Chapter 17: A Refiner’s Reluctance and a Phoenix’s Aptitude

Lei Yan could no longer contain himself after receiving Jiang Shengming’s confirmation.

“Hold on, hold on, Senior Brother Jiang, what kind of joke is this?” Lei Yan’s face twitched. “I’m a Refiner, not an Alchemist! You want this delicate little girl to learn refining from a brute like me? Are you sure you haven’t gone astray in your cultivation?”

Nearby, Su Yun could only offer a dry laugh, feeling utterly dismissed. While she understood Lei Yan’s sentiments given the circumstances, from her own perspective, being so openly scorned was undeniably unpleasant.

Jiang Shengming, however, did not fault Lei Yan for his bluntness. Lei Yan’s nature was always straightforward, and besides, Jiang Shengming himself felt helpless; after all, this was Su Yun’s own choice.

“Junior Brother Lei, don’t be so resistant,” Jiang Shengming advised. “This girl wants to learn refining not by my will, but by her own. Why don’t you first assess her aptitude?”

Hearing this, Lei Yan finally calmed down. He turned to look at Su Yun, his nearly two-meter frame casting an oppressive shadow over her.

Lei Yan’s rugged appearance, reminiscent of Zhang Fei, was further emphasized by his wide, ox-like eyes, which sent a shiver down Su Yun’s spine.

“Little girl, are you certain you want to learn refining?” Lei Yan asked in a deep voice.

Su Yun nodded, confirming that Jiang Shengming had spoken the truth and that it was indeed her own desire.

“Hmm? This is truly peculiar,” Lei Yan continued. “Why would a fair and delicate young girl like you want to learn refining? Honestly, I’m saying this for your own good: once you choose this path, there’s no turning back.”

Su Yun remained silent, but her gaze was resolute as she met Lei Yan’s eyes, conveying her unwavering determination to learn refining.

After a moment of shared gaze, Lei Yan finally let out a soft sigh and gestured.

“Alright then, let me assess your aptitude first,” Lei Yan conceded. “If your talent isn’t sufficient, or if it’s unsuitable, then Old Lei can’t be blamed.”

Su Yun breathed a sigh of relief at Lei Yan’s words, then happily extended her small hand.

Lei Yan, in turn, extended a finger and pressed it against Su Yun’s wrist, closing his eyes to perceive.

His perception yielded the same reaction as Jiang Shengming’s.

“What? Such pure Fire Spiritual Root!” Lei Yan’s eyes snapped open, revealing a mix of shock and delight.

Su Yun’s Fire Spiritual Root was far purer than his own. If she genuinely wished to learn refining, Lei Yan believed she would undoubtedly surpass him in the future.

Yet, the sight of Su Yun’s delicate physique still struck him as incredibly awkward.

“Her aptitude is indeed highly suitable,” Lei Yan told Jiang Shengming. “If she truly dedicates herself to refining, she is destined to become a fourth-tier Refiner or higher. Senior Brother Jiang, she is truly an excellent prospect.”

Jiang Shengming chuckled softly.

“What did you expect?” Jiang Shengming said with a look of regret. “With such a promising talent, if she were willing to focus on proper cultivation, our Spirit Sword Mountain would likely gain another powerful Nascent Soul cultivator in the future. Alas, she’s insistent on learning refining, and there’s nothing I can do.”

Lei Yan nodded in agreement.

“Little girl, what is your name?” Lei Yan asked.

Su Yun immediately replied,

“To answer the Elder, my name is Su Yun.”

The moment Lei Yan heard Su Yun’s surname, he felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of déjà vu. The little girl before him seemed familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

“Surname Su? Eh… little girl, why do you resemble Su Muxue from the Moonfall Sect next door so much?” Lei Yan pointed at Su Yun, uttering words that nearly scared her to death. “Senior Brother Jiang, haven’t you noticed this? Could this little girl be Su Muxue’s daughter, here to secretly learn our techniques at Spirit Sword Mountain?”

Upon hearing those words, Su Yun’s entire body trembled.

‘No way? Is he mistaken?’ Su Yun thought, her heart pounding. ‘This brute actually figured out my identity and intentions? Impossible, how could he possibly know?’

Hearing this, Jiang Shengming couldn’t help but look utterly speechless.

“First of all, whether Su Muxue has a daughter is beside the point,” Jiang Shengming retorted, unable to resist jabbing at Lei Yan. “Even if this girl truly is Su Muxue’s daughter, since she has joined our Spirit Sword Mountain, she is our disciple. A gifted talent offered freely is not to be refused. Are you implying, Junior Brother Lei, that your Senior Brother is an idiot?”

Lei Yan immediately burst into hearty laughter, rubbing the back of his head.

“Hahaha, I was just joking,” Lei Yan declared. “Since that’s the case, I’ll take this little girl to my place first. Let her see the conditions there. If she can truly endure it, then I’ll take her as my disciple. If not, I won’t lead her astray.”

Jiang Shengming had no objections.

“Very well, let’s proceed as you suggest,” he said. “If this girl can’t stand the environment there, just send her back.”

Lei Yan nodded, then waved a hand towards Su Yun. Enveloping her in his power, he transformed into a streak of fiery light and soared out of the sect’s main hall.

****

A short while later, at Spirit Sword Mountain’s Refining Peak.

Lei Yan descended from the sky with Su Yun, landing atop the Refining Peak. Simultaneously, an intensely hot wave of air radiated from the bare, iron-like mountain ahead. The temperature was scorching, certainly unbearable for ordinary cultivators.

Su Yun, however, showed no reaction. Instead, she found the area remarkably comfortable, far more so than any other region.

Lei Yan glanced at Su Yun. Seeing her utterly unfazed by the heat, he couldn’t help but inwardly marvel.

‘As expected of a pure Fire Spiritual Root,’ he thought. ‘It seems the high temperatures of Refining Peak won’t pose a challenge for this little girl.’

Indeed, Su Yun possessed the bloodline of a Fire Phoenix. A Fire Phoenix wielded the purest and most potent Phoenix Divine Flames in all the heavens and earth, naturally rendering it immune to high temperatures. However, Su Yun undoubtedly did not yet know how to harness the Phoenix Divine Flames.

“This is our Spirit Sword Mountain’s Refining Peak,” Lei Yan announced, gesturing forward. “Let’s go inside and take a look. Although I haven’t taken any direct disciples, I do have quite a few nominal ones.”

With that, Lei Yan led Su Yun towards a stone gate embedded in the mountainside. The moment they stepped through the entrance, a symphony of clanging metal rang out, and the temperature within soared even higher.

Inside was a long corridor, flanked by numerous stone chambers. Some chambers were tightly shut, while others stood open.

Within the open chambers, burly men with bare torsos toiled. They wielded hammers, just like mortal blacksmiths, as they forged glowing red metal pulled from roaring furnaces.

Refining did not differ significantly from mortal blacksmithing. The sole distinction lay in the materials used to craft magical artifacts and equipment; these contained energy, and their strength and resilience far surpassed ordinary metals of the mortal world.

Moreover, common flames were incapable of melting these metallic materials. Only True Fire, condensed by cultivators using their spiritual power, could achieve this.

To practice refining, one absolutely needed either a Fire Spiritual Root or a Lightning Spiritual Root. However, a Fire Spiritual Root undeniably yielded superior results in refining compared to a Lightning Spiritual Root.

Furthermore, cultivators did not necessarily possess only a single Spiritual Root; some had multiple. Yet, multiple Spiritual Roots were detrimental to cultivation, demanding significantly more time and energy to break through to new realms.

Thus, in the cultivation world, having multiple Spiritual Roots often signified poor innate talent.

Su Yun’s gaze lingered on the crafting platforms within the stone chambers, her face alight with anticipation and delight. These platforms were far more intricate than she had imagined, perfectly capable of producing artifacts of various forms.

‘Excellent,’ Su Yun exclaimed happily to herself. ‘With these tools, I won’t need to spend so much time hand-grinding!’

Lei Yan had been keenly observing Su Yun’s reactions. To his slight disappointment, he saw no hint of hesitation in her eyes; instead, she seemed to genuinely adore the place.

It was, after all, a grimy place. Female disciples of Spirit Sword Mountain never set foot here, and even ordinary male disciples avoided it unless absolutely necessary. The ground was covered in black scorch marks, or perhaps fine metallic particles.

Su Yun hadn’t walked far, yet her fiery-red shoes and fair calves were already covered in numerous black smudges. Any other girl would have been utterly disgusted by now.

But one mustn’t forget, Su Yun had once been a man. His room had never been particularly clean, so she had long grown accustomed to such environments.

Lei Yan continued to lead Su Yun onward, eventually reaching his own refining chamber. His chamber was vast, significantly larger than the others, and crammed with all manner of materials.

Upon seeing these materials, Su Yun’s eyes gleamed with intense excitement. She was overjoyed, for if she could utilize these resources, she was confident she could forge weapons of even greater quality and power.