“What are you worried about? A-Rong is my Demon Empress. How could I ever forget?” Wenren Li said softly as his right hand stroked through Chen Yixin’s hair, gently smoothing it down. He reassured him once more, “I won’t forget.”
Every little moment they had shared, both past and present, remained crystal clear in his mind. He simply had never expected that he would fall in love with the phoenix egg he had personally raised, nor that they would become Dao companions in this lifetime.
“As for the things A-Rong remembered… I’ve remembered them all as well.”
As Wenren Li spoke, the arm wrapped around Chen Yixin’s waist tightened slightly. Clearly, not all those memories were pleasant ones. He had created a truly peaceful Divine Realm, yet there had still been gods coveting his divine power.
He could not clearly say whether the current him was guided more by his past memories or by the present self. But one thing was certain:
All of it was him.
There might be differences, but when it came to his feelings for Chen Yixin, nothing had changed.
“Great Emperor… I’m sorry, I…” Chen Yixin’s voice thickened with emotion. He was both happy and sorrowful. At last, he was no longer the only one who remembered the past—but those unbearably heavy burdens had once more returned to Wenren Li’s shoulders.
“I like hearing A-Rong call me A-Li.”
Wenren Li’s hand moved slowly from Chen Yixin’s hair to his cheek, gently cupping it and turning him toward himself so their gazes met.
“Mm?”
“A-Li…” Chen Yixin called softly.
Immediately, mist gathered in his eyes. He slowly leaned closer, his lips brushing against Wenren Li’s cheek as he kissed him lightly again and again.
“I like A-Li…”
“You are the Great Emperor, but you are also my A-Li… an A-Li who belongs only to me…”
Chen Yixin spoke softly. Then he noticed Wenren Li’s slightly tilted lips, and naturally, their mouths met.
Their lips parted slightly, intertwining in a kiss so gentle it was almost unbearably tender.
Though soft, the kiss lasted a long while.
When they finally separated, Chen Yixin’s cheeks were flushed crimson. His eyes were half-closed, dampness spilling faintly from the corners as all his worries settled down, only for overwhelming heartache to surge up in their place.
Wenren Li lowered another kiss to the corner of Chen Yixin’s eye, gently kissing away the moisture there.
Chen Yixin’s lashes trembled as he opened his eyes again, his heartbeat even faster than before.
“A-Li has remembered everything, but I still can’t remember… I’m so useless…”
Over the past year, he had tried many methods, but the memories he should have possessed remained hidden behind a veil. They seemed within reach, yet he could never truly break through.
Before Chen Yixin could lower his gaze, Wenren Li placed another kiss against his forehead.
A silver point of light appeared.
Chen Yixin’s eyes widened slightly. His hand passed directly through Wenren Li’s body, and the next instant, he reverted back into a phoenix egg.
“We’ll leave the affairs here to Wu Fei and the others. We’re going to make a trip to the Northern Sea… to find An Cheng.”
“Uncle An Cheng? He isn’t dead?”
Now transformed back into a phoenix egg, Chen Yixin bounced excitedly in Wenren Li’s arms, his voice filled with delight.
Water God An Cheng had once been the steward of Yuxu Palace. Chen Yixin had spent considerable time there and naturally knew him well.
Yet Wenren Li did not answer.
Holding Chen Yixin, he walked out of the sleeping chambers and headed directly for the council hall. Ze Fang and the others had not yet dispersed, and he also had demon guards summon Ping Cheng, Nan Ke, and the others.
“A-Rong and I need to enter secluded cultivation for three months. The affairs of the Demon Palace and the Southern Domain will be managed by Ping Cheng and Wu Fei, with assistance from Ze Fang, Azure Roc, and Black Feather.”
As Wenren Li finished speaking, a command token flew into Ping Cheng’s hands. Then he and Chen Yixin vanished directly from the council hall.
Ze Fang and the others had no time to react.
However, Wenren Li’s orders were not very different from the arrangements Chen Yixin had previously made. The only difference was the absence of one person making the final decisions. Otherwise, everything remained much the same as before.
This time, Wenren Li brought Chen Yixin directly through a spatial node within the void, heading toward the Merfolk Clan seas of the Northern Sea.
A journey of tens of thousands of li took less than half an hour as they traveled from the Southern Domain to the Northern Sea.
Chen Yixin’s heart was full of questions, yet he did not ask them.
Clearly, Wenren Li had brought him away because he possessed a method to help him remember the things he ought to remember. Once those memories returned, all the confusion in his heart would disappear as well. There was no need to waste words now.
The Merfolk Clan’s Great Elder—the plump old man—sensed Wenren Li and Chen Yixin’s arrival in the Northern Sea through the Divine Well and immediately led the entire clan out to greet them.
“We welcome the Divine Lord!”
Led by the Merfolk Emperor and the plump old man, everyone bowed respectfully. Yet Wenren Li’s figure merely appeared for an instant before he directly arrived within the great hall of the Merfolk Clan’s Water Palace.
“Uncle An Cheng’s… aura feels different now,” Chen Yixin muttered within Wenren Li’s spiritual sea, obvious confusion in his tone.
Wenren Li gently stroked the eggshell with his hand while waiting for An Cheng and the Merfolk Emperor to enter.
“Elder An stays. You may go make preparations.”
Wenren Li had no intention of exchanging pleasantries. The moment the Merfolk Emperor and the plump old man entered, he gave his instructions directly.
The Merfolk Emperor bowed slightly and departed.
The plump old man remained behind, his eyes repeatedly sneaking glances toward the egg in Wenren Li’s palm. He had the distinct feeling that the egg was studying him in return.
“The Divine Well’s warning truly was correct. The method to bring the Divine Lord back into the world truly lay within the Divine Well itself.”
The plump old man bowed slightly as he spoke.
Yet the next moment, Wenren Li—who should still have been seated upon the Merfolk Emperor’s throne—appeared only one step away, his hand pressing down atop the old man’s head.
The plump old man had no time to feel fear.
The cloudiness in his eyes instantly vanished. He transformed from a fat old man nearing the end of his lifespan into a slightly plump young man in his twenties. His features were not exceptionally handsome, but neither were they ugly.
When Chen Yixin sensed him again, the mixed aura surrounding An Cheng had become pure—pure Water God aura.
“Uncle An Cheng!”
Chen Yixin’s voice sounded simultaneously in both his own and Wenren Li’s ears.
Once the muddy mortal aura had been stripped away, this truly was the An Cheng he remembered.
An Cheng’s mouth trembled open as tears poured down his face.
“Your Majesty, it’s Your Majesty! And Young Highness too… Damn it, damn it! I forgot all of this…”
He had actually failed to recognize Chen Yixin and Wenren Li the very first time he met them. How could he have done such a thing?
An Cheng cried loudly while kowtowing to the ground repeatedly with loud bangs.
After acting half-mad for quite some time, An Cheng finally managed to stop crying.
“Your Majesty, the Divine Well this old servant guarded was never lost. We’ve finally waited for your return…”
An Cheng had reincarnated too many times. Without Wenren Li’s assistance, restoring his divine soul would have been nearly impossible. Yet he had remained within the Merfolk Clan all this time for the sake of the Divine Well and the thing within it that belonged to Wenren Li.
“It’s all thanks to Young Highness. All thanks to Young Highness! If he hadn’t rescued your true body from beneath the Nine Abysses, no matter how many years we planned, we could never have avenged you and the other Divine Lords.”
Though An Cheng tried desperately to control himself, the hatred in his expression still appeared frighteningly savage.
Those hatreds could never truly become part of the past.
“We’ll discuss these matters later. Let’s go to the Three Lives Well first.”
An Cheng stepped aside.
Holding Chen Yixin, Wenren Li walked out. Together they headed directly toward the Merfolk Clan’s forbidden ground—the Three Lives Well.
The Merfolk Emperor had already arranged everything Wenren Li required. Using the Three Lives Well as the core, a massive formation had been constructed.
“This is… A-Li wants to secretly bring my true body down from the Upper Realm?” Chen Yixin exclaimed in shock.
Wenren Li nodded.
“Yes. The Three Lives Well connects to the Heavenly River and the Sea of Ice Extremity. Leaving your true body in the Upper Realm is ultimately unsafe.”
The Upper Realm still did not know he had regained his memories, nor that he was the former Great Emperor Yuxu. Yet that truth likely could not remain hidden much longer.
They could not descend into Taixuan and thus could do nothing to him directly. But perhaps they would target Chen Yixin instead.
So after awakening, Wenren Li set aside all other matters and immediately came to the Northern Sea first to retrieve Chen Yixin’s body into Taixuan.
“Mm!”
Chen Yixin responded as he flew from Wenren Li’s arms onto the Three Lives Well.
A pillar of water erupted upward from the well, supporting him atop it. The surrounding formation activated while An Cheng and Wenren Li personally guarded it.
“Ten Thousand Waters Return to Origin! Seek!”
As Wenren Li’s words fell, every body of water throughout Taixuan trembled.
Half an hour later, even the quietly flowing Heavenly River of the Upper Realm began roaring violently, alarming numerous Immortal Emperors and Immortal Lords who rushed over to investigate.
“Not good—the Sea of Ice Extremity!”
Immortal Emperor Changdong shot out of his immortal palace in an instant and reached the entrance to the Sea of Ice Extremity in the next.
Arriving half a breath earlier than him was Emperor Fengyuan.
The two exchanged a glance before diving together into the Sea of Ice Extremity.
“The Myriad Worlds Well lies in the Lesser Hill Realm. The Three Lives Well and Demon Abyss Well vanished long ago—they must also be in Taixuan and have now been found by Lord Li!”
Wenren Li clearly could not bear separation from Chen Yixin, so he intended to use the Divine Well’s connection between the Heavenly River and the Sea of Ice Extremity to secretly ferry Chen Yixin down into the Lower Realm.
What they did not know was that Chen Yixin’s soul had already been secretly ferried down long ago.
What they were now attempting to transport was his true body.
The two continued diving deeper. Frost began forming across their bodies. Even at the level of Immortal Emperors, they were gradually unable to endure the cold. Yet even so, they still could not locate Chen Yixin’s whereabouts.
Still, they had reacted quickly enough. No matter how fast Wenren Li moved, he could not possibly complete the secret transfer within such a short time.
No one had ever seen the bottom of the Sea of Ice Extremity, nor knew what it looked like.
The deeper they descended, the more their souls seemed close to freezing solid. Even Immortal Emperor cultivation became unbearably strained here.
Finally, Fengyuan and Changdong summoned their natal immortal treasures and, after two hours, reached the seabed of the Sea of Ice Extremity.
A frozen world of ice stone stretched before them. Any living being here would freeze solid.
Neither could understand why Chen Yixin would be so ruthless toward himself. Staying in the upper regions would have been enough—why descend all the way to the seabed?
Yet at the same time, they both relaxed slightly.
Upon an icy bed at the bottom lay Chen Yixin asleep, resting his head atop a silver stone block. There were no signs whatsoever of him being secretly transported away. He looked merely as though he intended to sleep there for five hundred years.
“We worried unnecessarily. Better not disturb Lord Yi.”
As Changdong spoke to Fengyuan, both bowed slightly and began retreating.
Given Chen Yixin’s temperament, if they woke him, there would absolutely be consequences they would not enjoy.
As long as Chen Yixin remained obediently in the Upper Realm, they still had to treat him respectfully.
“Mm.”
Fengyuan acknowledged softly.
The two exchanged another glance before slowly retreating upward while maintaining their immortal treasures.
Only after they vanished from the seabed did the sleeping Chen Yixin slowly open his eyes.
Nearly at the exact instant Fengyuan and Changdong had arrived, Chen Yixin’s soul—having returned from the Lower Realm—had barely managed to re-enter his body.
His secret transfer of his soul had almost been discovered.
Slowly sitting up, he brushed away the watery ripples left behind by Wenren Li’s guiding spell. His gaze turned cold and severe.
“Come out. Must this lord personally invite you?”
Fengyuan and Changdong had not actually left.
The doubts in their hearts remained unresolved. There was no way they would leave so easily. Yet if they truly hid in the shadows to watch over him, who knew how long they would end up waiting?
“We wouldn’t dare… wouldn’t dare…”
The two revealed themselves again, expressions awkward.
Changdong bowed slightly.
“The Heavenly River shook, so Fengyuan and I came down to check on Lord Yi…”
“To check whether I was still here, you mean.”
Chen Yixin turned sideways while drawing the silver stone he had been using as a pillow into his arms.
That was Yinzi.
Since Yinzi had come to the Upper Realm together with him, naturally he would bring it away with him as well.
“Lord Yi honored his promise. We worried unnecessarily.”
Changdong bowed again in apology.
Fengyuan followed suit.
At this point, he possessed very little standing before Chen Yixin anymore.
Yet both suddenly froze and lifted their heads sharply.
Chen Yixin spread the fingers of one hand slightly, and the immortal light from their natal treasures instantly extinguished.
“If this lord wishes to leave, do you truly think the two of you could stop me?”
As Chen Yixin spoke, he rose to his feet barefoot upon the ice.
Already frozen stiff themselves, Changdong and Fengyuan widened their eyes in horror.
Chen Yixin waved a hand toward them once more.
Instantly, spiraling torrents of water formed around them. Two prisons of ice emerged, and formations sealed into place around them.
They were trapped.
The Sea of Ice Extremity had never originally been created as punishment.
Long ago, Great Emperor Yuxu Wenren Li had created it merely as a place for Chen Yixin to play and sleep peacefully.
“Changdong, Fengyuan… look forward to our next meeting.”
As Chen Yixin finished speaking, a pillar of water curled around his waist.
Holding Yinzi in his arms, he vanished from the seabed of the Sea of Ice Extremity—vanished entirely from the sight of Immortal Emperor Changdong and Emperor Fengyuan.
Futile Devices Scans 
Leave a comment