Futile Devices Scans

Chen Yixin’s arms wrapped around Wenren Li’s neck as he leaned in slowly, brushing his cheek against him. “A-Li, why are you carrying me?” he asked, a faint blush appearing on his face—clearly overthinking things.

Wenren Li tilted his head and could not resist pressing a kiss to Chen Yixin’s cheek. “I’m taking A-Rong somewhere.”

“Oh,” Chen Yixin responded, a trace of disappointment flickering in his eyes. He had thought Wenren Li intended to comfort him in a more… special way. It seemed his expectations had been for nothing.

Wenren Li did not entirely let him down. The step he had just taken was withdrawn, and his lips moved from Chen Yixin’s cheek to the tip of his nose, then to his lips. When it came to intimacy with Chen Yixin, Wenren Li felt no resistance whatsoever.

His disappointment had been noticed, and now, slightly appeased, Chen Yixin showed no trace of shyness. His arms tightened around Wenren Li’s neck as he responded to the kiss, still held in his embrace.

Only after the kiss ended did Chen Yixin notice Jing Shisan lying on the ground, an eyesore. He sent a voice transmission to Nan Ke, instructing them to “take good care” of him, before signaling Wenren Li to continue carrying him.

After only a few breaths, they arrived in a space of complete darkness. Chen Yixin extended his spiritual sense outward, but found nothing—only emptiness, which stirred an inexplicable unease within him. He instinctively held Wenren Li tighter.

“A-Li, where is this? Why have we come here?”

“The small town is one of the cultivation sites of the Burning Heaven Nether Palace. We are now in the underground space beneath it.”

A so-called cultivation site was a place where the former master of the Burning Heaven Nether Palace had once cultivated or comprehended the Dao. His presence had permeated the land, leaving behind an influence that endured despite the passage of time.

As Wenren Li spoke, he swept his hand forward. Like a gust of wind, the illusion before them dispersed. There was no endless void—only a pool of blood. That blood gave Chen Yixin a deeply unsettling feeling. He struggled slightly, and Wenren Li immediately set him down.

After hesitating, Chen Yixin stepped forward and carefully sensed it. Then he took a step back, retreating into Wenren Li’s embrace before finally calming somewhat. Wenren Li had not brought him here merely for closeness—he had anticipated this reaction, this instinctive fear that Chen Yixin could not suppress.

“This is… divine blood. It feels very familiar… my blood.”

The sensation was overwhelmingly strong—so strong that Chen Yixin could immediately conclude that before the Burning Heaven Nether Palace fell from the Upper Realm, the battle that took place must have been earth-shattering. The aura emanating from this pool of divine blood made one’s heart tremble.

Yet what unsettled him was not only that. He also felt, as if it were his own, an emotion of utter resolve—so resolute it bordered on despair. Rather to shatter like jade than live as broken tile—fierce and unyielding.

Wenren Li had not brought Chen Yixin here to make him experience this. Holding him close, he began to explain, “That year, I passed through the town while gravely injured. The land here felt comforting, so I stayed. Only later did I discover this place.”

“Though I was born with a demonic fetus, this pool of divine blood did not harm me in the slightest. Instead, it protected me while I recovered. A-Rong has never harmed me, and never will.” This was divine blood left behind by Chen Yixin’s previous life, imprinted with his will.

The jade pendant had caused Wenren Li discomfort, but it was only a sensation—it had never truly harmed him. Otherwise, Chen Yixin would not have only realized it now.

The first time Wenren Li came here, he had cried. At the time, he did not understand why—nor could he comprehend the sudden sorrow that overwhelmed him. He had assumed it was the lingering influence of the divine blood’s owner. But now, he knew that was not the case.

He had not been influenced—he himself had been grieving for this blood.

“Mm,” Chen Yixin responded softly. Turning around, he stepped closer once more and crouched beside the blood pool. He placed his hand into it and simply left it there, silent.

He had already begun to accept this so-called identity of the Divine Son.

This pool of blood gave him a far more convincing certainty than what he had confirmed from Jing Zhihua.

“There is one more thing I haven’t told you,” Wenren Li said. He did not step forward, but he knew that Chen Yixin’s state of mind at this moment must be extremely complicated. There were likely many things he wanted to know, yet he did not know where to begin.

“Within Zhou Yan’s soul, there is a servant mark (

from the Burning Heaven Nether Palace, but he has used a secret technique to suppress it, so he is no longer under your control.”

Zhou Yan was likely the only person besides Wenren Li who had confirmed Chen Yixin’s identity as the Divine Son. Yet he had attempted to completely annihilate Chen Yixin’s soul—in other words, he wanted Chen Yixin dead. He had betrayed his master.

Not only did he wish to rid himself of the “servant mark,” he also sought to seize the inheritance that belonged to Chen Yixin. The day his Inheritance Crystal was extracted was likely part of a deal he had made with Jing Zhihua. What he had not anticipated, however, was Wenren Li’s existence—nor that Chen Yixin would recover so quickly and return once more to the Burning Heaven Nether Palace.

Wenren Li even suspected that Zhou Yan’s betrayal was not something born in this lifetime alone—it was very likely that he had already betrayed Chen Yixin back in the Upper Realm.

Wenren Li could suppress the vast majority of Soul Transformation powerhouses in Taixuan, yet Zhou Yan, who came from the Upper Realm, might possess unknown trump cards. Whether he had accomplices from the Upper Realm who also intended to harm Chen Yixin—this, too, remained unknown.

“In a study within the Burning Heaven Nether Palace that has already been destroyed, I found several ancient bamboo slips that recorded some fragmented matters, including information related to the secret method of the servant mark.”

He transmitted the knowledge contained in the jade slip regarding the “servant mark” directly into Chen Yixin’s mind. Giving him the jade slip itself would have been useless—Chen Yixin could not understand the script.

“Ah—ah… this cannot be, cannot be! How could the Master still use divine blood to nourish our souls…”

Just as Wenren Li was about to say more, from the thumb Chen Yixin had submerged in the blood pool, the palace spirit suddenly emerged, looking utterly panicked. Yet when it realized the situation, it shrank back. Before it could retreat, Wenren Li seized it and sealed off its path with a restriction.

“Since you’ve awakened, don’t think of hiding.”

Without further nonsense, he briefly recounted Chen Yixin’s experiences at the Jade Cauldron Sect, and once again mentioned the matter of the “servant mark” within Zhou Yan’s soul.

“Concealing this brings no benefit to A-Rong. Tell us about the Upper Realm.”

The palace spirit looked stunned. It had likely not expected Chen Yixin and Wenren Li to encounter someone from the Upper Realm so soon—especially someone who intended to harm them. It had withheld the truth to avoid disturbing Chen Yixin’s state of mind and affecting his cultivation, but under the current circumstances, as Wenren Li had said, continuing to conceal it would only give those “traitors” an opportunity.

Floating above the blood pool, the palace spirit did not speak immediately. Instead, it solemnly kowtowed to Chen Yixin and Wenren Li.

“This servant, the palace spirit of Burning Heaven, greets Lord Yi and Lord Li.”

In the Upper Realm, cultivation levels were similarly divided into ranks. After ascending from the Great Ascension stage and passing through the Immortal Transformation Pool, one would become a Flying Immortal, then Earth Immortal, Upper Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, followed by Immortal Lord, and Immortal Emperor. Each level contained nine grades, with vast differences in strength between each.

The palace spirit’s use of the title “Lord” clearly indicated Chen Yixin and Wenren Li’s status—rulers of a domain, worthy of the worship of countless immortals.

“The Master is indeed the Divine Son of the Upper Realm, but not the descendant of a human Immortal Lord. He is the youngest son of the Emperor of the ancient Phoenix Divine Clan, born as a first-grade Immortal Lord.”

At the time of Chen Yixin’s fall, it was said he had been only one step away from becoming the third Emperor of the ancient Phoenix Divine Clan to exist simultaneously in that era.

“As for how the Master and Lord Li came to know each other, this old servant does not know much. I only heard a few things from Palace Master Yin.”

The “Palace Master Yin” referred to Yinzi. As Chen Yixin had been an Immortal Lord in the Upper Realm, it was not inappropriate for his adopted “child” to be addressed as a palace master.

“What did he say?” Chen Yixin asked, stepping out of the pool and standing beside Wenren Li. He looked at the somewhat embarrassed palace spirit and pressed further.

“The Palace Master said… Lord Li was a tree you raised, and that it was only natural for you to… sleep with him.”

Since ancient times, phoenixes were said to perch upon parasol trees. Yet the youngest son of the Phoenix Divine Clan in that generation had an unusual temperament—he disdained ancient parasol trees that had grown for tens of thousands of years, preferring only the tree he had raised himself… to the extent of forming a Dao companion bond with it.

“The Burning Heaven Nether Palace was a coming-of-age gift from the Phoenix Empress to you. What this old servant knows are the events after that.”

As the palace spirit spoke, a trace of emotion surfaced in its expression. Looking up at them, it seemed to understand things now that it once did not.

“How long did we live in the Burning Heaven Nether Palace?” Chen Yixin asked.

If it had not been too long, then everything could be recounted in detail. If it had been too long, then only the important points would need to be told.

“About one hundred thousand years,” the palace spirit replied, bowing respectfully.

A trace of daze appeared in Chen Yixin’s expression. The span of his life had been far too short—thousands or tens of thousands of years were already beyond his imagination, let alone a hundred thousand or several hundred thousand years…

“Then tell me how A-Li and I met our end, and how the Burning Heaven Nether Palace came from the Upper Realm to Taixuan.”

“Yes,” the palace spirit nodded. Instead of speaking, it used the blood pool to project a series of scenes.

During the hundred thousand years they had lived in the Burning Heaven Nether Palace, aside from daily cultivation, they spent most of their time venturing out in search of treasures. Chen Yixin had wanted to arrange the palace as the residence he and Wenren Li would share after their marriage. At the same time, he also had to deal with matters involving his father, mother, brothers, and sisters—he needed his family’s approval before they could hold their Dao companion ceremony.

Sometimes Chen Yixin returned with smiling eyes, other times filled with frustration. Yet after grinding away for a hundred thousand years, the family he cared about finally accepted the fact that their son intended to marry a tree—a male tree that would only blossom and never bear fruit.

Regardless of what the Emperor, the Phoenix Empress, and the other Immortal Lords truly thought, invitations for the Dao companion ceremony were still sent to the various Immortal Lord and Emperor residences throughout the Upper Realm.

On the auspicious day jointly selected by the Phoenix Empress and the Fate Arbiter, Chen Yixin and Wenren Li, dressed in red robes, finally welcomed their ceremony. Everything proceeded smoothly—until the moment they swore their vows to the Heavenly Dao. At that instant, divine lightning descended. Their vows were not accepted by the Heavenly Dao.

“How could this be?”

Ordinarily, when descendants of the ancient divine clans married, auspicious signs would descend from the heavens after their vows. Many Flying Immortals and Heavenly Immortals had come precisely to witness such a grand event. Yet instead of auspicious omens, there came only a warning in the form of divine lightning.

Chen Yixin, born and raised within the ancient Phoenix clan, had no issue with his identity. Therefore, the one rejected by the Heavenly Dao had to be Wenren Li, the one he intended to bind in marriage.

“Jiu’er, you have seen it yourself—the Heavenly Dao does not acknowledge this. This marriage contract is invalid. Let this matter end here.”

Amid the rising murmurs of the crowd, the Emperor of the ancient Phoenix Divine Clan spoke. From the very beginning, they had never truly approved of Chen Yixin being with a tree immortal who had no background.

“Wait!” Chen Yixin stuffed the red embroidered silk ball connecting him and Wenren Li into Wenren Li’s arms, stepped forward, and blocked the path of the Emperor and the Phoenix Empress. “If the Heavenly Dao does not acknowledge it, then I do not need its acknowledgment. I acknowledge it. A-Li acknowledges it. If you acknowledge it, then this marriage contract stands. From this day forth, A-Li is the Dao companion of me, Lord Yi of the Burning Heaven!”

As Chen Yixin confronted the Emperor and Empress, a beam of divine light descended from the sky and struck Wenren Li. He let out a muffled groan, and the aura within him—neither of the immortal race nor the divine race—could no longer be concealed.

“A demon… a heavenly demon! Such a monstrosity—how did it infiltrate the territory of our immortal race?”

“Emperor Fengyuan, you must not continue to indulge your son!”

The Upper Realm was ruled by the human and divine races, while the demon race had retreated to the barren Demon Realm in the previous era. Though there had been no direct conflict in this era, there was never a shortage of those who thrived on suspicion. They immediately concluded that Wenren Li was a spy sent from the Demon Realm, intending to invade the immortal and divine domains once more.

Voices rose in a chaotic clamor, condemning both Wenren Li and Chen Yixin. Under the watchful eyes of all, even if the Emperor and the Phoenix Empress wished to favor Chen Yixin, they could not act excessively. At the same time, their opinion of Wenren Li—who had sparked this crisis—grew even worse.

Chen Yixin did not argue further. He returned to Wenren Li’s side, and with a surge of divine light from his body, the oppressive radiance affecting Wenren Li was dispelled.

Grasping Wenren Li’s hand, his gaze darkened slightly. “A-Li, it seems I was too attached. I only wanted to give you something… yet instead, I’ve attracted these irritating flies to ruin everything.”

Those present were Immortal Emperors, Immortal Lords, or at the very least seventh- or eighth-grade Heavenly Immortals. How could they fail to hear Chen Yixin’s words? One by one, their faces flushed with anger. Were it not for the Phoenix clan’s long-standing dominance—and the presence of Chen Yixin’s parents and siblings—they would have already taken action to discipline him.

“This marriage will not proceed. See the guests out!” Chen Yixin declared, gripping Wenren Li’s hand and pulling him inward. “We’ll go straight to the bridal chamber.” Whether or not the Heavenly Dao acknowledged it, he did.

But before they could take more than two steps, two Immortal Lords stepped forward to block their path, their expressions stern and righteous.

“Lord Yi, do not act recklessly. Such a monstrosity must be eliminated. Otherwise, it will bring calamity upon the world in the future—it will be too late to regret it then.”

“Eliminate?” The gentleness on Chen Yixin’s face vanished completely. Even in anger, he had always maintained a smile—but now, he was truly enraged. What should have been a joyous occasion had turned into a crusade to exterminate his beloved. How could he tolerate this?

“I found A-Li. I raised him bit by bit. If he is a demon, then what of me, who raised him? If you wish to eliminate him, then eliminate me as well!”

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