The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

With a flap of its wings, Venus streaked across the sky like a meteor and sped off towards the east.

Fire feathers trailed long flames, leaving a dazzling trail in the air, as if announcing his return.

......

Two hours later.

"I thought you could really make it to the academy," Tilisa's teasing voice rang out. "You can't even last this long?"

"I just think that one should be down-to-earth in life." Viner used his sword to support himself and regain his strength.

He was overly optimistic about the distance to the academy, and the magic energy consumed to maintain Firewing flight exceeded his expectations.

This prompted Wiener to decisively abandon his plan to continue flying.

Just then, Escudo's voice rang out: "Something's following us, Vena."

Although Wiener did not blame her after the incident, Little Ehren kept it in mind.

So after noticing something was wrong, she immediately issued a warning.

"Demons?" Viner asked, frowning.

He didn't use the "Mirror Flower Water Moon" technique to conceal his whereabouts, so it's not surprising that he was discovered. But the guy who dared to chase after him after witnessing his terrifying aura and speed is truly audacious.

“No,” Escudo denied, “it seems to be an old friend of mine—”

Before the words were finished, a loud cry suddenly pierced the sky.

"Chirp!"

The voice was clear and melodious, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority.

Immediately afterwards, a gigantic creature swooped down from the clouds, revealing its true form.

Its entire body was ablaze with golden flames, and its feathers shimmered with iridescent light in the sunlight.

It turned out to be the legendary phoenix.

It gracefully landed on the ground not far from Venus and looked down to examine it.

Chapter 605 The Wronged Phoenix

Viner was still unclear why the phoenix had targeted him, nor did he know how to communicate with it.

However, judging from the other party's appearance, they did not seem to be hostile.

Escudo transformed into human form and stood between Venus and the Phoenix.

She tilted her head slightly, meeting the phoenix's gaze as if in some kind of communication.

After a brief conversation, Escudo shook his head repeatedly, then spread his arms to shield Vina behind him, his movements showing a hint of wariness.

“Um, what did it just say?” Wiener couldn’t help but ask.

“In human terms… it should be considered a declaration of love.” Escudo hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Pfft!" Tissa's voice came from the Holy Ring, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "Little Vena's charm is really that great?"

However, Escudo's next words brought Tilisa's smile to an abrupt end.

"It says that it likes the one who is called Nie Dōjin Zhāna."

"Hahaha!"

This time, it was Vina's turn to laugh until she cried.

As a spirit beast that controls fire, the Phoenix easily discerned the source of the flames that Venus had previously released.

It let out a soft cry and flapped its wings gently, as if expressing its strong interest in the Ninja Palace.

It took Vena a while to speak: "You are a bird, but I'm sorry, it's impossible for me to give you Tilisa."

Joking aside, Venere would never allow anyone to take Tissa away from him.

Escudo relayed Vena's words to the Phoenix.

Upon hearing this, the phoenix stared intently at Venus, its eyes seeming to spit flames.

How did you translate it?

Wiener noticed the change in atmosphere and vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

“I told her that Vena is our master, and everything we have belongs to Vena, so let it go wherever it wants,” Escudo replied.

"You did a good job, don't translate next time." Wiener sighed and rubbed his forehead.

He recalled the attitude of the Black Tortoise when it begged everyone to take Escudo away. He roughly understood that Escudo's so-called "old friend" was nothing more than wishful thinking.

“Can I communicate with it directly?” Wiener asked.

“…Okay.” Escudo nodded, then took Vena’s hand with one hand and touched the phoenix’s wings with the other.

"You already have the Holy Sword, yet you're still eyeing other weapons. You're such a fickle human!"

A clear female voice rang in Venere's mind.

"Then should I have Little E stay with you?" Viner countered.

Since it was a spiritual communication, the Phoenix immediately understood that the Little E that Vena mentioned was the Holy Sword.

Little E looked at Vina in shock.

"I don't want this guy who always takes over other people's places!" Phoenix said with a look of disgust. "I wish you would take this annoying guy away from me."

“Just kidding. They are all my wings, and I won’t give any of them to you,” Viner said calmly.

"I only agreed to communicate with you because Xiao Ai told me you were her friend. Since you deny it yourself, there's nothing to talk about. Or are you planning to force us to stay?"

"...I can trade with you." The phoenix finally managed to squeeze out a sentence after a long time. "I see an opportunity to break through the bottleneck in this sword. If you give it to me, I can trade my feathers for it."

Having been harassed by Escudo many times, it knew how troublesome the Holy Sword was, especially since it was only an unclaimed Holy Sword.

Now that the Holy Sword has its own master, forcing it would only result in a loss for oneself.

"I do not care."

At this moment, Vena also understood that the so-called declaration of love was a mistranslation by Escudo; the phoenix was simply attracted by the aura of the Nyodono.

"Do you know how much my feathers are..." The phoenix was about to scold the other party for not knowing its value when it saw Venus take out something that looked quite familiar and play with it in his hand.

The feathers were plucked from it.

"You, you, you—what's your relationship with that woman?!"

The phoenix was so frightened that it took a step back, which shows how much psychological trauma Jessica had left on it.

“I have just a little more wings than the average person,” Venere replied.

"What do I have to do to get this thing back?" The Phoenix was still unwilling to give up.

“Forget about Zhōnen Zhōna, but if you really want it, I can forge another fire-attribute piece of equipment for you that is no less powerful than Zhōnen Zhōna,” Vena offered another solution.

"You actually forged this weapon?" The Phoenix looked on in disbelief.

In its view, this weapon was only lacking the accumulation of years compared to Escudo.

If one can gain some insight from the Nirvana, then there is a chance to cross that boundary.

“I could have shown you, but now—you have to apologize to Little E first,” Viner said, her face turning serious. “She’s not a bad person.”

Seeing that Vena was speaking up for him, Escudo was suddenly moved.

“…I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that to Escudo.” The phoenix struggled for a long time before finally lowering its noble head. “If you can keep your promise, I will always welcome you to my home.”

"I forgive you."

Escudo smiled slightly, while giving Vina a "it's alright" look.

More than Phoenix's apology, she cared about Venus's attitude.

"That makes it simple."

Vena put away the Zha Dian Zha Na, then reached out to the Phoenix with a meaningful smile on his face.

"what happened again?"

The phoenix tilted its head, a hint of unease flashing in its eyes.

"Of course, it's for forging materials."

Since it's forging fire-type equipment, what material can compare to the Phoenix Feather?

"You wouldn't—ah!"

The phoenix suddenly let out a cry of surprise, as Escudo had already plucked a handful of feathers from its wing.

“It didn’t refuse.” Escudo gently shook the fire feather in his hand and explained to Vina.

Only when the phoenix willingly sheds its complete feathers will it do so.

This one sentence directly deprived the Phoenix of its right to argue.

"That should be enough!"

The phoenix looked down at its featherless wings, then looked up at Escudo, its eyes filled with complex emotions.

She doesn't want to go through that "voluntary" experience again.

“It’s barely enough, but we can’t have too much if we want to forge even more perfect equipment,” Vina said, stroking her chin.

"Don't come any closer!!!" Seeing Escudo staring at him menacingly again, the phoenix hurriedly folded its wings, its voice tinged with panic.

"I'll take it off myself, I'll take it off myself, okay!" Its cry was tinged with sobs.

Jessica had been bothering it for over a month in order to get a feather, which annoyed it to no end.

Escudo simply yanked off seven or eight hairs, leaving it feeling utterly helpless.

Even if it's willing to gamble for a breakthrough opportunity, being treated so roughly is still very painful.

The phoenix spread its wings slightly and began to shed its feathers. One by one, the fiery red feathers slowly drifted down and piled up steadily in Escudo's arms, quickly accumulating to over a hundred.

"This should be enough, right?" The phoenix's eyes were full of grievance.

"Well, almost."

Wiener suppressed a laugh as he watched this unexpected delight.

Chapter 606 Phoenix Cloth

Vina stacked the pieces of black iron into a pile of stones, then looked at Escudo.

The latter, understanding the situation, threw most of the collected phoenix feathers into it.

In an instant, the fire element surged violently, and the feathers burst forth with terrifying high temperature the moment they touched the black gold cold iron, the intense light turning the cold iron red.

Wiener squinted, watching everything unfold before him.

The black iron and the phoenix feathers seemed to be exchanging some kind of heat.

As the feathers gradually shrank, the originally soft feathers became crystal clear, shining like gemstones.

On the other side, the black iron had become soft due to absorbing a large amount of fire power, and flowing patterns appeared on its surface.

"Will this really work?" Phoenix muttered to himself.

It wanted to see a stronger flame, not this, which wasted the fire elemental power stored in the feather.

“To reach a higher temperature, we must first cool it down,” Venerable explained simply, then drew out the Nie Dōden Zhāna.

Even after initial treatment, the residual heat of the fire feathers remained unbearably high.

With the help of the power of the Ninja Palace, he formed a protective barrier around himself before daring to touch the scalding materials.

"Swish, swish, swish!" Viner swung his sword repeatedly, his movements precise and swift, cutting the now-softened black iron into evenly sized scales.

The equipment to be built is beginning to take shape.

Once the preparations were complete, Vena took the remaining phoenix feathers from Escudo's arms, rubbed them into threads as fine as hair, and then used these threads to string the scales together one by one.