Futile Devices Scans

When Chen Yixin heard that, the hand he had been using to take liberties with the little sapling loosened slightly. He wrapped his arms around Wenren Li’s neck instead and slowly rested against his shoulder.

“Let me recover for a few days before we talk about that again.”

In his heart, he never grew tired of being intimate with Wenren Li. Unfortunately, his body was clearly holding him back now. The willingness was there, but the strength was not.

After remaining a little longer in Qiu Yi’s temporary Medicine Pavilion, they returned to the conference tent. Wenren Li continued cultivating, while Chen Yixin remained busy handling military affairs.

Previously, Chen Yixin had always felt that the power of his divine flames was already sufficient. However, after fighting the Otherworldly Demon puppet that day, he realized it was still not enough. This was no longer a problem that dual cultivation with Wenren Li could solve. Of course, ordinary cultivation would not solve it either.

His divine flames had descended from the heavens on the day he hatched, making them his natal divine flames. Chen Yixin had always treated them like his wings and feathers, believing they were simply a part of his body. Perhaps that would be true in the end, but his current situation suggested otherwise.

He was a phoenix divine bird, while divine flames were a type of fire. They were even fundamentally different from Qingruo’s Burning Heaven Flame. One burned with blazing heat, the other with extreme cold. Different cultivation methods and different applications could affect their divine power in completely different ways.

Qingruo’s divine flame was called the Burning Heaven Flame, but what about his own? What should his divine flame be called?

Chen Yixin had never considered that question before. Now, he closed his eyes and sank into contemplation. Entering deep meditation, he slipped into a state of enlightenment.

Two days later, Wenren Li opened his eyes from cultivation. It was Chen Yixin’s condition that had disturbed him.

With a wave of his hand, he transported Chen Yixin to the flower field in front of their residence.

A layer of pale blue flames wrapped around Chen Yixin’s entire body. Within the flames, his true form appeared and disappeared intermittently. At times it seemed like dancing fire; at others, like rippling water. It was an indescribably miraculous sight.

Gradually, the flames spread outward from Chen Yixin. They quickly entwined themselves around the entire field of Phoenix Flowers, flowed past the place where Wenren Li stood, and then transformed into a blue phoenix formed entirely from flame. It circled Wenren Li’s legs, wrapped around his waist, and then flowed back to the ground, gliding away like water.

“What is His Highness doing?”

An Cheng appeared at the edge of the flower field. The divine flames, which should have possessed terrifying destructive power, flowed over the tents, over the little tree, over the immortal herbs and spiritual plants growing nearby. Yet nothing was harmed. It was as though they had merely been brushed by an incomparably gentle breeze.

“A-Rong is comprehending a Dao that belongs solely to him.”

Even though Qingruo’s Six Arts of Burning Heaven was powerful, it had ultimately been created specifically for the Burning Heaven Flame. It was never truly suited to Chen Yixin.

What was truly suitable for him was something even Wenren Li could not provide. Only what Chen Yixin comprehended and created himself could truly belong to him.

After answering An Cheng’s question, Wenren Li sat cross-legged beside the Phoenix Flower field to guard him. An Cheng departed as well, arranging additional guards. At a moment as important as this, no one could be allowed to disturb Chen Yixin.

The phenomena surrounding Chen Yixin’s enlightenment continued even after the Ten Great Demon Generals successfully advanced. Nor did it show any sign of ending. Fortunately, before Chen Yixin entered enlightenment, most of the plans for conquering the Northern Domain had already been finalized.

Now they possessed ten Demon Generals at the early Tribulation Crossing stage. Against the mindless mid-stage Tribulation Crossing demonic corpse of Boundless Sect, they finally had the power to fight.

After using the corpse as a training opponent one after another, the Ten Great Demon Generals succeeded in capturing Boundless Sect—one of the strongest sects of the Northern Immortal Dao Alliance—in only half a month.

The true destruction of the Northern Immortal Dao had officially begun.

Originally, the two-year timetable had seemed somewhat ambitious. Now, even people like Ze Fang, who had once doubted it, no longer felt that way.

At the same time, they had undergone genuine tempering and finally witnessed the terrifying strength the Northern Immortal Dao had hidden for so long. Originally, they had believed the mid-stage Tribulation Crossing demonic corpse represented the limit. Then one day, the Demon Lord’s main camp was suddenly attacked.

The assailant was an elderly woman whose strength nearly reached the Great Ascension realm. Though she could maintain that power for less than an hour, the Ten Great Demon Generals suffered defeat after defeat during that short period. Had Qiu Yi not intervened at the critical moment, those ten newly matured Demon Generals might have been completely wiped out.

Yet only such dangerous trials could truly forge growth. After that battle, while they had not immediately advanced to the middle stage, their early Tribulation Crossing cultivation had finally stabilized.

That was the growth of the Ten Great Demon Generals.

Over the past two years, nine of the twenty vice-generals had successfully broken through from late Nascent Soul to early Soul Transformation. Within the million-strong Demon Guard army, breakthroughs occurred almost daily. Their growth was even more terrifying. Combined with various battle formations, defeating opponents above their own cultivation level had become commonplace.

As for the personal guard unit Chen Yixin had established, the title of the Undying Guard had already spread throughout all of Taixuan. It truly deserved its fearsome reputation.

Whenever one of its members died or was killed, icy-blue spiritual rain would descend from the heavens. Then the fallen would return to life.

And after walking the line between life and death once, anyone whose aptitude was not utterly terrible would almost certainly experience a breakthrough once their injuries healed. Operating constantly in the most dangerous battlefields, they had grown at astonishing speed over the past two years, far surpassing ordinary Demon Guard armies.

Naturally, the icy-blue spiritual rain was Chen Yixin’s doing. Although he had not emerged from enlightenment, he was not entirely unaware of the outside world. Rather, he had infused his consciousness into his divine flames, using them as his means of perception.

Over those two years, he had experienced grasses and trees through his flames. He had experienced soil and streams. He had experienced cultivators of every cultivation level. He had experienced mortals. He had experienced the dead. Everything under heaven. Wherever his flames flowed, there was something for Chen Yixin to carefully understand.

Meanwhile, his physical body remained seated within the field of mutated Phoenix Flowers. The military encampment around him had long since been dismantled. In its place stood a small wooden cottage personally built by Wenren Li, a stream personally diverted by him, and the surrounding forest that had already existed. Together, it resembled the wondrous land where they had once lived within the Burning Heaven Nether Palace.

Whenever rain fell or the sun blazed overhead, Wenren Li would stop cultivating and quietly stand beside Chen Yixin, holding an umbrella over him. There was no impatience in his eyes. For him, such waiting and companionship were themselves a form of happiness.

“Reporting to the Demon Lord—Northern Domain unified.”

An Cheng and Ze Fang approached from the distance and bowed slightly as they delivered the long-expected news.

Wenren Li nodded lightly.

“Discuss the stabilization efforts among yourselves first. Once you have reached a conclusion, bring it to me for review.”

However, Ze Fang did not leave immediately.

“Preparations for Your Majesty and the Demon Consort to ascend as Emperor and Empress are also underway. The ceremony can be held at any time.”

Wenren Li becoming Demon Emperor was the desire of all. Even before the northern campaign had begun, Ze Fang had already discussed the matter with him. The conquest of the Northern Domain was the ideal moment. Doing so would also unite the hearts of Taixuan’s cultivators more quickly.

“There is no rush. We will discuss it after A-Rong awakens.”

Wenren Li waved them away. After An Cheng and Ze Fang departed, an umbrella appeared in his hand once more, and he walked back toward Chen Yixin.

These past few days, Chen Yixin had been exceptionally quiet. The divine flames surrounding him had disappeared, making him appear no different from an ordinary mortal. Yet in Wenren Li’s eyes, he seemed even more real and vivid than before.

Even when the weather was neither hot nor rainy, Wenren Li still wanted to hold an umbrella over him.

Ze Fang and An Cheng both glanced back at the figures of one standing and one sitting. They felt a trace of emotion. While Chen Yixin and Wenren Li had become carefree hands-off rulers, those close to them had no such luxury.

The Southern and Northern Domains had indeed been unified. Yet instead of decreasing, the number of matters requiring attention had only grown more numerous and complicated.

Almost the instant An Cheng and Ze Fang left the area, Chen Yixin slowly opened his eyes. The blue flames burning within his pupils gradually extinguished, returning them to ordinary black.

At the same time, the hand resting upon his knee slowly lifted and formed a seal. A nearly transparent flame ignited between his palms. Then Chen Yixin pressed his palms together, and the flame vanished.

Lowering his hands, he still did not stand. Instead, he gently tugged on Wenren Li’s sleeve and lifted his face with a smile. Within those dark eyes shimmered emotions so moving that they seemed to glow.

Before Wenren Li could crouch down, Chen Yixin hugged his leg. “A-Li, I missed you.”

Though two years had passed, he barely felt the passage of time. Yet he had known all along that Wenren Li had been standing over him with an umbrella. He missed him. And he was grateful for those two years of companionship.

Wenren Li’s hand settled atop Chen Yixin’s head. Then he sat down directly upon the ground as well. Gently lifting Chen Yixin’s chin, he took the initiative to kiss his lips.

Before they could exchange more words, they were already locked together in a kiss that neither wished to end. Their embrace remained gentle and restrained. Yet the heat of the kiss was no less intense.

In fact, both of them were exercising considerable restraint. Otherwise, they would have already tumbled together then and there.

“A-Li doesn’t want to hear the results of my two years of enlightenment?”

Chen Yixin tilted back his elegant neck and asked the question breathlessly.

Wenren Li lifted his head from Chen Yixin’s neck. Then he scooped Chen Yixin up from the Phoenix Flower field.

“We can discuss that later.”

There were more urgent matters to attend to now.

At those words, Chen Yixin’s lips curled upward. A moment later, he broke into laughter. Covering Wenren Li’s entire face with sweet kisses, he chuckled the whole way.

Even before entering enlightenment, he had already sensed it. Now he could finally confirm it. Wenren Li’s desire for him was overwhelming and difficult to control.

The realization amused him greatly.

After all, in the beginning, merely getting a little too close to Wenren Li would make the man stiffen for ages, often blushing so innocently for Chen Yixin to see.

“Did I corrupt A-Li?”

Placed upon a bed woven from clouds, Chen Yixin immediately pressed himself against Wenren Li’s chest and wrapped his arms around his neck.

“Perhaps.”

Wenren Li nodded. Leaning down, he pinned the clingy Chen Yixin onto the bed. The moment their eyes met, they kissed again.

Soon, Chen Yixin was thoroughly lost in desire and forgot all about teasing Wenren Li.

Corrupted or not, it did not matter. He liked this changed Wenren Li just as much.

Their foreheads rested together. Then a flash of blue light emerged from Chen Yixin’s brow. His divine sense transformed into flames and surged into Wenren Li’s sea of consciousness, winding itself around the silver tree at its center.

This was not intimacy. It was a battle.

The reason his divine power had remained unstable and unable to heal his physical discomfort all this time was because it had been affected by the aura of Wenren Li’s silver-tree true form.

What Chen Yixin was doing now was applying the results of his two years of enlightenment directly to their intimacy.

When the silver tree within Wenren Li’s sea of consciousness became entangled, Wenren Li froze momentarily. The next instant, Chen Yixin reversed their positions and pinned him to the bed.

In order to suppress Wenren Li properly, spiritual wings even appeared behind him.

“A-Li is my tree. Naturally, I’m the one who gets to sleep with you.”

Pressing down on Wenren Li’s shoulders to keep him from rising, Chen Yixin blinked. Not wanting Wenren Li to think he had become even worse, he leaned down and kissed his forehead.

“I’m only changing positions. I’m not going to do anything to you…”

After all, in this position, the one who suffered most was still him.

No—regardless of the position, he was always the one who ended up being tormented to the point of madness.

Inside Wenren Li’s sea of consciousness, Chen Yixin’s divine flames were fighting with the silver tree.

Outside, he and Wenren Li were “fighting” as well.

Previous

Main

Next