Martial King's Retired Life

Book 15: Chapter 104

Although he was born into the wealthiest family in the world and had a universally-adored father, that was a long time ago. He was a blank sheet of paper stuck on a battlefield of unfulfillable ambitions, yet he failed to learn their unscrupulous ways and greed despite how many years he lived with them. In that regard, he was abnormally abnormal. He naively believed all the crooked lies he was fed. Even when he was unable to move and on the verge of losing himself, he still believed there’d be a reunion.

As he questioned where his father was, where he was, what time it was, and even his own identity, his mind was being subjected to destruction. He could feel an indiscriminate urge to wreak havoc taking over him, rousing a sense of joy in losing control. Notwithstanding his tattered consciousness, he was able to catch a glimpse of a vast primordial world.

The flames on the ground reached the firmament. Huge luans shook the landscape with their cries. Everything he possessed broke, floated, fell and regenerated… Every single time things reassembled, he felt he experienced death once more. He fought to survive for the reason that he didn’t want to die as a monster. He was human… just like every everyone else…. If he died, too, who would live to tell the truth.

Everything he possessed broke, floated, fell and regenerated… He was no match for the primordial beast. Every single time things reassembled, he felt he experienced death once more. He suspected every cycle would be his last, but he managed to survive another round. The destructive sentiment had intensified to the point that he felt his own mind breaking, but he was still there, and he still insisted he wasn’t a monster.

“Argh!” As he shouted, he felt fresh air enter his lungs. Instead of feeling stabbing pains, though, he felt revitalised. The assortment of smells stimulating his olfactory system confused him even further. He felt awfully thirsty again, except without the mental stress. He had no clue how many times he’d been subjected to the nausea from pain, but he could tell it was different this time. The thirst he experienced this time was a human desire to drink water. He wanted water, not blood.

Upon opening his eyes, he laid them upon a huge cloth platform, many pieces of flesh that had just been lopped off… and someone… It was too much for him to process at once, requiring him to spend a while to confirm he wasn’t dreaming.

Feng Qizhi felt he was a step away from a mental breakdown in the primordial world; every time the qingluan blood arrow was plunged into him, he truly did nearly cross to the other side. Fortunately, he managed to endure the madness that almost overruled him.

Now that Feng Qizhi felt normal sensations again, the accumulated pain would’ve had knocked him out if he didn’t feel a calm and cool sensation seep into his body from his forehead. Whilst keeping a finger on Feng Qizhi’s forehead to siphon energy, Ming Feizhen kept adding items to the table from beside Feng Qizhi.

Smelling blood, Feng Qizhi uttered, “… I…”

“Don’t talk.”
Feng Qizhi stopped moving on the cloth platform and shut his mouth as he was told. It took a while later for him to come to terms with the fact that he – Feng Qizhi, not the monster – survived. He kept his mouth shut, but he couldn’t stop surveying the surroundings with his eyes that weren’t given instructions.

What Feng Qizhi thought was a big cloth platform was actually four tables pushed together and then covered with a black cloth. That was the reason he felt he was lying on an uneven surface. All around them were overdone chunks of meat. It was impossible to tell where the chunks came from or what body part they originally belonged to since the shapes didn’t resemble human flesh. Someone else might’ve been disgusted, but Feng Qizhi was curious. Had it not been for his painful neck and the risk of being reproached, he would’ve taken a closer look. He noticed he was severely swollen and had innumerable wounds. Thankfully, his open wounds had been closed. He had no clue what was applied to the wounds, but the thin layer of whatever it was kept the wound cool and somewhat numb. He wasn’t able to see his full body. Nonetheless, he confirmed one thing: he had restored his original appearance.

“Of course you’re back to your original body. You think it’s easy to mutate bones? I’d like to see you find a way to transform your body that much in two weeks when it takes others over a decade of training.” Ming Feizhen threw away his thin gloves and then heaved a big breath. “That being said, a failure to mutate brings with it its own complications. Your body isn’t prepared for the transformation. You weren’t prepared from childhood, and you weren’t provided with any specific training for it. You were fated to be a broken toy waiting to be discarded at the end. Put bluntly, you were screwed. Luckily for you, your determination is tougher than crap stuck to a toilet.”

Feng Qizhi started to comprehend what was being conveyed, giving rise to unbelievable joy since he thought he was doomed.

“Don’t celebrate just yet. To put it optimistically, your body is full of holes. Putting it frankly, it’d be reaching to say that you’re as useful as a die. Were it not for the incredible healing properties of the phoenix blood, you’d be more worthless than a piece of rag, and burying you in the garden would be considered polluting the garden. Since you inherited the phoenix blood, there’s no means of expelling it. All that can be excreted is the qingluan blood and toxic qi that was triggered. There’s a real risk of the mutation reactivating again. Remember…”

Feng Qizhi didn’t listen despite knowing what he was told was important. He just silently stared at Ming Feizhen whilst wondering why Ming Feizhen saved him when he tried to kill Ming Feizhen. He was unaware Ming Feizhen was an adept physician. Through his dry lips, he uttered, “So…rry…”

“Hmm?” Ming Feizhen hiked up a brow. “Sorry? Oh, right. If apologising was effective, constables would be out of a job. You’ve committed numerous crimes. It’d cost you a handsome sum in court. I have an idea, though. Pawn me your sword as interest. Take care of yourself. I’ll be needing you in the future. Don’t drop dead on me until then.”

Feng Qizhi peacefully shut his eyes. Those instructions were clear directions for him. He was the type to do whatever came to mind. Repaying an act of kindness was fair.

“By the way, didn’t I tell you not to speak? You have some nerve.”

Ming Feizhen rammed his fist into Feng Qizhi’s face. Feng Qizhi rotated his head to the side and cried. He finally realised that he was too naïve; it was going to be far harder than he imagined to serve at Ming Feizhen’s side and repay the favour.

***

“Qizhi?”

Four hours ago, Ming Feizhen wanted to flatten Feng Jiutian’s face more than he ever wanted to flatten Feng Qizhi’s face. In Feng Jiutian’s defence, virtually anyone would’ve reacted the same way if they heard Ming Feizhen’s suggestion.

While it was an undeniable fact that Feng Jiutian used Feng Qizhi, it didn’t mean that he wanted his cousin to die. He had every intent to save his cousin if it was within his power, which was why he tried everything he could to capture Bu Xusan. The problem was that all his plans to save Feng Qizhi were predicated on being able to capture Bu Xusan, whom was still untraceable. There was no reason for Ming Feizhen to care for Feng Qizhi’s wellbeing, though.

Ming Feizhen, gaze on Feng Qizhi’s thumping chest, said, “The fact that he hasn’t lost his form after using the phoenix roar indicates that he still has something he hasn’t set down. He’s exhausted virtually all of the toxic qi in him. His body is unable to withstand the challenging transformation, but the excessive stimulation from the qingluan’s blood to the phoenix blood is preventing him from reverting to his original shape.”

Instead of explaining his reason for saving Feng Qizhi, Ming Feizhen started cutting up Feng Qizhi. “The only way to save him is to store the amplified phoenix blood in a vessel.” Ming Feizhen suddenly turned back to Feng Jiutian, giving the latter a scare. “Brother Shanshan, you can’t compensate me with just some information. I can’t consider you a friend unless I see you turn over a new leaf.”

Feng Jiutian held his hands up in salute. “You make a good point. What is it that I can do for you?”

“Simple.” Ming Feizhen pointed to Feng Jiutian. “Save him.”

Considering what Feng Jiutian did to his cousin, anyone would’ve needed insurance before working with him.

“But Nirvana’s bloodmarrow hasn’t…”

“It’s unnecessary. It’s already too late to use it, anyway. What makes you think increasing the stimulus that has already exceeded his threshold would help him? Nirvana’s bloodmarrow can support his bones so that he can become a truly mutated individual, but it can’t save him in his current state.”

“Doesn’t that mean…” Feng Jiutian grasped what was implied before he finished.

“The typical method won’t work. As I said, his amplified phoenix blood needs to be restored to homeostasis and a vessel. If there’s a vessel that can take the burden of half of the blood or more, I can separate the qingluan blood from the phoenix blood, which will reverse his transformation.”

“That’s it?”

“You wish. His body has grown an incredible amount; even if the transformation is reversed, it’s impossible to return him exactly to how he was. The excess flesh needs to be cut off whilst his body is reverting, or he’ll die. Needless to say, if he loses the mental battle partway through, the violent sentience will take over, and he’ll die, too.”

Feng Jiutian couldn’t believe his ears. He had never heard of that possibility, but it sounded as though they’d need several imperial surgeons for the operation. How many trustworthy doctors were around for them to save Feng Qizhi in his monstrous form, not to mention summoning all the doctors at once.

“Didn’t I say he’s hanging on by a thread and could die any moment? Are you planning to take your time assembling the team to save a dead man? I can handle it just fine on my own.”

“On… your own?”

“Are you stupid, or are you feigning stupid?” Ming Feizhen gave Feng Jiutian a glare that frightened the latter. “Exchange half of your life with him. This is your last chance.”

“Exchange?” It took a moment for Feng Jiutian to understand. “I’m… the vessel?”

“Who else? Your cousin’s phoenix blood is roiling, but it’s only a matter of time before he dies without sufficient toxic qi and a body to utilise it. The only solution is to transport the blood into another living organism to transfer the violent sentience, thereby reducing the burden on him. The new host, however, needs to have a close blood relationship with the original host. Feng Qizhi will lose a lot of blood for the procedure. Shouldn’t you offer some of your blood if you’re cousins?”

Nobody understood the impact of toxic qi on the human better than Mount Daluo’s members. Even Sky Realm Palace would agree with that. No matter if it was the records from the Mystical Era, the people who protected the records, or the people who wanted to make use of the knowledge for their own gains, nobody would argue with Mount Daluo’s authority on the topic. Mount Daluo was home to the source of all menacing, toxic qi, or the sect wouldn’t have existed.

Even if one was to ignore the fact that Mount Daluo had two different beasts of different eras and birth rates to study, the miasma that carried the toxic qi at the rear mountain mutated the various beast races, which provided them with plenty of research subjects over a millennium. Had it not been for that knowledge, Ming Feizhen might not have survived as a child. For these reasons, Mount Daluo never had a shortage of subjects to examine for the influence of mutations despite never conducting human experiments. Of course, Ming Feizhen furthered their research when he became a victim, as well. By extension, Ming Feizhen was one of the top authorities on toxic qi considering he had been its victim and learnt to control it.

“The toxin has already spread too deeply, so it’s impossible to restore his original appearance. This is the only option.”

Feng Jiutian flapped his eyelids, then looked around. “Here?”

“What? Shy?”

“But… You don’t even have a medical kit on you…”

“Why is a medical kit necessary when I’m here?”

Only once he was set on a table with Feng Qizhi did Feng Jiutian start feeling it was really going to happen. “Wait! Aren’t you going to use any anaesthetics?!”

“Anaesthetics?” Ming Feizhen laughed heartily. “Of course I will. I promise you won’t remember a thing.”

By the time Feng Jiutian regained consciousness, Ming Feizhen was 90% done with the blood exchange process. Feng Jiutian couldn’t move, but he didn’t feel odd in any manner. He didn’t have the foggiest idea how Ming Feizhen was able to complete the blood exchange solely through a thin silk thread that connected him to Feng Qizhi. With that said, he was able to view Ming Feizhen proficiently slicing off Feng Qizhi’s excess flesh whilst freezing the flesh or staunching bleeding. Not once did blood spray from Feng Qizhi’s wounds. Ming Feizhen only needed to move his five fingers to revert Feng Qizhi back to normal.

“You’re up?” queried Ming Feizhen, still working at a lightning pace.

“… That vial… what was…” Feng Jiutian couldn’t remember anything after Ming Feizhen taking out a pill and feeding it to him.

“Anaesthetic.” Ming Feizhen smirked. “I still have plenty if you want to snack on them.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

Feng Jiutian thought it was a blessing to not remember the taste and scent of the so-called anaesthetic.

As he watched Feng Qizhi gradually revert back to normal, it dawned on Feng Jiutian that they shared the same blood. Well, technically, he should’ve housed more phoenix blood considering Ming Feizhen said they needed to reduce Feng Qizhi’s phoenix blood to less than 50%. “So, right now, I also have…”

“… What do you think?” Methodically taking care of Feng Qizhi’s wounds, Ming Feizhen continued, “Mutations are a tough beast to tackle. There’s a price to be paid. Break a leg.”

Feng Jiutian didn’t know how to feel. After all, he racked his brains to use Feng Qizhi, only to end up in the same predicament. He wasn’t bitter about it; to the contrary, he felt relieved. Perhaps a part of him didn’t want to use people in the first place. Perhaps suffering was what he truly sought from the beginning.

“Is your clan’s current generation the only one that knows this mutation method?”

“According to my knowledge, only one generation knows, at least I’ve never heard anything else besides Qizhi’s father. Since you don’t think highly of our method, wouldn’t it make sense of us to only be one generation in?”

“True. Don’t you have any records?”

“We do… Are you implying that I need the knowledge to survive in the future?”

“No, I’m trying to pry information out of you.” Ming Feizhen used his free hand to place a glass bottle on the table.

Staring at the green liquid inside the bottle, “Feng Jiutian asked, “This is…”

“Are you blind? It’s extremely valuable. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to force the toxic qi into the blood in the bottle? You want me to give you some or something? It’s a combination of qingluan blood and phoenix blood I drew. The both of you only have 30% of your original volume.”

“You… can do this…?”

“I didn’t come up with the method.” Sounding lonely, Ming Feizhen uttered, “Geniuses do exist.”

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Martial King’s Retired Life (Manhua) – 99March 13, 2020In ”Martial Kingʼs Retired Life”

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Martial King’s Retired Life (Manhua) – 003December 28, 2018In ”Martial Kingʼs Retired Life”