Phoniex Requiem
Chapter 64: The Human Furnace

Chapter 64: The Human Furnace

Inside the bracelet, Qiuqiu had already closed his eyes, expecting the worst. As far as one could remember, there was nothing that could stop Li Mo from killing someone once he set his heart. Qiuqiu's attempt to wake Yun Ruoyan up would not work.

After all, dying in his sleep would definitely be better than waking up and facing his death head-on. The best thing that could be done for Yun Ruoyan was to remain silent.

But just as Li Mo's sharp nails were about to pierce through Yun Ruoyan's heart, his hands suddenly stopped moving. His gaze was absorbed by the strands of wooden beads on his wrist, which he gave to him as compensation during the day.

The wooden beads glowed with a dim red light.

Li Mo raised his eyebrows, his ice-cold blue eyes sparkling. His father, the Beast King, gave him the bead for his sixth birthday. At that moment, he was unable to identify anything unusual about the bead, and only when his father described the gift did he begin to realize how valuable the treasure was. The beads were made of thousands of years old red wood, and inside each bead there was a core piece within the mythical fire qilin .

Such a core had an overwhelming affinity towards fire, as well as the spiritual energy of the fire aspect that was so powerful that even his father had trouble absorbing it completely. This was why the core was instead split into pieces and sealed by ancient wood.

The Beast King had told his son that, although no one could absorb and claim this energy as their own, wearing beads would naturally increase one's affinity towards fire. For a would-be pillmaster like Yun Ruoyan or even Li Mo himself, this was undoubtedly an invaluable gift.

Li Mo never took it off after her father dressed her for her at the age of six.

During the day, he gave her the beads for a while because she had nothing left, and planned to take them back at night.

What he did not expect was that the beads, which had been completely inert in the decades since he wore them, began to emit a faint pulse of spiritual energy on Yun Ruoyan's wrist.

What was so special about this ugly girl, that it could make the beads react like that?

His sudden curiosity held back his killing intent, and he took off his hood as he leaned over and observed Yun Ruoyan by his bedside.

The only illumination in the darkness came from the beads, glowing a dim red. It made Li Mo's thin face become a tinge of red and gave Yun Ruoyan a delicate sense of beauty, her half-beautiful, half-ugly face appeared before her cool blue eyes.

Li Mo slowly closed his eyes as he relaxed, taking a deep breath near Yun Ruoyan. He looked very happy, as if he smelled something extraordinary.

That smells!

The first time Li Mo saw Yun Ruoyan, he was attracted by the strange smell coming from her body. It made him try, uncontrollably, to get closer to her.

When they once again met each other in the forest in the mountains, the same thing happened. This is how they ended up sharing two kisses.

Li Mo himself was a little stunned by his actions, since when had he been so thirsty for women?

So here's why!

An unusual fragrance, capable of making the core of a mythical beast radiate spiritual energy. Could this ugly girl from the Yun family be a legendary human furnace, said to appear more than once in a millennium ?!

It's worth it that even poison isn't enough to kill you! Li Mo could not help but think. Even with his experience and cultivation, he would have a hard time dealing with the poison. The body of an ordinary person would rot, whereas Yun Ruoyan's beauty was only stained, her cultivation was restricted!

Lin Yuemei's corpse was nothing more than a lump of rotten meat, so rebellious that the Yun family had to hasten its burial before the rumors began to spread.

Yun Ruoyan's unique constitution provided significant resistance to poison, and this had saved her life. Even so, his face had been shattered and his cultivation was hindered.

'Four man' is a rather derogatory term for a certain kind of unique constitution. Not only were human furnaces blessed with an incredible talent for cultivating, they could even pass through bottlenecks that completely bothered ordinary cultivators.

For ordinary cultivators, cultivating beside such a human furnace would speed up the rate of planting and reduce the effects of congestion.

Li Mo himself was stuck in a bottleneck on his way to becoming a sword saint, and having a human furnace nearby would basically double his chances of breaking through.

He smiled, and then frowned once more. Unfortunately, his cultivation was too low to help him a lot. It seemed like he couldn't kill her and instead had to help her grow!

Li Mo sighed as he looked at his raised hand, which almost took Yun Ruoyan's life. He bit one finger hard enough that a drop of blood came out, then rubbed it on the beads on his wrist.

The dim red light slowly disappeared.

Trapped in the pocket dimension of the bracelet, Qiuqiu did not know what had happened, nor Li Mo's mind. Also unaware that Yun Ruoyan was actually the so-called 'human furnace'.

It was just wondering why Li Mo had yet to make a move while wishing earnestly that, somehow, he felt fit to save her.

And when Li Mo applied his own blood to the qilin beads, Qiuqiu's suspicions were confirmed.

"Xun Mo, did you decide not to kill him?" Qiuqiu asked attentively.

"That's right!" His cold voice even became somewhat warm. "I changed my mind. Because you already recognize him as your new employer. I don't want to force your hand.”

Li Mo covered himself once more before suddenly talking to Qiuqiu again. "There are some things that your employer shouldn't know, understand?"

“As long as you don't hurt her anymore, I won't tell her about you,” Qiuqiu asserted. Li Mo was not someone who could make him or Yun Ruoyan easily angry at this moment.

"good. Help him cultivate, and hopefully you can regain your old strength quickly.” He disappeared from the window like a gust of wind.

The qilin beads were on Yun Ruoyan's left wrist along with her silver bracelet. Compared to the intricate bracelet carvings, it looked very ordinary, as if it was nothing more than a cheap children's toy that could easily be found in a market stall.

But at that moment, the seal on the beads had been slightly eroded by Li Mo's beastkin blood, and a large amount of fire-adjusted energy began to seep into Yun Ruoyan's body.

In his sleep, Yun Ruoyan suddenly felt warm all over her body, as if fire lights were dancing all over her body. They flew around him, shining like fireflies.

The next day, Yun Ruoyan woke up with the sun. He felt as if he was sunbathing, taking refuge comfortably in a warm aura.

"Gr ..." Yun Ruoyan got up from her bed and wriggled deeply, muttering to herself, "I should go to bed earlier more often."

“Qiuqiu, you woke up once this morning,” muttered Yun Ruoyan. Normally, if he did not talk to Qiuqiu, he would have fallen asleep for quite a while. Rarely did he get up so early to greet her.

"Mrs, did you notice any changes to your body?" Qiuqiu asked attentively.

"There's change?" Yun Ruoyan lowered her head involuntarily to inspect her body, before rubbing her face. "I feel my body is very warm and comfortable."

Qiuqiu knew about the qilin beads, of course, but it was sleeping when Li Mo handed it to him.

Last night, it was only when Li Mo felt smearing his blood on the beads that he realized that Yun Ruoyan had a strand of beads on her wrist. When he examined the bead closer and discovered that it was a string of beads that the Beast King had given Li Mo, he was greatly shocked.

Qiuqiu did not understand why Li Mo was doing that, but it was predictable. "Madam, try to feel the main element of fire."

Yun Ruoyan's eyes twinkled. If Qiuqiu had told him to do this, would that mean his efforts these past few days had paid off? He immediately sat down cross-legged on the bed and began to meditate.

When he next opened his eyes, they were filled with astonishment.

“Qiuqiu, I can feel it!” He called excitedly.

...****************...

Yun Ruoyan stood in the middle of Lin Zainan's workroom. Lin Zainan and the two Lin sisters both looked at him intently. He had been standing like that for almost two hours, and Lin Qingxue, who had always been impatient, would inevitably turn to look at Lin Qingchen and his grandfather by his side.

“Simplifying spiritual fire is not something that can be done in a matter of hours,” Lin Zainan spoke up. His voice was soft, he was talking to Lin Qingchen and Lin Qingxue, not Yun Ruoyan.

“I think it took at least three years before Ruoyan could feel the fire in her spiritual energy and started trying to condense the fire.” She stroked her white beard as she tried to hide the excitement in her heart. "But in a matter of days, he had already come this far!"

Yun Ruoyan quickly rushed over to Lin to tell her grandfather about her amazing discovery. Surprised and in disbelief, but overjoyed, he immediately gave her a technique to condense spirit flames.

Without a word, Yun Ruoyan started cultivating on the spot.

"You two, remember this well." Lin Zainan turned to her two granddaughters once again. “Cultivation requires not only talent, but also hard work!”

The Lin brothers both nodded.

Meanwhile, Yun Ruoyan had cleared her mind and focused all her attention on her spiritual vortex. It was mostly filled with white mist, but a small patch of red started to appear near the center of the vortex. This was a direct result of him using the technique that Lin Zainan had just given him.

"Ruoyan's sister moved!" Lin Qingxue called out softly, and the three of them stared at her body closer.

As Yun Ruoyan raised her hand and clasped her palms together, strands of red mist began to radiate from her fingers.

"See look! It was spiritual energy that was aligned with fire! Ruoyan managed to get it out of her body!”

Being able to observe others condensing spiritual flames was a rare opportunity, especially if this was their first time doing so.

Lin Qingchen and Lin Qingxue both opened their eyes wide, not wanting to miss even the slightest movement of Yun Ruoyan.

That red fog started to revolve around Yun Ruoyan's palm, becoming increasingly smaller as it spun increasingly faster.

Lin Zainan knew that Yun Ruoyan had reached a tipping point in this technique, and she could not help but worry about it. He gripped his beard tightly as he looked, earnestly praying for his success.

Although Lin Qingchen and Lin Qingxue were unable to identify how important this stage was, they also started to get anxious when they saw the rapidly spinning ball of red spiritual energy in his cupped palm.

"Spiritual fire, spiritual fire!" Lin Qingxue pointed to the spark that appeared above Yun Ruoyan's finger, leaping in excitement.

Engaged! Amidst Lin Qingxue's excited cry, the spark suddenly disappeared.

Yun Ruoyan took a deep breath and opened her eyes, finding herself face to face with three flushed faces. He smiled tiredly. "Grandfather, I still can't do it!"

But Lin Zainan only laughed as she stepped forward, patting Yun Ruoyan on the shoulder. “Ruoyan, you've surprised Grandpa enough. Do you know how long Grandfather gained the same mastery over fire? Four long years!”

Lin Zainan raised four fingers. “And after that, it took Grandfather another full year before Grandfather could condense actual spirit flames, all five years! As for you, it's just..”

Lin Zainan raised all five of her fingers before bending the two down. Incredibly, he muttered, “...only three days?! If the old men in the pill-making world knew of this, their eyeballs would have escaped their sockets!”

"Grandfather, you can't say a word about this!" Yun Ruoyan hurriedly exclaimed.

"Grandfather knows Grandpa knows."

Yun Ruoyan did not want to reveal her outstanding talent and let Yun reap the benefits.

“Ruoyan sister, don't worry. None of us would say a word, "Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen walked to his side and promised, looking at him with idolatry.

"Old master, Miss Yun," Lin Bo's voice sounded from the door. “The servant of the Yun family is here to bring home Miss Yun.”

"What's the problem?" Lin Zainan frowned. “Ruoyan just arrived here a few hours ago. What is so urgent?”

Lin Bo replied from the outside, "According to the servants, the crown prince himself is heading to Yun's house, and everyone should be there to greet him!"

Crown Prince, go to Yun household!

Yun Ruoyan could not help but think of the golden-robed young man who was sitting casually on a stretcher the day he ventured into the imperial hunting grounds.