All things in the world fell into seven great categories: gods and ghosts, demons and anomalies, humans, beasts, feathered creatures, scaled creatures, and insects. "Feathered creatures" covered every kind of bird, whether it could fly or not. Even penguins, which could only swim and could not so much as run, belonged to that category.
Legend held that the phoenix reigned supreme over feathered creatures. Wherever it went, every bird submitted of its own accord. Its status was beyond compare.
But what did a phoenix look like? The Classic of Divine Wonders contained a tribute to the phoenix: "Magnificent is this bird, shaped like a chicken, patterned in five colors, bearing five sacred virtues. Its name is the phoenix." A later commentary explained: "The phoenix is the chief of birds. It is shaped like a chicken but larger, with five-colored plumage and five characters upon its body: virtue on its head, obedience on its wings, righteousness on its back, trust on its belly, and benevolence on its chest. One that lacks the full five colors or all five characters is called a Luan. As the phoenix is emperor of birds, so the Luan is a duke or marquis, one rank below."
Pan Long reckoned that what he had encountered was a Luan Bird.
The bird had characters symbolizing divine wonders on its forehead and wings, but none on its chest or back. It was naturally no phoenix. Yet even a Luan Bird was an extraordinarily powerful Divine Beast, and no easy opponent.
He could not understand why he had encountered a Luan Bird here. A Divine Beast like this should hardly have been stationed inside a treasure trove to guard it. Even if one had been, it should not have appeared in a trial rated only "lesser peril."
...At the very