“A-Li, don’t rush me. Since I’ve already come back, I might as well bring a few things with me before leaving.” As Chen Yixin spoke, he turned around and pursed his lips slightly, as though doing that would somehow allow him to kiss Wenren Li.
Before the Three Lives Well in Taixuan’s North Sea, Wenren Li sat cross-legged with his hands forming seals. One brow lifted unconsciously. He had not actually been kissed, but he had most definitely been teased.
Clearly, the Chen Yixin of the present had neither remembered anything more nor forgotten anything else. His already flamboyant, uninhibited personality had simply become even less restrained. This was not accidental teasing. Chen Yixin was doing it deliberately.
Wenren Li changed the seals formed by his hands and cooperated with whatever Chen Yixin wanted to do.
Before the Myriad Worlds Well in Xiaoqiu Realm, Immortal Lord Qiu Yi was worshipping the Divine Well. He completed his final bow and straightened, only to see a flawless white hand gripping the rim of the well. Someone appeared to be climbing out.
Qiu Yi’s pupils widened. For an instant, he almost believed someone from the Lower Realm had climbed directly into the Upper Realm through the Myriad Worlds Well. Then he saw the familiar face. “Lord Yi… y-you… weren’t you confined to the Sea of Ice Extremity?”
Qiu Yi rarely left Xiaoqiu Realm, but his relationships were excellent and he was far from uninformed. In fact, the reason he had come to worship the Myriad Worlds Well today was because he had decided to leave Xiaoqiu Realm for a while and visit Chen Yixin at the Sea of Ice Extremity. Perhaps there were things he could do for Chen Yixin that Chen Yixin himself could not conveniently do. It was his duty as a friend.
Qiu Yi had been thoroughly worried, yet the person he was preparing to seek had now climbed out of the well by himself.
Chen Yixin continued hauling himself out, then sat atop the rim. He smiled at Qiu Yi and said in a remarkably casual tone, “I got tired of staying there. I came to catch up with you before going to find A-Li.”
When Chen Yixin said “A-Li,” his eyes curved slightly. The way he put his lover before his friends was exactly the same as ever.
Qiu Yi stared speechlessly at his expression for a moment before finally understanding what he meant. “Ah… I see. Then Lord Yi still plans to use this well to descend into the Lower Realm?”
Compared with the first time Chen Yixin had used the well, Qiu Yi now had no intention whatsoever of trying to stop him. The Wheel of Reincarnation inside the Myriad Worlds Well seemed to have no effect on Chen Yixin anyway. Besides, Qiu Yi already knew perfectly well that trying to persuade him would be useless.
“Qiu Yi, we’re friends, so I won’t hide this from you. I came here because I’m taking the Myriad Worlds Well into the Lower Realm with me. This well contains something belonging to A-Li. I have to take it.”
Chen Yixin’s tone remained pleasant, but the content of his words was anything but negotiable. He was not asking Qiu Yi for permission. Whatever Qiu Yi’s attitude might be, Chen Yixin was taking the well.
“I have guarded the Myriad Worlds Well for nearly five hundred thousand years. Aside from the Wheel of Reincarnation that connects to the Lower Realm, there is nothing else inside it. Could Lord Yi be mistaken?” Qiu Yi remained silent for a moment before asking. He was still trying to find some way to resolve this without becoming enemies. He did not want to oppose Chen Yixin, but neither could he simply abandon the duty the Qiu Divine Clan had inherited for generations.
Chen Yixin slowly shook his head. The smile on his face faded as he turned toward the well itself, his gaze growing cold. “The Myriad Worlds Well is indeed the Myriad Worlds Well. But in the beginning, it did not contain any Wheel of Reincarnation.”
“Heh… what Wheel of Reincarnation? That thing contains Great Emperor Yuxu’s… heart.”
Qiu Yi’s pupils abruptly contracted. Given the foundations of the Qiu Divine Clan, there was no possibility that Qiu Yi, its current clan leader, had never heard the title Great Emperor Yuxu. Before he could react any further, Chen Yixin waved one hand. Qiu Yi’s vision went black, and he collapsed onto the ground, unable to move.
“Chatter, chatter… why are you still so long-winded?” After complaining about Qiu Yi’s reaction, Chen Yixin ignored the man lying motionless on the ground like a corpse and began carving formations around the Myriad Worlds Well.
Chen Yixin worked quickly. Once the formation was complete, he even had enough spare time to take the talisman seal from Qiu Yi’s waist, open Xiaoqiu Realm’s treasury, and carry away everything from Qiu Yi’s belongings that he could possibly take. Then he returned to the well.
With a wave of his hand, a mass of water floated upward from within. Chen Yixin lightly tapped it with one fingertip. “That’s enough. A-Li, come take me home.”
In Taixuan’s North Sea, Wenren Li slowly opened his eyes. A silver pillar of light shot upward from his body. The Three Lives Well began trembling. In the Upper Realm, the disturbances in the Sea of Ice Extremity and Heavenly River became even more violent than before.
At the bottom of the Sea of Ice Extremity, Immortal Emperor Changdong and Sovereign Feng Yuan—still trapped inside their ice prisons—looked at each other. Both cried out at once, “Not good! Something is happening to the Divine Blood Barrier!”
Almost the instant the words left their mouths, a bloody scar appeared across the cloudless blue sky of the Upper Realm. The crimson mark deepened little by little. It looked as though someone had slashed open the heavens themselves.
Soon afterward, rain began falling in the Upper Realm, where rain had never fallen before. Blood rain. Thunder rolled without end, as though roaring in fury. Above Xiaoqiu Realm, black clouds churned violently, and divine punishment threatened to descend at any moment.
Chen Yixin remained sitting upon the rim of the Myriad Worlds Well. He gave the sky of the Upper Realm one final look. A faintly mocking smile curved his lips. Then the forbidden grounds of Xiaoqiu Realm vanished completely. Divine punishment descended. Xiaoqiu Realm was destroyed. But the Myriad Worlds Well, once taken away, remained gone.
Meanwhile, in the forbidden grounds of the North Sea Merfolk Clan in Taixuan, another Divine Well appeared, alongside two immortals—one sitting, one lying down.
“A-Li!” Chen Yixin jumped up happily and flew straight toward Wenren Li before Wenren Li had even lowered his hand seals. A loud kiss landed directly on Wenren Li’s lips. Mwah! The sound made An Cheng, standing not far away, blush clear across his old face.
Oh, dear. Their Young Highness was still every bit as passionate, straightforward, and incapable of restraint as before…
“A-Li! A-Li! A-Li!” Calling once was nowhere near enough. Chen Yixin called him three times in succession, and every time he did, another kiss landed on Wenren Li’s lips. The more he kissed, the better his mood became, and the less willing he was to climb off Wenren Li.
“A-Li isn’t even calling me…” Having given Wenren Li absolutely no opportunity to speak, Chen Yixin pressed against his lips and complained softly. Then he sat directly on Wenren Li’s thighs, completely eliminating any chance of Wenren Li standing up.
“It’s enough that A-Rong came back.” Wenren Li supported the half of Chen Yixin practically glued to his body. With a sweep of his hand, the two vanished from the forbidden grounds around the Three Lives Well and returned to the palace where they had once stayed among the Merfolk Clan.
Wenren Li did not want too many people seeing how affectionate Chen Yixin was with him. Not even an old acquaintance like An Cheng.
“I took the Myriad Worlds Well, and the Divine Blood Barrier on the Void-Heaven Battlefield broke too.” Chen Yixin had not anticipated this consequence beforehand, but there was not the slightest hint of regret in his voice. As far as he was concerned, the Divine Blood Barrier stained with the blood of the people he loved should have broken long ago.
“At last it’s their turn to reap what they sowed.” Chen Yixin lightly rubbed his nose against Wenren Li’s, then pecked his lips again. His gaze grew heated. “A-Li, should we dual cultivate?”
When Chen Yixin’s divine soul had descended into the Lower Realm alone, he remembered only his earliest past, leaving his temperament so young that Wenren Li had refused to take things further with him. But now his true body had returned as well. There should be no such concern anymore.
“Dual cultivate?” There was a trace of doubt in Wenren Li’s voice. The Chen Yixin he knew could never possibly be satisfied with only dual cultivation.
His gaze remained fixed on Chen Yixin as though he could never look at him enough. Every glance and every smile from Chen Yixin pulled at his attention.
“Of course it can’t all be dual cultivation… Just tell me whether you’re willing!” Chen Yixin raised his brows and tugged at Wenren Li’s clothing. Then he tilted his head and spent a good while biting and licking Wenren Li’s earlobe before finally lifting his face again, apparently satisfied.
“A-Li, don’t think I forgot about you spanking me. I remember.” From the moment Chen Yixin first developed consciousness, no one had ever spanked him before. That day had truly been the first time. Even more infuriating was that after doing such a thing to him, Wenren Li had turned around and gone into a year-long sleep. Hmph.
“Once I find Elder Brother and Big Brother Lin Yu again, I’m telling on you… A-Li is always bullying me…” His words were full of grievance and determination not to let the matter go, but his hands were already undoing Wenren Li’s clothes.
As for his own clothing, Chen Yixin lowered his gaze. It vanished.
Black hair spilled down around his body, concealing and revealing him in turn. If Wenren Li could still endure after that, he would hardly count as a man.
He drew a deep breath and stopped bothering to argue. Lifting Chen Yixin from the couch in the outer hall, he carried him into the inner chamber and lowered him onto the soft Woven Cloud covering the large bed. Then he bent down and kissed the lips that seemed perpetually ready to provoke him again.
Wenren Li always intended to be gentle with Chen Yixin, but somehow gentleness never lasted. Chen Yixin always found a way to make Wenren Li lose control and fall with him into desire until neither had room to think of anything else. Body joined body, divine soul entwined with divine soul. There was no greater intimacy between them.
Wenren Li had told Wu Fei and the others that he and Chen Yixin needed three months of seclusion. In his original estimate, however, they would not require anywhere near that long. Now it appeared that even the three months he had named might have been too short.
Once the doors closed, they seemed to have no intention of opening again. An Cheng and Qiu Yi wandered outside the palace. After exchanging greetings and a little conversation, they stood together and watched the Merfolk guards busily cutting grass and chopping back trees.
“What a waste. Such a waste… It’s a pity Taixuan has almost no seeds for divine herbs…” An Cheng sighed regretfully as usual. The grass being cut by the Merfolk guards, however, was hardly ordinary vegetation. A large portion consisted of immortal herbs Chen Yixin had brought down from Qiu Yi’s treasury.
Qiu Yi stared blankly at the wildly growing plants. Weren’t these supposed to grow only one leaf every ten thousand years? Only three days had passed, yet they had already grown ten leaves and become usable.
Qiu Yi walked toward the Merfolk Clan’s forbidden grounds. Two Divine Wells stood side by side, and red and blue Phoenix Flowers filled the ground around them. Even in the Upper Realm, not so much as a blade of grass could ordinarily survive around a Divine Well. Yet these wells allowed Phoenix Flowers to bloom.
“So something belonging to Lord Li truly is stored inside them?” Calling it an “object” did not seem entirely appropriate. According to Chen Yixin, Wenren Li’s heart was stored within them—a piece of his original true body.
And precisely because of that, influenced by Wenren Li’s feelings, the two Divine Wells permitted Phoenix Flowers to bloom around them.
“Of course. Other than His Majesty’s heart, nothing else could have suppressed our resistance.” An Cheng’s voice came from behind Qiu Yi. Qiu Yi turned and nodded slightly to him.
“Do you know why the cultivation of Taixuan’s cultivators has always been suppressed at Soul Transformation?” An Cheng bowed deeply toward the two Divine Wells before rising and asking Qiu Yi. He knew Qiu Yi still felt somewhat resentful about being abducted into the Lower Realm by Chen Yixin.
“Because this is a Prison Realm. The descendants of condemned immortals and gods are not permitted to ascend.” Qiu Yi gave the answer universally accepted throughout the Upper Realm. Punishment extending to the descendants was supposedly divine punishment prescribed by the Heavenly Dao. No one could change it.
Anger appeared on An Cheng’s face. “Utter nonsense! Shameless beyond belief!”
“Most of the people in Taixuan descend from divine and immortal clans that were exiled into the Lower Realm several eras ago. Their ancestors did not commit unforgivable crimes. Their ancestors were chosen for the Void-Heaven Battlefield, where their flesh and blood were used to build the Divine Blood Barrier.”
Those people had been exiled to Taixuan in order to suppress their resistance and permanently prevent the truth from ever being discovered.
The so-called “restoration of the Immortal Path” referred to restoring the path sealed within the Myriad Worlds Well. The Wheel of Reincarnation belonging to Wenren Li was one reason Chen Yixin had insisted on bringing the Myriad Worlds Well back to Taixuan. This sealed path was another.
If they were to possess the power to resist, their cultivation could no longer remain capped at Soul Transformation. Otherwise, a Prison Realm would remain a Prison Realm forever. Those above could not descend, while those below would never gain the qualifications to ascend.
“Once the Divine Blood Barrier breaks, the Upper Realm will bear the brunt of it. By bringing you down here, Young Highness also spared you from a calamity. I’m afraid every Immortal Lord below the Immortal Emperor realm is in danger now…” With that sigh, An Cheng walked away.
Qiu Yi remained silent for a moment. Then cold swept through his entire body. The implication behind An Cheng’s words was that the Upper Realm might simply use immortal blood to build another Divine Blood Barrier.
“No… no. They’ve already been doing it!” Many things became horrifying the moment one truly thought about them. All the battles arranged under one pretext or another. What became of the corpses of dead immortals. Where the remains of their ancestors had gone… Each thought sent a deeper chill through Qiu Yi.
He left almost in a daze. Two days later, Chen Yixin and Wenren Li finally emerged from their sleeping chambers. Their nearly three months of continuous dual cultivation had at last ended. An Cheng came to receive them, a trace of regret still showing on his face.
Starting today, there would be no more immortal herbs in the Merfolk Clan to harvest…
“Does Young Highness have any instructions?” An Cheng bowed to Chen Yixin. He could not understand why Chen Yixin kept giving him that sidelong look.
“Refine them into pills. Send ninety percent to Likui Demon Palace. And you’re not allowed to use the rest to feed the wells either.” There was unmistakable displaced irritation in Chen Yixin’s voice.
In An Cheng and Qiu Yi’s eyes, the Divine Wells were sacred things to be worshipped. In Chen Yixin’s eyes, they were prisons that had once trapped Wenren Li. The fact that he had not destroyed them already was generous enough. And now they wanted to feed the wells pills made from immortal herbs that had flourished because he and Wenren Li were dual cultivating? Not a chance.
“Yes… huh?” An Cheng scratched his head, completely unable to understand Chen Yixin’s logic. Then he heard Chen Yixin continue in a leisurely voice.
“A-Li and I can feed them ourselves. I’m sure the Divine Wells will be very willing.”
“Ah… yes.” An Cheng’s answer practically came out as a sob. He remembered all too clearly the time Chen Yixin had kicked the Divine Well and threatened it. Would these wells even survive their future?
An Cheng cast a hopeful look toward Wenren Li. Perhaps His Majesty might restrain Chen Yixin a little. A Divine Well was still a Divine Well. Surely it should not be treated so roughly.
Wenren Li appeared not to notice An Cheng’s twitching eyes at all. He simply rubbed Chen Yixin’s hair, utterly indulging him.
An Cheng suddenly understood. The Great Emperor of the past had already spoiled Chen Yixin terribly. Now it was probably ten times worse—a hundred times worse. Even if Chen Yixin truly broke one of the Divine Wells, Wenren Li likely would not so much as frown.
“Why are you frowning? Even if I really break them, A-Li can fix them.” Chen Yixin turned and glared at An Cheng. Then he turned back toward Wenren Li with a brilliant smile, the final word of his sentence lifting playfully. “Right?”
“Mm.” Wenren Li answered softly and walked with Chen Yixin toward the wells. The two Divine Wells now looked noticeably more ordinary than before—and considerably more obedient.
Leave a Reply