Futile Devices Scans

“Then is A-Li still going to scold me?” Chen Yixin asked aggrievedly again, while continuing to kiss, rub against, and bite Wenren Li.

“It was my fault,” Wenren Li apologized sincerely while enduring Chen Yixin’s clearly retaliatory affection. As for the conversation where he had intended to persuade Chen Yixin to take better care of himself for his sake, it could no longer continue. However, his resolve to keep Chen Yixin firmly by his side where he could personally watch over him had become even more unwavering than before.

“Let’s go.” Wenren Li tightened his grip around Chen Yixin’s hand. Chen Yixin beckoned over Yinzi—who had been exhausted for three years and still had not awakened—and held him in his arms. Then the two of them prepared to leave the secret realm together.

They flew into the air, but halfway up, Chen Yixin suddenly tugged lightly on Wenren Li again. The two of them paused midair.

The Burning Heaven Nether Palace ring flew out from Chen Yixin’s thumb, and the palace spirit emerged from within in alarm. “Master?”

Chen Yixin had already erased the soul imprint linking him to the Burning Heaven Nether Palace. In other words, he was no longer its master. “Tell Father and Mother that this is the last time.”

The true owners of the Burning Heaven Nether Palace had never been Chen Yixin. They were the Emperor and Empress of the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan. This time, they had plotted against him, and it was the final time Chen Yixin was willing to tolerate such a thing. The trust he had been willing to give them had already been completely exhausted.

“A-Li, let’s go.”

Even within the Upper Realm, the Burning Heaven Nether Palace was considered a priceless treasure. But if such a treasure could never truly devote itself to Chen Yixin, then he simply did not want it anymore. Decisive and absolute—Chen Yixin had never changed.

The Burning Heaven ring fell into the flower field without making a sound. Yet the palace spirit existed by relying upon it. It anxiously tried to fly upward, only to remain unable to escape the ring’s restraints…

Chen Yixin turned his head and smiled reassuringly at Wenren Li. They were in a hurry to leave. Chen Yixin’s experiences within this secret realm were not something that could be fully explained in a short while. Everything could wait until they safely returned to Taixuan.

As for the Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm, Chen Yixin himself had found no way to leave it. But for Wenren Li, it was not particularly difficult. The sapling that formed his true body flew out from between his brows. With a single light tap, a passage opened before them.

Together they stepped into the void. Before Wenren Li even had time to protect Chen Yixin, a pair of blue phoenix wings spread open behind Chen Yixin’s back. They were large enough to span the height of two people. Chen Yixin’s growth could no longer be compared to what it once was.

He pulled Wenren Li closer, wrapped an arm around his waist, and smiled lightly. Then, after shamelessly pecking Wenren Li on the cheek again, he said, “You refuse to let me heal your injuries, so for everything else, you have to listen to me.”

Wenren Li stared at Chen Yixin’s radiant smiling face for a moment. Then he slowly leaned closer and placed a kiss upon Chen Yixin’s lips before murmuring softly, “Alright.”

“I’ll strike first, then A-Li can finish them off!”

Chen Yixin’s phoenix wings trembled lightly. Countless restrictions spread throughout the void. One blue feather after another appeared, only to disappear once more. Wenren Li glanced sideways at Chen Yixin. The spirit vines beneath his feet also spread outward by attaching themselves to those restrictions.

Chen Yixin clearly remained dissatisfied over Wenren Li’s injury. Now he intended to avenge him personally.

Once they left the prison-like secret realm before the Upper Realm immortals arrived, the entire situation changed. Depending on circumstances, they might truly manage to kill one or two immortals. Of course, if those who arrived were too powerful or too high-ranked, the restrictions they had laid down would still be enough to guarantee their safe escape. And beyond that, Chen Yixin still possessed the phoenix feather given to him by Heavenly Phoenix Qingruo. That was the true trump card behind his audacious plan to scheme against immortals.

While laying down restrictions, they waited. Nearly an entire day passed, yet the surrounding void remained unchanged. Occasionally strange phenomena appeared, but none of them came from visitors from the Upper Realm. They were simply the usual instabilities that naturally existed within the void.

“Keep setting more restrictions!” The longer no one arrived, the stronger their eventual enemies were likely to be. That meant they needed even more preparations. Chen Yixin practically used every bit of restriction knowledge he had learned within the Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm.

Three more days later, a crack finally appeared where the immortal slain by Wenren Li had once emerged. One person stepped out. Then two. Then three… A total of ten people emerged, yet another figure still continued walking out afterward.

Just as Chen Yixin was about to act, Wenren Li stopped him. “That’s your Fourth Brother.”

During their grand wedding in the Upper Realm, all eight other divine sons and daughters of the Phoenix Divine Clan’s Emperor and Empress had attended. Now that Wenren Li had recovered his past memories, he naturally recognized the appearance and aura of Lord Hong, the Phoenix Clan’s Fourth Son.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yixin refrained from attacking. Yet his expression turned cold. Heavenly Phoenix Qingruo had been imprisoned here. And the divine clan guarding this prison realm for the Upper Realm turned out to be the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan—his own relatives. Only then did it make sense why his Fourth Brother would appear here.

“A-Li, did I know about this place before?”

Truthfully, Chen Yixin did not need to ask Wenren Li. He could already guess the answer himself. The Emperor and Empress would never have wanted him to know about this place. And Father Chen sending him here had likely been motivated in large part by Heavenly Phoenix Qingruo’s remains. Perhaps they truly possessed familial affection and care for him. But now it seemed that too much of that care had been mixed with exploitation. And once exploitation entered the picture, that affection no longer felt genuine.

“I don’t know.” Though Wenren Li could not fully understand the sorrow in Chen Yixin’s eyes, he and Chen Yixin had known each other since very early on. Not long after Chen Yixin hatched from his shell, they had remained together constantly. Wenren Li knew almost everything about Chen Yixin’s life.

“Lord Hong! There are traps here!” Several immortals who had rushed ahead toward the secret realm had only taken two steps before becoming trapped within restrictions. Cold sweat poured down their foreheads. If someone attacked them now, they would have absolutely no ability to retaliate. The warning was both a reminder to Lord Hong and a plea for help.

Lord Hong looked around before several traces of delighted smiles surfaced upon his face. “Xiao Jiu, are you here? I’m your Fourth Brother.”

“Xiao Jiu, Fourth Brother has come to bring you home.”

At another time, Chen Yixin might have been moved by these words out of consideration for the affection that had once existed before his reincarnation. But at this moment, his eyes held only scrutiny. He and Wenren Li continued watching while standing at the center of the restriction formation, ready to respond at any moment.

Lord Hong’s gaze swept over before shifting away again. He had guessed that Chen Yixin would be here, but he could not determine exactly where he was hiding. They had merely arrived a little late, yet the area outside the secret realm was now densely packed with restrictions, enough to inspire fear at a glance.

“Is Xiao Jiu unwilling even to come out and meet his elder brother once?”

Lord Hong’s gaze swept across the guards who had been forced into miserable states by the restrictions before he spoke again. His personal arrival meant he had accepted a mission that absolutely had to be completed. He had to see Chen Yixin.

“Does Fourth Brother insist on seeing me because Father asked you to bring some message?”

Chen Yixin waved a hand forward, revealing his figure. Wenren Li, who stood beside him, still remained hidden. Chen Yixin’s expression was indifferent, his gaze excessively calm. This was absolutely not the expression one should have when meeting family.

“Has Xiao Jiu remembered everything?” Lord Hong looked at Chen Yixin with delighted surprise. He lifted a foot intending to step forward, only to remember the overwhelming restriction formations that even posed danger to him. A single movement could affect the entire formation, and the slightest mistake might shatter the void itself.

Among the six divine arts of the Phoenix Clan, other phoenixes could also learn them, but very few mastered all six. Most chose one or two complementary arts and cultivated them to the extreme, which was already enough to sweep through the vast majority of Immortal Lords in the Upper Realm. Someone like Chen Yixin, who had once mastered all six to perfection, was exceedingly rare. They simply did not possess such heaven-defying talent and perseverance.

Even among the Ancient Phoenix Divine Clan, differences in aptitude still existed. Chen Yixin had been the last of the Emperor’s nine sons to hatch from his shell, yet before reincarnating into the Lower Realm, only he had reached the Half-Step Emperor realm. The others still lingered around the sixth or seventh rank of Immortal Lord.

Chen Yixin did not respond. He merely watched Lord Hong and waited for his answer.

A trace of gloom crossed Lord Hong’s face at Chen Yixin’s coldness before he nodded. “Before I came, Father summoned me and told me not to harm Lord Li.”

Even without Emperor Fengyuan specifically instructing him, Lord Hong would not have attacked Chen Yixin. But Wenren Li was another matter. Even now, part of the Phoenix Clan believed that Wenren Li had ruined Chen Yixin, turning their most outstanding prince into someone hunted and condemned by all, his life and death still unknown.

“Xiao Jiu, Fourth Brother has never lied to you.”

Given his status as the Emperor’s fourth son, Lord Hong disdained lying. Those words carried at least some credibility.

“In that case, I’ll be leaving.”

Chen Yixin nodded coldly toward him before tightening his grip on Wenren Li’s hand and stepping back half a pace. The sense of unease within him intensified even further after hearing Lord Hong’s message.

Clearly, Emperor Fengyuan had already calculated that Wenren Li would come looking for him. How could he possibly have made no preparations? In the eyes of these immortals and Immortal Lords, “not harming Wenren Li” likely meant merely leaving him alive long enough to return to Taixuan.

“A-Li, from now on I’ll listen to you in everything…”

Chen Yixin turned his head toward Wenren Li’s lowered gaze and admitted fault. He should not have been so eager for revenge, lingering here to settle scores. He should have left early with Wenren Li instead of ending up trapped in a situation even he could not fully predict.

“It’s alright.”

Wenren Li raised a hand and gently rubbed Chen Yixin’s hair before lowering his head to place a kiss upon the phoenix plumes at his forehead.

The kiss softened Chen Yixin’s expression into something more obedient, while the negative emotions gradually drifted away from him. He remained silent in Wenren Li’s embrace for a moment before tilting his head upward, looping his arms around Wenren Li’s neck, and offering up his lips.

Chen Yixin’s spirit wings enclosed both himself and Wenren Li within them. Lord Hong and his guards could not see their intimacy, but when Chen Yixin disappeared and later reappeared with flushed cheeks, there was no need to guess what he had been doing.

As Chen Yixin reappeared, Wenren Li also revealed himself. Yet at the back of Wenren Li’s neck were two inserted feathers. One was the plume given to Chen Yixin by Heavenly Phoenix Qingruo, while the other belonged to Chen Yixin himself. He hoped neither would ever be used, yet he still had to make preparations.

“Explode!”

Chen Yixin looked toward Lord Hong as the word slipped from his rosy lips.

To strike first and seize the initiative—this was Chen Yixin’s decision even after sensing they had already fallen into a passive position. Those scheming against him were members of the Phoenix Clan, his own family, yet he would not show mercy.

The restrictions that he and Wenren Li had laid down over four days detonated all at once. Apart from the region occupied by Chen Yixin and Wenren Li, the surrounding void became utter devastation. Even the sturdy barrier surrounding the secret realm cracked open from the shock.

Caught off guard, Lord Hong coughed up blood, while half of his ten immortal guards died instantly. The remaining few barely clung to life. If Chen Yixin or Wenren Li attacked again, they would undoubtedly perish.

“Xiao Jiu!”

Even now, Lord Hong could no longer maintain a pleasant expression toward Chen Yixin. The dignity of his status as a seventh-rank Immortal Lord had been swept away, and half his guards had died.

Chen Yixin paid little attention to Lord Hong’s furious rebuke. He merely watched as Wenren Li’s spirit vines spread outward. Just as they had agreed earlier—Chen Yixin would strike first, and Wenren Li would deliver the finishing blow.

Once Chen Yixin formed the intent to kill, then aside from Lord Hong, it did not matter whether the others were immortals or demons—they all had to die.

Lord Hong moved as well, but he had not expected Chen Yixin and Wenren Li to be so ruthless. Every time he approached one target, Wenren Li would kill them before he could arrive. Their souls were utterly destroyed, dead beyond any possibility of death.

“Xiao Jiu, don’t think that just because Father and Mother dote on you, you can truly act lawlessly. The Phoenix Clan may indeed guard the Heavenly Prison, but these ten guards belonged to Immortal Emperor Guangle.”

“Now that you’ve killed all ten of them, even Father may not be able to protect you.”

“And besides, are you truly going to slaughter your own clan? Your demonic obsession runs too deep. Just as Lan Xin said, you should be locked away in—”

“Silence!”

A far more imposing voice interrupted Lord Hong before he could finish speaking. Another figure appeared—a man dressed in golden robes.

Chen Yixin still retained some impression of him. In the scenes shown to him by the palace spirit, this man had appeared before. He was Emperor Fengyuan’s eldest son—effectively Chen Yixin’s eldest brother in his previous life.

Previous

Main

Next