Phoenix's Requiem

The black and silvery-white dragons that Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo had morphed into soared into the clouds, then dove down toward the silver dragon. So strong was their combined aura that the silver dragon elder cowered for a moment; by the time he regained his senses, Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo had surrounded him.

“Do you intend on perishing together?” the silver dragon thundered.

“We just want you to pay the price for your sins,” Yun Ruoyan replied. She glanced at Li Mo, then attacked him together with Li Mo.

Everyone stared at the three gigantic dragons in the air with bated breath as they used spiritual techniques on each other. The demonic dragon spat out a pillar of fire at the silver dragon, which roared with such ferocity that it seemed as though it would burn the heavens itself. However, the silver dragon, trapped within the inferno, didn’t seem to be particularly injured.

“Do you think you can hurt me with these petty little tricks?!” The silver dragon laughed again.

“Yan’er, let me have a go!” Li Mo rushed forward, blocked Yun Ruoyan behind him, and spat out a pillar of water at the silver dragon.

Yun Ruoyan flew to his side and breathed out a pillar of fire.

“Everyone, help kill the silver dragon!” Yun Moxiao shouted. His cultivation wasn’t particularly advanced, and Feng Bo had been protecting him from wayward attacks.

“Use your spiritual techniques on the silver dragon, now!” the demonic spirit also commanded.

The warriors who were dumbfoundedly gaping at the scene—the silver dragon warriors, those swordsmen from the Mingyuan continent, and the demonic bandits—all came to their senses and resumed the heated battle.

The demonic spirit, Feng Bo, Feng Yicheng, and a dozen other experts flew to Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo’s side and also began attacking the silver dragon.

After their draconic transformations, Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo were able to fight on par with the silver dragon elder. With reinforcements, they seemed to be gradually gaining the upper hand.

As the silver dragon’s thick, sturdy scales began to crack, he began to become enraged. “You’re all asking for death!” he thundered, then released a massive wave of spiritual energy.

The wave struck the gathered cultivators, sending them flying as they spat blood out of their mouths, all heavily injured. Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo took the brunt of the attack; even in their draconic forms, their mouths were tinged with red, and they were forced to stop their attacks.

“Is this all you can do, you inhabitants of lower realms?!” The silver dragon’s wounds were visibly healing. He had such a large supply of holy water that almost no one would be able to kill him.

Yun Ruoyan turned to Li Mo, who seemed to be floundering after the silver dragon’s attack. Although she had likewise been injured, her superlative regenerative ability had already restored much of the damage. We can’t keep going like this, or everyone’s going to die. We need to strike him a lethal blow, one that he can’t heal even with holy water!

She eyed Li Mo, then suddenly pounced on the silver dragon. If long-ranged spiritual techniques were unable to kill the silver dragon, then she would tussle with him at close range. As long as she kept biting and clawing at him, he would have no chance to use holy water on himself.

The demonic dragon bit at the silver dragon’s neck, tearing off a large patch of draconic hide. The silver dragon clawed at the demonic dragon’s underbelly, exposing flesh.

Dragon blood fell to the ground like rain.

“Yan’er!” Li Mo roared in fury, then pounced on the silver dragon as well.

The three dragons fought, biting and clawing, for three days and nights. By the end of the third day, they were wounded all over, and heaven and earth seemed to have taken a bloody tint.

No one who had witnessed the battle would ever be able to forget it.

“Everyone, look! The demonic dragon’s going to falter soon!” someone called out.

Yun Ruoyan had been most active in fighting against the silver dragon, and her wounds were also the most serious. Her entire body was dyed red with blood, and her maw was filled with red.free𝒘ℯ𝗯𝙣𝗼ν𝑒𝗹.𝒄o𝒎

Although the silver dragon was also heavily injured, his vitality was bolstered with holy water. When he saw Yun Ruoyan’s faltering figure, he knew that he would be able to win as soon as he got rid of her and downed more holy water to heal his wounds. By then, no one would be a match for him.

Yun Ruoyan’s jaws, which were on his neck, loosened a little. When the silver dragon noticed the difference, he immediately released his claws on the demonic dragon’s body and tried to kick her away.

What the silver dragon hadn’t expected was that, the moment he did so, the demonic dragon clamped down on the silver dragon’s neck even more tightly. The wound, which had already been bleeding profusely, instantly widened, spurting out blood.

Li Mo rushed forward and restrained the silver dragon’s two massive front claws, preventing him from attacking Yun Ruoyan any further.

In the blink of an eye, the silver dragon had been subdued by Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo.

“No, that was just a trick! Look, the silver dragon can’t defend himself anymore!”

“Thank goodness! We’re finally going to win!” the gathered swordsmen began to shout.

Only the demonic spirit, Feng Bo, and other experts continued observing the fight seriously, knowing that it couldn’t be called for either side until the last.

Yun Ruoyan continued to bite at the silver dragon’s neck. A large patch of hide had already been torn away, and her jaws crunched down on battered, bruised flesh. As blood spurted from his wounds, the silver dragon elder’s vitality was slowly draining away.

Eventually, his draconic form vanished, leaving behind a human form. Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo also shed their transformations. As though they had consumed all their spiritual energy and stamina, the three of them began falling from the sky.

The silver dragon elder suddenly opened his eyes, retrieved a jade-white bottle, and tried to pour the contents into his mouth. Just then, a blue-green sword cut the silver dragon elder’s hand off at the wrist, and a scarlet blade shot forward and pierced his heart.

The silver dragon elder widened his eyes, turning to glance at Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo, who were falling together with him. Their hands were intertwined as they controlled their swords, sending them criss-crossing against the silver dragon elder’s flesh.

Amidst the bloody rain, the silver dragon elder, who had proudly led the silver dragon clan for millennia, exhaled his last breath. His eyes had been dyed red with blood, and he seemed to see all sorts of specters appearing amidst a bloody mist, all heading straight for him. They opened their mouths, revealing sharp, shiny teeth, shouting for vengeance against him even as they clawed and bit at his flesh.

The silver dragon elder felt his soul being drawn out of his body, being torn to pieces, and then dissipating entirely.

“What just happened?” Yun Ruoyan murmured.

Just then, as they struck the silver dragon elder with their swords, specters had emerged from the blood that flew out of his wounds. They materialized, tore the silver dragon elder apart, and then vanished once more.

“Could it be backlash from some sort of demonic technique he cultivated?” Li Mo wondered.

“No.” The demonic spirit had suddenly appeared in front of them. “It’s likely the after-effects of consuming holy water. It was refined from the blood of the demonic dragons, and it encapsulated the grudges and vengeance that they bore. As the silver dragon elder’s vitality weakened, he was no longer able to restrain them and was ultimately killed by them.

“Oh no!” Yun Ruoyan’s face suddenly turned ashen. “I still needed him to remove the blood formation and save my father, but now—”

“Don’t worry,” the demonic spirit replied. “The silver dragon’s dead, so the blood formation will likely perish with him.

After the death of the silver dragon elder, the remaining silver dragon warriors all surrendered. They were sent to the silver dragon castle in chains; because the holy maiden was still present, the guards within the castle didn’t resist the intrusion, and Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo successfully took control of the silver dragon castle.

Those citizens of the silver dragon city were, for the most part, unaffected by the battle and its devastating end. The silver dragon elder had spent millennia trying to perfect his holy water, and his death hadn’t affected the governance of the city.

Yun Ruoyan, Li Mo, the holy maiden, Zhuo Yifeng, Feng Yicheng, and several others headed to the underground cavern hidden deep within the silver dragon temple. There, they found that the blood formation had already crumbled of its own accord. Long Yin and a few dozen other demonic dragon descendants were all meditating on the ground, their bodies severely weakened after decades of imprisonment.

“Father!” Yun Ruoyan approached Long Yin’s side and stooped down. “I’m here to fetch you. Mother’s still waiting for us back home.”

Long Yin opened his eyes in shock, his weathered face smiling for the first time in decades. “Yan’er, my dear daughter.”

Eight months later, within the Slaughtering King’s manor on the Chenyuan continent…

Seven midwives entered and left a room, carrying large basins of bloody water with them. Li Mo stood in the courtyard like a pillar of stone, staring at the room in front of him, where Yun Ruoyan was giving birth to their second child.

Because of her severe injuries from the battle several months ago, the baby was arriving almost a month late, and there were significant complications during childbirth.

The Lin sisters were also pacing the courtyard in worry and agitation. A servant was holding onto Li Yan, who was looking at the room with as serious an expression as Li Mo.

“Yan’er, how’s my Yan’er doing?” Just then, a beautiful woman who looked much like Yun Ruoyan herself stepped into the courtyard, her face lined with worry—Yun Ruoyan’s mother, Lin Yuemei.

“Yuemei, wait for me!” Long Yin followed behind her.

“Both of you, slow down! Wait for me!” Then came a white-haired old man, hobbling forward with a cane.

“Yun Lan, what are you doing here? She’s my daughter!” Long Yin called back.

“Ruoyan’s also my daughter! She grew up in my lap—have you ever carried her?!” Yun Lan called back.

“You!” Long Yin stamped his foot in fury.

Lin Yuemei sighed, prompting both men into silence. “Why did we use up all that holy water? If we had saved even a little, there wouldn’t be such a big mess now.”

The holy water that Yun Ruoyan had brought back from the Jiyuan continent was completely used up to revive Lin Yuemei and the members of the demonic dragon clan.

Just then, a loud bawl came from the room, instantly silencing any hubbub in the courtyard.

“She’s given birth! Mistress has given birth to a daughter!” Qiuqiu, in a form not much larger than a dog’s, jumped out of the room to inform everyone of the good news.

Everyone tried to swarm inside, but one of the midwives held everyone but Li Mo back.

“Yan’er, you—” Li Mo glanced at Yun Ruoyan’s pale face, so worried that he couldn’t say a word.

“I told you, Li Mo, both my child and I will be just fine.” Yun Ruoyan smiled. “I’ve already planned a celebration with our friends from the Mingyuan continent, remember? We’re heading to the Jiyuan continent to have a banquet for her one-month-old birthday.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Li Mo replied. “But the Jiyuan continent’s too cold, and we can’t stay there for long. I think the Mingyuan continent’s climate is far better for a prolonged stay.”

“Really?” Yun Ruoyan’s eyes lit up. She had already passed the position of the head of the demonic dragon clan to another, but Empress Xue Tong had been persistently summoning Li Mo to take the role of clan head of the silver dragon clan.

“Mother’s doing fine with the silver dragon castle, and she has no need for me at all,” Li Mo replied. “I’ve decided to bring you and our two children to the Mingyuan continent. Does that seem good to you?”

“The Mingyuan continent boasts both an excellent climate and plentiful spiritual energy.” Yun Ruoyan nodded, smiling.

In the Slaughtering King’s manor, by the lotus pond, Zhuo Yifeng was muttering to himself while sipping a flask of wine.

“Should I follow Father and Sister to the Jiyuan continent, or should I stay here in the Chenyuan continent as a peak-tier cultivator?”

A white shadow darted out of the pond, snatched his flask of wine away, and dove back down.

“Ah, Whitey, even you’re bullying me?” Zhuo Yifeng pointed at the water in frustration.

“Brother Zhuo,” a woman’s voice came from behind. Zhuo Yifeng whirled to see Lin Qingxue, a flask of wine in front of her. “This is wine made from the wuye flower, which I just learned how to brew. Would you like a taste?”

Six years later, in a mansion on the Mingyuan continent, Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo’s third child was celebrating his one-month-old birthday.

“Congratulations on your newborn.” Feng Yicheng toasted Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo.

“Father, Mother, we’re here!” Two voices rang out from outside the mansion—Li Yan and his younger sister, Li Yan’er. The two children were happily riding on Qiuqiu’s back.

“Qiuqiu, where did you bring them now? You’ve spoiled them both to pieces!” Yun Ruoyan scolded, without any hint of anger.

“Uncle Qiuqiu brought us to the Jiyuan continent to speak with Grandmother, and then the Chenyuan continent to speak with Granny and Grandpa, and then we rushed back for our brother’s one-month-old celebration. Here are the presents that everyone gave,” Li Yan replied, then brought a whole stack of gifts out of his storage ring.

“And mine!” Yan’er tried to retrieve the gifts from her storage ring, but accidentally fell amongst them instead, eliciting laughter from the gathered guests.

Night quickly fell. Yun Ruoyan glanced at her three sleeping children, feeling a deep-seated sense of satisfaction permeate her entire body. She thought of her past life once more and suddenly felt scared of closing her eyes, as though sleep would take everything in front of her away.

“What’s the matter, Yan’er?” Li Mo asked.

“I feel so happy, so much so that everything feels like a dream. I—”

Suddenly, Li Mo pressed her underneath his body, giving her a deep kiss.

“Does everything feel more real now?”

Yun Ruoyan nodded, blushing. “Li Mo, will we always be so happy?”

“Of course, Yan’er. Now and forever, I promise.”

Qoob's Thoughts

Thank you, dear readers, for making it all the way to the end of this novel.

It's not perfect, of course. There are threads left dangling, plot holes that aren't filled in, characters that haven't grown. My translation is, despite my best efforts, at times stilted and awkward. Even so, all these imperfections notwithstanding, you've made it through. I hope it has brought you some measure of comfort in the troubled year past.

Translation is difficult and time-consuming, and a chapter that takes you all of five minutes to read easily takes me ten times that amount of time to work through, followed by subsequent passes for clarity and style. But if reading this novel has been worth your time, then translating has been worth mine.

I am particularly grateful to Neyon's consistent efforts in pointing out mistakes in the translation. Neyon, if you reach out to me over Discord (see the #pr_phoenix_requiem channel in the WuxiaWorld Discord), I'll be happy to provide a small reward to you.

For my next project, I am working on a non-romance novel, which will hopefully see its debut soon. It shares quite little with Phoenix's Requiem, but if you enjoy novels with strong female leads, I have a few recommendations for you, in no meaningful order:

Vita Nostra. Translated from Russian so deftly I wish I had this translator's skills. Kafkaesque Harry Potter, set in rural Russia: a young woman heads to a magical academy, where she slowly becomes estranged from her past life.

A Deadly Education. Another novel about a young woman heading into a magical academy. Do you see a pattern? Not as phantasmagorical as Vita Nostra, and somewhat more tropey in plot and style, but nevertheless a fun read. Some degree of romance.

女配不掺和. Probably the best Chinese female-lead novel I've read. There's a slow fan translation available, or probably a machine translation available somewhere, but both options are kind of bad, unfortunately. Transmigration over thirteen lives, and an unfailing emphasis on hard work paying off. The first few lives and last life are the best; the quality drops off somewhere in the middle. Still stupendous overall.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Fantasy. A young woman's home is usurped by empire; she swears to take revenge from within. Fascinating themes and strong emphasis on economics. I would say more, but they would be spoilers. A planned tetralogy, but I like the first book best. The second and third books should be read together.

A Memory Called Empire. Sci-fi, space opera. A young woman's home is close to being usurped by empire; she travels to said empire as her home's cultural ambassador. Shenanigans ensue. A duology, but I like the first book better.

Nice Dragons Finish Last. Urban fantasy, romance, shapeshifting dragons. Nice, quick read. Not much depth, but it's fun.

Three Mages and a Margarita. Urban fantasy, romance, magic. Nice, quick read. Not much depth, but it's fun. Strongly reminds me of Fairy Tail.

Take care, and I'll see you around.

Qoob