A Man God Would Envy

Li Mo stared blankly at the face in the mirror.

That face had black hair and black eyes. His eyes were enormous, their pupils as crystalline as obsidian yet as deep as the endless night sky; his nose was straight, his lips like blazing fire, and his features were soft without lacking definition. Between his brows lingered a trace of perfectly measured arrogance.

It was a face without a single flaw. If not for the immense pain earlier leaving his complexion slightly pale, even God would have been jealous of it.

Li Mo slapped himself hard across the face. Smack... The burning pain finally made Li Mo believe that this face truly belonged to him.

"Looks like I really did transmigrate. I'm Qin Mo now, no longer the Li Mo I used to be," Li Mo murmured softly.

A light knock sounded at the door, rousing Qin Mo from his confusion. He turned and opened it, finding four "people" standing outside.

One of them was the old man Lin Bo, whom Qin Mo had just met. The other three, however, looked rather strange. They were all tall... beautiful, the same type as himself. The only difference was their ears—their ears were all pointed... They were... elves.

Had Qin Mo encountered elves the instant he arrived in this world, he surely would have given himself away. But now, having fused with this body's fragments of memory, he had long been mentally prepared.

"Allen, I'm fine." Qin Mo smiled at the elf whose expression was tense. He stepped forward and naturally gave Allen a firm hug.

A helpless expression appeared on Allen's face. Elves disliked overly intimate contact with others, even if Qin Mo was the son of the teacher he respected.

Qin Mo had loved clinging to him since childhood. Though he had lost interest in Allen's pointed ears as he grew older, he still loved hugging people, leaving Allen at a loss.

"Your Highness, shall I heal you?" Xirui, the green-haired elf following behind Allen, asked. He was a green elf, skilled in auxiliary magic, especially healing magic.

Without waiting for Qin Mo's reply, he released a green radiance from both hands, enveloping Qin Mo's entire body. Qin Mo felt a cool vitality swiftly seep into his body. The flesh ravaged by Black Flame rapidly recovered, and even the lingering trace of pain vanished without a trace.

"That's enough, Xirui. I merely made a small mistake while practicing. You've already healed me, so don't waste any more spiritual power."

After the cousins Xirui and Ximan tactfully left, Allen anxiously suggested to Qin Mo, "Young Lord, the Black Flame erupted even earlier this time. Why not sail out with me? If we can find the Fountain of Life, it will naturally relieve the pain plaguing you. If we cannot find it, I'm afraid... you may not live until I return."

The elf Allen did not beat around the bush. He bluntly told Qin Mo that he had reached the most dangerous point, and no one knew whether he could endure the next outbreak.

When Li Mo had first regained consciousness in this world, he felt black flames continuously burning all over his body, as though he had been thrown into a steel furnace. At the same time, the soul deep within his mind was constantly being torn apart. This pain from the depths of his soul made him wonder whether he had arrived in hell or the Demon Abyss.

He felt as if pain would kill him. The agony stirred the hidden savagery in his bones, and he desperately devoured the other soul. That soul had likely been tormented by the black flames for too long and grew weaker and weaker, until it was finally swallowed by Li Mo's soul.

Once he felt that his body was wholly under his control again, all the Black Flame throughout his body suddenly surged toward Li Mo's chest, pouring into a mark there in moments.

After awakening, he briefly sorted through the memories he had absorbed and learned that this body had been discovered to possess the Nirvana Flame Physique since childhood. For all these years, he had endured the torment of Black Flame burning his body. A few days ago, news arrived of the death of Qin Mo's father, Qin Lan, Prince Heng of the Great Xia Empire. Heartbroken beyond measure, he finally could no longer withstand the erosion of the Black Flame, allowing Li Mo to seize the magpie's nest.

More than ten years ago, after Qin Mo's elven mother Luna left alone and vanished without a word, Qin Lan began building a fleet. He sent ships to sea to search for Luna while also seeking holy relics that could resolve the Nirvana Flame Physique.

In this world, there were two holy relics capable of dispelling the Nirvana Flame Physique. One was the sacred relic of the Elven Race—the seed of the World Tree. With the World Tree's seed, the rampaging Black Flame could be transformed into pure Nirvana Flame for one's own use.

A thousand years ago, the Elven Race's emperor Achilles had become the strongest powerhouse in history precisely by relying on a perfect Nirvana Flame Physique.

Besides the World Tree's seed, there was another item capable of easing the symptoms of the Nirvana Flame Physique: the sacred relic of the Sea Folk—the Fountain of Life.

The Sea Folk had always been mysterious, and in the past century they had not appeared in the world at all. Again and again, Qin Lan sent fleets to sea, and again and again they returned disappointed. He exhausted his efforts and drained his savings, yet never even found a shadow of the Sea Folk. The sea was merciless. No one knew how many fine young men it had swallowed, how many needless wandering souls it had added.

In Qin Mo's memories, Allen was taking Xirui and Ximan out to sea again today to search for the Sea Folk and Mother Luna. But this time, the fleet had only three ships. Dayuan Island could no longer support a massive expedition fleet. Sailors' wages and compensation, along with the cost of building and repairing ships, had crushed Dayuan's finances.

"Lin Bo, Allen, when the Black Flame burned my body today, it seemed to open a mark within me. Perhaps it can resolve the torment of the Black Flame burning my body." Qin Mo carefully chose his words, avoiding anything that might make the two notice something amiss. After all, he was no longer the Qin Mo of the past.

"You mean there was a seal inside you? And it was opened?" Allen became excited. Every Nirvana Flame Physique was unique, and no one knew what trump cards they might possess.

"That's right. I was about to give up resisting, but all the Black Flame was suddenly absorbed by this mark. Take a look—what is this?" Qin Mo simply pulled open his collar, revealing the phoenix-shaped mark on his chest.

"Gasp! This is a phoenix, an existence equal to a dragon, but no one in this world has ever seen one with their own eyes." Allen studied it for a long while before answering. He even unconsciously reached out and touched it, confirming that it was not swelling or a tattoo produced by human hands.

"The phoenix is a divine beast that rules over fire. Perhaps the young lord has truly reached the end of misfortune and seen the light after enduring his hardships." Lin Bo was overjoyed, the wrinkles on his face spreading apart like chrysanthemums in full bloom.

Yet Qin Mo knew that this mark had come from one of his closest friends. His friend had given him a pendant, and the pattern upon it had been a phoenix.