Chen Yixin and Wenren Li entered the Myriad Immortals Tower branch in this region side by side. Its layout was no different from the branches elsewhere, and the place bustled with people coming and going.
They went straight to the immortal attendant standing alone at the inner end of the main hall—the only one who was not serving any guests. Wenren Li arranged four pieces of top-grade immortal jade into a particular pattern, and the attendant immediately led them upstairs.
Once they were seated, Chen Yixin tossed another piece of immortal jade onto the table. He had re-engraved it with divine power, and the design on it made the attendant freeze. Chen Yixin said, “Tell him an old acquaintance has come to visit.”
The attendant seemed to want to ask something more, but the look Chen Yixin gave him instinctively stopped the words in his throat. The design on the jade was indeed a proprietary mark belonging to the master behind Myriad Immortals Tower. Every mark appeared similar at first glance, yet each was actually different. Only a limited number existed, and without exception, anyone who arrived carrying one was an honored guest whom they could not afford to slight.
The mark Chen Yixin had given him was genuine. The only problem was that it had not been engraved on one of Myriad Immortals Tower’s specially made scepters, which was why the attendant had hesitated.
After the attendant left, Chen Yixin finally turned to explain to Wenren Li. “Back when I was hunting him down after he tried to hunt me, he dropped one of those scepters and it ended up with me. I casually tossed it somewhere in Fentian Nether Abode, so it was probably lost ages ago. But I still remembered the design.”
In truth, Chen Yixin had only been testing his luck just now. Judging by the attendant’s reaction, however, there probably would not be a problem.
Wenren Li raised a hand and rubbed Chen Yixin’s cheek. “If that’s the case, A-Rong won’t have to worry about whether we brought enough immortal jade.” When conducting information deals with Myriad Immortals Tower, exorbitant prices were practically the norm. It was an extraordinarily profitable business.
If they had not brought enough immortal jade, getting accurate information out of Myriad Immortals Tower would be difficult.
Wenren Li paused, his hand remaining against Chen Yixin’s cheek. “Let’s see what happens first. Then we can decide whether there’s any need to rob them.”
If Myriad Immortals Tower demanded too high a price, it would naturally become the first target Chen Yixin and Wenren Li robbed. But if this scepter could persuade them to restrain themselves a little, it would save them the trouble and make future business easier as well.
Chen Yixin turned his head. His lips parted, and he lightly bit the fingertip Wenren Li was about to withdraw. He did not leave any tooth marks, but he thoroughly dampened the tip of Wenren Li’s finger before saying, “A-Li does the robbing. I’ll do the killing.”
That probably counted as the sort of unusual romance that belonged uniquely to Chen Yixin and Wenren Li.
After saying it, Chen Yixin’s lips curved into a brilliant, enticing smile. Wenren Li had known Chen Yixin far too well for far too long, yet the sight still dazed him. His fingertip moved slightly, and the lingering sensation of Chen Yixin’s bite seemed to tingle all the way into his heart.
It took quite some time for the message to make its way up through the various levels. Chen Yixin and Wenren Li had already been sitting on the top floor of Myriad Immortals Tower for nearly two shichen when the Tower Master of this region finally appeared together with the attendant. A third person followed behind them.
The man had not yet entered when his voice arrived first. “An old acquaintance? I’d like to see which old acquaintance this is…”
The specially made scepters of Myriad Immortals Tower had been lost outside and passed through several hands over the years, so whoever possessed one now was not necessarily its original recipient. But the message Chen Yixin had sent included the words “old acquaintance.” That was what finally drew out the elusive true master of Myriad Immortals Tower himself—Immortal Lord Zhu Yan.
Chen Yixin and Wenren Li both wore black immortal robes and hooded cloaks, the most ordinary attire among unaffiliated immortals in the Upper Realm. At first glance, Zhu Yan could find no flaw whatsoever. Their faces and auras were both utterly unremarkable—so unremarkable that he could not remember ever knowing people like them.
But Zhu Yan was already a ninth-rank Immortal Lord, capable of stepping into the ranks of Half-Step Immortal Emperors at any time. Unless an Immortal Emperor had personally come over to toy with him, there was no reason he should be unable to see through these two people’s identities and cultivation.
The moment Zhu Yan got a clear look at Chen Yixin and Wenren Li, his steps halted. Then he raised a hand. “You two, leave.”
The branch master and attendant, who had entered ahead of him and were just about to exchange pleasantries with Chen Yixin and Wenren Li, were immediately dismissed.
“Is Tower Master Zhu planning to personally pour tea for A-Li and me?” Chen Yixin tilted his head toward him. Neither his disguised appearance nor his concealed aura changed in the slightest, but that particular tone of voice was something Zhu Yan remembered vividly even after more than thirty thousand years.
“You—you… you two!” Zhu Yan took a step backward. He himself suddenly wanted to leave too. The people whom the Ten Emperors and Nine Clans had been searching for all this time without success had actually walked right beneath his nose of their own accord.
Chen Yixin rose. Every trace of his disguise and concealed aura fell away as he walked toward Zhu Yan one step at a time. “You haven’t forgotten what happened thirty thousand years ago, when you chased A-Li and me, have you? Today’s little reunion is also a debt-collection visit!”
“Lord Yi, didn’t I explain this ages ago? I was only following developments in real time!”
Zhu Yan had trailed them all the way and personally watched Chen Yixin slaughter so many Immortal Lords and Half-Step Immortal Emperors. He would have had to think he had lived too long before he dared actually try to kill Chen Yixin. Still, in his determination to do business and earn immortal jade, he had indeed been quite reckless with his life.
“Besides, didn’t we cooperate quite pleasantly afterward…?” After Chen Yixin robbed him once, he had allowed Zhu Yan to continue following him. Zhu Yan supplied Chen Yixin with information about some of the Immortal Lords pursuing him; Zhu Yan earned his immortal jade, while Chen Yixin killed the targets he provided information on.
Zhu Yan spoke in a low voice, cold sweat immediately breaking out across his forehead. Chen Yixin’s aura alone was already astonishing enough, but now Wenren Li had locked his aura onto him as well. Zhu Yan truly could not withstand the pressure.
“Tell me. Which Immortal Emperor is behind you?” Chen Yixin stopped. Four phoenix-shaped Soul-Returning Flames had already surrounded Zhu Yan. If Zhu Yan thought he could muddle through this by joking around and appealing to old acquaintance, then he was seriously overestimating his luck.
The joking expression on Zhu Yan’s face froze, though he still did not completely drop the act. He smiled awkwardly. “Everyone in the Upper Realm knows that Myriad Immortals Tower belongs to Immortal Lord Zhu Yan. What exactly is Lord Yi asking? This Zhu truly does not understand.”
The instant he finished speaking, his figure vanished from the room. A muffled groan followed. Then one of the flaming phoenixes appeared before Chen Yixin and Wenren Li with a small red bird clamped in its beak.
“Little Vermilion Bird, you’ve practiced the Void-Escape Art rather well. But as long as you’re carrying my soul flame, there’s nowhere you can run.”
The immortal jade Chen Yixin had given the attendant earlier already contained a mark from his Soul-Returning Flame. Zhu Yan had cultivated his escape arts to an extraordinary level, but he had failed to notice anything wrong with the jade and had even carried it with him while fleeing. Being caught and dragged back by Chen Yixin like this was hardly unjust.
The Soul-Returning Flame phoenix placed the red Vermilion Bird on the ground, then lifted one claw and planted it squarely on his body. The Vermilion Bird had only just managed to flap his wings before—plop!—he was flattened against the floor again.
In truth, even without Chen Yixin doing anything, Zhu Yan could not have escaped this immortal city. Wenren Li had already locked down this entire stretch of heaven and earth.
From the moment Zhu Yan entered the city, his fate had been sealed. He was a turtle trapped in a jar—no, a little bird trapped in a jar. But Chen Yixin was clearly enjoying himself, so Wenren Li naturally had no intention of interfering.
At the appropriate moment, Wenren Li took a birdcage from his storage space and handed it to Chen Yixin. The cage itself looked completely ordinary, but after passing through Wenren Li’s hands, every bar was covered with dense silver restrictions.
Zhu Yan escaped from beneath the claw of Chen Yixin’s flaming phoenix only to find himself shut inside Wenren Li’s restricted birdcage instead.
Wenren Li then stepped forward and led Chen Yixin back to where they had been sitting. The birdcage was placed on the table beside them.
Chen Yixin leaned comfortably against Wenren Li, his bright eyes studying the Vermilion Bird Zhu Yan inside the cage as Zhu Yan repeatedly tried to escape, only to be shocked so badly by the restrictions that his feathers started falling out.
“Roasted Vermilion Bird… I don’t think even A-Li has ever tried that before. I wonder if it tastes good.”
At Chen Yixin’s words, Zhu Yan visibly shuddered inside the cage. His voice reached Chen Yixin and Wenren Li. “Lord Yi… roasted Vermilion Bird doesn’t taste good.”
Almost no one in the Upper Realm knew that Zhu Yan’s true form was a Vermilion Bird. Yet for some reason, the moment he came into contact with Chen Yixin’s Soul-Returning Flame, he had been forced back into his original form. Now that he was inside Wenren Li’s cage, he could not transform back.
“Whether it tastes good isn’t for you to decide. Have you thought about my earlier question?”
Chen Yixin tapped a fingertip against the cage. A layer of pale-blue Soul-Returning Flame immediately wound itself around the silver restrictions. Zhu Yan huddled in the center of the cage, trembling. He actually looked rather pitiful.
“I can tell you anything else. But that matter alone… even if I die, this Zhu cannot speak of it.”
“You’re surprisingly loyal.” Chen Yixin gave a faint snort through his nose. After another brief silence, he asked, “Why was the entrance to Fengming Realm destroyed? Where did the people inside go?”
Chen Yixin was not particularly interested in the identity of the Immortal Emperor behind Zhu Yan. Asking about that first had merely helped divert some of Zhu Yan’s vigilance. What he and Wenren Li truly wanted was information as accurate as possible.
“Don’t tell me you don’t know. Just look at the way your feathers are standing on end…” As someone who frequently bristled all over himself, Chen Yixin was extremely familiar with this sort of involuntary reaction. Zhu Yan had no chance of hiding anything from him and Wenren Li while sitting right beneath their eyes.
At Chen Yixin’s words, the feathers standing upright across Zhu Yan’s body slowly flattened again. Only after a long while did he lower his head and answer.
“The resources in Fengming Realm were exhausted. On top of that, it was too close to a teleportation point leading to the Void-Heaven Battlefield. Perhaps because of those considerations, everyone withdrew…”
Zhu Yan spoke for quite some time. Neither Chen Yixin nor Wenren Li responded. The two of them simply examined the thoroughly bullied divine bird again. Just as Zhu Yan was about to bristle all over once more beneath their stares, Chen Yixin finally looked away and rubbed his nose.
“Fengming… phoenix cry.” Chen Yixin’s eyes narrowed slightly in realization. “So you’re my elder brother’s direct subordinates.” The connection was not particularly difficult once he noticed it. Even so, after so many long ages, neither Chen Yixin nor Wenren Li had expected one of Qingruo’s direct forces to have survived intact until now.
Elio’s Notes: 风冥 is pronounced Fēngmíng, which sounds almost identical to 凤鸣, fèngmíng, meaning “the cry of a phoenix.” The near-homophone is the clue that allows Chen Yixin to connect the Fengming force with his elder brother Qingruo.
Chen Yixin and Wenren Li exchanged a glance. Then both acted at once, withdrawing the cage and the Soul-Returning Flames. A red phoenix feather appeared in Wenren Li’s palm.
Now that they had understood the situation, the two of them immediately relaxed. Zhu Yan, however, had only just regained his freedom and had not even managed to transform back into human form when he was startled again. He stumbled and fell directly onto the red phoenix feather—and instantly felt the aura of the mark within it far more clearly.
“Mas… Master!”
At this point, it was obvious that the entire affair had been one enormous misunderstanding. The Vermilion Bird Zhu Yan, whom Wenren Li had allowed Chen Yixin to bully for so long, was actually a member of the very surviving Fengming force they had been searching for. They simply had never imagined that this surviving branch would be bold enough to spread Myriad Immortals Tower throughout the entire Upper Realm.
Chen Yixin glanced at the thoroughly bewildered Zhu Yan and inexplicably felt a trace of sympathy. With a wave of his hand, he helped Zhu Yan return to human form.
Chen Yixin himself sat upright beside Wenren Li. His gaze turned clear and proper, as though the domineering, vicious person who had been threatening to kill and roast Zhu Yan moments earlier had absolutely nothing to do with him.
“A-Li and I returned this time specifically to find all of you. This red phoenix feather belonged to my elder brother Qingruo. And this is A-Li. If you don’t recognize him, you can return to your tribe and ask someone who does.”
Even after Chen Yixin finished speaking, Zhu Yan was still trying to digest everything.
Chen Yixin was not the youngest son of the Phoenix Divine Clan’s Immortal Emperor, but the younger brother of their old master from several eras ago? So the Fengming Tribe had spent all these years watching the Ten Emperors and Nine Clans bully Chen Yixin and Wenren Li?
Once he understood that much, Zhu Yan—who controlled an enormous amount of information—was finally able to connect countless things that had never made sense to him before.
“To see the red phoenix feather is to see the Fentian Sacred Lord himself. Your Highness is the Fentian Sacred Lord’s younger brother and, from this day onward, the master of the Fengming Tribe. This humble god offended Your Highness earlier.”
Zhu Yan respectfully lifted the red phoenix feather above his head with both hands and bowed deeply to Chen Yixin. Then he shifted direction and performed the same solemn salute toward Wenren Li. “This humble god pays respects to the Imperial Sovereign.”
Slowly rising, Zhu Yan revealed three red-feather marks on his forehead—the inherited mark unique to the tribe’s chief. “This humble god is the chief of the Fengming Tribe beneath the Fentian Sacred Lord in this era. I was incompetent and failed to preserve Fengming Realm.”
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