Retake *Discontinued*

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Nightmare Demon Pot

"Sister! I've returned!" Greeted Nie Li, walking in confidently.

Nodding, Nie Tai asked, "Were you successful?"

"Very!"

"How many did you get?"

"You'll see," replied Nie Li, not bothering to explain. Rolling her eyes, Nie Tai carefully set the organized demon-spirits into her interspatial ring and motioned for Nie Li to bring forth the ones he got. Grinning widely, he waved his hand and tens of thousands of Fighter-Type demon-spirits rolled around on the floor.

With disbelieving eyes, Nie Tai glared at him and said, "You get to organize them. I'm going to take a bath."

"Didn't you take one five hours ago?" Asked Nie Li, confused.

"I'm taking another one," she replied. Smiling, Nie Tai walked out. Before she left, she touched the pile of demon-spirits, causing the haphazard stack of them to fall to the floor.

"Xiao Tai!" Berated Nie Li, watching the Fighter-types roll around helplessly.

Grinning evilly, Nie Tai laughed and quickly exited after saying, "Good luck!"

❦❦❦

Opening the door, Nie Tai walked into the room with her hair in a towel. Ignoring Nie Li's bemused glance, she sat in her previous spot. Leaning forward, Nie Tai looked at the Nightmare Demon Pot closely and noticed that the rugged carvings had become clearer, more precise. If she wasn't wrong, she could also feel a stronger aura emanating from the pot. Looking at Nie Li, she motioned for him to grab ten more demon-spirits. Rolling his shoulders, he did so and the twins proceeded to continue the refinement process. Nie Tai noticed that she could see the actual refinement a bit better as well.

Soon, they entered a sort of hypnotized state where, as soon as one refinement was ended, another began. After twelve hours, their growling stomachs alerted them to the time past and they took a break. Quickly, they resumed the refining and the hypnosis struck again. This state lasted for twenty-four hours before forcing the twins to take another break. After sleeping for an hour or two, the twins went back to work. Then another twenty-four hours past and a break. This process continued on for a week. During that week, the process was sped up a bit and, gradually, grew to be more successful.

Glancing at the sixty Extraordinary growth-rates, Nie Tai was sure that there would be at least two successful refinements. One for her brother, one for Du Ze. If there was a third, then it would go to Lu Piao. Feeling hands on her shoulders, Nie Tai looked at Nie Li, who was bubbling with anticipation. Not needing to say any words, she smiled and nodded. Taking a deep breath, Nie Li calmed and grabbed ten Extraordinary growth-rates. Without further ado, he tossed them in the pot and the refinement begin.

Blocking out the world around her, Nie Tai sunk her consciousness into the Nightmare Demon Pot. She was determined to have as minimal losses as possible. Not sure on how much time past, Nie Tai watched with annoyance as the refinement failed. Growling, she took a deep breath and grabbed ten more before Nie Li could; however, the next failed. The third try, however, was a resounding success and a new demon-spirit was formed!

With a large smile on her face, Nie Tai grabbed the newly formed demon-spirit and studied it closely. It was an Abyss Tiger but was different than the average one. Noting the metallic luster, sharp horns, and dangerous spikes, Nie Tai concluded that it must have absorbed the strongest characteristics that it could in order to grow. She tossed it to Nie Li, who caught it readily, and grabbed the next ten demon-spirits. It was another success!

The demon-spirit was a Scarlet Demonic Leopard; however, it was also unique as it was covered in scales and had large, impressive wings. Nie Li grabbed ten of the twenty remaining demon-spirits and tossed them in. Sadly, it was a failure. Grimacing, Nie Li grabbed the last ten and tossed them in. Slowly, the twins watched as the ten merged. It was a success!

Nie Li rapidly lifted the demon-spirit out of the pot and studied it. Nie Tai was amazed to discover that the demon-spirit was a Fanged Panda! Fanged Pandas weren't a strong demon-beast and were extremely docile; as such, there were very few who were willing to merge with the species. Nie Tai leaned forward and closely scrutinized the demon-spirit. It didn't appear any different; there were no obvious mutations with it like the Scarlet Demonic Leopard and the Abyss Tiger. Nie Tai concluded that, somehow, the Fanged Panda was already in its strongest physical form; perhaps its techniques were what was mutated.

Seeing Nie Li pocket the Fanged Panda, Nie Tai said, "Now we need to make mine."

"Are you sure that you don't want a Fighter-Type?" Whined Nie Li, wanting to discover the Fanged Panda abilities.

"Yes. Now that we've gotten some practice, we'll be able to succeed much faster this time," replied Nie Tai. She commented on what she learned and offered a few theories to stabilize the process. Nie Li nodded and made a few tweaks.

Grabbing all of the Hallucinatory-types from her interspatial ring, Nie Tai set them down and grabbed the first ten. Smiling at her brother, she excitedly said, "Now, let's get started."

❦❦❦

Nie Tai released an excited breathe as the last Extraordinary growth-rate emerged from the pot. Looking at the thirty-two others, Nie Li calmly stated, "Time to use that luck you were so famous for, All Seeing Assassin."

"That wasn't luck! It was skill," replied Nie Tai without missing a beat. She grabbed the first ten; a flash of white caught her eye as she tossed them in. Shrugging it off, she started the refinement and carefully guided the ten demon-spirits together. Her soul force was speeding up the rotation by acting as a rudder. Nie Li used his soul force to create a tightening sphere around the ten demon-spirits, acting as a container. Using this method, there was an increase of success by a minimum of ten percent.

Slowly, the demon-spirits crept closer and closer together. With a crash, a large amount of mist erupted from the Nightmare Demon Pot, thick with the aura of a powerful demon-spirit. With a shaky hand, Nie Tai pulled out the successful demon-spirit. It was a Portent Pearled Peahen. Raising her brow at the creature, she recalled what she knew of it. Portent Pearled Peahens were white, female peacocks. They were relatively rare and seen as harbingers of goodness and hope if seen at night; however, they were seen as harbingers of despair and ruin if seen during the day. Not many merged with them because they were either too superstitious or couldn't find one. Looking outside, Nie Tai noticed the moon and stars shining brightly. Moving her attention back towards the creature, Nie Tai put the rest of the demon-spirits in her interspatial ring.

"This is a good omen. Isn't, Brother?" Asked Nie Tai with a large, proud smile. Her gaze turned to Nie Li.

Raising the Fanged Panda, Nie Li toasted his sister and agreed with a matching grin, "How could it be anything else, Sister?"

Fixating on the Portent Pearled Peahen in her hand, Nie Tai extended her soul force to surround the demon-spirit. Once that was done, she drew it into her soul realm. Upon it entering, the Shadow Devil seemed to glare at the newcomer. The Portent Pearled Peahen, however, ignored it and was wrapped in layers upon layers of soul force, creating a permanent bubble as the home for the demon-spirit. When this was finished, Nie Tai felt her soul surge with strength; her soul realm immediately increased in size while her soul force became thicker and more abundant. After a while, the Shadow Devil stopped glaring at the Portent Pearled Peahen and seemed to accept its presence. Nie Tai studied her new demon-spirit's abilities. As she opened her eyes, they lit up in excitement for this demon-spirit was truly spectacular!