"Simply speaking, in this world, there are different types of creatures..." Elder Muyun paused and surveyed the twins' expressions before he continued:

"As the two of you probably know already, people and beasts differ in numerous ways. Let me ask you two first what's the difference between mortals and cultivators." He questioned with an amused smile. The middle-aged man expected this question not to be difficult even for youngsters living in the countryside.

Both of them could be counted among those that were capable to read in this rundown village. According to what his daughter related earlier, he knew the boy liked to make trips to the village library but he wasn't so sure concerning the lass.

The twins looked at each other for a second before the older brother nodded and let his sister answer:

"Mortals and cultivators both absorb the energy of Heaven and Earth. The first does it unconsciously by eating food and other daily sustenance, medicine or natural treasures. The latter known as a cultivator uses this energy and refines it for several different beneficial purposes.

The main point separating mortals from cultivators is that the latter principally knows and masters the means necessary in order to use and transform energy. This mastery is known as Cultivation and beyond anything else, such as the attainment of strength or magical powers, its goal is to help in the quest for immortality."

"Good." Zi Muyun nodded in approval. He crossed his arms and relaxed before asking the girl:

"Now, what's the difference between animals, beasts and demon beasts?" The question was a bit trickier than the last.

Zi Yurou frowned a bit at this question.

"Don't worry and just answer this geezer, he's just bored and is asking some entry knowledge to mystify you both. He hasn't been teaching youngsters for a while and has grown anxious to resume such meaningless activities." The man's daughter just shook her head and said to reassure her new junior sister.

"Now, now don't call it meaningless. Strength is important for any cultivator, but sometimes having smarts can prove to be useful even on the battlefield. I thought you would know this better after all these years but..." The man started admonishing his daughter once more but she simply ignored it and said:

"Yurou junior sister, go ahead and answer before we spend the rest of the day here."

"Huh?...yes." Zi Yurou replied in a stressed tone and followed:

"Animals, beasts and demon beasts roam across the earth. Some of them live in forests or underwater, others live in the skies and underground. While animals, beasts and demon beasts can all be tamed by humans, it is easier to get the two former to do one's bidding without the assistance of a cultivator. The term animal simply refers to any other creature or wildlife that isn't human, while beasts are essentially monsters that have yet to form a demon core. Monsters range from dogs to fish, birds, etc."

"Hum. Continue." Zi Muyue looked at her father who seemed to agree as he listened silently with eyes closed and said.

"Demon beasts are simply those creatures that have overcome the body refinement stage and formed a demon core. Like cultivators, they can absorb and transform the energy of Heaven and Earth and develop magical powers. They have a longer lifespan compared to humans, however..."

The girl hesitated as she seemed to think of a detail she forgot. But she dismissed it and ended her speech somewhat nervous. Now she could only wait for the assessment of the old man before her. She couldn't help but wonder how these questions were related to the "Pixiu" thing elder Muyun mentioned before.

"Not bad. My question wasn't meant to trick you; I simply wanted to know where you two were situated on the subject." Zi Muyun explained. He then continued as he said:

"Now, for the reason why I asked this...let's just say, you need a certain level of knowledge concerning creatures in order to understand how heaven-defying a Pixiu is." Zi Muyun paused and looked haggard for a moment. His gaze remained centered on the ceiling for three full seconds before he sighed.

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"Honestly speaking, your explanation was satisfactory, but you forgot to mention one important detail..."

"What was it, If I may ask master?" The lass asked curiously.

"Cultivation methods..."

"??" The twins looked perplexed for a moment.

"Demon beasts and cultivators practice cultivation in two different ways. For beasts, it cannot even be called cultivation but plundering. Beasts simply cannot use cultivation manuals and human skills in order to gain insights into the Dao or experience a breakthrough. It only depends on the purity of their bloodlines, the number, and quality of demon cores they steal and eat, or the passing of time. Most beasts prefer to be active in their quest for immortality, but it is dangerous for them to do so, as they either die fighting other beasts or humans."

The man took a moment of respite once more.

"Some demon beasts such as dragons are born with an extremely ancient or pure primordial bloodline. As such they have a longer natural lifespan compared to other beasts. They don't need to risk too much in order to get stronger. They can simply sleep and awaken with a stronger strength after centuries. They can be called heaven-defying as they get stronger by simply lazying around. The higher the purity of the bloodline, the higher the demon beast grade. Natural endowment only follows exponentially.

But above all of these grades, there is the divine grade. A divine grade beast, as stupid as it sounds can cultivate to immortality in less than a week according to legends. However the term immortal only refers to those who have awakened to the true essence of cultivation. Even, humans don't become undying after reaching the immortal realm; they simply live extremely long."

"Go straight to the point, geezer." Zi Muyue who listened in annoyance reminded him.

"Haha, sorry for being so long-winded. I'm losing myself in such a captivating subject from time to time." The man looked at the twins with a self-blaming grin. "You two must be tired."

"No, master please elaborate." Zi Yurou said. Zi Ming was thinking too earnestly to care to comment. He only wanted the man to resume his speech. There was after all perhaps important information concerning his wolf pup.

"So, as I was saying...

Some beasts don't need to cultivate for a long time in order to gain strong strength. But even such beasts are limited by the constraints of time and the scarcity of resources after a while. They can't just sleep their way to death, one can only gain so much strength without doing anything of value. Talent can only take you so far on the road of cultivation. So from time to time, legendary beasts such as dragons and pegasus are seen in the human world."

"You mean every ten thousand years maybe..." Zi Muyue mocked.

"Something like that. But that isn't my point. My point is there's one creature that defies this natural ordinance..."

"You mean?..." The siblings would be dumb if they didn't understand where the old man was trying to go now.

"You've probably guessed already so I'll stop being mysterious." Zi Muyun nodded. "A legend says that when the heavens and the earth were created, a mistake was made by the Dao. This one supposedly mistake is called the Pixiu."

Zi Muyun looked at his disciples very seriously and continued.

"What do you think would happen if a demon beast was born with a truly endless lifespan and could comprehend and cultivate human skills?"

"..." The two of them became speechless. They considered several possibilities but they didn't know how to voice them out for fear of being taken the wrong way. Why would their master even share such a secret with them? They only met a few days ago, after all.

"You're probably wondering why I'm sharing such a dangerous secret with you two?" He grinned and asked.

They nodded awkwardly.

"That item we're looking for is the core of a baby Pixiu. It's beneficial to latent martial spirits and body refinement beasts. Sadly It can only be used once every ten years or so. Also, the benefit obtained is reduced when the number of people it's used on goes beyond five. This is also one of the reasons why we considered recruiting you three as you possess a solid foundation even compared to the young generation from the main clan."

Everything suddenly became clear to them. 

"I won't go into details but there are several factions in our clan and potential risks of rearing a poisonous snake for my father. This is why we didn't want to take anyone from the clan as we came along. You three seem like genuine young people and the risk of a potential betrayal is small since your aunt married into our household. I know it may sound bad but you'll understand how dangerous this world really is once you step out of this place."

Zi Muyue added calmly.

"I'll let you two process this information for the rest of the day. You need to rest now, tomorrow we're heading inside the forest to catch that thieving beast which probably killed your grandparents." The man got up and said.

The twins were once again shocked. 

"Don't worry we'll make sure nothing harmful happens to you two. We can't delay any longer and take the risk to perform the ceremony a long time after obtaining the core. You two probably don't know but our clan got a lot of enemies and the probability of us having been followed is quite high." Zi Muyun reassured as he left the room.