“Since Lord Likui wants them, naturally we’ll give them to him.” Hei Yu raised his wine cup slightly. When he nodded, the other Demon Lords followed suit. Although ten-thousand-year-old Duo-Duo Fruits were rare, giving them away could hardly be considered a meaningful loss to mighty Soul Transformation cultivators like them.
Moreover, apart from tasting pleasant, Duo-Duo Fruits were useful only to cultivators below the Soul Transformation stage. They had never kept them for their own use in the first place, but generally used them to reward subordinates or refine pills.
Hei Yu’s gaze drifted toward Chen Yixin. It was obvious that Wenren Li intended the fruits for him.
The Duo-Duo Fruit was also known as the Shiverfruit, from the saying that one shiver was all it took for one’s cultivation to appear. Unless someone possessed a variant spiritual root or cultivated an unusual technique, a cultivator below the Golden Core stage needed only one fruit to break through each minor level.
Almost no one, however, would use a Duo-Duo Fruit during Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment. Doing so would be a truly outrageous waste of a precious resource. The fruits in their possession could save Chen Yixin several hundred years of cultivation, and no one would be surprised to hear in a century or so that he had formed his Nascent Soul.
Wenren Li nodded, but showed no sign of stopping there. The Demon Lords, who had only just breathed a sigh of relief, immediately returned to a state of high alert.
Wenren Li swept his gaze around the table before settling on Demon Lord Hong Ni. He tapped his fingers lightly against the table. “I want the White Phoenix True Feather in your possession and three lengths of ancient wutong wood. I will exchange one drop of phoenix blood for them.”
The Duo-Duo Fruits were intended merely as snacks for Chen Yixin. What Wenren Li asked for next could not simply be demanded without offering anything in return. Still, after accumulating treasures for thirty thousand years, he probably possessed far more things that the others coveted.
“Phoenix blood?” Hong Ni exclaimed softly before drawing her brows together, looking deeply conflicted.
Phoenix blood was a temptation she could not refuse, but the White Phoenix True Feather was one of the supreme treasures her mother had left to guard her palace. To surrender it so easily…
“Lord Likui is already being more than generous by offering phoenix blood in exchange. As far as I know, the true feather kept in Hong Ni Palace originally came from Lord Likui as well,” Hei Yu said with a low, mischievous chuckle. He saw through Hong Ni’s performance at a glance. She was undoubtedly beside herself with delight.
Only a handful of people throughout Taixuan Continent possessed true phoenix blood, and anyone else would never have offered it in exchange so readily. Hong Ni had entered countless secret realms and immortal estates over the years in search of true phoenix blood without finding any. Today’s offer was unquestionably an unexpected windfall for her.
“Tsk. Did I ever say I wouldn’t trade?” Hong Ni shot Hei Yu a sidelong look, then smiled at Wenren Li, urgency entering her voice. “Tell me, Lord Likui—when shall we exchange them?”
“Now.” As Wenren Li spoke, a knuckle-sized drop of crimson phoenix blood shaped like a phoenix flew toward Hong Ni.
It was genuine phoenix blood that still retained a true soul. The eyes of every Demon Lord at the table went rigid with astonishment.
Immediately afterward, however, an even stranger feeling arose in their hearts. For thousands of years, Likui Demon Palace had always taken treasures in and never allowed them out. If something could be seized, they would certainly never trade for it. Yet Wenren Li was now willing to exchange treasures—and was even clearly allowing them to profit…
Surely an even larger trap was waiting for them.
As Hei Yu and the others wondered uneasily, their gazes repeatedly drifted toward Chen Yixin. Could the change in Likui Demon Palace’s behavior also have something to do with its Demon Consort?
Chen Yixin naturally did not know how different Wenren Li’s present conduct was from before, but his discernment and breadth of knowledge remained intact, so he could easily judge the difference in value between the true feather and the true blood. Even after recognizing it, however, he did not interrupt Wenren Li’s transaction with them.
Wenren Li continued spending lavishly, exchanging treasures through a series of plainly unequal trades for a large assortment of rare items and spirit herbs, yet Chen Yixin still did not interfere. Nearly every Demon Lord present was delighted beyond measure.
“Is A-Rong tired?” Wenren Li turned toward Chen Yixin and asked softly.
Chen Yixin was neither smiling nor speaking. Perhaps he found the banquet tedious. That was what Wenren Li assumed, prompting his question.
Chen Yixin shook his head and slowly reached out to catch Wenren Li’s sleeve. Wenren Li took his hand into his palm, and Chen Yixin clasped his in return as a trace of laughter spilled into his eyes.
He trusted Wenren Li. No special explanation was necessary; he simply trusted him.
Wenren Li’s gaze flickered slightly. He raised a hand and gently stroked the hair beside Chen Yixin’s forehead, seemingly soothing him with quiet tenderness.
“I only need to say one more thing to them, and then we’ll leave.”
Chen Yixin nodded and followed Wenren Li’s gaze toward the others.
“I require an Ice Spirit and a Nethermoon Soul. Anyone who obtains them for me may select any three items from Likui Demon Palace’s treasury. Anyone who provides reliable information about their whereabouts may receive one item equal in value to the treasures exchanged tonight.”
So Wenren Li had not truly been displaying such generosity merely to let the others profit. He had been showing them the extent of Likui Demon Palace’s accumulated wealth. Otherwise, persuading Soul Transformation demonic cultivators to search personally for something on his behalf would have been exceedingly difficult.
After Wenren Li finished speaking, the great hall fell silent. The Demon Lords were still carefully considering his offer, but the man who had made it was already leading Chen Yixin out of the hall.
“You’re doing this for me?”
Chen Yixin stopped and asked the question. Although he was already certain of the answer, he still wanted to hear Wenren Li say it aloud.
Wenren Li nodded. “Mm. I want to give A-Rong the very best.”
Perhaps very few things in the world could truly be called the best, but Wenren Li was willing to give Chen Yixin the best of everything within his power. He believed with absolute certainty that his A-Rong deserved everything he had.
Chen Yixin’s heart stirred faintly. He raised a hand and caressed Wenren Li’s cheek, his smile spilling from his eyes—beautiful enough to dazzle anyone who saw it, yet somehow different from every smile he had shown before. “A-Li, those words sound wonderful.”
When Wenren Li spoke, his face was expressionless and even his tone remained remarkably stiff, but those were still the sweetest words Chen Yixin had ever heard.
As though Chen Yixin had not yet been moved enough, Wenren Li drew him closer, brought his lips to Chen Yixin’s ear, and assured him once more, “A-Rong deserves the best.”
Chen Yixin nodded, then immediately turned his head and bit Wenren Li’s cheek. Leaving a mark on Wenren Li’s face would probably be difficult, but surely biting him several more times would produce at least some change in color.
Wenren Li blinked and allowed Chen Yixin to do as he pleased with his cheek and neck. He wrapped an arm around Chen Yixin’s waist, and his spiritual power formed phantoms of flying blossoms and green leaves around them as they slowly returned to their residence in Luanmo City.
Wenren Li’s cheek had been bitten red, while Chen Yixin’s own face, concealed by the darkness, had grown faintly hot as well. He was already over a hundred years old—how could he start embracing someone and kissing him endlessly whenever he became happy?
He stopped kissing Wenren Li, but he still refused to release him. Even the somewhat uncomfortable sensation of holding Wenren Li’s rigid body had become strangely appealing. Yes, Wenren Li was his and could belong only to him.
Chen Yixin narrowed his eyes, his mood excellent beyond measure. Wenren Li was equally happy to be held that way.
By the time they returned to the residence, Wu Fei and Nan Ke had already led the others in restoring the overgrown plants to their original state. Chen Yixin and Wenren Li went directly back to the bedchamber. Since Chen Yixin had not yet resumed cultivating, he still needed ordinary sleep.
Chen Yixin fell asleep with his arms around Wenren Li’s waist, while Wenren Li occupied himself with the items they had obtained through the evening’s exchanges.
Outside Luanmo City, a seven-person party was approaching. They looked no different from an ordinary group of independent cultivators traveling together, but a closer examination would reveal that they remained unusually close to one another.
In a dangerous place like Luanmo City, incidents in which cultivators used their companions as human shields were commonplace. Those who regularly entered Luanmo City and the Luanmo Ghost Domain would never entrust their safety to one another so completely.
“Fifth Senior Brother, why did Master insist that we come to Luanmo City?”
The speaker wore a black cloak that concealed everything but his eyes. Those eyes appeared remarkably bright and refined, making him look even more unlike the cultivators near Luanmo City who had survived repeated battles of life and death.
“Master naturally has his reasons for giving us these instructions. We need only obey.”
The man who had been questioned did not answer. Instead, another person beside them spoke, and once he did, no one in the party dared make another sound.
Only after a long while did the young man who had asked the question mutter, “Senior Brother Zhihua is always so fierce. If Ninth Martial Uncle were…”
“Lin An!” Jing Zhihua turned his head, and the look in his eyes startled Lin An. Only then did Lin An realize that he had misspoken. Ever since one year ago, anything concerning Chen Yixin could no longer be mentioned within Yuding Sect.
“All right, I won’t say anything else.” Lin An slowed his steps and deliberately dropped to the rear, removing himself from Jing Zhihua’s sight.
Jing Zhihua frowned slightly. Only then did he realize that he had lost control of himself. It seemed he would not be able to escape the shadow Chen Yixin had cast over him anytime soon.
“I needn’t explain the dangers of Luanmo City to any of you. Watch your words and actions carefully. Should you provoke trouble, even the sect elders may not be able to save you in time.”
Xiao Zhe was in the early Golden Core stage, so his cultivation surpassed Jing Zhihua’s late Foundation Establishment cultivation and that of Lin An and the others, who were only in the early Foundation Establishment stage. He was naturally the leader of this journey. Yet after delivering the customary warning, he still looked toward Jing Zhihua, silently asking whether he had anything to add.
From this alone, Jing Zhihua’s unusual standing within Yuding Sect was evident—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that circumstances had changed. In both his own eyes and those of many others, he was already entirely different from the person he had once been.
Jing Zhihua showed no reaction to Xiao Zhe’s attempt at goodwill. Lin An’s mention of “Ninth Martial Uncle” had disturbed his state of mind, leaving him with no patience for polite pretenses. He took the lead and continued forward. Xiao Zhe frowned faintly, but then smiled again and waved for the others to follow Jing Zhihua.
They had barely entered Luanmo City and had not yet found lodging when they heard that the Demon Lords of the Southern Territory had arrived. Some claimed that only one had come, others said two, while still others insisted that all ten were present.
“The long-haired man in black was the Likui Demon Lord… but who was that great beauty beside him?”
The moment those words were spoken, everyone who recalled what had happened at the cultivator market earlier that day fell briefly silent. The cultivation world contained no shortage of beauties, but very few were genuinely famous.
“I heard that the Zhenhai Chen clan married Yuding Sect’s former greatest beauty into Likui Demon Palace… It was him! Perfected Master Heartslayer!”
With a sharp crack, Jing Zhihua crushed the teacup in his hand. The other six people, including Xiao Zhe and Lin An, all chose to remain silent. They might have imagined meeting Chen Yixin again someday, but none had expected it to happen so soon—or in Luanmo City, where the Demon Lords had gathered.
Chen Yixin naturally had not anticipated it either. No, more precisely, he had not thought about anything concerning Yuding Sect for a long time. The corners of his lips remained curved as he slept soundly with his arms around Wenren Li’s waist.
“A-Li…”
“Mm.” Wenren Li responded. The true feather in his hand disappeared, and he turned onto his side to embrace Chen Yixin. Leaning closer, he placed a kiss upon Chen Yixin’s forehead. “I’m here.”
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