The Celestial Phoenix Has Too Much Lust-Chapter 42: I Don’t Want to Become an Artifact

At that time, Morse’s friend, Chen Ming, had already left and returned to his unit under the night sky. Morse was now wondering if Ni Ni Layan was alright.

The calculations in the Department of Tech-no-logy were immense; he needed far more materials than just the robots he had purchased for the volunteers to study.

He wasn’t a scientist or a robotics inventor by trade; he was merely trying to forge an alternative path.

He had discovered far too late that he needed so much...

vast amounts of raw materials, purified iron for gears, engineering blueprints for power cores, and a mountain of physics knowledge.

Although he tried to use whatever he could remember from his high school education on Earth, he realized it was just bullsh*t.

People would surely flee after seeing those incredibly thick physics textbooks. The project was simply expensive, exhausting, and yielded no results in the short term.

Even in the long term, people would be riddled with doubt if there were no satisfying results. Even he couldn’t memorize physics books.

It was simply a curse.

He estimated that he needed—after intensive calculations—exactly:

"Five hundred thousand gold taels..."

He placed his hand on his forehead, wiping away the sweat. This was a sum beyond all measures.

"Haymeen... come here."

A girl entered Morse’s room. She looked presentable, wearing clean clothes. Morse organized all the papers, placed them in an envelope, and stood up. He placed the thick envelope in her hand.

"Deliver this envelope to Elder Li Chi. Tell him this is the budget required for the Department of Tech-no-logy."

Haymeen took the envelope and bowed. "Sir, I hear and obey."

She bowed lightly, walked away in her high heels, and left the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

Morse sat at his d0esk, scratching ink onto paper while looking at his reflection in the cold tea water; he had forgotten it there for a while. He seemed to be feeling extreme anxiety and tension.

It was as if his body began to convulse as something drifted away.

"System, what is this?"

His fingers were moving and shaking, slick with sweat.

{It is quite simple... the Origin Yang meridians of the Master are essentially raging and unstable in nature. They require the presence of the other Host to calm this effect.}

"What are you saying? Will it get worse?"

{I will not lie to you. The symptoms start like this. Afterward, the body begins to erode from the Primordial Yang energy. Then, the Master’s lust increases until no one can stop it. From there, the Master will begin searching for any Yin energy to soothe himself.}

"What is this? Why am I only knowing this now? Will I die in the end?"

{No, sir, it will not lead to death.}

"That’s a bit reassuring..."

{The Master will simply turn into a Yang element artifact, and someone else can absorb your meridians .}

Morse stood up from his chair and decided to head out at this late hour. Why?

Heh.

Of course, to sleep next to Ni Ni Layan on the same bed in the medical wing.

"Fine, in the end, I’ll use protecting her as an excuse."

He did not want to turn into an artifact.

At that time... regarding Ni Ni Layan, who had just stepped out under everyone’s gazes... she reached the palace gates while walking to head outside, away from the palace.

Suddenly, seven people appeared before her without warning.

This immediately put her on high alert for combat; she raised her fiery sword and summoned the fire sprites around her.

"Pardon me, My Lady... as you can see, we have come in peace. There is no need to use weapons."

But it seemed she had not let down her guard yet, and her aura continued to rise.

"Get out of my way..."

"Fine, no problem, I will move aside. But these are a few gifts from Elder Byeong. You saved this place from destruction, My Lady; we must not be ungrateful."

Ni Ni Layan glanced out of the corner of her eye at the gifts he was speaking of. They were a group of items of the Earth Grade and below. There was nothing truly special. To tempt a Phoenix, there must at least be a piece of the Sovereign Grade, not Earth—this was highly insulting.

"I do not need them. Take your things with you. Turn back now."

The man’s expression never broke.

"I know My Lady is tired and not in a good mood. But if My Lady does not want them, she must first tell the Elder that herself. Otherwise, I will be harmed under the accusation of theft."

The fiery aura grew more terrifying, and Ling began to feel nervous from this harsh pressure.

"Fine, it is merely a gesture of thanks. The Elder only wishes to thank you. Nothing else; you can leave afterward as you wish. Also, Mr. Morse is somewhere and will return to the Elder’s house to receive the medical reports about My Lady."

Ni Ni Layan’s aura dimmed, and her caution partially vanished.

"Morse... where is he? Make him come, and I will go with you."

The man swallowed his saliva.

"As I told you, he is somewhere and will return immediately. Instead of standing here and waiting for him, which would be bad, I only ask My Lady to return with us... just until Mr. Morse returns."

"Do you know the punishment for lying to this Lady?"

"I do not need to, My Lady, because I am one hundred percent sincere..."

"We shall see."

On the other side, Elder Byeong was in his house. He was sitting with a snail in his hand that transmitted sounds from Ling Niang. He listened to her conversation with Ling Niang and smiled.

"What an efficient subordinate you are... Good, good."

The Elder put away the snail shell that was in his hand and placed it in his cabinet. Then he turned and began to prepare the tea with his own hands.

The water was boiling in a specially designed golden kettle; the mature green tea leaves swirled around themselves in the clear water. He was skillfully controlling the level of the flames in his hand with his eyes closed.

The clear color of the water began to turn murky, and the steam rose upward while he sighed.

Elder Byeong was once one of the refugees fleeing the sectarian wars in the harsh Northern Wilderness. He managed to seek asylum in the Heaven Refining Empire.

At that time, it was discovered that he possessed a spiritual talent higher than ordinary refugees; he was chosen from among millions.

He then moved away from his parents and became a young disciple in the Xuan family. Over five hundred years, he managed to become the most influential member of the clan.

However, he was still far from achieving his ambitions. Although he was on the verge of retirement, he still dreamed of something greater.

This girl had angered powers much greater than her, but cultivating this talent was worth the trouble. He thought only of what he would gain from her and her power...

even he wasn’t certain of his ability to defeat her.

On the other side, Morse’s face was dripping with sweat as he headed toward the medical wing. He accelerated; he felt his body secreting too much fluid. His fingers were cramping more and more violently.

"This is unbearable..."

He reached the main palace at maximum speed. The front gate of the palace courtyard was open. He entered and, in the blink of an eye, burst through the inner gate.

The servants stared at the fast shadow that passed them, ascended to the second floor, and rushed down the corridor leading to the treatment wing.

On his way, he collided with someone who fell to the ground, while another person appeared behind, striking the first and pinning him to the wall.

It was Ji Tuan beating Beiming, and when Wu Tian tried to intervene, he was struck too. Beiming tried to flee while Wu Tian was being beaten behind him. Beiming was now in extreme pain.

Morse looked; he knew them—they were the guards of the medical wing.

They were fighting. Morse didn’t want to pay them any attention, but he noticed that Ji Tuan, who was one of Byeong’s followers, was beating these two for no reason.

When Ji Tuan noticed Morse’s presence: "Hah... Elder Morse... I am sorry to disturb you. I was teaching these scoundrels a lesson."

Morse sent his investigative aura into the room to search for Ni Ni Layan’s aura because he suspected something. But he didn’t find it. He cut through the air, appearing instantly in the room only to find the quilts pulled back; she wasn’t there.

Doubt pierced his heart... and his symptoms worsened. Could they have taken her from here? Could they be coveting her techniques? Or had the people she fought kidnapped her? It was bad in every scenario.

"Ni Ni... Damn it!"

He went outside immediately and, with a swift move, lifted Ji Tuan by his neck, the Yang aura leaking from his body.

"Where is she?!"

Morse’s nerves were burning to the point that he couldn’t negotiate or ask normally. Ji Tuan felt as if his soul was being drained and his body burned from the inside.

"Wait... I don’t know... she left!"

His grip on Ji Tuan’s neck tightened. "How do you not know? Tell me NOW!"

Morse threw Ji Tuan against the wall; the wall shattered around the shape of his body as he collapsed to the ground, helpless and weak. The scorching Yang energy in every cell of Morse’s body had become unstable.

"Please, Elder... she left... I don’t know..."

Ni Ni Layan knew no one here; she didn’t know the places or the paths.

Could she have gone back to his old room? Morse walked rapidly, dragging Ji Tuan with him...

He was almost certain she was heading to Byeong, but he simply didn’t want to confirm it yet so he wouldn’t go to them in this state. He had to start the search now.