’t be seen.

Lian Mu said coldly, “So nothing else hurts, but that doesn’t either?”

She figured if she didn’t go hard, he’d never stop.

The crowd: “…”

Wen Yun clicked his tongue in admiration. “Savage.”

Back at Star-Plucking Tower, a talisman cultivator named Qinglong once tried to pull the same move on him.

Now that the roles were reversed, he had to admit—it wasn’t such a bad tactic after all.

Lian Mu wasn’t done. Frustrated to the max, she raised her sword and slashed at his shoulder, shattering his armor.

Then she changed her angle and continued her assault. Once the armor was broken, she kicked his sword away and switched to hand-to-hand combat.

“I already told you—I don’t want to fight strangers. Why couldn’t you just listen?”

Her spiritual energy, barely recovered, was nearly spent again—wasting a good batch of recovery pills.

A few punches to the face left the other cultivator dizzy and dazed. Lian Mu was just about to knock him out completely when pain suddenly flared in her wrist—like something had sliced her.

She turned her head just in time to see a silver fan spinning back in a wide arc, glinting with familiar cold light.

Lian Mu: “…”

She shot upright, her face instantly serious. “Greetings, Elder.”

Not far off, the Elders from all four major sects had arrived. Murong Yi was among them.

He retrieved the silver fan with a deadpan look. “…”

The Clear Thought Sect Elder went over and pulled their second-seat sword cultivator up. Murong Yi stood silently for a moment, then stepped in front of Lian Mu.

“Kids scuffle. They don’t know when to hold back. I’ll make sure she’s punished when we return.”

Lian Mu muttered, “He started it.”

Murong Yi paused again, then turned to the Clear Thought Sect Elder. “What kind of discipline do you have over there? Starting a fight outside the arena—no rules, no restraint. Do you think Returning Immortal Sect is easy to bully?”

Clear Thought Sect Elder: “…Can you not see who’s being bullied here?”

Murong Yi: “Spare me the smokescreen. I only care about who struck first.”