“Lord Yi…”
Wenren Li called to him softly. He did not doubt Chen Yixin’s feelings for him, but neither did he want Chen Yixin to go this far on his behalf.
Before Wenren Li could say anything more, Chen Yixin turned toward him. Right there under the eyes of everyone present, he hooked an arm around Wenren Li’s neck and gave him a lingering, deeply affectionate kiss.
“A-Li has forgotten. After today, you and I will be Dao companions. In the mortal world, that makes us husband and wife. ‘Lord Yi’ is what everyone else calls me. A-Li can call me anything you like, but you’re not allowed to call me that.”
The assembled immortals probably all felt as though the sight had nearly blinded them. Their faces flushed, though it was difficult to tell whether they were genuinely embarrassed or simply affected by the atmosphere between the two men.
More astonishing still was Chen Yixin’s behavior itself. Outside, he was domineering and overbearing, and when it came to bullying his juniors, he never showed the slightest mercy.
Yet in front of Wenren Li, Chen Yixin was gentle and possessed an inexplicable trace of docility… No, not docility. He was acting spoiled with Wenren Li. If they remembered correctly, hadn’t the youngest son of the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan already been out of his shell for two or three hundred thousand years…?
“You… You two!” The two Immortal Lords blocking Chen Yixin and Wenren Li suffered the greatest shock of all. They opened their mouths, only to realize they had no idea what they could possibly say. Still, being ignored so thoroughly was decidedly unpleasant, and an assortment of equally strange feelings began rising from the depths of their hearts.
“I’m being intimate with my wife. What business is that of yours?” Chen Yixin turned toward them, his expression so cold it could have shed frost. Yet only moments earlier, when he had kissed Wenren Li, he had looked nothing like this.
Chen Yixin sounded so completely justified that the Immortal Lord was left with nothing to say.
Chen Yixin gave him a cold scoff, then turned back to continue soothing Wenren Li. At a time like this, the last thing he wanted was to hear anything displeasing from Wenren Li’s mouth.
He stroked Wenren Li’s cheek, pulled him closer again, and gently kissed him between the brows. “A-Li, I’ve chosen you. If you live, I live. If I die, then you’ll die with me.”
Wenren Li’s throat tightened. He nodded. “All right.”
“Little Nine!” Sovereign Feng Yuan and the Phoenix Empress, having heard Chen Yixin clearly, could no longer remain calm. When Chen Yixin was happy, he could sweet-talk someone until flowers rained from the heavens, but of all their nine children, his temperament was actually the fiercest. Once he said something, he meant it.
Chen Yixin narrowed his eyes and gently rubbed his cheek against Wenren Li’s before finally straightening and looking toward Sovereign Feng Yuan, his mother, and his older brothers. He stretched out one hand, and a blue sword appeared in his palm. Only then did he speak again.
“Father, haven’t you noticed? They deliberately chose today to scheme against me.” As he spoke, his gaze swept across the surrounding crowd. The corners of his lips curved, and the mockery in his expression was completely undisguised.
“Among all the cultivators serving you Immortal Lords and Immortal Emperors, are there really no demonic cultivators who ascended from the lower realms? So why, of all people, am I forbidden from marrying one?” When Chen Yixin first found Wenren Li, Wenren Li had been nothing more than a seed that had awakened spiritual intelligence, while Chen Yixin himself was still in his juvenile form and unable to transform. They had spent two or three hundred thousand years together. No one understood Wenren Li’s circumstances better than Chen Yixin did.
If Wenren Li had been able to cultivate immortal or divine cultivation methods, Chen Yixin would never have gone to such lengths to find Demon Realm techniques for him. But in Chen Yixin’s eyes, a cultivation method was only a cultivation method. Whether the tree yao he had raised was truly a demon was determined by the person Wenren Li was, not by whatever cultivation method he happened to practice.
“A demonic cultivator? Would an ordinary demonic cultivator be rejected by the Heavenly Dao?” One of the Sovereigns with the greatest number of demonic cultivators under his command finally spoke. His expression remained indifferent, though perhaps Chen Yixin really had struck upon part of the truth.
The Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan already possessed two Sovereigns, enough to dominate an entire Divine Territory. If it gained a third—especially one this young, with limitless potential—then any future division of power and resources would no longer resemble the old arrangement.
“That only proves my A-Li is extraordinary.” Chen Yixin replied at an unhurried pace. His gaze lowered, and suddenly the blue sword swept forward. Brilliant sword light erupted, causing many of the Sovereigns to instinctively retreat from the Fentian Nether Abode. Chen Yixin was already a half-step Sovereign; if he truly attacked with everything he had, even they could be injured, much less ordinary Immortal Lords and Celestial Immortals whose cultivation was beneath his.
Yet Chen Yixin had merely activated the formations of the Fentian Nether Abode. Letting these people remain inside his home for even another quarter hour would have disgusted him.
Once the Sovereigns withdrew from the Fentian Nether Abode, the other Immortal Lords had no choice but to retreat as well. Chen Yixin, however, did not withdraw. He followed them out of the Fentian Nether Abode and hovered in midair with his sword raised, looking fully prepared to make an enemy of the entire world.
“If I don’t kill a few of you, I’m afraid you’ll keep coveting the treasures of my Fentian Nether Abode.” Chen Yixin’s face remained expressionless, but the meaning behind his words could not have been clearer. With so many people surrounding him and plotting against him, he refused to believe Wenren Li’s identity was the only reason. Greed had to be part of it as well.
Chen Yixin suddenly remembered something and turned toward the Phoenix Empress. “Mother, promise me one thing.”
“Tell me, Jiu’er.” The Phoenix Empress’s fingers dug painfully into Sovereign Feng Yuan’s hand. Watching so many people target her son like this had forced her to swallow so much anger she nearly suffered internal injuries, but as the Phoenix Empress of an entire clan, she could not act solely according to the feelings of a mother.
“If A-Li and I are both gone, then every blade of grass and every tree in the Fentian Nether Abode is to be destroyed rather than allowed to fall into anyone else’s hands.” In other words, if anyone dared take so much as a single leaf from the Fentian Nether Abode, they would face the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan’s relentless pursuit until one side was dead.
“All right.” The Phoenix Empress agreed. Sovereign Feng Yuan, his expression black with anger, pulled her farther away. Even now, he still refused to believe anyone would dare take Chen Yixin’s life right under his nose.
Chen Yixin’s life, Sovereign Feng Yuan would unquestionably protect. Wenren Li’s was another matter.
But to Chen Yixin, that was equivalent to wanting Wenren Li dead as well. The declaration he had made was not only for Wenren Li to hear; it had also been meant for his family. Sovereign Feng Yuan pulling the Phoenix Empress away made their intentions perfectly clear.
Chen Yixin pressed his lips together. His expression did not change, but the spiritual radiance around the blue sword in his hand grew brighter.
This battle was inevitable. Chen Yixin hovered in midair for nearly two hours before another Immortal Lord who was likewise known as a half-step Sovereign finally stepped forward, claiming he merely wished to spar.
“I’m not here to spar with you. I’m here to kill people. If you’re afraid of dying, you’d better step back now.”
Almost the instant Chen Yixin finished speaking, the man charged forward. The movement looked reckless, but in truth it perfectly suited the Dao he cultivated.
When two half-step Sovereigns clashed, the assembled immortals withdrew once again. Golden and blue radiance collided, and the power of their spells shook heaven and earth. Even Immortal Lords felt a faint chill of fear. The two Immortal Lords who had previously blocked Chen Yixin and Wenren Li quietly broke into cold sweats. If Chen Yixin had lost his temper back then, they truly might have died.
Blue flame surrounded Chen Yixin, capable of both attack and defense. Even this half-step Sovereign, who specialized in combat, was no match for him. A clear phoenix cry rang out. The man froze for a fraction of an instant, and Chen Yixin tore through space to appear beside him. His sword pierced directly through the man’s sea of consciousness, and blue flame swept over him. Even the body of an immortal burned away into nothingness.
A storage ornament appeared in Chen Yixin’s hand. Without even looking at it, he tossed it straight back into the Fentian Nether Abode for Yinzi to sort through later.
The sheer power Chen Yixin displayed in that first battle was so intimidating that even long after the immortal had died in both body and soul, many of the spectators still had not recovered. Those who had originally planned to challenge him next were forced to reconsider.
Yet every era produced many cultivators who managed to reach the level of half-step Sovereign, while very few ultimately became true Sovereigns. Chen Yixin’s potential and reputation had already been exaggerated into legend, but there were still plenty who believed themselves capable of surpassing him.
Besides, even if they refused to fight now, one day they would still have to face him. They could not allow fear to take root in their hearts. Once their state of mind cracked, how could they continue cultivating, much less advance? The battle for advancement to Sovereign that should have taken place a million years later had begun far ahead of schedule.
Anyone who dared step forward received no mercy from Chen Yixin. It did not matter whose descendant they were or what kind of background they possessed in the Upper Realm. If he could kill them, he did. Yet not all of these challengers were merely famous names without substance. Several battles pushed Chen Yixin to the limit, forcing him to use every method at his disposal and even return to his true phoenix form before he could kill them.
Another phoenix cry rang out. Chen Yixin once again returned to his true form without losing any of his ferocity, and with several sweeps of his feathers, he battered the most outstanding descendant of one of the oldest immortal clans to death.
At that moment, Wenren Li flew out from the Fentian Nether Abode and caught Chen Yixin, who had returned to his true phoenix form. He knew Chen Yixin was beginning to reach his limit. No matter how formidable Chen Yixin’s combat strength was, he could not endure an endless succession of battles that amounted to little more than a rotating siege.
“Abomination. If you simply went to your death yourself, Lord Yi would no longer have to fight so desperately on your behalf.”
Wenren Li tightened his hold around the little phoenix that was struggling to break free. He turned toward the Sovereign who had spoken, his expression serious. “To this day, I have never harmed a single living being in the Upper Realm. I have committed no evil. I do not deserve to be called an abomination.”
Chen Yixin had gone to extraordinary lengths to help Wenren Li cultivate. He had searched throughout the Upper Realm for divine water and had even ventured into forbidden regions to dig up divine soil. Aside from needing such resources to grow, Wenren Li had never required slaughter or bloodshed.
Yet today, people who had never spent a moment with him continued calling him an abomination and a demonic scourge.
In the past, Wenren Li had never needed to kill. But from this day forward, if he wanted to protect his beloved, he could no longer remain that way. Chen Yixin could kill gods and immortals for him. Wenren Li could do the same.
Blue light spilled from the little phoenix in Wenren Li’s arms. Chen Yixin returned to human form but remained leaning against Wenren Li. His expression was calm, without the slightest regret for anything he had done. Becoming a Sovereign had never been Chen Yixin’s true ambition. All he wanted was a free and unrestrained life with Wenren Li.
Before the demonic qi within Wenren Li could surge outward, Chen Yixin placed a fingertip between his brows. “There’s no need yet.”
Chen Yixin had never believed Wenren Li was fundamentally different from any other living being in the Upper Realm. Even if he truly was a demon, it made no difference. Wenren Li had understood nothing at first, and neither had Chen Yixin, but together they had taught each other what love was. The fact that they could feel and understand emotion meant they were no different from anyone else.
“It’s only demonic qi, isn’t it? Then I’ll wash it away!” Chen Yixin covered Wenren Li’s eyes with one hand. Wenren Li froze, then, unable to resist, fell unconscious. Chen Yixin immediately cut his own wrist, and divine blood began flowing from the wound and pouring into Wenren Li’s body.
“Jiu’er!” One of Chen Yixin’s older brothers cried out, his voice trembling along with his body. Even a single drop of blood from the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan was among the rarest treasures in the Upper Realm, and losing even one drop required years of recovery. Losing too much at once could even damage their lifespan.
But after fighting battle after battle until now, Chen Yixin had already begun treating himself as though he were merely an ordinary member of a divine clan with no family at all. Not only did he refuse to stop, he continued pouring his blood into Wenren Li while soothing him in a gentle voice.
“A-Li, don’t be afraid. My blood will never harm you.”
Continuing to fight endlessly was no solution to their current predicament. Weren’t these people saying Wenren Li was a demon and demanding that the demon be eliminated? Fine. Chen Yixin would wash the demonic qi out of Wenren Li himself. Then what demon would they have left to eliminate?
But Wenren Li’s fear had never been for himself. He was worried about Chen Yixin and heartbroken over what Chen Yixin was doing. What had Wenren Li ever done to deserve someone sacrificing this much for him?
Wenren Li’s cultivation had always been hindered by the aura of the Immortal Realm, so his progress had been much slower than Chen Yixin’s. No matter how unwilling he was now, he could not resist the divine-blood cleansing Chen Yixin was forcibly performing on him.
Blue flames soared into the heavens and divine radiance spilled in every direction while divine thunder rumbled overhead. Only Chen Yixin would dare commit such a heaven-defying act, and perhaps only a divine scion of the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan could accomplish it.
The thunder gradually faded. The aura surrounding Wenren Li had almost completely transformed, while Chen Yixin’s face had turned deathly pale after shedding nearly all the blood he could afford to lose. Yet the change in Wenren Li was not as simple as turning demonic qi into immortal qi. All the spiritual power he had cultivated over the years was undergoing a strange transformation, as though something long dormant were beginning to revive—or awaken.
Chen Yixin sensed the change and swept one hand over Wenren Li. Wenren Li’s human form vanished, leaving behind a small tree. The demonic qi had already disappeared, but this amount of divine blood was still not enough to complete the transformation.
Chen Yixin touched the little tree again, turning it into a black seed. Without hesitation, he pressed the seed directly into his own chest. His face immediately grew another shade paler.
“Father, Mother, remember this. Everything I’ve given A-Li was given willingly, and they are the ones who forced me to do it.” So if they wished to direct their anger at someone, it should not be at his A-Li, but at the sanctimonious immortals standing before them.
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