Yet Chen Yixin had still underestimated the human heart—or rather, the hearts of immortals who stood above all living beings and had transcended the six desires.
Even after hearing his words, someone still sneered coldly. “The Sovereign’s youngest son has been completely bewitched by that demonic abomination. How can one with such a noble body debase himself by coupling with some demon of unknown origin…?”
Unable to condemn Wenren Li for being a member of the demon race now that Chen Yixin had washed away his demonic qi with divine blood, they simply turned around and began condemning their relationship for violating worldly conventions.
“Enough! Since my brother-in-law’s demonic qi has been cleansed away, he is no longer one of the demon race. Their union was approved by our father and mother!” Chen Yixin’s eldest brother stepped forward and placed himself protectively in front of Chen Yixin, making his intention to defend his younger brother unmistakable.
Chen Yixin had already used his own blood to give his family an opening to step in without losing face. If they still refused to stand up now, these people really would begin to think the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan could be humiliated at will.
“Hahahaha…” Instead, Chen Yixin burst into laughter, showing absolutely no regard for the Sovereign who ruled an entire clan. “What a waste of your immortality. You can’t even see past something this simple.”
“I might as well spell it out for all of you. I like men. I like A-Li.”
If Chen Yixin had not been sincere, why would there have been a bonding ceremony today? If he had not loved Wenren Li, why would he have drained himself of divine blood for him? Whether their love was right or wrong was certainly not for this Sovereign to judge. “A dog catching mice—meddling in business that has nothing to do with you.”
Chen Yixin swept a hand toward the Fentian Nether Abode. The entire Immortal Abode immediately shrank and disappeared into his sleeve. Then his body shifted, once again transforming into a phoenix blazing with blue light before tearing through space and vanishing from the area.
With Sovereign Feng Yuan and the Phoenix Empress watching, none of the other Sovereigns dared pursue Chen Yixin openly. They no longer had any legitimate reason to attack him. Doing so would be equivalent to publicly declaring themselves enemies of the entire Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan.
As for the half-step Sovereigns and Immortal Lords, none of them could match Chen Yixin. Even if they wanted to pursue him, they could not catch a Chen Yixin who had returned to his true form and was determined to hide. One thing was certain, however: there would be no shortage of people searching for him in secret.
Chen Yixin’s eldest brother sent him a message urging him to return to the territory of the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan. As long as their father and mother were there, no one would dare take either Chen Yixin’s or Wenren Li’s life. Chen Yixin understood that perfectly well, yet he still refused to return.
Over the years, Chen Yixin had traveled nearly everywhere in the Upper Realm in search of better divine water and divine soil for Wenren Li. In his opinion, some of those places were far safer than the Phoenix Divine Domain.
Today, his father, mother, and brothers had allowed the taboos of the divine clans to keep them from standing up for him from the beginning. Who was to say that tomorrow, for some equally unfounded reason, they would not hand over their own son and son-in-law to be slaughtered?
Never had anything been clearer to Chen Yixin than it was now: nothing mattered more than possessing strength of one’s own. He could not simply hide. He had to take Wenren Li with him and grow stronger as quickly as possible. Once the two of them became powerful enough, there would be no situation in which they were completely unable to fight back.
Chen Yixin’s complexion grew paler and paler, and the opponents he encountered became increasingly powerful, yet his own combat strength rose again and again. Every time the immortals believed he had finally reached his limit and was about to fall, another report would soon spread that Chen Yixin had killed yet another Immortal Lord.
“Mother, please take Father out of your chest. If this continues, you won’t be able to endure it.”
Yinzi’s true form was no longer as cute as when Chen Yixin had first found it, but ordinarily it still preferred to shrink to the size of a cushion and act like an ignorant little child. Playing cute and behaving sweetly came as naturally to it as breathing.
This time, however, Yinzi was not trying to ingratiate itself. It was genuinely worried about Chen Yixin. One of its tendrils gently brushed across the strands of silver beginning to appear at the ends of Chen Yixin’s hair, and Yinzi’s heart ached terribly.
Chen Yixin had already endured countless hunts and desperate battles, and throughout all of them he had carried a blood-drinking seed inside his heart. There was no need to repeat how precious phoenix divine blood was. If this continued, even Chen Yixin’s lifespan would become a genuine cause for concern.
“It’s fine.” Chen Yixin stroked Yinzi’s head while covering his chest with his other hand. A trace of tenderness appeared on his face as he murmured, “It won’t be much longer.”
Unfortunately, “not much longer” did not mean ten days or half a month, nor did it mean ten or twenty years. A full hundred years passed, and Chen Yixin remained in the same condition. His hair had turned completely silver, and by then he could fight a first-rank Immortal Emperor continuously for three days without losing.
“Mother, where are we going this time?”
Yinzi asked as it floated along the ground by itself. It no longer dared act lazy and make Chen Yixin carry it. When necessary, Yinzi was the one who carried Chen Yixin instead.
For most of these years, they had hidden within remote forbidden zones of the Upper Realm. Even when enemies tracked them down and surrounded them, Chen Yixin and Yinzi could use the terrain to kill several of their pursuers before escaping. But only a few days ago, they had killed several more people inside this forbidden zone. More pursuers would certainly arrive soon, which meant they needed to move again.
Chen Yixin did not answer Yinzi immediately. He considered the matter for quite some time before finally saying, “We’re going to Qiu Yi in the Xiaoqiu Realm.”
Yinzi knew Immortal Lord Qiu Yi. He was one of the very few people Chen Yixin considered a friend. But friendship was not the main reason Chen Yixin was going to him. He needed to borrow something.
Immortal Lord Qiu Yi lived in the Xiaoqiu Realm, which was not particularly far from where Chen Yixin had been hiding. Yinzi was a void beast, so by traveling through the void, they arrived in less than half a day.
When Qiu Yi saw Chen Yixin’s completely silver hair, he stared for a long time before finally calling softly, “Lord Yi. You’re here.”
Chen Yixin had no interest in joking around with him as he once would have. He spoke directly. “I need to borrow something from you.”
Qiu Yi fell silent for a moment and immediately understood what Chen Yixin had come for. He nodded and led the way. “Lord Yi, follow me.”
Chen Yixin followed Qiu Yi to a well in the southeastern part of the Xiaoqiu Realm. This well was exactly what he had come to borrow. There was no longer any doubt that he and Wenren Li could not remain in the Upper Realm. Their only option was to descend to the lower realms and begin again through the Reincarnation Wheel.
“Lord Yi, think carefully.” Qiu Yi guarded this well, and Chen Yixin was hardly the first person to ask to use it. But of all those Qiu Yi had personally seen descend through it, very few had met with good endings. Some were ensnared by mortal attachments and never returned, while others became completely lost within the Reincarnation Wheel and ended up wandering as lonely ghosts.
In Qiu Yi’s view, Chen Yixin had already done more than enough for Wenren Li. If he continued being this stubborn, he would only hurt both himself and the person he loved.
Chen Yixin glanced at Qiu Yi and gently shook his head. “Qiu Yi, you simply haven’t met the person who would make you understand. When you do, you’ll understand. Thinking it over again and again is useless. From the moment I realized I loved A-Li, my feelings have never changed.”
Just as he had once told Wenren Li, once Chen Yixin chose him, that choice was final. He chose Wenren Li now, and even after reincarnation, he would choose him again.
Chen Yixin touched his chest, and a black seed that no longer emitted any spiritual radiance appeared in his palm. His A-Li had finally completed his transformation. All Wenren Li needed now was time. If the Upper Realm refused to give him that time, then they would go to the lower realms instead.
“A-Li, when you reach the lower realms, cultivate properly. And you’re not allowed to fall in love with anyone but me.”
Chen Yixin gently kissed the black seed and extended his hand over the well. Then he paused and added, “Wait for me.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the seed fell into the well. A bolt of heavenly lightning immediately descended, but Chen Yixin blocked it with an immortal art. He then remained beside the well for several months, refusing to leave until he was certain Wenren Li had successfully reincarnated. Only then did he finally relax.
“Where are you going, Lord Yi?” Qiu Yi had come to bring Chen Yixin some medicinal pills, only to find him gathering his things as though preparing to leave again.
“There are a few things I need to settle before I can go.”
Chen Yixin did not explain much. He left Qiu Yi several rare treasures as payment, then departed with Yinzi.
Chen Yixin did not take the Fentian Nether Abode with him. He left it with Qiu Yi and asked him to reinforce some of its formations. Chen Yixin intended to use the Abode to protect Yinzi when Yinzi descended to the lower realms as well.
Because of that, even the Abode Spirit had no idea where Chen Yixin had gone with Yinzi or what he intended to do. Chen Yixin remained gone for a full ten years. Qiu Yi asked around, but there was not the slightest news of Chen Yixin anywhere in the outside world. He could only speculate that Chen Yixin’s family had found him and taken him back to the Phoenix Divine Domain to recover from his injuries.
Yet they had barely enjoyed a few peaceful days when news that shook the entire Upper Realm spread once more. Chen Yixin had killed the second-rank Sovereign Luo Ze within the Tianhe Forbidden Zone—the very Sovereign who had mocked Chen Yixin and Wenren Li that day for “coupling” with one another.
At the same time, rumors claimed Chen Yixin had completely exhausted his origin essence and did not have long to live. Some even claimed to have personally witnessed him fall into the Tianhe and die.
Qiu Yi stopped asking around. From what he knew of Chen Yixin, Chen Yixin was not ready to die yet. He would definitely come back. Sure enough, half a month later Chen Yixin returned, barely alive and with his origin essence genuinely exhausted.
“Why not ask the Sovereign or Phoenix Empress to come protect you while you descend? I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect you by myself.”
“There’s no need.” Chen Yixin shook his head. Dragging his feet, he walked step by step toward the well leading to the lower realms. He took the Fentian Nether Abode back from Qiu Yi, placed Yinzi—who had suffered some injuries while fighting beside him—inside it, and asked Qiu Yi to let Yinzi recover for a few more days before sending the Abode down after him.
Chen Yixin himself continued toward the well, his expression becoming unexpectedly gentle. After all this time, perhaps he truly missed his A-Li more than words could say.
“Lord Yi…” Sadness entered Qiu Yi’s eyes. Even now he still did not truly understand Chen Yixin, but that did not mean he was unmoved. If someone loved him the way Chen Yixin loved Wenren Li, Qiu Yi could not imagine remaining untouched or never coming to love that person in return.
All he could hope now was that Wenren Li would prove worthy of everything Chen Yixin had given him, and that the two of them might eventually receive some measure of a happy ending. Or perhaps Chen Yixin would one day finally let go and emerge from this trial of love.
Chen Yixin heard Qiu Yi call him but did not turn around. He could even sense his family tearing through space toward him, yet still he did not look back. He reached the well without a trace of hesitation and leapt in.
“A-Li, I’m coming to find you.”
Sovereign Feng Yuan, arriving at that instant, sent out a spell, but all he managed to catch was a single strand of Chen Yixin’s silver hair.
“Foolish child… foolish child…”
Sovereign Feng Yuan searched the well for several hours without finding the slightest trace of Chen Yixin. Unlike the enormous disturbance caused when Wenren Li reincarnated, Chen Yixin disappeared into the well like a drop of water falling into its depths. Even Sovereign Feng Yuan could no longer track him.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons Chen Yixin had deliberately exhausted every last trace of his origin essence. Or perhaps it was because of his constitution, which had been naturally aligned with the Dao since birth.
Several days later, the Fentian Nether Abode—its formations reinforced once more by Sovereign Feng Yuan—was cast into the well. Even with an Immortal Emperor protecting it, however, the Upper Realm Immortal Abode was still severely damaged during the descent. Yinzi itself remained unharmed, but the Reincarnation Wheel affected its memories nonetheless, causing it to forget most of what had happened.
The images within the blood pool ended abruptly there. Chen Yixin and Wenren Li remained silent for a long time. Wenren Li in particular had never imagined that Chen Yixin had sacrificed so much for him in their previous lives—and damn it, Wenren Li had forgotten every last bit of it.
Wenren Li turned toward Chen Yixin. His hand slowly rose before settling over Chen Yixin’s chest, and his throat tightened again and again. “Does it still hurt?”
Having a seed buried inside his heart, constantly drinking his blood—how much must that have hurt?
“It doesn’t.” Chen Yixin answered with complete certainty. He stepped half a pace closer until there was no distance left between them. “With A-Li inside my heart, this place was warm. It didn’t hurt.”
Chen Yixin had remembered nothing, yet he remained absolutely certain of both the words and the feeling behind them. In the Abode Spirit’s memories, every time his former self had placed a hand over his chest, his expression had been gentle. It had not been because of pain. It was because the person he loved was there.
Fortunately, although their reincarnations had still been filled with twists and turns, they had found each other again—and fallen in love with each other all over again.
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