The Celestial Phoenix Has Too Much Lust-Chapter 34: The Strange Notebook
The day came to an end at 2:00 AM for Morse, who stood in the center of the workshop, surrounded by every printer and craftsman in a massive circle.
In Morse’s hand was a thick, heavy magazine. The air was thick with anticipation as everyone fixed their eyes on it. In a sudden, explosive movement, Morse hoisted the magazine high above his head, like a captain lifting the World Cup trophy.
"YEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!"
Morse and the entire crowd leaped into the air simultaneously. Morse shook the magazine wildly, his shoulders moving in a frenzied dance. From behind, one of the men hoisted him onto his shoulders, and the celebrations erupted in every corner of the workshop.
The men grabbed the old editions—the ones that brought shame to the Xuan family—and hurled them into the center of the floor, tossing a torch onto the pile.
As the flames roared to life, consumed by the scandalous past, the men began to jump and dance around the bonfire like a primitive tribe worshipping the fire .
Morse slid down from the man’s shoulders, cleared a space on the floor, and began to spin and breakdance as if it were the last night of his life. The cheers and shouts of joy shook the very foundation of the building, echoing long past midnight.
Everyone stared at the new magazine with a sense of religious awe. They were certain: once this magazine hit the streets, the girls within its pages would soon be worshipped as goddesses.
From a distance, a group of five men sat at a round table, isolated from the chaotic celebration around them. Each one held the new magazine with a grip that bordered on reverence.
one man’s hands trembled as he stared at the pages.
He began to recite a character’s lines, his voice shaking as if he were reading holy scripture.
"I have been with many men of all colors and kinds... yet, I have never found a rocket more magnificent than yours..."
He chanted the words with profound solemnity. Tears began to stream down his face, a silent sob racking his chest. Around him, the other four men began to weep in unison, their heads bowed in supplication. It was as if they had just discovered their original sin: the failure to worship this woman from the very beginning.
"All rockets... every single one... is but a spark compared to yours," he continued, his voice cracking.
The room drowned in a waterfall of sorrow and divine realization. But then, they reached the climax of the scene. The Hero of the story spoke:
"Lady Empress of the Stars... I am sorry, but there is no place for you in my harem."
The moment those words were read, the atmosphere shifted from grief to absolute outrage. The men exploded in fury, their eyes burning with a hatred reserved for traitors.
To them, the Hero wasn’t just a character anymore—he was Judas, the ultimate betrayer. They began to howl, cursing his name with every insult known to man for rejecting a goddess.
The celebrations had only just begun to wind down, ending with everyone collapsed across the workshop floor, surrendered to a deep, drunken slumber.
The Phoenix stirred. She awoke, brushing the stray hairs clinging to her forehead, and scanned the room. Men were strewn everywhere like discarded rags. As she attempted to stand, she realized something was pinning her down.
She glanced to her side. Morse was there, clinging to her like a small child seeking warmth. Noticing the chill in his breath, Ni Ni Layan released a faint, harmless flicker of celestial flame to keep him warm.
She hoisted him onto her shoulder, as she always did, and turned to leave. But then, something caught her eye amidst the massive heap of charred books and smoldering magazines.
The pile was enormous, and she had to use her power to disperse the lingering thick smoke.
There, lying within the ashes, was a notebook with Morse’s name inscribed on it.
It hadn’t been entirely consumed by the flames. Driven by a sudden surge of curiosity, she wondered why Morse would toss his own journals into the fire. She reached out and snatched the notebook from the embers.
As she held it, her eyes widened. On the very first page, partially spared from the fire, was a title:
’Nights of the Celestial Phoenix’s Lust.’
She blinked in confusion. Beneath the title, a single word was clearly written.. Novel.
Before the char reached the rest of the text, she managed to read the description: "The Celestial Phoenix... former Lord of the Demonic Sect, Sovereign of the Upper World, and the Child of the Fire Phoenix Prophecy."
Those were her titles—secrets buried in the deepest reaches of her past. She activated a Heaven-grade spiritual technique to determine the age of the ink. This technique was infallible. The result? The writing was over a month old.
He had written this before they ever met.
How? How could he possibly know? When Ni Ni Layan first encountered Morse and realized he knew her identity, she had been disoriented.
To make sense of it, she had convinced herself he was a resurrected servant from her past life and hadn’t questioned it further. She had accepted him as the Morse of the present, regardless of who he once was.
But now, she could almost swear that not a single one of her former servants knew that specific title: Child of the Fire Phoenix Prophecy. Not even her masters, nor anyone she had ever known, held that secret. Only she knew it.
"This is impossible..." she whispered, her gaze shifting to the sleeping man on her shoulder.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Her fury ignited. A cold sense of betrayal washed over her—she felt as though she had been played from the very start. She had no choice but to keep reading, but the text was fragmented, and her current weakened state prevented her from restoring the scorched pages to their original form.
For a fleeting moment, she felt used.
But then, she paused.
"Wait... I’m actually the one using him," she muttered to herself.
It was true. She was the one exploiting him to regain her strength. But what was his angle? If he knew her this deeply, why did he act the way he did? The riddles surrounding him were becoming maddeningly complex. And the most frustrating part of all? The word: Novel.
What did he mean by "Novel"?
And then there was that trashy, scandalous title: ’Nights of the Celestial Phoenix’s Lust.’ It was clearly the title of a smut book.
She strained her eyes to decipher the remaining blurred words. Only one sentence remained crystal clear:
"The world is doomed... and humanity will perish because every man on Earth is going to die."
It seemed nonsensical, a fever dream of a madman. But then, a memory flickered in her mind—Morse’s vague words when she had asked him how he knew about the assassin, Xing Xi.
"I know him from the novel," he had said with that annoying smirk. "Want to know something else? Its rating is ’R’."
It started becoming more annoying as she considered a rather troubling possibility.
Yet, when she thought more about it, she realized that Morse didn’t want to hurt her, despite his strange behavior. He was a good person, and she truly trusted him.
Although she hadn’t trusted many in her life, he was one of the few; as a Phoenix, she only granted her trust to those who deserved it.
However, she began to fear him.
"What if he has been acting this entire time, pretending he doesn’t want to have sex with me just so I would lower my guard, and then he starts absorbing my energy?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
This thought began to sear her mind. What if he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, wanting to drain her power?
"What a perfect plan... I nearly fell for your act."
Even though it felt completely wrong, she had no other logical explanations.
Ni Ni Layan left the printing press and flew back to their hotel room, leaving Morse asleep. As she looked at his sleeping form, she made a decision.
She decided to head to his family and seek out one of the elders to question them about Morse’s past, as she realized she still knew very little about him.
Given that she was now in the early stage of the Golden Core Realm, no one could stop her—except perhaps the head of the secret unit that reported to Morse.
She gathered her strength and swiftly vanished from the room.
Two hours after her departure, Morse was awakened by a notification from the System:
[System level upgraded successfully after the payment of 2,000 Dual Cultivation Points.]
{Features Unlocked: Consciousness raised to Human-level intelligence. The Store has been upgraded to include items from the Transcendence Level.}
{The Gacha Draw slot has been unlocked. You can draw a Silver Ticket for 100 points, which includes items up to the Earth Grade. A Golden Ticket costs 1,000 points, with a 1% chance for a Heaven Grade item.}
