Futile Devices Scans

“Ah…” Another sigh sounded out, this time from Emperor Fengyuan. Looking at the palace now shattered beyond recognition, he felt an immense headache coming on.

Luoyi withdrew the hand pressing on Chen Yixin’s shoulder. He and Hongsi both bowed slightly toward Emperor Fengyuan. “Your children greet Father.”

Only then did their voices seem to draw Chen Yixin’s attention. He slowly turned around and looked toward Emperor Fengyuan. His expression showed little change; he merely gave a slight nod, as though that alone counted as greeting him. It was entirely unlike the attitude a child should have toward his father.

Luoyi and Hongsi were somewhat surprised by Chen Yixin’s attitude, while a trace of contemplation flashed through Emperor Fengyuan’s eyes. Before he could speak, two more figures appeared before the shattered palace. They were Immortal Emperor Guangle and Immortal Emperor Changdong, the one who had attacked Wenren Li earlier.

“Fengyuan, do you still intend to shield him even now?”

Immortal Emperor Guangle’s gaze swept around the area before settling upon his eldest disciple, Leyi, whose expression remained stunned, clearly not yet recovered from the fright. Guangle was dissatisfied with Leyi’s performance, but this was not the time to discipline his disciple.

“Changdong, you are the supreme authority over the laws of the heavens. What do you say?”

Immortal Emperor Changdong governed lightning laws. As the supreme authority over heavenly law, his position was acknowledged by all the Immortal Emperors of the Upper Realm. In disputes difficult for both sides to resolve, yet not serious enough to warrant full-scale conflict, inviting Immortal Emperor Changdong to preside was one of the best solutions.

“Father!” Luoyi and Hongsi called out simultaneously to Emperor Fengyuan. If Chen Yixin were taken away like this, who knew what he would suffer? How could they allow Immortal Emperor Changdong to simply take him away?

“Changdong, Guangle, in my view, matters have not yet reached the point of no return. Now is not the time to pursue responsibility. Our immediate priority should be figuring out how to repair the entrances…”

“Heh heh.” Immortal Emperor Guangle sneered coldly, completely ignoring Emperor Fengyuan’s words. He looked toward Immortal Emperor Changdong, waiting for his answer. Ideally, Changdong would agree to let him take Chen Yixin away. But even if not, he certainly could not allow Emperor Fengyuan to do so.

Immortal Emperor Changdong remained silent for a moment before looking toward Chen Yixin. Then he said, “Lord Yi… please.”

Chen Yixin walked forward directly. Raising both hands, he allowed a pair of immortal shackles to lock around his wrists, sealing away the immortal power he had only just recovered.

Emperor Fengyuan waved a hand, signaling Luoyi and Hongsi not to say more, while Immortal Emperor Guangle narrowed his eyes as he watched, but likewise remained silent.

The place where Immortal Emperor Changdong resided was not far from the entrance to the palace. Once Chen Yixin reached his side, Changdong immediately brought him away. After appearing briefly at the entrance, they instantly teleported to the main hall where Changdong normally handled affairs.

The immortal force restraining Chen Yixin dispersed, and Immortal Emperor Changdong frowned slightly, seemingly uncertain how exactly he should deal with Chen Yixin. Caught between the Phoenix Clan and Immortal Emperor Guangle, Chen Yixin was truly a burning hot potato.

Chen Yixin’s gaze swept once around the great hall. He casually found himself a seat and sat down before raising his hands slightly again. Immortal Emperor Changdong hesitated briefly, but still removed the immortal shackles for him.

“How much has Lord Yi learned?” Chen Yixin’s attitude toward Emperor Fengyuan had not only puzzled Luoyi and Hongsi — it had also made Changdong suspicious.

Chen Yixin lightly rubbed his wrists, the corners of his lips curling into a faint smile. “Changdong, what you should ask is how much I have remembered.”

Immortal Emperor Changdong’s expression froze. The panic flashing across his face was impossible to hide. Falling silent, he slowly walked back toward the seat of honor, lowering his voice somewhat. “Lord Yi should not say such things in front of others…”

Chen Yixin smiled and nodded. “Mm.”

Yet after hearing Chen Yixin’s response, Immortal Emperor Changdong’s expression did not improve in the slightest. Chen Yixin had clearly calculated that Changdong would not dare truly do anything to him, which was why he had voluntarily followed him here. Otherwise, with Emperor Fengyuan and his two sons covering for him, Chen Yixin might not necessarily have been unable to escape.

“Guangle and the others will certainly station people outside to watch. I ask that Lord Yi not make things difficult for me. Please do not step beyond my territory. Times are no longer what they once were. Everything has changed now.”

Hearing this, Chen Yixin released his wrist and turned his head to meet Immortal Emperor Changdong’s gaze. In a calm tone, he said, “What a fine ‘times are no longer what they once were.’”

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Immortal Emperor Changdong’s face, leaving him speechless. Chen Yixin then stood and began searching on his own for a place to stay near the Immortal Palace of Changdong.

As for Wenren Li, whom Chen Yixin had pushed into 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. The void itself was affected, directly ejecting him from it. When he reappeared in Taixuan, he was no longer above the Northern Sea, but instead upon Little Bamboo Isle, which belonged to Chen Yixin within Zhenhai City.

The destructive aura Wenren Li had originally been about to release immediately retracted. His expression stiffened slightly as he stepped toward the center of the small island. Arriving before the gravestone, Wenren Li remained standing there just like that for three days and three nights.

As he turned to leave, the blue feather that Chen Yixin had inserted together with the red feather at the back of his collar suddenly flew out. It fluttered up and down above the tomb mound. Wenren Li turned back, raising a hand to catch the blue feather. Yet the moment his fingertips touched it, a burst of blue light swept outward. First it became a blue-feathered phoenix, then transformed into Chen Yixin’s appearance.

However, compared to the lively and radiant Chen Yixin of the past, this Chen Yixin before him had a dull expression and vacant eyes. This was merely a special spirit-body entrusted by Chen Yixin with a mission. Until it completed that mission, it would not disperse.

Yet after three days without displaying any emotion, Wenren Li shed a tear upon seeing this spirit-body. A single tear slid from his left eye and splashed onto the soil of the small island. Instantly, fields of Phoenix Flowers bloomed in succession.

The trace of tears vanished, and his expression became resolute once more. He did not try to touch Chen Yixin, nor did he speak. After gazing at him for an unknown length of time, his sleeve lightly swept forward, and Chen Yixin’s spirit-body transformed back into the blue feather, returning to Wenren Li’s hand.

“Perhaps… I may have a way to bring the Divine Son back.”

A voice sounded from behind him. It was Han Zichuan and his two child attendants. It was also because of their arrival that Wenren Li put away Chen Yixin’s blue-feather spirit-body.

“Speak,” Wenren Li said as he turned around. His aura locked onto Han Zichuan, giving him the sensation that his life could end at any moment. The two child attendants could no longer endure the pressure and dropped to their knees.

“I ask that Demon Lord accompany me to Heaven’s Secret Sect. The method to bring the Divine Son back lies within Heaven’s Secret Sect.”

“Do you know the consequences of deceiving me?” Wenren Li asked lightly, though the pressure he exerted upon Han Zichuan only intensified.

“I know. But for the sake of Taixuan, Zichuan must take this risk.”

Wenren Li gave no comment to his words, but he could not possibly give up on a chance to bring Chen Yixin back. He stepped forward. Han Zichuan wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead, wrapped his two child attendants with spiritual power, and hurried after Wenren Li.

A day later, they arrived at Heaven’s Secret Sect located at the center of the Northern Domain. Han Zichuan brought Wenren Li into the sect’s forbidden grounds. Wenren Li had visited this place many times before and had even read through many of the ancient records stored within.

He stood there distractedly before the gigantic wall covered in drifting immortal script, while Han Zichuan had already found the item he wished to show Wenren Li — an ancient and unadorned jade slip.

Wenren Li swept through it once. It recorded an ancient ritual method of the primordial people. It was barely complete, something like a combination of soul-summoning and guiding arts. As for the success rate, there was absolutely no guarantee.

“The Shuanghe Mountain of our Heaven’s Secret Sect is the only surviving ritual site of the primordial people in Taixuan. Demon Lord, please be patient and allow me several days to prepare.”

One day in the heavens, one year on earth. Yet the flow of time in Taixuan was almost equivalent to that of the Upper Realm. Chen Yixin had built a simple hut upon a small mountain within Immortal Emperor Changdong’s territory.

On this particular day, he sensed a pull from elsewhere — faint and indistinct, yet his eyes lit up.

He stepped out from his cultivation chamber, leaping directly to the foot of the mountain. He walked half a li toward the Immortal Palace of Changdong, only to pause before turning back toward the outside. A basket now appeared in his hand, and along the way he passed, almost no immortal herb escaped his collection.

Only when he reached the border of Immortal Emperor Changdong’s territory did realization seem to strike him. Looking up, he happened to run into Leyi and the others who had come to pay respects to Immortal Emperor Changdong.

“Y-you… why are you here…” Leyi’s eyes widened as panic and confusion overtook him. His fear toward Chen Yixin was impossible to hide. The refined elegance he deliberately displayed before Lanxin had now been completely reduced to the demeanor of a vulgar third-rate scoundrel.

Chen Yixin merely swept a glance over him before looking toward Lanxin, the daughter of Immortal Emperor Guangle. Like the fragrance of secluded orchids, Immortal Lord Lanxin truly lived up to her name. Her temperament was extraordinary, undeniably one of the foremost beauties of the Upper Realm.

After another indifferent glance, Chen Yixin walked forward two steps, used immortal power to draw up the spiritual herb beside his feet, then turned to leave without even offering a greeting. His arrogance and disregard for others had reached the extreme.

“Xin’er, he has always been this rude. We won’t stoop to his level! No, we should! He’s a prisoner, yet not only does he refuse to kneel in greeting, he even dares ignore us…”

Leyi’s words became increasingly incoherent, but the malice revealed in his eyes was terrifying. He was eagerly anticipating a scene where Chen Yixin would kneel before him in greeting. After speaking to Lanxin, he abruptly moved and blocked Chen Yixin’s path.

“You, kneel for me—”

“Seeking death…” Chen Yixin said indifferently. A flash of blue light swept through his eyes. Leyi’s pupils abruptly dilated as though countless sword shadows were rushing toward him, intent on erasing every last possibility of his immortal body reviving.

“Stop!” Lanxin also rushed forward, attempting to prevent Leyi from dying by Chen Yixin’s hand. Yet the moment she halted, a mass of black blood and gore from the destruction of an immortal body splattered across her face. She suppressed the scream about to escape her lips and staggered backward repeatedly.

Immortal Emperor Changdong arrived belatedly. He glanced at Chen Yixin and frowned slightly, then looked at the pale-faced Lanxin and frowned as well. His immortal sense extended across an immense range, allowing him complete awareness of what had transpired here. Leyi’s death truly had been his own fault for seeking death.

“Lord Yi, from now on you are confined to Donglai Mountain. If you require immortal herbs, I will have people deliver them to you…”

The usually impartial and iron-faced Immortal Emperor Changdong was being so accommodating that Lanxin could scarcely recognize him. Yet Chen Yixin did not seem especially appreciative.

“No need. Rather than wait for Guangle to come here and condemn you, just send me directly to the Sea of Ice Extremity.”

“This…” Changdong hesitated somewhat. Chen Yixin’s identity was far too special. He could not openly stand at Chen Yixin’s side, yet he also could not truly do anything too excessive to him. The Sea of Ice Extremity was considered a punishment even for immortals.

“Then confine him there for five hundred years first. Five hundred years later, I will personally bring Lord Yi back out.”

Chen Yixin nodded lightly. After walking two steps, he suddenly turned back and looked toward the dark-faced Lanxin. His lips parted slightly as he uttered a single word:

“Foolish.”

Elio’s Notes: Fengyuan and Changdong and Guangle have different titles. Fengyuan is a dijun while the other two are xiandis. Here are the differences:

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