Wenren Li continued smoothing Chen Yixin’s feathers. One hour later, Shuiyue Residence’s treasure ships departed from the docks as scheduled, heading into Mingfeng Domain, a region notorious for its danger and strangeness.
Ze Fang did not remain aboard Wenren Li and Chen Yixin’s ship the entire time. With his Soul Transformation cultivation, Mingfeng Domain was relatively safe for him, and since the ships were traveling close together, he could simply teleport from one to another whenever he wished.
“Why did you insist on coming yourself? Are you deliberately looking for misery?”
Ze Fang felt that everything he had said to persuade the Great Peng Yao Emperor that day had gone completely to waste. He knew perfectly well that Wenren Li’s heart already belonged to someone else and that nothing could ever come of his feelings, so why follow along just to make himself miserable? Especially with that little blue bird around. He might look like a hatchling, but when it came to “guarding his food,” he was already remarkably experienced.
“I’m escorting the juniors of Qingyu Palace on their training journey. Why shouldn’t I come? And if I remember correctly, I paid you for passage…”
Ze Fang rolled his eyes, but he did not immediately leave the ship. He went inside to check on several of Qingyu Palace’s young masters. At their head was still Young Lord Peng, who had presided over the bloodline awakening ceremony that day. There were also Luan Ji of the Luan Bird Clan, the Young Clan Leader of the Goshawk Clan, along with several other juniors whose aptitude was considered fairly good.
But the only ones qualified to speak with him were Young Lord Peng, Luan Ji, and Shao Ying.
“Greetings, Venerable Ze Fang.” They were no strangers to Ze Fang. Although Luan Ji and Shao Ying had both since returned to their respective clans, they had grown up alongside Young Lord Peng at Qingyu Palace and had seen Ze Fang many times before.
Luan Ji and Shao Ying had not been able to attend the ceremony that day, but they had heard Young Lord Peng personally describe how both he and the Great Peng Yao Emperor had lost face because of a mysterious figure.
This training journey had largely been something they requested themselves. They wanted to see the little chick who had truly sparked the conflict that day, and while they were at it, win back some face for Qingyu Palace.
Because the Great Peng Yao Emperor had obtained a secret art, the sky races in this region possessed the unusual ability to transform while still in their juvenile stage. Otherwise, ordinary yao cultivators generally could not take human form until reaching Golden Core.
Although this method increased the chance that an egg would fail to hatch, it also purified and awakened the bloodline. That was what had allowed them to steadily develop over the past ten thousand years until they became the foremost yao power in the region.
“Venerable Ze Fang, might we have a chance to pay our respects to that Venerable over there?” Luan Ji asked.
“You all want to meet him?” Ze Fang asked. Young Lord Peng and Shao Ying both nodded. They wanted to see what kind of person could make their emperor care so much, and what kind of little chick had managed to steal away the one their emperor had set his heart on.
Ze Fang smiled. “We’ll see if there’s an opportunity.”
The three of them might have considerable standing within Qingyu Palace and throughout these waters, but before Wenren Li, they amounted to very little. No matter how partial Ze Fang might be toward Qingyu Palace, he could hardly bring people over when it was obvious they were only going to annoy Wenren Li.
Since Ze Fang had said that much, however unwilling the three of them might be, they could only suppress it for now.
Mingfeng Domain was hardly a narrow barrier. On the contrary, it covered an enormous expanse of sea. Golden Core and Nascent Soul sea beasts frequently appeared in packs, and there were even rumors of sea beasts at Soul Transformation. Strange gales and sea vortices could arise at any moment as well.
The route used by Shuiyue Residence had been improved upon from the Linghai Sect’s sea charts. It was comparatively safer, and with several cultivators experienced in seafaring piloting the treasure ships, they could avoid many dangers. This allowed Shuiyue Residence to maintain contact and trade with sea clans and independent cultivators living on distant islands.
Chirp! At the crisp call, all the young masters meditating inside Qingyu Palace’s treasure ship opened their eyes. Before they even left the cabin, several more chirps rang out, coming from a chick flying through the sky.
They stepped onto the deck and looked into the distance. Sure enough, a streak of blue light was weaving between the clouds and waves. It was not playing around, but engaging in rather dangerous live combat training.
From among the rolling waves, sea beasts would occasionally leap up with enormous jaws spread wide, trying to swallow the darting little blue bird whole. Yet each time, the bird escaped from those bloody jaws by the narrowest margin, only to fly back toward the clouds and be knocked down again by barriers of strange wind. The cycle repeated again and again, making the entire scene perilous to watch.
“How can such a tiny little yao be trained like this…?” The young masters of Qingyu Palace had not even been allowed to leave for outside training until they reached Golden Core. They simply could not understand who would make a chick that had plainly not finished growing undergo this sort of ordeal.
“Do they even know how to raise him…?”
Chirp! Chen Yixin spun through the air and even took the time to retort at these ignorant yao cultivators.
He had already begun adapting to his phoenix true body. To progress any further, aside from allowing time to slowly accumulate, he needed stimulation like this to force himself to adapt, transforming the phoenix’s innate combat instincts into instincts that were truly his own.
If it meant one day being able to fight that Qing Peng yao who coveted Wenren Li fair and square, Chen Yixin considered these dangers entirely worth enduring.
As time passed, it was no longer only the young masters who came out to watch. Even the Great Peng Yao Emperor and Ze Fang appeared. The longer they watched, the more astonishing the little blue bird’s potential seemed, while Wenren Li’s composure and trust in him drew just as much attention.
“Ah!” One startled cry was followed by several overlapping shouts of alarm. The little blue bird had been swallowed whole by a sea beast that suddenly leaped several dozen feet out of the water.
“Quick! Save him—”
They instinctively wanted to act, but they were far from the place where the little blue bird had been swallowed. Their cultivation was also insufficient for them to intervene safely within the danger-ridden Mingfeng Domain. The Great Peng Yao Emperor naturally made no move, while Ze Fang hesitated.
The one who most ought to have acted, however, Wenren Li, remained where he was, watching calmly. Yet the hand hidden inside his sleeve had already clenched tight. The longer he spent with Chen Yixin, the less he could bear to see him injured before his eyes. But reason also told him clearly that he could not protect Chen Yixin too much, or it would do him no good as he grew stronger.
“Demon Lord!” Nan Ke also reminded Wenren Li anxiously. The little blue bird in front of them was not some Golden Core Perfected Master who had received an immortal inheritance. He was a genuine little chick, and he had just been swallowed into a sea beast’s belly.
While everyone watched in confusion or anxiety, a burst of blue light suddenly tore through the sea beast’s abdomen before it could even fall back into the water. Blood rained down, soaking the little blue bird from head to tail. The sea beast let out a pained wail and crashed into the sea, throwing up a tremendous splash.
The little blue bird spread his wings to their fullest, spun once, and shot upward again. At the same time, stimulated by the scent of blood, more than a dozen massive sea beasts erupted from the water beneath him.
Only then did Wenren Li finally move. One step brought him directly among the savage, vicious sea beasts. With nothing more than a sweep of his hand, he pulverized every one of them into nothingness, leaving not even a trace of blood behind. The little blue bird spiraling rapidly upward was knocked down by another strange gale, but this time he fell directly into Wenren Li’s arms.
“That’s enough for today.”
Chirp! The little blue bird answered brightly. The blue light surrounding him gradually faded, and after rubbing himself against Wenren Li’s chest, he once again became a soft, fluffy little bundle.
Wenren Li gently scratched Chen Yixin’s feathers with the pad of his finger and carried him back aboard. He ignored the cultivators on the other two ships, who were still staring wide-eyed at them, and took Chen Yixin back into the cabin, where he carefully analyzed the problems exposed during Chen Yixin’s combat training that day.
“So it was them!” The shock on Luan Ji’s face faded into thoughtfulness. She looked at Shao Ying and Young Lord Peng and realized that they had badly underestimated both Chen Yixin and Wenren Li. That kind of aptitude was no worse than that of any young master in Qingyu Palace. At the very least, nobody would have dared put any of them through this sort of trial while they were still in their juvenile stage.
What Wenren Li had displayed was just as terrifying. With no more than a casual movement, he had completely wiped out more than a dozen vicious and dangerous sea beasts.
“So that’s the little wretch—” Shao Ying never finished the sentence beneath Luan Ji’s warning glare, but it was obvious that he still felt little fear. If anything, he wanted even more to find an opportunity to properly teach Chen Yixin, that little blue bird, a lesson.
Whatever they thought or however they reacted, they were not yet important enough for Wenren Li or Chen Yixin to pay attention to. From that day onward, Chen Yixin spent two hours every day undergoing live combat training over the sea, and his improvement was obvious to everyone.
The sea beasts could no longer do much to him. He could even pick out the comparatively weaker ones and shoot straight through their beast cores, emerging drenched in a rain of blood. The sight was strangely beautiful and brutally violent at the same time.
Chirp! Chen Yixin shot upward, then suddenly streaked sideways. This time he killed two sea beasts in a single pass.
“Come back.” Wenren Li beckoned to Chen Yixin, whose killing intent was rising sharply, ending the day’s training early.
Chirp! Chen Yixin answered, but he did not immediately fly back. Instead, he plunged straight into the sea. A moment later, he came shooting back toward Wenren Li at full speed, with several dozen enraged sea beasts chasing behind him.
Watching from nearby, Ze Fang could not help shaking his head. The little blue bird’s mischievousness had genuinely caught him off guard, but like most of the cultivators watching, he simply could not bring himself to dislike him.
He was certainly arrogant, but with talent and determination like that, why shouldn’t he be?
Wenren Li swept a hand out and annihilated the pursuing sea beasts once again, while extending his other hand for Chen Yixin to land on.
Chen Yixin had not plunged into the dangerous sea for no reason. As he landed, he placed a jade-green pearl glowing with spiritual light into Wenren Li’s palm. Chirp!
It was a rare pure wood spirit pearl. A sea beast had accidentally swallowed it, and Chen Yixin had had his eye on it for several days. All the killing he had done today had been intended to lure out that particular sea beast so he could take the pearl from it in a single strike.
Chen Yixin looked at Wenren Li, tilted his head, and transformed into a small child dressed in blue feathered robes. He affectionately wrapped his arms around Wenren Li’s neck and hung from him before asking softly, “I’m giving it to A-Li. Do you like it?”
Only Wenren Li could make use of a pure wood spirit pearl, so Chen Yixin’s gift was both rare and a genuine surprise.
“I like it.” Wenren Li supported Chen Yixin and was about to carry him away when Ze Fang and the Great Peng Yao Emperor arrived together on the deck of their treasure ship.
“Lord Li should have sensed it as well. We’re about to enter the most dangerous part of Mingfeng Domain, and this area is also where the Merfolk Clan ambushed Shuiyue Residence’s ships last time.” Ze Fang spoke first. He and the Great Peng Yao Emperor had come to discuss the next stage of the journey with Wenren Li. Three ships together were far too conspicuous a target, and the Merfolk Clan might already have been watching them for some time.
Wenren Li calling Chen Yixin back just now had probably been partly because he had noticed the same thing.
Wenren Li nodded and did not completely exclude Ze Fang and the Great Peng Yao Emperor from the discussion. Compared with him, they had far more experience in Mingfeng Domain. Protecting Chen Yixin alone would be easy for him, but the Demon Guards traveling with them might suffer casualties.
“Sit.” Wenren Li walked toward the seats Nan Ke and the others had already arranged. He gave Chen Yixin a fruit to replenish his strength, then looked toward Ze Fang and the Great Peng Yao Emperor and waited for them to speak first.
“Originally, we thought the Merfolk Clan didn’t know you were here, Lord Li. The Yao Emperor and I could follow their plan and let ourselves be lured away, then you could give them a surprise. But after you acted just now, I doubt we can hide your presence anymore…”
Chen Yixin’s actions had been completely unexpected. Even they had not predicted them in advance, much less been able to stop Wenren Li from acting to save his Dao companion. Ze Fang glanced at Chen Yixin, who was seriously eating his fruit, then continued, “At this point, we can only face them head-on.”
“How many Soul Transformation cultivators can Lord Li fight at once without being defeated?”
Ze Fang asked cautiously. Wenren Li’s true strength would determine whether they attacked or defended.
Wenren Li did not answer. Instead, he asked Ze Fang, “How many Soul Transformation merfolk do you think they’ll send?”
“The Merfolk Clan has long lifespans and knows proper cultivation methods. There are no fewer than five Soul Transformation experts in this sea region alone. Judging by how they usually operate, they’ll probably send four.”
“But they may also join forces with other sea clans. In that case there’ll only be more. Six or seven would be a reasonable estimate.”
The Merfolk Clan had coveted these rich islands for a long time and had always wanted an opportunity to eliminate both Ze Fang and the Great Peng Yao Emperor. Once the two of them were dead, no matter how intricate the defensive formations protecting those islands might be, breaking them would only be a matter of time.
“Then we’ll make sure every last one of them stays in Mingfeng Domain.”
The instant Wenren Li said this, the pupils of both Ze Fang and the Great Peng Yao Emperor contracted. They had spent enough time with Wenren Li to know he was not someone who made empty boasts. If he said he would leave every one of them behind, then it meant he had the strength to do exactly that.
Ze Fang swallowed nervously, exchanged a glance with the Great Peng Yao Emperor, then met Wenren Li’s gaze and nodded. For his trouble, he also received a faintly disdainful look from Chen Yixin.
What a fuss. His A-Li was incredibly strong! After looking down on Ze Fang, Chen Yixin shot the Great Peng Yao Emperor a provocative glance as well.
“Anything else?” Wenren Li asked Ze Fang again. When Ze Fang indicated there was nothing more while the Great Peng Yao Emperor remained silent, Wenren Li rose and carried Chen Yixin—who was still craning his neck to glare at the Great Peng Yao Emperor—back to their room.
Chen Yixin’s feathered robe could clean itself automatically, but the smell of sea beasts and seawater still lingered faintly on him. The Demon Guards had prepared a bathing room, so Wenren Li carried Chen Yixin inside and carefully washed him.
Chen Yixin obediently let himself be washed, blinking up at Wenren Li as a faint blush crept over his cheeks. His thoughts had obviously wandered far away, though there was no telling what he was thinking about. Once he had been washed clean and dressed again, Chen Yixin’s small hands repeatedly rubbed over Wenren Li’s chest.
“A-Li, don’t worry. I’ll find a way to suppress my phoenix bloodline as soon as possible so I can return to my human body.”
The one in a hurry was clearly not Wenren Li, but Chen Yixin himself, whose thoughts had begun wandering while Wenren Li washed him. When he counted the days, it had already been nearly eight months since the last time they were intimate.
His mouth was already going without meat; now his body had to go without it too. He was starting to lose it.
Wenren Li simply could not feel any sexual desire toward Chen Yixin in this form. He continued carefully arranging Chen Yixin’s hair before pulling the still-preoccupied little fellow into his arms and coaxing him to sleep.
Chen Yixin still wanted to make a few more promises, but beneath Wenren Li’s gentle soothing, he soon turned back into a little blue bird and fell asleep.
Whenever he slept, a ball of blue light brightened and dimmed in time with his breathing. It was less conspicuous than it had been back at Shuiyue Residence, but the aura it gave off was even stronger. His phoenix bloodline was growing more powerful by the day.
Wenren Li touched a finger to the center of his brow, and a small sapling flew out. Before it could even fully approach Chen Yixin, Chen Yixin pulled it into his embrace and held it tightly. The fluctuations of blue light immediately contracted until they surrounded only the little sapling. This aided Chen Yixin’s bloodline awakening and also brought certain indescribable benefits to the sapling itself.
Wenren Li’s ability to grow successfully in the Upper Realm had a great deal to do with Chen Yixin constantly clinging to him like this.
Once the sapling spirit form left his body, however, Wenren Li’s hair returned to black, and he resumed cultivating.
This time, when he left the Demon Palace, he had also brought along the Severed Wood Remnant from the underground altar. He had a feeling it was another key to recovering the memories of his previous life. What he did not know was what kind of opportunity or trigger was needed for the Severed Wood Remnant and the jade pendant to work together.
For the next three days, Chen Yixin did not undergo any more combat training at sea. He stayed obediently perched atop Wenren Li’s head and, just as he had promised Wenren Li that day, began studying how he might restore his human body.
Wenren Li, who was cultivating, would occasionally check on Chen Yixin and simply assumed he was seriously cultivating as well.
On this day, while they were once again inside their room, Wenren Li suddenly opened his eyes. He appeared on the deck with Chen Yixin just as the ship began shaking violently.
The defensive barrier had already been activated, but the terrifying force of the strange gales striking it still made everyone’s hearts tremble. Even cultivators with extensive experience at sea turned pale. None of them had ever encountered strange winds of this magnitude before.
Waves several dozen feet high reared up, and the three ships were quickly dragged apart. Nan Ke and the others also appeared beside Wenren Li and Chen Yixin, though there was little panic on their faces.
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