Futile Devices Scans

Chen Yixin spoke as he gently poked Wenren Li’s cheek. After a brief moment, he saw a blush bloom there. He then leaned in and placed a light kiss upon it before finally letting Wenren Li off.

Wenren Li’s arm, wrapped around Chen Yixin’s waist, tightened slightly, and the way the two held each other grew even more intimate.

Their flight gradually slowed. Wenren Li continued to hold Chen Yixin as they moved through one shattered minor secret realm after another, his divine sense sweeping rapidly across the surroundings as he searched for something.

“What is A-Li looking for?”

Chen Yixin asked softly, his gaze also wandering about. These crumbling secret realms, which could collapse at any moment, were extremely dangerous places for someone at the Golden Core stage. Yet with Wenren Li bringing him along, he did not feel even the slightest trace of danger.

“The treasury of the Burning Heaven Nether Palace,” Wenren Li replied. His gaze swept over the ring on Chen Yixin’s hand before shifting away. The palace spirit had been damaged to such an extent—whether it could still preserve it was uncertain.

“Master, that place must not be entered!” The palace spirit emerged from the ring, its tone and expression filled with anxiety.

But Chen Yixin’s trust in it did not even amount to one ten-thousandth of what he had for Wenren Li. He tapped the palace spirit’s head with his finger and said firmly, “Just tell us where it is.”

The palace spirit extended a small hand out of the ring again, tearfully rubbing the spot where Chen Yixin had poked it. It looked so moved that it seemed on the verge of bursting into tears. Chen Yixin’s finger stiffened slightly—he hadn’t even used any force.

Chen Yixin glanced at it, then withdrew his hand in mild embarrassment and climbed back onto Wenren Li’s chest, holding onto him again. A-Li was still better to poke—he wouldn’t break.

“Master and Madam, please follow this old servant.”

The palace spirit gathered its emotions and floated ahead to lead the way. Its expression had already returned to normal, yet its words left both Chen Yixin and Wenren Li momentarily stunned.

Chen Yixin turned his head and rubbed his cheek against Wenren Li’s. Seeing that he showed neither displeasure nor any intention to correct the palace spirit, Chen Yixin’s eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of cunning glinting within them. “I am A-Li’s Demon Empress, and A-Li is my wife.”

“Mm,” Wenren Li responded softly. Then he let out a light sigh. “When A-Rong behaves like this, even I find it somewhat difficult to endure.” Chen Yixin likely had no idea just how much he had already stirred him. Perhaps he himself was beginning to grow anxious about dual cultivation with Chen Yixin…

“And yet, I am still willing for A-Rong to treat me this way,” Wenren Li added, genuinely troubled by his own thoughts.

A smile overflowed in Chen Yixin’s eyes. He tilted his head and planted a loud kiss on Wenren Li’s lips. Immediately after, his expression turned especially obedient and innocent. “A-Li only talks about me, but aren’t you the one who keeps holding onto me?”

If Wenren Li didn’t hold him, how could he take liberties with him? Of course, that being said—Wenren Li could try letting go if he dared.

“That is true. I like holding A-Rong,” Wenren Li nodded, finding nothing wrong with Chen Yixin’s words.

Having unconsciously taken the responsibility upon himself, Wenren Li appeared even more agreeable and endearing in Chen Yixin’s eyes. By now, Chen Yixin’s words and actions had grown increasingly unrestrained. He gently pinched Wenren Li’s chin and gave him a moist kiss tinged with the fresh sweetness of Duoduo Fruit.

The palace spirit wanted to turn back and look, but the two behind it were not beings it dared to disobey or spy upon. It focused on leading the way. After winding about for half an hour, it flew back into the ring on Chen Yixin’s thumb. Without needing further explanation, this was the location of the Burning Heaven Nether Palace’s treasury.

The kiss between Chen Yixin and Wenren Li had lasted quite a long time—and had been somewhat difficult to rein in. At least, for Chen Yixin, who had no intention of concealing his feelings, this was especially true. Leaning against Wenren Li, he slowly steadied his breathing, finally not daring to tease him further.

Wenren Li released Chen Yixin slightly. Before them lay a spatial rift. The damage to the Burning Heaven Nether Palace’s treasury had been caused by it being torn into this very rift. Even for a Soul Transformation cultivator, such a place was exceedingly dangerous.

Even Chen Yixin had once heard Yun Yazi mention that a great power of the Jade Cauldron Sect at the Soul Transformation stage had been devoured alive by an unknown strange beast within a spatial rift—its primordial spirit failing to escape.

“Shall we go in?” Chen Yixin tilted his head toward Wenren Li, awaiting his decision. If Wenren Li insisted on entering, he would undoubtedly accompany him.

Wenren Li gently rubbed Chen Yixin’s fingertips and shook his head. “Of course not. The treasury of the Burning Heaven Nether Palace—we will reclaim it one day, but not today.”

As his words fell, Wenren Li released Chen Yixin’s hand and stepped forward two paces. A powerful suction force caused his sleeves to flutter violently, yet he advanced another half-step. From his storage space, he continuously took out various spiritual materials and spirit stones, sending them into the void.

After the time it takes to burn two sticks of incense, the dangerous spatial rift that no one dared approach disappeared entirely from both their sight and perception.

“A-Li, who are you going to kill?” Chen Yixin had already understood Wenren Li’s intention. With great interest, he stepped forward half a pace, waiting for Wenren Li to return to his side.

“Whoever deserves to be killed shall be killed.” Yun Zhenzi and the others had schemed to let Chen Yixin die during the lightning tribulation. The fact that he had not intervened at the time did not mean he would not settle accounts afterward—and now was the time.

As Wenren Li spoke, his fingertip moved lightly, transmitting certain information. Then he took Chen Yixin a couple of steps back, waiting for people to arrive.

Chen Yixin turned his head to look at Wenren Li, warmth slowly surfacing in his eyes. He lifted Wenren Li’s hand and pressed a kiss to it before turning back to meet his gaze.

“The way A-Li treats me—I will remember it all.”

“However, if I continue to follow you, will it hinder you?”

In a battle between powerhouses of the Soul Transformation stage, he—a mere Golden Core True Person—at most could slay someone at the early Nascent Soul stage. That was already his limit. He could not so much as touch a Soul Transformation powerhouse in the slightest. If he followed Wenren Li, he would only become his weakness.

“It will not,” Wenren Li said, lifting his right hand to caress Chen Yixin’s cheek. “A-Rong is not a hindrance.”

A trace of daze flickered in Chen Yixin’s eyes. The words felt inexplicably familiar—as though they were not something Wenren Li had said to him before, but rather something he himself had once said to another.

“They’re over here!” Miaoyin’s voice rang out from afar, spreading across the region like a thunderclap.

She made no effort to conceal the aura of a Soul Transformation powerhouse. However, the Burning Heaven Nether Palace had fallen from the upper realm, and the vegetation and structures within were exceptionally sturdy. Even in their ruined state, they suffered no further damage. Only the spatial rift, perceptible solely to Wenren Li, grew even more terrifying under the concealment of his aura.

Neither Chen Yixin nor Wenren Li was startled by her. They continued to look at each other. Chen Yixin tilted his head and pressed a kiss into Wenren Li’s palm before asking seriously, “A-Li, will you carry me in your arms, or on your back?”

Before Wenren Li could answer, Chen Yixin had already circled behind him, climbed onto his back, and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. Tilting his head, he kissed Wenren Li’s cheek once more. “Kill this old demoness.”

“Alright,” Wenren Li nodded, then turned to the side.

Miaoyin, who had been charging ahead to seize the treasure, abruptly halted, not daring to advance further. The expression on her face was full of disgust. “Disgraceful to the eyes!”

What she found intolerable was the intimacy displayed by Chen Yixin and Wenren Li in public.

“Hand over Meng Suo at once, otherwise… my Hidden Moon Sect will be irreconcilable enemies with your Li Kui Demon Palace!”

Miaoyin still possessed Meng Suo’s life-soul lamp, and Meng Suo was not dead—this she could confirm. She could even surmise that Meng Suo, who had gone to seek the Inheritance Crystal, had likely encountered Wenren Li and Chen Yixin, which was why she had disappeared within the Burning Heaven Nether Palace.

“Then the Hidden Moon Sect need not continue to exist.”

As Wenren Li’s words fell, he appeared behind Miaoyin. With a sweep of his hand, a mass of mist enveloped her. She let out piercing screams as a burst of radiant light expanded to its limit. Miaoyin tumbled out of the gray mist, blood spilling from the corner of her lips, utterly disheveled.

“Yun Zhenzi, Song Yuanzhi—will you watch as this old woman faces the demonic path alone?”

Miaoyin roared in fury. She knew she was no match for Wenren Li, but she refused to believe he could fight three opponents alone.

Her grand-uncle-master Guan Yue had also died at Wenren Li’s hands, along with six other Soul Transformation powerhouses whose cultivation was no weaker than hers. Had Miaoyin known these details, she would not have dared to think this way.

Yet Yun Zhenzi’s thoughts were much the same as Miaoyin’s. Unless he personally tested Wenren Li, he was unwilling to believe that Wenren Li truly possessed the strength to dominate all others alone. Before Chen Yixin’s arrival, he had been the fastest cultivator in the history of the Jade Cauldron Sect.

Clad in white robes, Yun Zhenzi stepped forward. Song Yuanzhi appeared a moment later. Both intended to battle Wenren Li.

Wenren Li turned his head slightly and murmured to Chen Yixin, “A-Rong, watch me kill them from another place.”

Though Chen Yixin did not quite understand, he still nodded. Immediately, Wenren Li tapped his glabella, and Chen Yixin was drawn into the icy-blue jade pendant hanging at Wenren Li’s neck—the very jade pendant Chen Yixin had once given him.

“A-Rong, are you well?”

Chen Yixin found himself within an icy-blue world. He took a deep breath, feeling an immediate sense of comfort, when Wenren Li’s voice reached him.

“I am very well.”

Chen Yixin replied. He tried to open his storage space, only to find it sealed. With no other choice, he sat down cross-legged. Regardless of the jade pendant’s mysterious properties—unknown even to him—he focused on carefully observing Wenren Li as he faced three powerhouses alone.

Wenren Li did not rely solely on overwhelming cultivation to suppress them. On the contrary, he was exceedingly sparing in his use of spells. All his methods consisted of formations and restrictions, wielded with unfathomable mastery, impossible to guard against.

Miaoyin shifted positions, appearing to one side. Seizing an opportunity, she attempted a sudden attack. Wenren Li turned his head toward her, and Chen Yixin inside the jade pendant also widened his eyes. In the next instant, that stretch of void suddenly split apart.

Wenren Li retreated swiftly. Miaoyin, however, was bitten by an indistinct entity, losing half her head—and then down to her abdomen. Her soul leapt out from her dantian, desperate to escape, yet the overwhelming suction seized even her soul.

Her gaze suddenly turned toward them, and with a shrill, furious scream, she detonated her own soul—self-destructing on the spot.

Wenren Li rapidly retreated, continuously throwing out defensive array discs. At the same time, his hand first grasped the jade pendant. He successfully escaped the blast radius of a Soul Transformation cultivator’s self-destruction, but Yun Zhenzi and Song Yuanzhi, who were closer than him, might not have had such a reaction.

Wenren Li released his grip on the jade pendant, yet he did not leave. Before their very eyes, the spatial rift was torn open into an even larger gap by the explosion. A terrifying suction force erupted at once, seemingly intent on swallowing the entire Burning Heaven Nether Palace.

“Master, we must leave quickly! That thing has likely developed a bad temper—it devours everything.”

The palace spirit on Chen Yixin’s thumb emerged once more, its voice trembling, clearly harboring great fear toward whatever lurked within the void.

“Madam, let us wait until its mood improves before returning to subdue it.”

The palace spirit added another remark, its tone toward Wenren Li carrying a hint more flattery and ingratiation than when speaking to Chen Yixin.

Wenren Li still did not respond. He lifted his foot and traversed two steps eastward. Song Yuanzhi, who had barely escaped with severe injuries, crashed directly at his feet. Looking up, despair and misery were written all over his face.

“Demon Lord, spare me, spare me! I am merely a rogue cultivator, invited here by Yun Zhenzi—I am not of the righteous path!”

Wenren Li said nothing. Song Yuanzhi continued kowtowing and begging for mercy. Just as he was about to open the fist he had been clenching tightly, Wenren Li pointed a finger at him. All his movements froze instantly. The thunder crystal hidden in his palm—yet to be detonated—was taken away by Wenren Li.

Immediately after, a mass of black smoke enveloped him. His expression gradually twisted in agony, yet he could not even let out a scream.

Wenren Li reached out again, and with a grasp, forcibly extracted Song Yuanzhi’s soul from his body.

“Spare me, spare me, Demon Lord, spare me!” His soul continuously transmitted these pleas, far more sincere than before.

Only at this moment did he truly realize that both he and Yun Zhenzi had been deceived by Wenren Li. With his strength alone, Wenren Li could have completely crushed Miaoyin. He could have denied her any chance to call for help, yet he allowed it—giving them the illusion that, together, they could stand against him.

However, Wenren Li’s hand continued to tighten, and the consciousness within Song Yuanzhi’s soul was extinguished.

Wenren Li took out a porcelain bottle and stored Song Yuanzhi’s soul inside. With a tap on the jade pendant, Chen Yixin—who had been watching intently—was once again drawn into his arms. Wenren Li gently brushed Chen Yixin’s hair, and the aura that repelled both gods and ghosts slowly receded from him.

“A-Rong, you’ve waited long.”

Chen Yixin did not respond immediately. He stepped back, carefully examining Wenren Li to ensure he was completely unharmed. Only then did he step forward again and lean into Wenren Li’s embrace. “Not long.”

He lifted his head and kissed Wenren Li’s cheek, praising him in the most earnest tone, “Our A-Li is truly amazing.”

Wenren Li—thirty thousand years old—was praised as though he were a child, and his cheeks flushed faintly. He nodded and accepted it. “Mm.”

“Master, Madam…” The palace spirit emerged again to speak. It did not wish to be so tactless and risk being remembered by Chen Yixin for future punishment, but as the most loyal palace spirit, there were things it had to say.

“Since you possess a Soul Transformation primordial spirit, subduing it will be much easier.”

Wenren Li’s purpose in bringing Chen Yixin here was not solely for the treasury, nor merely to kill—it was to help Chen Yixin subdue a strange beast that had once guarded the treasury. With such a creature protecting Chen Yixin, he could finally feel at ease.

Chen Yixin turned his head, and as expected, the palace spirit received a glare from him. Yet it seemed quite accustomed to such looks. It continued explaining the method of subjugation to Wenren Li in great detail, rambling on until it was certain nothing had been omitted. Only then did it bow and disappear.

Led by Wenren Li, Chen Yixin went to find a suitable place to refine the necessary auxiliary pills. As he was pulled along, the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger. His brows furrowed slightly.

“Why does that old fellow seem as though he already knew me…”

Although calling him “Master” was one thing, such familiarity went beyond that. More importantly, it was also familiar with Wenren Li. Could it be that they had crossed paths before? Given Wenren Li’s long lifespan, it was not impossible.

Wenren Li fell silent for a moment, then nodded. “I feel the same.”

The Burning Heaven Nether Palace was an object from the upper realm, and thus its palace spirit was also a spirit of the upper realm. It was not strange for it to recognize Chen Yixin, yet the speed at which it accepted Wenren Li as well was rather peculiar.

Just as Chen Yixin was about to call the palace spirit out again to question it further, he discovered that their connection had completely vanished. The palace spirit had fallen into slumber, and with its injuries, who knew how many years it would take to awaken.

Chen Yixin rolled his eyes and did not pursue the matter further. It did not seem all that important anyway.

Wenren Li found a suitable palace and began refining pills. Chen Yixin sat beside him, staring at Wenren Li’s face for nearly half an hour before shifting his position and lying down across Wenren Li’s lap. Closing his eyes, he prepared to sleep.

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