For one instant, there was complete silence. The next, the entire crowd erupted into an uproar, and the way everyone looked at Jing Zhihua changed completely.
Some of them were hearing about the divine scion for the first time, while others had long known of the seven-character divine revelation. Most of the latter belonged to old, well-established sects. They had originally been dissatisfied with the ransoms Chen Yixin demanded and unwilling to write home.
But now they had a piece of enormously important news to send back, and those complaints no longer mattered.
Compared with the value of the divine scion, what were a few spirit stones and spiritual materials?
After delivering the news with a bright smile, Chen Yixin rose and waved for the Demon Guards to take everyone to the prisons of the Likui Demon Palace. Naturally, someone as “valuable” as Jing Zhihua was placed in solitary confinement.
Jing Zhihua’s face flushed scarlet as he glared furiously at Chen Yixin. In the past, there had always been a trace of guilt beneath his hatred, but after this, he felt his hatred had finally become perfectly justified.
“Chen Yixin, you’ll regret this.”
Chen Yixin had already turned away, but hearing those words made him turn back. “Lord Divine Scion, you seem to have forgotten something.”
Before Jing Zhihua could ask what he meant, Chen Yixin continued, “You’re my prisoner right now. And besides, I can poke you to death with one finger…”
Everyone present felt their hearts tremble. Saying that he could poke a divine scion from the Upper Realm to death with one finger—only Chen Yixin would dare say something like that.
As he spoke, Chen Yixin really did sweep one hand toward Jing Zhihua. Jing Zhihua’s pupils dilated to their limits, disbelief flashing across his face. Chen Yixin showed no sign whatsoever of holding back, and Jing Zhihua’s complexion went instantly white—only for the attack that landed to turn out to be a slap formed from spiritual power cracking loudly across his face.
Afterward, Chen Yixin smiled lightly and remarked with satisfaction, “Slapping a divine scion really is more entertaining.”
At those words, everyone except Jing Zhihua—the one who had actually been slapped—felt the corners of their eyes twitch. Their Demon Consort truly feared neither Heaven nor Earth. Apparently, even when slapping people, he only found it satisfying if the target was a divine scion.
Jing Zhihua was shocked, furious, and humiliated enough to spit blood, but he knew Chen Yixin well enough to understand one thing: if he kept provoking him, Chen Yixin might genuinely become addicted to slapping him.
Chen Yixin studied Jing Zhihua’s face, now purple with pent-up humiliation, for another moment. His brows drew together slightly, and apparently finding the sight rather boring, he finally turned away and left the hall first.
He searched throughout Li Palace without finding Wenren Li. After a moment’s thought, he disappeared from the bedchamber and arrived at the underground altar Wenren Li had once brought him to. Sure enough, Wenren Li was there.
“A-Li came to pay respects to Mother. How could you not bring me?”
As Chen Yixin spoke, he stepped forward, bowed lightly, and took Wenren Li’s hand.
Wenren Li closed his fingers around Chen Yixin’s, a faint smile appearing on his face. “A-Rong was busy, so I came down first.”
Ever since they began dual-cultivating, the effect of the soul oath they had once sworn had gradually strengthened, and so had their ability to sense one another. As long as Wenren Li did not leave Yanzhou, Chen Yixin could locate him very quickly.
But Wenren Li had not come down merely to pay his respects. He wanted to examine the Severed Wood Remnant again from an entirely different perspective.
After speaking to Chen Yixin, Wenren Li sat down directly on the floor. He placed his free hand gently against the Severed Wood Remnant and slowly closed his eyes. Chen Yixin studied him for a moment, then sat beside him and placed a hand on the remnant as well.
Chen Yixin could sense no trace of a soul form within the Severed Wood Remnant. It remained nothing more than a piece of dead wood. Strangely, however, the vitality contained within it seemed almost limitless, giving Chen Yixin a feeling very similar to Wenren Li’s little sapling spirit form.
Chen Yixin studied it this way for nearly half an hour before opening his eyes. Wenren Li, however, still seemed to be searching for something within the remnant, or perhaps thinking through something he had discovered. Chen Yixin neither disturbed him nor left. Instead, he crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and began cultivating while turning his attention to the Fentian Restriction Art.
The sooner he could undo the seals within the jade pendant, the sooner he and Wenren Li would regain the initiative. The divine art had not seemed particularly urgent before, but Chen Yixin now moved it much higher on his list of things to study.
They remained seated in cultivation for twenty days. When Chen Yixin opened his eyes and saw that Wenren Li still had not awakened, he leaned to one side, kissed Wenren Li gently on the cheek, then finally left the underground altar and returned to the main hall of Li Palace.
Wu Fei and Nan Ke reported the matters they had originally intended to ask Wenren Li about. Chen Yixin gave them their orders, and they left one after another. He subsequently met with several other members of the Demon Palace before returning to the altar to continue keeping watch over Wenren Li.
He did not feel neglected in the slightest. This was simply the nature of cultivation. Cultivators spent the overwhelming majority of their lives cultivating; it was an intrinsic part of the path followed by beings such as them, nothing to resist and nothing worth making a fuss over.
Chen Yixin spent half a day watching Wenren Li, then began cultivating as well. Several days later he returned to the main hall to deal with a few matters, then came back once more. Throughout all of this, Wenren Li showed no sign of awakening.
One day, Chen Yixin arrived before Wenren Li dressed entirely in red. He crouched down and studied him carefully before, without the slightest hesitation, beginning to undress him. Their bonding ceremony was tomorrow, so starting today, they were supposed to wear their bright red wedding robes.
Wenren Li still had not awakened, which meant the task of changing his clothes naturally fell to Chen Yixin, his Demon Consort.
After removing Wenren Li’s upper garments, Chen Yixin spread Woven Cloud over the ground and laid him down. Next came his trousers. Chen Yixin’s cheeks reddened, but neither his hands nor his movements hesitated in the slightest.
He and Wenren Li had dual-cultivated plenty of times already. He had seen everything he was and was not supposed to see and touched everything he was and was not supposed to touch, so this should hardly have mattered. And yet, because Wenren Li’s eyes were closed and he seemed completely unaware of the outside world, Chen Yixin felt inexplicably excited.
Perhaps he had wanted to strip Wenren Li like this countless times before. Could the reason he was so delighted and excited now be that some long-held wish was finally coming true? Once Chen Yixin found himself a perfectly reasonable explanation, his hands became even more efficient.
With one final tug, he stripped Wenren Li completely naked. Chen Yixin crouched beside him, intending to admire the dangerously captivating sight for a while before putting his clothes back on. His gaze gradually traveled upward—then abruptly shifted and met Wenren Li’s now-open eyes.
Caught completely off guard, Chen Yixin froze. Wenren Li’s face, meanwhile, had already turned bright red. Presumably, Wenren Li had never imagined that one day he would awaken from cultivation only to discover that someone had stripped him naked and laid him out on the floor.
He remained motionless because he genuinely had no idea how to react. He was caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement, and when he met the unmistakably excited gleam in Chen Yixin’s eyes, he found himself unable even to ask what Chen Yixin thought he was doing.
“A-Li, I wasn’t trying to do anything. I was changing you into your wedding robes.”
Chen Yixin blinked. All trace of excitement vanished from his eyes, replaced by such perfect innocence that one might have thought Wenren Li was the one whose mind had wandered somewhere improper.
“Tomorrow is the day of our bonding ceremony. A-Li wouldn’t wake up, so I had no choice but to help you myself.”
The more Chen Yixin spoke, the more justified he sounded. Still, he had no intention of genuinely angering Wenren Li. He slowly leaned closer, and when Wenren Li showed no resistance, Chen Yixin kissed him softly on the lips.
His voice softened along with the gesture. “A-Li, don’t hold it against me.”
Wenren Li sat up. The stunned look gradually faded from his face, and his gaze settled on Chen Yixin dressed entirely in red. His heartbeat quickened again. He still had no idea what to say, so he simply took Chen Yixin by the hand, pulled him forward, and gathered him into his arms.
The corners of Chen Yixin’s lips curled upward. His obedient expression disappeared, replaced by the deeply satisfied look of a cat that had gotten the cream.
But before he could finish enjoying himself, Wenren Li pulled him down onto Woven Cloud as well.
“Did undressing me make A-Rong want me?”
Chen Yixin blinked but made no attempt to deny it. He hooked his arms around Wenren Li’s neck, his languid voice carrying a distinctly seductive edge. “I didn’t at first. But after I took A-Li’s clothes off, I started wanting you.”
That was absolutely the truth. As Chen Yixin spoke, his hands began wandering over Wenren Li’s body, and within a few breaths, he discovered that a certain little fellow was already very much awake.
“A-Li wants me too…”
Wenren Li could not deny it, nor did he need to. He silenced Chen Yixin’s teasing mouth with a kiss, loosened Chen Yixin’s robes, and gave himself over to the pleasure of their bodies together.
“A-Li… A-Li…” Chen Yixin was passionate and direct, making no attempt to suppress his voice as he called Wenren Li’s name again and again. Even though Wenren Li still remembered that they really ought to dual-cultivate, he could no longer tolerate even the slight delay required to begin circulating their cultivation methods.
Each thrust and every breathless call seemed intent on entangling them until they were woven into each other’s very flesh and bones.
Special seals surrounded the underground altar, preventing Wenren Li’s aura from affecting the plants throughout the Demon Palace. Around the altar itself, however, tiny flowers formed from spiritual power bloomed one after another, while even the spiritual light falling from above carried patterns of leaves and petals.
“What kind of tree is A-Li, anyway…? You must be the most beautiful tree in Heaven or on earth.” A faint sheen of sweat had gathered across Chen Yixin’s forehead. As the words left him, his kisses traveled downward from Wenren Li’s neck.
“You must bloom with the most beautiful flowers…” Chen Yixin pressed another light kiss lower down, then raised his eyes and saw the flush rapidly gathering in Wenren Li’s gaze. He smiled softly, parted his lips, and took him into his mouth.
Chen Yixin’s sweet words had come without warning, and so had his next move. Every reminder Wenren Li had been about to give him about circulating their cultivation methods vanished from his mind—including his own intention to do so.
His fingers tightened lightly in Chen Yixin’s hair, and he could not suppress a soft call. “A-Rong…”
Chen Yixin wrapped his arms around Wenren Li’s waist and did not stop. Until it was over, Wenren Li never once saw Chen Yixin’s full face, while Chen Yixin kept his spiritual sense trained on the spirit flowers blooming around them. Their every movement reflected Wenren Li’s reactions.
“Ahem… Flower nectar is sweet, but A-Li’s isn’t…”
Chen Yixin cleared his throat as he said it, as though everything he had just done had merely been an experiment to satisfy his curiosity.
“Still, it doesn’t taste bad.”
Chen Yixin pulled part of his red robe over his body and conveniently used it to hide half his face as well. He studied Wenren Li’s thoroughly flushed expression, his eyes curving with amusement, then promptly collapsed back into Wenren Li’s arms.
“Will that count as making amends to A-Li?”
He was referring, of course, to stripping Wenren Li naked without permission.
“All right.” Wenren Li had never been angry with Chen Yixin in the first place, but even if he had been, there was no possible way he could reject temptation like this now.
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