Another sigh sounded, this one coming from Sovereign Feng Yuan. He looked at the palace that had been cracked nearly beyond recognition and felt deeply troubled.
Luo Yi withdrew the hand resting on Chen Yixin’s shoulder. He and Hong Si bowed slightly toward Sovereign Feng Yuan. “This child greets Father.”
Only their greeting seemed to draw Chen Yixin’s attention. He slowly turned and looked at Sovereign Feng Yuan. His expression did not change much; he merely gave a faint nod, which barely counted as a greeting at all. It was nothing like the attitude a child should have toward his father.
Luo Yi and Hong Si were both somewhat surprised by Chen Yixin’s attitude. Thoughtfulness passed through Sovereign Feng Yuan’s eyes. Before he could speak, two more figures appeared before the shattered palace—Immortal Emperor Guangle and Immortal Emperor Changdong, who had just attacked Wenren Li.
“Feng Yuan, even now you still intend to shield him?”
Immortal Emperor Guangle swept his gaze around the area and noticed his eldest disciple Leyi, who remained dazed and had yet to recover from the fright. Guangle was dissatisfied with Leyi’s performance, but now was not the time to discipline his disciple.
“Changdong, you are the Celestial Realm’s supreme arbiter of law. What do you say?”
Immortal Emperor Changdong governed lightning arts, and his standing as the supreme arbiter of law was recognized by the various Immortal Emperors of the Upper Realm. Whenever two factions could not resolve a dispute yet did not wish to turn it into a major conflict, inviting Immortal Emperor Changdong to arbitrate was considered one of the best solutions.
“Father!” Luo Yi and Hong Si called out to Sovereign Feng Yuan simultaneously. If Chen Yixin was taken away like this, there was no telling what he would suffer. How could they simply let Immortal Emperor Changdong take him?
“Changdong, Guangle, in my view, the matter has not yet reached the point of no return. Now is not the time to assign responsibility either. Our first priority should be repairing the entrance before us—”
“Heh.” Immortal Emperor Guangle gave several cold laughs and ignored Sovereign Feng Yuan completely. He looked toward Immortal Emperor Changdong and waited for his decision. Ideally Changdong would agree to let Guangle take Chen Yixin. Even if that was impossible, he absolutely could not allow Feng Yuan to take him away.
Immortal Emperor Changdong remained silent for a while. Then he looked at Chen Yixin. “Lord Yi… please.”
Chen Yixin walked forward without hesitation and raised both hands. A pair of immortal shackles locked around his wrists, sealing the immortal power he had only just recovered.
Sovereign Feng Yuan raised a hand, signaling Luo Yi and Hong Si not to say anything more. Immortal Emperor Guangle narrowed his eyes but remained silent.
Immortal Emperor Changdong’s residence was not particularly far from the palace entrance. When Chen Yixin reached his side, Changdong immediately took him back. They appeared briefly at the entrance, then teleported directly into the palace where Changdong usually handled official matters.
Immortal Emperor Changdong released the power restraining Chen Yixin and frowned slightly, uncertain what he was supposed to do with him. Caught between the Phoenix Clan and Immortal Emperor Guangle, Chen Yixin was nothing less than a scalding hot potato.
Chen Yixin swept his gaze around the hall, found himself a seat, and sat down. Then he raised his hands. Immortal Emperor Changdong hesitated slightly before removing the immortal shackles.
“How much does Lord Yi know?” Chen Yixin’s attitude toward Sovereign Feng Yuan had puzzled not only Luo Yi and Hong Si; Changdong had his own suspicions as well.
Chen Yixin gently rubbed his wrists. A faint smile appeared on his lips. “Changdong, you should be asking how much I’ve remembered.”
Immortal Emperor Changdong froze. The alarm that flashed over his face was unmistakable. He fell silent, then walked toward the main seat and lowered his voice. “Lord Yi should avoid saying things like that in front of anyone else…”
Chen Yixin smiled and nodded. “Mm.”
Even after Chen Yixin agreed, Changdong’s expression did not improve much. Chen Yixin had clearly calculated that Changdong would not dare do anything to him, which was why he had willingly come along. Otherwise, with Feng Yuan and his two sons covering for him, Chen Yixin might very well have escaped.
“Guangle and the others will certainly station people outside to watch you. I ask that Lord Yi not make things difficult for me. Please do not leave my territory. Times are different now. Everything has changed.”
Chen Yixin released his wrist and turned to meet Immortal Emperor Changdong’s gaze. His voice was mild. “What a fine phrase—‘times are different now.’”
Immortal Emperor Changdong’s face reddened slightly. He had no answer. Chen Yixin stood and went off to find himself somewhere to stay near Changdong’s Immortal Palace.
As for Wenren Li, whom Chen Yixin had pushed through the Prison Realm gate, by the time the red feather returned to him, he had already left that special place and returned to the void connected to Taixuan.
“A-Rong… A-Rong…” Wenren Li’s emotions were somewhat unstable, and the surrounding void reacted accordingly, directly forcing him out. When he reappeared in Taixuan, he was no longer over the North Sea, but on Little Bamboo Islet near Zhenhai City—the island belonging to Chen Yixin.
The destructive aura Wenren Li had been on the verge of releasing immediately receded. His expression stiffened slightly as he walked toward the center of the islet. He came to the grave marker and stood there for three days and three nights.
Just as he finally turned to leave, the blue feather Chen Yixin had tucked into the back of his collar together with the red feather flew out. It fluttered above the cenotaph. Wenren Li turned back and reached out to retrieve it, but the instant his fingertips touched the feather, blue light swept outward. First it became a blue-feathered phoenix, then transformed into Chen Yixin’s appearance.
But unlike the vivid, lively Chen Yixin of the past, the Chen Yixin before him wore a vacant expression, his eyes empty. This was merely a special spirit body to which Chen Yixin had entrusted a mission. Until that mission was completed, it would not dissipate.
Wenren Li had shown no emotion for three days, yet facing this spirit body, a single tear slipped from his left eye and fell onto the soil of the islet. In an instant, Phoenix Flowers bloomed in vast swaths.
The tear track disappeared, and Wenren Li’s expression became resolute again. He did not attempt to touch Chen Yixin, nor did he speak. He simply watched him for an unknown length of time before lightly sweeping his sleeve. Chen Yixin’s spirit body transformed back into the blue feather and fell into Wenren Li’s hand.
“Perhaps I know a way to bring the divine scion back.”
A voice came from behind him. It was Han Zichuan with his two attendants. It was only because of their arrival that Wenren Li put away Chen Yixin’s blue-feather spirit body.
“Speak.” Wenren Li turned. His aura locked onto Han Zichuan, making Han Zichuan feel as though his life could disappear at any moment. The two attendants could no longer withstand the pressure and fell to their knees.
“I ask the Demon Lord to accompany me to Tianji Sect. The method for bringing the divine scion back lies there.”
“Do you know what will happen if you deceive me?” Wenren Li asked calmly, but the pressure bearing down on Han Zichuan intensified.
“I know. But this concerns Taixuan, so Zichuan has no choice but to take the risk.”
Wenren Li neither accepted nor rejected his words, but there was no possibility he would abandon even the slightest chance of bringing Chen Yixin back. He stepped forward. Han Zichuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, swept his two attendants up with spiritual power, and hurried after him.
One day later, they arrived at Tianji Sect in the center of the Northern Territory. Han Zichuan led Wenren Li into the sect’s forbidden grounds. Wenren Li had visited this place many times before and had even read quite a few of the texts stored inside.
Wenren Li stood before the massive wall covered in drifting immortal script and stared at it in a daze. Han Zichuan, meanwhile, had already located what he wanted Wenren Li to see—an ancient jade slip.
Wenren Li scanned it once. It recorded an ancient ritual method used by the earliest peoples. It was barely complete, resembling a combination of a soul-summoning art and a guidance art. As for the actual likelihood of success, there was no guarantee whatsoever.
“Shuanghe Mountain of Tianji Sect is the only surviving site in Taixuan where the ancient peoples once performed sacrificial rites. Demon Lord, please wait patiently while I make preparations for several days.”
There was an old saying that one day in Heaven equaled one year on earth, but Taixuan’s flow of time was actually almost identical to the Upper Realm’s. Chen Yixin built himself a small dwelling on a mountain within Immortal Emperor Changdong’s territory.
One day, he sensed a faint and indistinct pull from somewhere else. His eyes immediately brightened.
He walked out of the quiet room where he had been cultivating, leaped down to the foot of the mountain, and headed in the direction of Changdong’s Immortal Palace. After traveling about half a li, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and headed outward instead. At some point, a basket had appeared in his hand, and practically none of the immortal herbs along the way escaped him.
Only when he reached the boundary of Immortal Emperor Changdong’s territory did he seem to suddenly realize where he was. He raised his head and happened to encounter Leyi and the others, who had come to pay a visit to Changdong.
“Y-you… why are you here?” Leyi’s eyes widened in panic. His fear of Chen Yixin was impossible to hide. All the elegant bearing he had deliberately displayed in front of Lanxin vanished under the shock, leaving him looking like some third-rate lowlife.
Chen Yixin glanced over him once before looking toward Immortal Emperor Guangle’s daughter, Lanxin. Like a fragrant orchid, Immortal Lord Lanxin lived up to her name. Her bearing was extraordinary, and she was indeed one of the foremost beauties of the Upper Realm.
Chen Yixin gave her the same cursory glance, took two more steps, and used immortal power to draw up a spirit herb near his feet. Then he turned and started walking back without offering a single greeting, displaying arrogance to an extreme degree.
“Xin’er, he’s always been this rude. We shouldn’t lower ourselves to his level! No—actually, we should! He’s a prisoner now. He doesn’t kneel to welcome us, yet he still dares ignore us…”
Leyi’s words had become somewhat incoherent, but the malice radiating from his eyes was terrifying. He desperately anticipated seeing Chen Yixin kneel before him. After speaking to Lanxin, his figure flashed and appeared directly in Chen Yixin’s path.
“You—kneel—”
“Courting death…” Chen Yixin said mildly.
Blue light flashed through his eyes. Leyi’s pupils abruptly widened, as though tens of thousands of sword shadows had surged toward him, intent on severing every possibility of his immortal body regenerating.
“Stop!” Lanxin flew forward as well, intending to prevent Leyi from dying at Chen Yixin’s hands. But the instant she stopped, black blood and filth from the destroyed immortal body splashed across her face. She barely suppressed a scream and retreated repeatedly.
Immortal Emperor Changdong arrived belatedly. He looked at Chen Yixin and frowned slightly, then looked at the pale, shaken Lanxin and frowned again. His immortal sense covered an enormous range, so he understood perfectly well what had happened here.
Leyi had truly brought his death upon himself.
“From now on, Lord Yi will be confined to Donglai Mountain. If you need immortal herbs, I’ll have someone send them to you…”
Immortal Emperor Changdong had always been famously impartial in the Upper Realm. His present gentleness made Lanxin almost unable to recognize him. Chen Yixin, however, showed little appreciation.
“No need. That will only save Guangle the trouble of coming here to condemn you. Just send me directly to the Sea of Ice Extremity.”
“This…” Changdong hesitated. Chen Yixin’s identity was far too unusual. Changdong could not openly take his side, yet neither could he truly do anything excessive to him. For any immortal, the Sea of Ice Extremity counted as a punishment.
“Then you’ll be confined there for five hundred years. I’ll bring Lord Yi out again once the five hundred years are over.”
Chen Yixin nodded lightly. He walked two steps, then finally turned his head toward the dark-faced Lanxin. His lips parted.
“Stupid.”
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