Chapter 0069

Toss her into the oven! Seriously that was the redhead’s plan? What was she smoking? Wait, she uses poisons, so the question should be what was she inhaling? She should have never said she trusts the redhead. It only leads to disaster!

The redhead’s plan was simple but effective. The redhead put out the fire one of the stoves, shove Tempest in there then feed the seed of Fire Devouring Flower to the unconscious man, toss him into the oven with Tempest and use some wood to cover the entrance.

From the outside, it looks like the fire wass burning like normal, boiling the pot above. Inside… it was warm and cozy.

After a minute, the Fire Devouring Flower spread its roots throughout the cultivator's body via the meridians and began to absorb the cultivation of the unconscious man. It uses the energy it absorbed to grow a flower that looks like a flame. It was a perfect camouflage if one thought to hide in the oven. The Fire Devouring Flower also produces heat which wasn’t enough to boil the water but it can keep it hot, hence the cozy atmosphere in the oven… except the unconscious man thrown in with her was slowly withering at a rate visible to the naked eye. It was like watching a human turning into a zombie, no since the guy is going to die and isn’t going to come back as the undead, it was like watching a video of a human decomposing 30 times the normal speed.

Tempest was unnerved about the situation. Oh not about sitting with a going to be a dead man — the bastards deserved to die — but about the redhead practiced movement when she got rid of the body and hid Tempest.

Tempest might be oblivious at times, but she knows a high level of skill when she sees one. The little girl sitting in the oven already figured out this wasn’t the first time the redhead use this method to kill a person. All the materials needed were in the girl's hidden space bag.

People put things they use or are valuable in a space bag. Space bag differs from space rings in that space in a space bag is much smaller than the space in a space ring. A normal space bag is 10 meters by 10 meters. Higher-quality ones might be 20 meters by 20 meters, but that’s it. Space rings, depending on the grade of the forger, can be as big as 1,000 meters by 1,000 meters.

Tempest was certain the redhead was carrying a space bag. The limitation of the space bag combined with the practiced ease the redhead performing the task gave Tempest the impression the redhead is a pro at disposing of a corpse.

Tempest didn’t want to think bad about the redhead. She did it to save her after all, but the current situation was giving her a headache the more she thinks about it.

So Tempest didn’t think about it. Everyone is entitled to their secrets.

After three hours of waiting, the redhead stuck her head in the oven to see the situation.

“Aren’t you afraid of being burned?”

“I can stick my hand into a fire and the most I’d feel a tickle. That’s why they have me working in the kitchen and boiling room all the time.”

Tempest believes the redhead’s words. It also explained how her face is covered in soot the first time she saw her. At first, Tempest thought the redhead covered her face because she wanted a disguise to cover her beauty. Being beautiful without power is dangerous in the Cardinal Realm. Seeing her actions just now, Tempest changed her mind. The girl is stupid, pure and simple.

“Are you going to get out?”

“I’m coming,” Tempest said as she wiggled her way out. Upon seeing Tempest, the redhead burst into laughter.

“What is so funny?”

The redhead giggled out, “Your face.”

Tempest immediately understood. The redhead was used to having soot smeared all over her, she got used to it but she finds it hilarious when another person was covered in soot.

Tempest can imagine the sight she made. Her once clean clothes were covered in patches of soot and dirt here and there, especially around the hands and knees. If the clothes are dirty, then the person is dirty as well. Tempest went from a soaking wet cat that has been abandoned in the rain to a white cat turned black by playing in the dirt for too long.

“I want another bath,” Tempest said deadpanned.

“We don’t have time. There are cultivators everywhere. We have to find you a safer place to hide you.”

“Why can’t I stay in the oven? It is working well enough.”

“It takes about 20 hours for a Fire Devouring Flower to consume the cultivation of the host. Once the Fire Devouring Flower is done, it will try to find another host to leach out of. You shouldn’t be near it when that happens.”

“What about you?” Tempest asked in a worried manner even though she knew the redhead has handled the Fire Devouring Flower in the past.

“Plants, pills or poison can’t harm me.”

“Huh?”

“Plants, pills or poison can’t harm me. Don’t ask why. I don’t know either. All I know is plants, pills or poison can’t harm me.”

“Okay, then let's get back to the situation at hand. How are we going to escape?” Tempest asked while thinking inside her head, “Everyone has their secrets. Shut up and don’t pry.”

“Why do I need to escape? I work here. If I run, then they might think I have something to hide. It is better for me to stay here and act normal. It’s you who needs to run.” The redhead spoke the truth. People give chase when the other was running. It is less suspicious if the redhead acts normal and blends into the background.

“Wait, what about him?” Tempest asked pointing to the almost dried cultivators in the oven.

“Oh, there is nothing to worry about. A bunch of cultivators from different domains came and they began fighting everyone in town. His group would assume he died in one of the scuffles.”

“What could draw a group of powerful cultivators out here?” Tempest asked, eyes shining like the paparazzi scenting a scandal. Tempest knew she couldn’t compete with the powerful cultivators but the topic still piqued her interest.

After coming to the Cardinal Realm, Tempest realized how weak she was. She yearned to become stronger, to be those all-powerful main characters who swept through the realm killing left and right, snatching any treasure that caught her eye. Tempest isn’t stupid enough to compete against the cultivators for the treasure now, but later, she’d be the bandit she can be. Ah no, best cultivators in the world.

“It wasn’t a treasure but a human spirit hybrid.” Tempest’s question ignited the gossiping spirit in the redhead but her answer dampened Tempest’s enthusiasm. A material lacking intelligence, Tempest can get into. Human trafficking, no way, absolutely not!

“Human spirit hybrids are rarer than an Anchorite Crystal, harder to find than the Crimson Star Fish and more valuable than a level 3 celestial pill.” Tempest didn’t understand a lick of what the redhead said. The metaphor she used might be common knowledge but it only serves to alienate Tempest.

“What is so good about a human spirit hybrid?” Tempest might be lost on common knowledge, but she was clear about the current situation. Human spirit hybrid. It sounds like her. She speaks to the spirits all the time. Her battle to maintain the Brilliant Yin Sect Disciple Token might have exposed her more trouble than she realized.

“Human spirit hybrids have access to the Spirit Realm, the realm where the spirit lives. They make the greatest companion because a cultivator can access the spirit realm through the human spirit hybrid, or they can be refined into a pill or their cultivation can be drained to augments a cultivator's power. Most cultivators forgo these methods in lieu of forcing the human spirit hybrid to become a true spirit, after which they are bound to a cultivator as a separate power source. A bound true spirit can supply power to any type of cultivator, so everyone is after her. It’s not easy to catch them but rumor has it the human spirit hybrid is pregnant and won’t give birth until she infused the power of the spirit with her child, but she has to create a space tear in order to do so. During this time, she is very vulnerable and they can refine the child after she gives birth.”

Horror crawled up Tempest’s spine. She made a note to keep her secrets close to herself. In a world they can speak openly about killing or enslaving another human without fear of retribution is a world Tempest must be wary of.

Tempest thought of the young mother and the child she saved earlier might have been the human spirit hybrid everyone of searching for but when the redhead mentions the mother had to rip a tear into the spirit realm in order to give birth, Tempest’s fear was alleviated.

Even though it is the norm for a human spirit hybrid to open a tear in space and baptize their body in energy leaking from the tear to give birth, there are other ways to give birth that won’t alert others.

One of them is to have a powerful mage or someone close to the spirit infuse the mother and child with the power of the spirits. This method is seldom used because everyone covets the power of the human spirit hybrid.

The young mother was going to open a small tear in space, barely discernible to her pursuers to give birth then immediately flee the area. However, she lucked into a naive little girl who used the power of the spirit to assess her. The energy Tempest sent into the young mother was enough for Tempest’s assessment and for her to give birth to her son.

Through the conversation, Tempest thought of a point, “If they are looking for a pregnant woman, there is no reason for anyone to suspect a little like me right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can clean up a bit and walk right out of here without anyone being the wiser.”

“Ah!”