Chen Yixin mistook Wenren Li’s stiffness for the perfectly normal reaction a man might have when suddenly treated with intimacy by another man. In his mind, neither he nor Wenren Li could truly be called men who were naturally inclined toward the same sex. Rather, it was simply that the person they happened to love was male.
“Mm,” Wenren Li responded softly.
Yet his expression remained dazed and distant.
He wrapped his arms around Chen Yixin. After a moment, he tilted his head and gently rubbed his cheek against Chen Yixin’s. His voice, still somewhat stiff, carried a hint of uncertainty.
“You… just now… kissed me?”
Chen Yixin bit his lip, attempting to maintain some composure. He managed it for only a moment before failing completely. Throwing his arms around Wenren Li’s neck, he burst into laughter.
“Hahaha… Wenren Li, are you really a Soul-Transformation cultivator or not?”
Before Chen Yixin could finish speaking, Wenren Li suddenly turned his head.
His lips, faintly cool, pressed against Chen Yixin’s slightly parted ones.
They were soft—carrying a fresh scent reminiscent of grass and leaves. Wenren Li’s heart jolted violently, and he froze where he was.
Chen Yixin’s lips slowly closed before brushing gently against Wenren Li’s again. His cheeks flushed faintly red. In truth, he looked no less bewildered than Wenren Li himself.
Their noses touched.
Their gazes locked.
They remained like that in silence for a long moment.
Only then did Wenren Li withdraw from Chen Yixin’s lips. Yet he did not move far—his forehead pressed against Chen Yixin’s instead. The closeness made the atmosphere between them even more intimate, even more ambiguous than before.
“A-Rong just kissed me.”
Wenren Li spoke now with certainty.
A bright light ignited in his eyes. Tilting his head slightly, he leaned forward once more and kissed Chen Yixin again. It was gentle, accompanied by a faint sound that made the ears tingle with embarrassment.
Chen Yixin’s eyes widened slightly as he stared straight at Wenren Li.
Without spiritual power, he had no way to restrain himself even if he wished to. He could no longer ignore the stirrings in his heart awakened by that kiss.
Perhaps…
he had truly fallen.
His eyes slowly closed for a moment before opening again. The softness and surprise in them faded, replaced by something far more serious.
Looking directly into Wenren Li’s eyes, Chen Yixin spoke slowly.
“Wenren Li. If you like me, then you must like me forever.”
“I will not tolerate betrayal.”
When Jing Zhihua betrayed him, Chen Yixin had felt anger—but not heartbreak. Yet the mere thought of Wenren Li doing the same was suddenly unbearable.
Some words had to be spoken clearly from the start.
By rights, he should not have made things so explicit with Wenren Li so soon. But once he left the Demon Palace, many matters would inevitably resurface, and by then he might not have the courage to say these things.
Besides, Wenren Li had saved his life.
Repaying that debt with his own life was neither practical nor sufficient.
And the way things had developed now… was simply the result of him indulging Wenren Li—and indulging himself.
“I like A-Rong,” Wenren Li said quietly. “Only A-Rong.”
He tilted his head and nuzzled Chen Yixin’s cheek before pulling him tightly into his arms.
In the next instant, the two of them vanished from the mountaintop.
But they did not return to any hall within the Demon Palace.
Instead, they arrived in a place completely unfamiliar to Chen Yixin.
Far away, faint points of silvery light flickered. With Chen Yixin’s current eyesight he could not see them clearly, yet he tightened his arms around Wenren Li’s neck, letting himself be carried swiftly toward the glow.
The narrow passageway gradually widened.
Soon they arrived before a sacrificial altar in the center of a sealed hall.
“This is beneath the Demon Palace,” Wenren Li explained as he slowly set Chen Yixin down.
Chen Yixin looked around, but aside from the section of broken wood in the center of the altar emitting a silvery glow, everything else remained indistinct.
Wenren Li waved his sleeve again.
At once, the everlasting candles surrounding the altar flared to life. Even at their feet, slender blue candles burned in neat rows.
Chen Yixin recognized them.
These candles were called Immortal’s Tears.
They served not only for illumination but also calmed the mind and stabilized one’s spirit. When studying cultivation techniques, even Nascent-Soul cultivators would consider themselves fortunate to obtain a single piece.
Yet beneath the Demon Palace’s altar, Wenren Li used them merely for lighting.
Of course, after living in the palace for so long, Chen Yixin already knew how wealthy Wenren Li truly was.
The Li Kui Domain of the Li Kui Demon Palace governed twelve provinces. Each province contained several immortal cities completely controlled by the palace.
The daily fees paid by cultivators entering and leaving those cities alone brought staggering revenue—not to mention the countless hidden enterprises beyond public knowledge.
Chen Yixin had little time to dwell on these thoughts.
Wenren Li took his hand, interlacing their fingers, and led him onto the altar.
With another wave of his sleeve, two prayer cushions appeared.
Wenren Li knelt.
After a brief glance, Chen Yixin knelt beside him as well.
“I, Wenren Li, swear this oath upon my soul,” he said solemnly.
“With A-Rong beside me—
in life we remain together,
in death we return together,
never to abandon one another.”
As the words fell, a thread of silver light flew from the center of Wenren Li’s brow. It divided into two strands, one entering the broken wood on the altar, the other sinking into Chen Yixin’s brow.
A faint connection suddenly appeared within Chen Yixin’s heart.
He glanced at the broken wood, then at Wenren Li.
Pulling lightly at Wenren Li’s sleeve to keep him kneeling, Chen Yixin raised his right hand, three fingers pointed toward the heavens.
“I, Chen Yixin, swear this oath upon my soul.”
“With Wenren Li—
in life we remain together,
in death we return together,
never to abandon one another.”
In the Taixuan cultivation world, the higher one’s cultivation, the stronger the binding force of a soul oath. Few cultivators dared swear such vows lightly.
But since Wenren Li dared to do so—
Chen Yixin dared as well.
While Chen Yixin spoke his oath, Wenren Li turned to watch him.
His cultivation remained intact; his divine sense and hearing were perfectly clear.
Yet hearing those words still felt unreal—like falling into a dream.
His long-cherished wish had been fulfilled.
And he scarcely dared believe it.
Closing his eyes, Wenren Li quickly located the thread of Chen Yixin’s soul-oath within his own life-soul.
Then he wrapped it gently—using every ounce of tenderness he possessed.
Chen Yixin turned and glared at him.
They were standing far too close. With his inferior cultivation, Chen Yixin could not help sensing Wenren Li’s movements.
Aside from glaring, however, he did not quite know what else to say.
“Lord Demon Monarch… restrain yourself a little.”
Chen Yixin’s body softened slightly.
Even glaring no longer worked, so he could only warn him sharply.
Yet Wenren Li did not restrain himself at all.
Turning slowly, he lifted his free hand and gently cupped Chen Yixin’s cheek.
He leaned closer, his lips brushing lightly against the corner of Chen Yixin’s mouth and cheek—soft, careful, intimate.
“A-Rong… I’m truly happy.”
Chen Yixin stared at him.
There was not the slightest smile on Wenren Li’s face as he said this, and Chen Yixin was just about to complain when suddenly—
Wenren Li’s eyes curved slightly.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
The dimple he always kept hidden appeared, unexpectedly giving him a hint of boyish charm.
Chen Yixin swallowed hard.
His complaint vanished completely.
“Well… it’s good that you’re happy,” Chen Yixin said.
His neck felt somewhat stiff. After a moment he exhaled softly and suddenly leaned forward, capturing Wenren Li’s lips.
“You really are foolish,” he muttered in disdain.
For a demon cultivator, Wenren Li did not even know what a proper kiss was.
If he had simply wandered through the mortal world—standing atop a rooftop for half an hour and letting his divine sense sweep across a few households—he would have figured it out easily enough.
Chen Yixin’s theoretical knowledge was excellent, but he had little practical experience.
He bit lightly on Wenren Li’s lip before withdrawing.
Then he stood up calmly, though his heartbeat had yet to slow.
“What is this?” Chen Yixin asked, glancing at the broken wood on the altar.
Then he looked at Wenren Li, whose cheeks had turned slightly red.
Seeing that Wenren Li seemed even more flustered than himself, Chen Yixin immediately felt much calmer.
Yes.
He would need proper training.
Wenren Li’s gaze softened as he looked at the broken wood. Bowing respectfully toward it once more, he stood and answered Chen Yixin.
“It’s my mother.”
“I was born from the union of a Ghost King and an unnamed tree spirit… a demonic fetus.”
He glanced at Chen Yixin as he spoke, but saw no shock or disgust on his face. Only then did he relax slightly and continue.
“My mother was struck by heavenly lightning while protecting me. She died from her injuries… leaving behind only this remnant.”
Chen Yixin was well-read; the term demonic fetus was not unfamiliar to him.
Unlike ordinary demon cultivators who chose the demonic path, a demonic fetus was rejected by the Heavenly Dao from birth—an existence shunned by heaven and earth alike.
Regardless of Wenren Li’s character or talent, from the moment he was born he had already belonged to the demonic path.
It also explained why Wenren Li rarely showed emotion.
After all, half his blood came from a tree spirit.
Expecting him to experience deep emotions was difficult.
And yet—
now Wenren Li loved him wholeheartedly.
Chen Yixin’s lips curved into a gentle smile.
Taking Wenren Li’s hand, he walked closer to the broken wood and bowed respectfully.
“Mother, my name is Chen Yixin.”
“I am… A-Li’s cultivation partner.”
Wenren Li tightened his grip on Chen Yixin’s hand. When Chen Yixin turned back toward him, he asked eagerly:
“When we return this time… shall we hold our dual-cultivation ceremony?”
“Alright,” Chen Yixin nodded.
Since he had already accepted the man, there was no reason not to hold the ceremony.
They stood there together for a while longer before Wenren Li lifted Chen Yixin into his arms and began returning to the Demon Palace.
“Did you place your mother upon the altar hoping she might one day be revived?” Chen Yixin asked.
He was already thinking through various ancient records he had read back in the Jade Cauldron Sect. Since he had acknowledged himself as Wenren Li’s partner, helping him search for possibilities was only natural.
But Wenren Li shook his head.
“My mother’s demon soul has already vanished from the Taixuan realm.”
Even if the broken wood sprouted again and walked the path of the demon spirit once more—
it would never again be the tree-spirit mother who once protected him with her life.
Futile Devices Scans 
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