Chapter 18: Lend Me a Breeding Partner

Tantai Ming still harbored resentment toward the Tianyan Sect group. Since Shen Rufei had previously been associated with them, Tantai Ming was hesitant to have him join them.

Shen Rufei, aware of his own awkward position, stepped forward and explained, “I was merely cooperating with those Tianyan Sect friends under my sect’s orders. Now that they’ve left the secret realm, my collaboration with them has ended.”

“I hold no bias towards either side. My sole purpose in coming to this secret realm is to search for the Phoenix ruins. You don’t have to worry about me betraying you.”

Tantai Ming and Mu Chihuai glanced at Chu Sang. After a moment of contemplation, she smiled and said, “Alright, then let’s work together to find the lost Phoenix ruins.”

She indeed needed the help of a disciple from the Beast-Taming Sect.

Shen Rufei had asked out of politeness and hadn’t expected them to agree.

His reason for entering the secret realm was indeed to search for the rumored extinct Phoenix. However, after wandering around for almost half a month, using all kinds of methods to divine the Phoenix’s resting place, he had gotten nowhere, like a headless chicken.

In the last few hours, he hadn’t held much hope, merely going through the motions to console himself.

An hour later.

The three arrived at the Phoenix’s nest.

Shen Rufei’s mouth twitched, and he fell silent. What could he say? These three novices had unbelievably good luck.

Although they successfully reached the Phoenix’s nest, they didn’t see the legendary Phoenix with the ancient divine beast bloodline. Instead, they found a single Phoenix egg marked with crimson flame patterns.

Several powerful Golden Core-level beasts guarded the Phoenix egg. With their current strength, taking the egg would be next to impossible.

Moreover, with less than two hours left until the secret realm closed, they couldn’t afford a prolonged battle. They had to act quickly.

Tantai Ming and Mu Chihuai planned to distract the beasts while Chu Sang seized the egg.

Chu Sang raised her hand to stop them and looked at Shen Rufei with a light smile. “Since we’re partners, we’ve led you to the Phoenix nest. Shen, shouldn’t you show us your real skills?”

Shen Rufei chuckled and shook his head. This young girl was indeed sharp—nothing escaped her notice.

A jade flute, entirely emerald green, appeared in his palm. A faintly eerie and piercing melody floated on the wind.

The demonic beasts patrolling the cave entrance froze upon hearing the sound, and after a moment, they fell to the ground.

“This is a Nightmare Curse specially crafted by the elders of our Beast-Taming Sect for these beasts. It can put them to sleep for about half a stick of incense time.”

Tantai Ming swiftly applied a speed talisman and a concealment talisman to himself. He cautiously slipped past the slumbering beasts at the cave entrance, darting in and out, and successfully retrieved the Phoenix egg.

Before the beasts could awaken, the group made a hasty escape from the scene.

“Roar—!!!”

Moments later, furious roars echoed behind them. Birds and beasts fled from the forest in droves, and the ground faintly trembled.

But the four culprits had long since fled, and the beasts couldn’t catch up.

After escaping the scene, it was time to divide the spoils.

Four people, but only one Phoenix egg.

How should they split it?

Seeing Tantai Ming clutch the large white egg protectively, Shen Rufei chuckled. “I’m not going to fight you for it.”

Beast-Taming Sect disciples typically weren’t very powerful. Even if Shen Rufei wanted to snatch it, he couldn’t take on all three of them.

Shen Rufei summoned a maturing Azure Luan with mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation from his spirit beast pouch. It flew to his shoulder, pecking at his hair. “This is my beast companion, Qingyu.”

He already had his life-bound beast companion. When he first partnered with the Tianyan Sect, he had never intended to take this Phoenix egg.

“You can take the Fire Phoenix egg, but I have one small request that I hope you can fulfill.” He cleared his throat. “When this Fire Phoenix matures, could you lend it to me for breeding?”

“Huh?!”

The three of them widened their eyes.

Realizing his wording was somewhat inappropriate, Shen Rufei quickly clarified, “I mean… for breeding with my Azure Luan!”

“Both the wind-element Azure Luan and the fire-element Fire Phoenix carry traces of the ancient divine Phoenix’s powerful bloodline. Their genetic affinity is close, and there’s a high chance they could produce even more powerful mutant Phoenix beasts. It’s even possible their offspring could possess both wind and fire attributes.”

The cultivation system for beasts is the exact opposite of that for human cultivators—they don’t have spiritual roots but are born with innate attributes. The more attributes a beast possesses, the rarer and more powerful it is.

If they could breed a dual-attribute mutant beast with the ancient divine Phoenix bloodline, it would be enough to shock the entire Lingyuan Continent.

“So, this is my only request. I wonder if the three of you would agree?”

On Shen Rufei’s usually calm face, a rare hint of urgency and pleading appeared. As the most talented chief disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, he had repeatedly won first place in the Beast Taming Grand Competition. However, a year ago, he was overshadowed by an unknown woman, ending up in second place.

This incident had become a knot in his heart, affecting his cultivation and causing it to stagnate.

Thus, he was determined to cultivate even more exceptional beasts before the next grand competition to reclaim his glory.

“Alright.”

“Alright,” Chu Sang agreed without hesitation, seeing it as a fair deal. After all, a favor from the chief disciple of the Beast-Taming Sect was valuable. Perhaps, if they managed to breed another mutant beast, he might even gift one to her.

Her two senior brothers urged her to finalize the contract quickly to avoid any unforeseen complications.

Unexpectedly, Chu Sang turned and handed the phoenix egg to Mu Chihua. “Sixth Senior Brother, take this. This Fire Phoenix is a good match for you.”

“For me?” Mu Chihua pointed to himself in surprise.

“Yes.” Chu Sang smiled at him. “This Fire Phoenix will have a better future with you than with me.”

Mu Chihua possessed a rare combination of Fire and Wood spiritual roots, making him naturally inclined towards alchemy. Although his spiritual roots were not top-notch, they were well-suited for his craft.

While Chu Sang did possess a top-tier fire spiritual root, her root was currently damaged, rendering it nearly half-useless. Moreover, the flames of the Fire Phoenix could enhance the quality of alchemical fire, making it most suitable for Sixth Senior Brother. Keeping it for herself would be a waste.

In the original story, the female protagonist had contracted with this very Fire Phoenix, acquiring the Phoenix Flame. This enabled her, someone initially clueless about alchemy, to quickly master the art of refining pills, even surpassing the highly skilled Mu Chihuai.

Mu Chihuai hesitated for a moment but did not refuse. “Then I’ll graciously accept.”

Although he usually wore a smile, it often carried a hint of inscrutable mischief, giving him an air of detachment from others.

At that moment, however, the young man’s smile was sincere and gentle. He reached out and lightly pinched her cheek. “Thank you for the great gift, Junior Sister. If you ever need the Mu family’s help, feel free to come to me.”

[Villain Mu Chihua’s Corruption Value -5, Host can randomly allocate 5 attribute points!]

[Current Corruption Value of Villain Mu Chihua: 12]

[5 points remaining for free attribute allocation. Please choose the attribute to enhance—]