Shen He hesitated. “Probably not? This bird is only at Foundation Establishment cultivation. Didn’t the sect lectures say demon beasts only awaken intelligence after Core Formation? Night Senior can’t speak and needs me to feed him daily. We’ve been discussing roast squab right in front of him, and he hasn’t reacted at all… Maybe he’s just a fledgling with great demon bloodline?”
Pang Sanxian thought about it and agreed. If it were truly a sect elder, how could they let a Fake Foundation Establishment cultivator like Shen He look after it?
Pang Sanxian couldn’t resist reaching out to tease the Kill Matt Bird. As he went to pinch its beak, he asked Shen He, “What attribute is this demon beast? What breed? Any special… AHH!!”
In the instant Pang Sanxian’s chubby finger was about to touch the beak, the bird suddenly gaped its maw wide.
Though it was only palm-sized, its opened beak stretched half a meter wide!!
Shen He watched clearly from the side. The edges of the beak were lined with fine, sharp teeth. Three long, barbed tongues lashed out. In that moment of opening, the bird’s neck ballooned abruptly, like a pitch-black, unknown, and profound abyss that could swallow anything.
In the blink of an eye, Pang Sanxian’s hand and forearm were devoured entirely by the Kill Matt Young Bird.
Pang Sanxian: “Aaaahhhh!!”
Pang Sanxian curled into a ball in agony, blood gushing from the stump of his arm, the metallic scent assaulting the air.
Shen He’s mind went blank. Almost on instinct, he yanked Pang Sanxian and clamped a hand over his screaming mouth. At the same time, his knees buckled, and he slid straight into a kneeling position before the Crimson Tree Branch stand.
“This junior was impudent—please forgive us, Senior!”
Pang Sanxian couldn’t speak with his mouth covered, but upon hearing Shen He’s words, he immediately bowed his head deeply and knelt as well.
Even as his body trembled from the pain, he didn’t dare make a sound.
The Kill Matt Bird leisurely preened its sparse feathers with its beak, pretending it couldn’t understand human speech.
Shen He pressed Pang Sanxian down and kowtowed several resounding times. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the demon beast seemed too lazy to bother with them. He quickly said cautiously, “Thank you for your magnanimity, Senior. This disciple won’t dare again.”
As he spoke, he dragged Pang Sanxian backward bit by bit until they finally safely exited the Pill Room.
Shen He hurriedly pulled out Bone Regrowth Pills and Jade Skin Pills and stuffed them to Pang Sanxian.
Pang Sanxian’s face was ghastly pale from pain. He gasped through gritted teeth, unable to utter a word.
He nodded repeatedly, gestured that they’d talk later, and rushed back to his room to heal and rest.
Shen He desperately wanted to go with Pang Sanxian, but he still had to care for Night Senior. He couldn’t just abandon it in the Pill Room, could he?
With heavy steps, Shen He returned to the Pill Room.
Seeing that Kill Matt Senior seemed to be resting with eyes closed, he cautiously shrank to one side, took out the White Bone Bell, and began focusing on refining this protective demonic treasure.
But just as Shen He started tempering the White Bone Bell with his demonic qi, his vision blurred. Kill Matt Senior had flown right in front of him and pressed a claw onto the bell’s ring loop.
Shen He forced a smile. “What instructions do you have, Night Senior?”
The Kill Matt Ground Chicken—none other than Pei Jiye—looked Shen He up and down.
The moment he saw Shen He, Pei Jiye felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, profound and hard to describe.
It was a bit intimate, a bit repulsive, a bit familiar, and a bit inexplicably concerning.
Was it Xie Linlang’s reincarnation?
Pei Jiye didn’t know.
Xie Linlang had been benevolent throughout his life. Even falling under Heavenly Tribulation and his soul returning to the Underworld, he should have reincarnated quickly through the six paths.
But the age didn’t match!
Xie Linlang had only fallen a year ago. Even if he reincarnated immediately, he should only be a month old now?
Yet Shen He was already a Fake Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The more Pei Jiye thought, the more irritated he became. He kicked the White Bone Bell from Shen He’s hand flying. Like a Ground Chicken, he flapped his fleshy wings and landed on the pill furnace in the center of the Pill Room.
He stared at Shen He.
Shen He glanced heartbrokenly at the White Bone Bell.
Night Senior sure had sharp claws. He hadn’t even refined the White Bone Bell yet, and now it had a crack. He wondered if Master Lin had left yet—could he go exchange it for another protective treasure?
Shen He probed, “Do you want to eat spirit pills?”
He pulled out the high-grade feed Lin Yu had given. “This…”
Pei Jiye lowered his body, his neck quivering faintly and rapidly, beak tilting up slightly. He continued his death stare at Shen He.
Shen He’s heart chilled—this was the pre-attack motion of birds.
Sweat beaded on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and tried again. “How about I refine a furnace of Qi Gathering Pills for you?”
At those words, this ferocious Night Senior finally flapped his wings and landed on the ground, hopping onto the nearby materials table.
Shen He breathed a sigh of relief. He finally understood what this bigshot wanted.
Refining pills? That he was good at.
Due to his cultivation advancing too quickly, Shen He refined pills whenever he had free time. It not only honed his pill refining skills but also let him temper his demonic qi with spiritual fire, solidifying his foundation.
With that in mind, Shen He pulled over the materials table and began preparing ingredients for Qi Gathering Pills.
Pei Jiye watched Shen He’s movements as he handled the materials, narrowing his eyes. For a fleeting moment, he lost himself in a daze.
