As he spoke, Chen Yixin lightly poked Wenren Li’s cheek. A moment later he watched a blush spread over the spot, so he leaned in and kissed it gently before finally deciding to spare Wenren Li.
The arm Wenren Li had wrapped around Chen Yixin’s waist tightened slightly, drawing the two of them even closer together.
They slowed their flight. Wenren Li continued carrying Chen Yixin through one ruined pocket realm after another while his divine sense swept rapidly through each one, searching for something.
“What is A-Li looking for?”
Chen Yixin asked softly as he looked around as well. A shattered secret realm that might collapse into nothingness at any moment was an extremely dangerous place for someone at Golden Core, but because Wenren Li had brought him here, Chen Yixin could not summon even the slightest sense of danger.
“The treasury of the Fentian Nether Abode.” As Wenren Li spoke, his gaze briefly swept across the ring on Chen Yixin’s hand before moving away again. The Abode Spirit was already so badly damaged that Wenren Li wasn’t sure whether it could even be saved.
“Master, you cannot go there!” The Abode Spirit poked its head out of the ring, its expression and voice filled with anxiety.
But Chen Yixin’s trust in it did not amount to even one ten-thousandth of the trust he placed in Wenren Li. He poked the Abode Spirit directly in the head and said with complete certainty, “Just tell us where it is.”
The Abode Spirit pushed one tiny arm out of the ring and rubbed the place Chen Yixin had poked, its eyes brimming with tears. It looked so moved it seemed ready to burst into sobs. Chen Yixin’s finger stiffened slightly. He had not even used any force.
After giving the spirit another look, Chen Yixin awkwardly withdrew his hand and placed it back on Wenren Li’s chest. His A-Li was much nicer to poke. Better yet, he could not be broken.
“Master, Madam, please follow this old servant.”
The Abode Spirit composed itself and flew ahead to lead the way. Its expression had returned to normal, but its choice of 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 Wenren Li was neither displeased nor inclined to correct the spirit, Chen Yixin narrowed his eyes, a trace of mischief flashing through them. “I’m A-Li’s Demon Consort, and A-Li is my wife.”
“Mm.” Wenren Li gave a quiet acknowledgment before letting out a soft sigh. “When A-Rong behaves like this, even I find it somewhat difficult to endure.” Chen Yixin probably had no idea just how thoroughly he had been teasing Wenren Li. Perhaps Wenren Li himself was beginning to grow impatient for their dual cultivation…
“And yet I still want A-Rong to treat me this way.” Wenren Li sounded genuinely troubled by his own feelings.
Laughter overflowed from Chen Yixin’s eyes. He turned his head and planted a loud kiss on Wenren Li’s lips, after which his expression became exceptionally obedient and innocent. “A-Li keeps blaming me, but aren’t you the one who refuses to stop holding me?”
If Wenren Li did not hold him, Chen Yixin would not have the chance to take liberties with him, would he? Of course, that was what he said. Wenren Li could try letting him go and see what happened.
“That’s true. I like holding A-Rong.” Wenren Li nodded, finding nothing wrong with Chen Yixin’s reasoning.
The sight of Wenren Li voluntarily taking all the blame only made him even more adorable in Chen Yixin’s eyes. With fewer and fewer reservations left in his words or actions, Chen Yixin lightly pinched Wenren Li’s chin and gave him a wet kiss carrying the faint fragrance of Duo-Duo Fruit.
The Abode Spirit would have liked to look back, but neither of the two people behind it was someone it could defy or spy upon. It concentrated on leading the way, twisting and turning through the ruined realms for nearly half an hour before flying back into the ring on Chen Yixin’s thumb. No further explanation was needed. They had arrived at the location of the Fentian Nether Abode’s treasury.
Chen Yixin and Wenren Li’s kiss had lasted rather too long, and it had become somewhat difficult to bring under control—especially for Chen Yixin, who had no interest in hiding what he wanted. He leaned against Wenren Li and slowly steadied his breathing, finally deciding he did not dare tease him any further.
Wenren Li loosened his hold slightly. Before them was a rift in the void. When the Fentian Nether Abode’s treasury was damaged, it had been torn into this void rift. A place like this was extraordinarily dangerous even for a Soul Transformation cultivator.
Chen Yixin himself had once heard Yun Yazi say that a Soul Transformation great cultivator from the Yuding Sect had been swallowed alive by an unidentified strange beast inside a void rift, and not even his primordial spirit had escaped.
“We’re going in?” Chen Yixin turned toward Wenren Li and waited for his decision. If Wenren Li insisted on entering, Chen Yixin would unquestionably accompany him.
Wenren Li gently rubbed Chen Yixin’s fingertip and shook his head. “Of course not. One day we will recover the treasury of the Fentian Nether Abode, but not today.”
After speaking, Wenren Li released Chen Yixin’s hand and took two steps forward. The violent suction made his sleeves snap in the air, yet he advanced another half step. Then he began taking various spirit materials and spirit stones from his storage space and continually sending them into the void.
Two quarters of an hour later, the void rift that had been so dangerous no one dared approach it simply vanished from both sight and perception.
“Who does A-Li plan to kill?” Chen Yixin had already understood what Wenren Li was doing. His interest immediately sharpened, and he stepped eagerly forward to wait for Wenren Li to return to his side.
“Whoever deserves to die.” Yun Zhenzi and the others had plotted to make Chen Yixin die beneath the thunder tribulation. Wenren Li’s refusal to interfere at the time did not mean he had any intention of letting the matter go afterward. And now was the time to settle accounts.
As Wenren Li spoke, his fingertips moved lightly and transmitted some information outward. Then he took Chen Yixin two steps back and waited for their targets to arrive.
Chen Yixin turned 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 fully toward him and meeting his gaze. “I’ll remember every kindness A-Li shows me.”
“But will I get in your way if I keep following you?”
This would be a battle between Soul Transformation great cultivators. Chen Yixin was only a Golden Core Perfected Master. No matter how extraordinary he was, killing someone in early Nascent Soul was about his current limit; he could not hope to harm a Soul Transformation great cultivator. If he remained beside Wenren Li, he could only become a weakness his enemies might exploit.
“You won’t.” Wenren Li raised his right hand and caressed Chen Yixin’s cheek. “A-Rong is not a burden.”
Chen Yixin’s gaze became faintly unfocused. The words sounded strangely familiar. He could not remember Wenren Li ever saying them to him before. If anything, they felt more like words Chen Yixin himself had once said to someone else.
“They’re over here!” Miao Yin’s voice rang out from where she had been, booming across the entire region like thunder.
She made no attempt to conceal the aura of a Soul Transformation great cultivator. Yet the Fentian Nether Abode had fallen from the Upper Realm, and its plants and structures were extraordinarily durable. Even in their ruined state, they suffered no further damage from her aura. The void rift—whose presence Wenren Li had concealed so thoroughly that only he could sense it—was even more dangerous than before.
Neither Chen Yixin nor Wenren Li was disturbed by her arrival. They continued looking at one another. Chen Yixin turned his head and kissed Wenren Li’s palm before finally asking in a serious tone, “Does A-Li want to carry me in your arms, or should I ride on your back?”
Without waiting for an answer, Chen Yixin went around behind Wenren Li and climbed onto his back. Once his arms were firmly wrapped around Wenren Li’s neck, he leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Kill that old witch.”
“All right.” Wenren Li nodded, then turned sideways.
Miao Yin, who had rushed ahead of everyone else in hopes of seizing whatever treasure might be here, abruptly stopped and no longer dared approach. The disgust on her face, however, was unmistakable. “Disgraceful!”
What she found disgraceful was Chen Yixin and Wenren Li behaving so intimately in front of everyone.
“Hand Meng Suo over immediately. Otherwise… my Yanyue Sect and your Likui Demon Palace will be irreconcilable enemies!”
Miao Yin still possessed Meng Suo’s life-soul lamp, so she knew with certainty that Meng Suo was not dead. She could even infer that Meng Suo, who had gone searching for an Inheritance Crystal, had most likely encountered Wenren Li and Chen Yixin. That would explain why she had disappeared inside the Fentian Nether Abode.
“Then the Yanyue Sect no longer needs to exist.”
As Wenren Li’s words fell, he appeared behind Miao Yin. He swept a hand outward, and gray mist enveloped her. Miserable screams erupted from within it. A burst of clear light suddenly expanded to its limit, and Miao Yin tumbled out of the gray mist with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, looking thoroughly battered.
“Yun Zhenzi! Song Yuanzhi! Are you going to stand there and watch this old woman face the entire demonic path alone?”
Miao Yin roared. She knew she was no match for Wenren Li, but she refused to believe he could defeat three Soul Transformation cultivators at once.
Her Martial Great-Uncle Guan Ye had also died at Wenren Li’s hands, along with six other Soul Transformation great cultivators whose cultivation was no weaker than Miao Yin’s own. Had Miao Yin known those details, she would never have continued entertaining such an idea.
Yun Zhenzi, however, was thinking much the same thing as Miao Yin. Until he tested Wenren Li personally, he was unwilling to believe the man truly possessed enough strength to overwhelm every opponent. Before Chen Yixin appeared, Yun Zhenzi himself had been the fastest cultivator in the entire history of the Yuding Sect.
Clad in white robes, Yun Zhenzi strode forward. Song Yuanzhi appeared a moment later. Both had come prepared to fight Wenren Li.
Wenren Li turned his head and whispered to Chen Yixin, “A-Rong, watch me kill them from somewhere else.”
Chen Yixin did not understand what he meant, but he nodded anyway. Wenren Li touched a finger to the center of his brow, and Chen Yixin was immediately drawn into the ice-blue jade pendant hanging from Wenren Li’s neck—the very pendant Chen Yixin had previously given him.
“Is A-Rong all right?”
Chen Yixin found himself inside an ice-blue world. He took a deep breath and found the sensation exceedingly comfortable. A moment later, Wenren Li’s voice reached him.
“I’m fine.”
Chen Yixin answered and tried opening his storage space, only to discover that he could not. He therefore sat down where he was. Whatever other miraculous properties this jade pendant possessed could wait; first he intended to watch carefully as Wenren Li fought three great cultivators alone.
Wenren Li did not defeat them merely by crushing them beneath vastly deeper cultivation. In fact, he was remarkably sparing in his use of direct spells. Nearly every method he employed involved formations, restrictions, or similar techniques, executed with such mastery that they were impossible to anticipate or defend against.
Miao Yin shifted positions and appeared to one side, finding what she thought was an opening and preparing to launch a surprise attack. Wenren Li turned his head. Inside the jade pendant, Chen Yixin widened his eyes along with him as that section of empty space suddenly collapsed.
Wenren Li retreated at tremendous speed. Something whose shape could not be made out bit away half of Miao Yin’s head, then tore down through her abdomen. Her divine soul leapt from her dantian in a desperate attempt to survive, but the terrifying suction caught even her divine soul.
Her gaze suddenly swung toward them. With one final shriek of fury, she detonated her own divine soul.
Wenren Li retreated rapidly, continuously throwing out defensive formation disks. At the same time, his hand closed around the jade pendant first. He escaped safely beyond the blast radius of a Soul Transformation cultivator’s self-destruction, though Yun Zhenzi and Song Yuanzhi, who had been closer to Miao Yin, were unlikely to react as quickly.
Wenren Li released the jade pendant but did not leave. Before their eyes, the void rift was ripped even wider by the self-destruction. A tremendous force of suction erupted from it, seemingly intent on swallowing the entire Fentian Nether Abode.
“Master, we have to leave quickly! That thing has probably been spoiled rotten. It eats absolutely everything now.”
The Abode Spirit poked its head from the ring on Chen Yixin’s thumb and spoke again. Its voice trembled, making its tremendous fear of whatever lived inside the void painfully obvious.
“Madam, we can come back and subdue it once it’s in a better mood.”
The Abode Spirit called out again, its tone toward Wenren Li noticeably more ingratiating than the one it used with Chen Yixin.
Wenren Li still did not respond. He stepped eastward twice through the air, and the severely injured Song Yuanzhi emerged from his escape route only to crash directly at Wenren Li’s feet. He looked up, bleak despair spreading across his face.
“Demon Lord, spare me! Spare me! I’m only an independent cultivator. Yun Zhenzi invited me here—I’m not one of the immortal path!”
Wenren Li remained silent. Song Yuanzhi continued kowtowing and begging. Just as he started opening the fist he had kept clenched the entire time, Wenren Li pointed a finger at him. Every movement Song Yuanzhi was making froze instantly, and an untriggered thunder crystal was taken directly from his palm.
A cloud of black smoke then swallowed him. His expression slowly twisted, yet he could not even scream.
Wenren Li made another grasping motion, and Song Yuanzhi’s divine soul was forcibly dragged from his body.
“Spare me! Spare me! Demon Lord, spare me!” His divine soul continuously transmitted the plea, and this time its desperation was far more sincere than before.
Only now did Song Yuanzhi understand that both he and Yun Zhenzi had been deceived by Wenren Li. Wenren Li possessed enough strength to overwhelm Miao Yin completely. He could have killed her without giving her any chance to cry for help, but he had deliberately allowed her to do so, creating the illusion that the three of them might have a chance if they joined forces.
Wenren Li’s hand continued to tighten. The consciousness within Song Yuanzhi’s divine soul was extinguished.
Wenren Li took out a porcelain bottle and stored Song Yuanzhi’s divine soul inside. Then he touched the jade pendant, and Chen Yixin, who had been watching intently, reappeared directly in his arms. Wenren Li lightly brushed Chen Yixin’s hair, and the forbidding aura around him slowly receded.
“A-Rong waited a long time.”
Chen Yixin did not answer immediately. He stepped back and carefully looked Wenren Li over. Only after confirming that Wenren Li was completely unharmed did he step forward again and lean into his embrace. “Not long.”
He tilted his head and kissed Wenren Li’s cheek, then praised him with absolute seriousness. “Our A-Li is amazing.”
The thirty-thousand-year-old Wenren Li, praised as though he were a small child, blushed faintly. Then he nodded and accepted the compliment. “Mm.”
“Master, Madam…” The Abode Spirit poked its head out yet again. It did not want to be such an inconsiderate spirit and end up remembered by Chen Yixin for future punishment, but as the most loyal Abode Spirit imaginable, there were certain things it simply had to say.
“Since you have the primordial spirit of a Soul Transformation cultivator, subduing it will be much easier.”
Wenren Li had brought Chen Yixin here not for the treasury, and not merely to use the opportunity to kill people. His true objective was to subdue for Chen Yixin the strange beast that had once guarded the treasury. Only with such a creature protecting Chen Yixin would Wenren Li be able to feel truly at ease.
Chen Yixin turned his head. As expected, he glared at the Abode Spirit, but the spirit seemed thoroughly accustomed to such looks by now and continued explaining the method of subjugation to Wenren Li. It rambled on until it was certain it had omitted nothing, then bowed and disappeared.
Wenren Li took Chen Yixin by the hand and led him away to find a suitable place to refine the auxiliary pills they would need. Chen Yixin let himself be pulled along, but the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger. His brows drew together faintly. “Why does that old man act as though he already knew me…?”
Calling Chen Yixin Master was one thing, but the spirit’s attitude was far too familiar for that alone. More importantly, it seemed equally familiar with Wenren Li. Could the two of them have encountered it before? Wenren Li had lived for such an absurdly long time that it was not impossible.
Wenren Li was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I have the same feeling.”
The Fentian Nether Abode was an object from the Upper Realm, which meant its Abode Spirit was also a spirit from the Upper Realm. That it might recognize Chen Yixin was not especially strange. What was strange was how quickly and naturally it had accepted Wenren Li at Chen Yixin’s side.
Chen Yixin was just about to call the Abode Spirit out and interrogate it further when he discovered that the connection between them had vanished completely. The spirit had gone dormant. Given the severity of its injuries, there was no telling how many years it might sleep before awakening again.
Chen Yixin rolled his eyes and stopped pursuing the matter. It did not seem particularly important anyway.
Wenren Li found a suitable palace and began refining pills. Chen Yixin sat beside him and stared at Wenren Li’s face for nearly half an hour before finally changing position and lying down with his head on Wenren Li’s thighs. He closed his eyes, preparing to sleep.
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