Chapter 59: Florida Man, Self-Identified as Phoenix, Sets Himself on Fire to Prove His Identity; Dies from Heatstroke

In a contamination room, where the essence stone magically generated water and electricity for the entire building, Felix sat in a corner. Smoking, he focused on his breathing and glanced at the floating system screen.

.

Name: Felix Ariel

Age: 18/5,147

Bloodline: [Unknown]

Element Affinity: Fire, Metal, Poison, Void

Authorized Level: Super Democracy Pass (F)

Level: 19

Energy: 945,440/999,999

Mana: 999,999

Innate Talent: Flame Lungs, Fast Learner, Fire Immunity, Poison Immunity

.

For 17 days, Felix had been gradually converting crude oil from the oil derrick into mana. However, the progress wasn't going well. So far, he had managed to convert 1,500 barrels of mana out of 10,000. With only 13 days until the deadline, something hindered his progress—his body couldn't hold any more mana or contain more energy.

Felix looked at his palms. The veins in his arms, hands, and entire body pulsed non-stop as if they were about to burst. Moreover, his heart rate was over 300 bpm, which should have been fatal. This was his limit. Felix sighed deeply and pressed the tip of his cigarette on the floor, dousing it. He then looked at Jessica.

"What do I have to do to break this wall, Jessica? This quota is impossible if I can't take in more mana."

<Currently, you lack the necessary resources to break the one-million-mana wall. All you need to do right now is to purchase the following items from the Florida Man Online Store: a Petal of Blooming Yang Flower, 10cc of Diluted Phoenix Blood, a Phoenix Feather, and one Perfect Essence Stone.> seaʀᴄh thё Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The items on the list sounded cliché and absurd. Judging from how grand the item names were, everything seemed out of Felix's reach. Fortunately, Felix simply needed to purchase them.

Browsing the online store, Felix found the items and noted the prices:

- Petal of Blooming Yang Flower: 1,000 years of lifespan

- 10cc of Diluted Phoenix Blood: 500 years of lifespan

- Phoenix Feather: 2,000 years of lifespan

- Perfect Essence Stone: 10 years of lifespan

In total, Felix had to spend 3,510 years of lifespan for items that he didn't know what they could do.

He continued to consult with Jessica. "After I get all those items, what's next?"

<At level 19, you've unlocked a new command in the inventory menu: Basic Alchemy. Try accessing it.>

As Felix had been grinding for the past 17 days, his level had risen to 19. As usual, his inventory capacity expanded. In addition, a new perk was added to the inventory menu.

On the right side of the inventory screen, there was a new crafting function tab. For the moment, only the 'Basic Alchemy' function was unlocked.

Upon accessing the basic alchemy function, a new screen appeared, showing the PNG image of a large cauldron and five empty inventory slots.

Jessica continued the explanation.

<After you have all the items, add them to the alchemy slots. Then, press the 'Process' button. The system will automatically craft a new item using the ingredients that you have added to the ingredient slots.>

"Oh! Just like a video game, I see. How many things can I craft? Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

<Some alchemy recipes are on sale in the store. However, do note that intermediate and advanced alchemy requires you to perform the concoction or transmutation yourself. If you insist on pursuing the alchemy career, please inform me beforehand so that you can receive extra side quests to promote your alchemy skills.>

Felix was disappointed. He thought the system would do everything for him.

"Isn't that troublesome? I thought you would handle the alchemy for me. Do I really have to do it myself?"

<Advanced functions require higher maintenance costs and upgrades. To access advanced automatic crafting functions, you need an S-Class or higher Super Democracy Pass. You can gain this pass by either completing main quests or accumulating a total spending of one billion years of lifespan in the Florida Man Online Store.>

Felix rolled his eyes. This system sounded like a business scheme from his home world that shopping malls and online stores often used to bait customers.

A billion years of lifespan?

How about you go rob a few banks?

He suppressed the urge to banter and probed for more information.

"Last question, what's going to come out if I mix all those ingredients together with the alchemy function?"

Jessica honestly answered. <A medicine to help you break through your limitations.>

"Neat!"

After getting a positive confirmation, Felix gained enough courage to dip his hands into alchemy for the first time. He purchased the four items on the list, and they appeared in his inventory.

The Phoenix Feather was an orange peacock tail feather. The flower petal also looked similar, but its icon was surrounded by orbiting white energy balls. The perfect essence stone looked like an ordinary palm-sized rock emitting nuclear radiation. As for the diluted blood, it was a vial of transparent liquid.

Following the instructions, Felix moved the ingredients from his inventory to the alchemy ingredient slots. Then, he pressed the 'Process' button.

The system screen showed the combination animation. The Phoenix Feather, the essence stone, and the petal melted into three droplets of liquid. Then, the diluted blood swallowed them and turned red. Flames exuded from the fluid and shrank its mass.

*DING*

The animation stopped, and the liquid mass solidified into a crimson ball. The item entered his inventory..

.

Mana Vein Awakening Pill

Description:

This pill was concocted by the Florida OS System. It is an exclusive medicine tailored for fledgling phoenixes who have not yet awakened their bloodline. By consuming this pill, phoenixes will undergo a baptism that burns away impurities and weak organs, allowing them to reconstruct their physiques with their superior regeneration abilities.

After the baptism, they can unlock their potential, enabling them to store more Qi or Mana in their blood cells, internal organs, and dantian.

Effects:

- Removes impurities and cleanses blood vessels

- Reduces physical age by one year

- Increases lifespan by 10,000 years

- Unblocks the level-20 limitation (only applicable to phoenixes)

- Unlocks the Phoenix Bloodline

- Has a small chance of awakening new innate talents

Note: A phoenix can only consume this pill once in their lifetime. Consuming multiple Mana Vein Awakening Pills yields no additional effects.

.

.

Felix almost burst into laughter when he saw the lifespan bonus. He had spent around 3,500 years of lifespan to gain 10,000 back. Unfortunately, he could only enjoy these effects once. Still, this brought several questions to Felix's mind.

Why a phoenix?

What is his relationship with phoenixes?

His parents and grandparents were Floridians, and Felix was sure he was unrelated to this mythical race.

While Felix pondered these questions, Jessica dropped a hint.

<Your ancestor is related to phoenixes.>

"..."

How convenient, Felix thought. He shook his head, disliking this revelation. Had his life story been a novel, he would have dropped it right there, finding the story too clichéd, unreasonable, and unrealistic.

Since there was no point in complaining and dwelling into complex backgrounds and conspiracy theories, Felix shifted his focus to the present situation.

"I should focus on completing the timed quest. Everything else is white noise!" Felix thought.

Determined to overcome the bottleneck, Felix ejected the crimson pill and admired it. At a glance, it looked like a candy coated with painted sugar. However, it smelled like roasted chicken, stimulating his appetite.

Getting hungry because of the fragrant scent, Felix popped it into his mouth. Instantly, it melted and slipped into his throat like honey.

The liquid entered his stomach and was absorbed into his bloodstream. As soon as his blood contacted the new substance, his blood cells ignited! As if his blood and bodily fluids were the finest petroleum oil, the flame spread throughout his body.

Felix didn't feel the heat. He slowly stood up and looked at his arms and hands catching fire. He looked up, recalling a famous scene from a soul game as everything in the room was engulfed in flame.

"Am I getting the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending in real life?"

Felix laughed. He knew that his fire immunity innate talent was at work, as he didn't feel any pain or inconvenience. On the contrary, he felt refreshed.

But 10 seconds later, all his outer skin charred black. Felix collapsed on the floor while standing. The next moment, his vision blackened. While Felix blacked out, Jessica continued watching over him. She crossed her arms and faintly smiled, understanding the unique characteristic of the Phoenix Race: phoenixes grew by burning themselves into ash and reconstructing their bodies from the ash.

In addition, this was not the first time Felix turned into a charred corpse. He had already died a second time when Eins bit him. This would be the third time dying.

Five minutes later, the burnt corpse cracked. A layer of burnt skin fell off and turned into ash, revealing a new layer of smooth white jade skin. Felix's muscle mass expanded slightly, but his endurance and toughness improved as if he had been seriously visiting a gym for a decade. His body fat dropped from 18% to 15%, highlighting his muscle shapes and abs.

Rising from the ashes, Felix was reborn for the third time.

*DING*

<You have reached level 20!>

<Your dantian and blood vessels have expanded. You can store more mana in your body!>

<You have discovered a new innate talent - Ashen Resurrection!>

<You have discovered your bloodline - Void Phoenix!>

…

Coincidentally, someone was at the front door after Felix had gotten up.

"We're archmages from the royal palace! We wish to meet the owner of this place!" The muffled voice of an elderly man slipped through the wall gaps and entered Felix's ears.