At this moment, however, what Wenren Li felt was far more tenderness than desire. He gave Chen Yixin only a light kiss on the lips before wrapping the unconsciously alluring person tightly in his arms. They remained embraced with their necks nestled together, soothing the unease in each other’s hearts.
Chen Yixin’s eyes were still bright. He lay quietly in Wenren Li’s arms, but after some time he could not resist licking his lips. The corner of his mouth lifted, and at last a genuinely delighted smile appeared.
“A-Li kissed me again…” he murmured, his voice full of surprise and sweetness. The longer Wenren Li held him, the more natural and comfortable his expression became.
“Mm.” Wenren Li answered and slowly closed his eyes.
Chen Yixin, meanwhile, only grew more excited the longer he thought about it.
Sleep was completely impossible now.
He shifted, lifted his head from Wenren Li’s embrace, then leaned toward Wenren Li’s ear and asked rather shyly, “Then… can I kiss A-Li too?”
Wenren Li slowly opened his eyes. There was a faint smile in them as well. Before he could answer or nod, a soft kiss had already landed on his cheek.
Chen Yixin was not satisfied with that.
He tilted his head again and kissed Wenren Li directly on the lips.
Mwah!
The sound was clear and sweet.
Their gazes met. Chen Yixin’s eyes curved like a trembling river of stars, extraordinarily beautiful. Wenren Li lost focus for an instant and received several more kisses in quick succession. Beyond that, however, Chen Yixin no longer dared take the initiative.
Being allowed to kiss Wenren Li this intimately already felt like an enormous windfall. Chen Yixin closed his eyes, pressed himself tightly against him, and before long fell asleep.
Wenren Li lay on his side with Chen Yixin in his arms. One hand gently patted Chen Yixin’s back again and again.
Extremely gently.
He did not fall asleep, but neither could he think about very much. Lying peacefully together like this felt as though it belonged to a time very long ago. Wenren Li could not help wanting to remain this way with Chen Yixin just a little longer.
Outside the command tent, many people were worried about Chen Yixin’s condition. They wondered whether the duel with the Great Peng Yao Emperor had somehow injured him. Otherwise, why would Wenren Li remain inside with him for three full days without emerging or issuing a single order?
“Sect Master Han, please go back. Without the Demon Lord’s orders, we will not investigate anything.”
The Demon Guards turned Han Zichuan away yet again. Even though they themselves were worried, they simply did not possess the ability to probe what was happening inside. More importantly, such thoughts and actions were taboo around Wenren Li and Chen Yixin.
They did not dare.
“If the Demon Lord issues any instructions to those outside, please inform me immediately. Many thanks.”
Only then did Han Zichuan retreat two steps and turn to leave.
But before he had fully turned around, the tent flap that had remained untouched for three days was brushed aside by a hand.
Two people emerged.
One tall, one noticeably shorter.
It was Wenren Li and Chen Yixin, who had slept for three full days.
Chen Yixin swung Wenren Li’s hand as he walked, happiness written all over his face. He was not watching the road at all. Even after taking four or five steps, his eyes continued wandering over Wenren Li.
He did not even notice the Demon Guards standing nearby, much less Han Zichuan, who had already half turned away.
“Let’s go walk around You City. Whatever you like, we’ll buy it.” Wenren Li had noticed Han Zichuan but had no intention of speaking to him. What had originally been a plan to walk around the military camp became a trip into You City instead.
“Okay! Okay!” Chen Yixin bounced happily, leaned up and bit a kiss onto Wenren Li’s cheek, then immediately blushed himself and continued walking in delight.
Wenren Li glanced at him from the corner of his eye, tacitly indulging both the liberties Chen Yixin took and how clingy he was. He released Chen Yixin’s hand, wrapped an arm around his waist instead, and the two disappeared from the military camp.
Han Zichuan had neither justification nor standing to follow them. Outwardly composed, he returned to the guest tent in the army camp.
Only he knew how thoroughly uncomposed he actually was.
Every additional time he saw Chen Yixin, Han Zichuan sank another step deeper.
Especially outside the immortal-light hidden site in the North Sea, when Chen Yixin had faced those cultivators alone and displayed extraordinary intelligence and strategy—not only had the nameless cultivator been dazzled by him, but Han Zichuan, watching secretly from the shadows, had been affected as well.
Perhaps even more deeply.
He had not escaped his trial of love.
He had only delayed it.
In the end, it still came. He would still be moved by Chen Yixin.
He would still fall for him.
Wenren Li took Chen Yixin through the market district of You City, then, guided by Ze Fang, descended into the underground treasury beneath You Palace to inspect one of the greatest spoils of their campaign: Demon Lord You Ruo’s treasury.
Mountains of spirit stones stood alongside every kind of spiritual herb and material. Another entire shelving unit held rare treasures sealed inside jade boxes. You Ruo might not have been as wealthy as Wenren Li, but she had still been a genuine Demon Lord ruling an entire domain. Without exception, these rarities were treasures nearly impossible to find outside.
“This is a map…”
Before Ze Fang could finish, Chen Yixin leaned his head over.
He recognized the two characters Ze Fang did not.
“Ice Spirit… tasty!”
Chen Yixin swallowed despite himself as he spoke. Clearly, Qingruo or Wenren Li had fed him plenty of rare treasures like this in the past. After staring at the map for a moment, he snatched it directly from Ze Fang’s hands.
Only when Wenren Li walked closer did Chen Yixin reluctantly pull the map back out from where he had hidden it against himself. Then he looked at Wenren Li with pitifully hungry eyes.
Wenren Li, however, had originally wanted the Ice Spirit as a material for forging Chen Yixin a sword.
“Judging from where the box was stored, You Ruo must have possessed it for quite some time.”
Wenren Li did not take the cherished map away from Chen Yixin. He gave it only one glance before taking Chen Yixin’s hand back into his own. Looking at the place where the jade box had been opened, he fell silent briefly before speaking to Ze Fang.
“Send word back to the Demon Palace. Have Wu Fei investigate. We need to determine its origin.”
“Yes.” Ze Fang bowed, retreated several steps, and ordered a Demon Guard to handle it.
Wenren Li continued through the treasury with Chen Yixin. They selected essentially every important treasure. The things neither of them cared for were left for Ze Fang to inventory and send back to the Demon Palace treasury, where they could later be used as rewards.
Ze Fang accompanied Wenren Li and Chen Yixin into a nearby palace that had already been prepared for them to rest. His expression made it obvious that he still had something to say.
“Speak.” Wenren Li glanced at Ze Fang.
Chen Yixin tilted his head and looked at Ze Fang too.
Ze Fang immediately felt twice the pressure.
He suddenly realized just how badly he was intruding and how completely he lacked tact. Better to say what he needed to say quickly and get out of their sight.
“This subject has a suggestion. The Demon Lord might establish a merit system for the officers and soldiers. Killing enemies or contributing treasures would earn a certain number of merit points. Those points could then be exchanged for cultivation techniques or needed treasures, giving everyone greater incentive.”
In truth, Ze Fang’s proposal was hardly original. Both righteous and demonic sects already possessed similar reward systems, even if they did not call them “merit.” Likui Demon Palace had once had mechanisms of this kind as well, but in the past it had placed far greater importance on the loyalty of its own people. The old systems did not fit most of its evaluations and trials particularly well and had gradually become little more than empty formalities.
Now, however, Likui Demon Palace was expanding rapidly. Killing every person who had once belonged to an enemy faction would be both unnecessarily cruel and completely impractical. Inevitably, the Demon Palace would have to absorb some of those people.
A merit system was currently the most effective way to help newcomers integrate quickly. It could also raise fighting spirit and morale to some extent, accelerating the unification of Taixuan.
Both now and in the future, the advantages clearly outweighed the drawbacks.
Wenren Li had no reason to refuse.
“Very well. You and Ping Cheng will draft the detailed rules together. Once you’ve finished, give them to A-Rong. If he says they’re acceptable, begin implementing them.”
“Yes.” Ze Fang dropped to one knee, accepted the order, and left.
Chen Yixin and Wenren Li continued toward another nearby palace. Chen Yixin had already been in a good mood simply because he had been allowed out to play. Now that Wenren Li had entrusted him with something useful to do, he was even happier.
Once Ze Fang was gone, the last of his restraint disappeared.
He practically leaped onto Wenren Li, both feet leaving the ground. Grabbing Wenren Li’s face, he showered him with kisses and saliva.
Mwah, mwah, mwah!
“A-Li, I’m so happy! I can finally help you too! I definitely won’t mess anything up. Definitely, definitely!”
Wenren Li supported Chen Yixin beneath the thighs and continued carrying him toward the palace while listening to him chatter beside his ear.
“I actually know so many things! I’ve read lots and lots of jade slips—the ones in Yuxu Palace, Elder Brother’s private collection, Big Brother Lin Yu’s… There are so many cultivation techniques inside my head. We can use all of them as rewards…”
“I understand restrictions too, and lots of pill formulas… Wow. I really am amazing…”
The more Chen Yixin talked, the more convinced he became that he was an absolute treasure. His slender neck tilted proudly upward.
Wenren Li had initially only been listening casually, but once Chen Yixin began listing all his abilities, even Wenren Li—who had already thought him precious—found several more reasons to treasure him.
“A-Rong is amazing.” Wenren Li set him down and rewarded him with a kiss on the forehead. Then he casually pulled the map from Chen Yixin’s sleeve, settled Chen Yixin onto his lap, and looked over it together with him.
Chen Yixin wriggled his bottom slightly and unconsciously cupped his cheeks in both hands. Then he tucked his head down obediently and studied the map with Wenren Li.
“The more I look at this, the less it seems like a map. It looks more like the Zhoutian Star Chart that used to hang in Elder Brother’s room…”
Elio’s Notes: Zhoutian (周天) literally refers to the complete circuit of the heavens and is used in Chinese cosmological and Daoist contexts for the full celestial cycle. Here it names a star chart.
Chen Yixin blinked and murmured quietly. At the same time, his greed for the Ice Spirit faded somewhat. According to everything stored in his head, once a treasure became connected to a star chart, there was no chance it would be getting into his mouth anytime soon.
“Zhoutian Star Chart?” Wenren Li repeated doubtfully. He had never seen one himself and therefore had no way to judge, but he had seen a similar pattern not long ago. “There is an Immortal Script Wall inside the Tianji Sect’s forbidden grounds that looks very similar…”
The Immortal Script Wall constantly changed. Wenren Li had once spent more than ten years observing it, and he distinctly remembered seeing images similar to the pattern on this map. Could the map actually have come from the Tianji Sect and, after changing hands several times, ended up with You Ruo?
“Immortal Script Wall… Could it be an immortal tome? Or did they steal Elder Brother’s treasure chart?” Chen Yixin asked.
Two points of flame immediately ignited in his eyes.
Chen Yixin had always possessed a strong instinct to monopolize treasures. Very few things in Taixuan were actually good enough to catch his eye, and now this one might even be connected to something left behind by Elder Brother Qingruo.
Chen Yixin was determined to have it.
Wenren Li glanced at Chen Yixin’s expression but made no attempt to stop him from thinking about Qingruo and the others who had disappeared. Perhaps allowing Chen Yixin to pursue these traces was the better way to soothe the instability still hidden in his heart.
They studied the map a while longer before Wenren Li told Chen Yixin to put it away.
“Soul forms have their own methods of cultivation. I’ll teach you.”
They had played enough.
Now it was time to cultivate.
On this point, at least, Wenren Li did not intend to let Chen Yixin become too lax.
“All right.” Chen Yixin agreed, though first he leaned over and rubbed his cheek against Wenren Li’s. Only after that did he straighten up, compose his expression, and sit properly.
Wenren Li could still feel the touch lingering on his cheek. He sighed lightly and closed his eyes.
A moment later, the silver hair and silver eyes vanished.
Sitting before Chen Yixin now was Wenren Li with black robes, black hair, and a faint layer of mist drifting around him.
This was Wenren Li’s soul form.
During those ten years of sleep in the North Sea, it had fully recovered. Moreover, with the Ascendant Demon Scripture and Ascendant Immortal Scripture being cultivated simultaneously, the growth of his soul form now far surpassed what it had once been.
Chen Yixin immediately reached out and placed a hand on Wenren Li’s cheek.
Then his hand slowly slid downward.
He could not resist touching him again.
And again.
Wenren Li helplessly rubbed Chen Yixin’s hair. “Cultivate first.”
“Oh.” Chen Yixin answered, his tone full of unfinished enjoyment.
Wenren Li tapped a finger against his brow.
The Ascendant Demon Scripture and Ascendant Immortal Scripture poured simultaneously into Chen Yixin’s sea of consciousness.
“Hm?” Chen Yixin did not begin cultivating as Wenren Li had instructed. Instead he opened his eyes and shook his head. “These cultivation methods are incomplete. At least a third is missing. Let me think about it. I’m pretty sure I saw the complete versions before in A-Li’s Sacred Pavilion…”
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