The situation in Fengming Realm was not very different from what Chen Yixin and Wenren Li had guessed. The people there had indeed evacuated. They had even destroyed the entrance to erase any traces that might invite investigation, effectively abandoning the entire realm for good.
What Zhu Yan had told Chen Yixin and Wenren Li earlier had not been entirely false either. Everything in Fengming Realm that could be taken away had been removed, and even the immortal veins underground had nearly all been dug out. With that being the case, how could its resources not be considered exhausted?
“Rise and speak.” Wenren Li lifted a hand, and divine power supported Zhu Yan back onto his feet.
Zhu Yan nodded slightly before continuing his explanation. “The clan elders and I knew nothing about Your Highness and the Imperial Sovereign’s circumstances. We abandoned Fengming Realm in order to hide ourselves more effectively.”
The entire Vermilion Bird clan had once been gathered inside Fengming Realm. If an enemy found them there, the whole clan could be annihilated at once. After the Vermilion Birds withdrew, Zhu Yan scattered everyone and placed them throughout the network of forces belonging to Myriad Immortals Tower. In the current chaos of the Upper Realm, this was far safer.
They had never forgotten their mission. Even the existence of Myriad Immortals Tower itself had been one of the preparations made for the future.
“I cannot be completely certain, but beginning five hundred years ago, the immortal guards of Nine Sovereigns Hall started searching everywhere for ancient clans hidden throughout the Upper Realm. Even Immortal Emperor Guangle’s daughter, Lan Xin, personally came to Myriad Immortals Tower to question this humble god. That was why I made the decision to withdraw.”
Whether Nine Sovereigns Hall and Lan Xin had specifically been searching for the surviving Fengming forces remained uncertain. But if the Vermilion Bird clan were ever discovered, their secrets could be exposed, and Myriad Immortals Tower—so conspicuously operated by Zhu Yan—would inevitably be implicated.
“Nine Sovereigns Hall…” Chen Yixin frowned slightly. He had never heard of any power by that name when he was active in the Upper Realm. No—he had heard of it. It simply had not been a faction. It had been an abandoned residence.
“It’s him!” Chen Yixin narrowed his eyes, a trace of killing intent escaping from him.
Zhu Yan was somewhat confused as to whom Chen Yixin meant by “him.” After a brief hesitation, he explained in detail based on the information he possessed. “Nine Sovereigns Hall is occupied by the final victor among the Half-Step Immortal Emperors of this era—Immortal Emperor Jiuyu.”
Jiuyu had been the absolute dark horse of that struggle. From the moment he first appeared in the world to the moment he ascended to the position of Immortal Emperor, only a hundred years had passed. Such speed was unprecedented in both ancient and modern times. No one in the entire Upper Realm could withstand him; he had swept through everyone in his path.
Nine Sovereigns Hall had not existed as an active faction for very long. But Jiuyu was a genuine Immortal Emperor, and one reputed to possess the greatest talent of the age with an immeasurable future ahead of him. Naturally, countless people had chosen to follow and support him.
The power accumulated over only a few centuries was still insufficient to contend with the long-established Immortal Emperors. Against veteran Immortal Lords, however, Nine Sovereigns Hall already held an overwhelming advantage.
Zhu Yan did not dare underestimate the forces of Nine Sovereigns Hall. In fact, the reason he had deliberately avoided advancing into the ranks of Half-Step Immortal Emperors was precisely because he feared Immortal Emperor Jiuyu. According to all the information he had gathered, not a single Half-Step Immortal Emperor who had fought Jiuyu had survived. Jiuyu was even more ruthless than Chen Yixin had been back then.
Zhu Yan dared not fight him, and he was equally afraid that Jiuyu might invent some excuse to come challenge him anyway. If Zhu Yan died, Myriad Immortals Tower would probably fall straight into Immortal Emperor Jiuyu’s hands. Worse still, Zhu Yan was hiding the secret of the surviving Vermilion Bird clan behind him.
While moving through the Upper Realm, Zhu Yan was publicly known for his thick skin, smooth manners, and the ancient Void-Escape Art that allowed him to escape from nearly anything. But as the only pure-blooded Vermilion Bird of this generation, the abilities he possessed naturally went far beyond that one ancient art.
Over these years, Zhu Yan had truly exhausted himself for the sake of the Vermilion Bird clan and Myriad Immortals Tower.
The more Zhu Yan told them about Jiuyu, the more certain Chen Yixin and Wenren Li became that this Immortal Emperor Jiuyu was the Otherworld Demon puppet occupying part of Wenren Li’s broken-wood remnant.
“Nine Sovereigns Hall was the palace where A-Li once held council and received the gods. And he actually dares use it!” Even now, Chen Yixin could not stop grinding his teeth whenever Jiuyu was mentioned. Over the past thousand years, that bastard had probably done no shortage of things to defile Wenren Li’s remnant.
At last, Zhu Yan understood exactly what had angered Chen Yixin. Whether Jiuyu had chosen Nine Sovereigns Hall by coincidence or deliberately was not difficult to guess. Even the name Jiuyu itself made his ambitions obvious enough.
Elio’s Notes: Jiuyu is written 九御. 御 carries associations with ruling, command, and imperial authority, which is why the name itself strikes Chen Yixin as revealing Jiuyu’s ambitions.
“You were right to hide from him. What Immortal Emperor? He’s nothing but an Otherworld Demon using A-Li’s remnant aura to conceal its Void Origin. Those Half-Step Immortal Emperors he killed probably all became nourishment for him.”
By now, the words “Otherworld Demon” were familiar to everyone throughout the Upper Realm. The moment Zhu Yan heard Chen Yixin’s explanation and reconsidered all the intelligence in his possession, he sucked in a sharp breath. The olive branches Nine Sovereigns Hall had repeatedly extended toward him had actually been invitations to his own death.
Although Chen Yixin’s tone dripped with contempt, he did not dare underestimate Jiuyu in the slightest. What Nangong and Dongfang had done was practically the same as dropping a malignant tumor into a warren of harmless little white rabbits. Jiuyu had already grown far beyond what he had once been.
Wenren Li tapped a fingertip lightly against the table, then looked at Zhu Yan. “Bring me all information concerning Jiuyu’s recent movements.”
“Yes.” Zhu Yan nodded, bowed slightly to them, and withdrew from the room.
“A-Li wants to deal with him now?”
Chen Yixin had roughly understood Wenren Li’s intentions. In truth, it was the wiser decision. Jiuyu’s method of growth was far too fast. The longer they delayed, the greater the possibility that some uncontrollable change would occur. If they were going to eliminate him, sooner was better than later.
Wenren Li rubbed his thumb lightly across the faint crease between Chen Yixin’s brows. “First we’ll see whether he happens to be along our route.”
Their greatest purpose in returning to the Upper Realm remained finding the remnant souls of Qingruo and Lin Yu. The situation with the Otherworld Demon puppet had changed, but not yet enough to become an insurmountable obstacle.
Chen Yixin fell silent for a moment before nodding. With their current cultivation, he and Wenren Li were fully capable of acting separately. Yet for reasons even Chen Yixin could not quite explain, he still could not feel at ease allowing Wenren Li to go alone. The thought passed through his mind only briefly before he rejected it outright.
“Even if he isn’t on the way, we’ll make a special trip on our return journey.”
There was absolutely no way they could permit such a disgusting thing to continue existing. Chen Yixin said this, stared seriously at Wenren Li’s face for another couple of breaths, then threw himself into Wenren Li’s arms. Just thinking about that puppet had made him miserable again.
Wenren Li stroked Chen Yixin’s hair, then sent a voice transmission directly to Zhu Yan, telling him to arrange accommodations and summon several nearby elders of the Fengming Tribe who could reach them quickly.
“What a coincidence…” After reading the jade slip, Chen Yixin handed it to Wenren Li.
It was a coincidence because the two scepters they had obtained by registering earlier would teleport them to the same imperial capital where Nine Sovereigns Hall was located. According to Zhu Yan’s information, Jiuyu was also very likely to travel with them to the Void-Heaven Battlefield.
“Based on what Your Highness and the Imperial Sovereign have said, his purpose in going to the Void-Heaven Battlefield is unlikely to be simple.” Other immortals went there to eliminate Otherworld Demons. Jiuyu, however, probably regarded the restrictions of the Upper Realm as too inconvenient and intended to continue hunting and growing on the battlefield instead.
Zhu Yan paused mid-sentence, bowed to Chen Yixin and Wenren Li, and vanished from the room. Not long afterward, he reappeared.
“This is an appointment order Nine Sovereigns Hall just sent me. It seems he has no intention of letting me go.”
Had Chen Yixin and Wenren Li not come to him, Zhu Yan truly would have been in a difficult position. He could not defeat Jiuyu and could not simply flee. If he genuinely sought the protection of another Immortal Emperor, the Myriad Immortals Tower empire he had spent so much effort building would probably have to be surrendered in exchange.
Chen Yixin extended a hand, and Zhu Yan presented the appointment order to him.
“He probably saw through your true form long ago. What he wants is your divine source.” Even though Zhu Yan had not advanced to Half-Step Immortal Emperor cultivation, the divine source of a Vermilion Bird was something few other clans could compare with. That was most likely why Jiuyu had targeted Zhu Yan so persistently.
“If A-Li and I hadn’t come, what were you planning to do?” Chen Yixin asked. The little Vermilion Bird before him was clearly exceptionally clever and vigilant. Zhu Yan had managed to maneuver throughout the immortal world as nothing more than an Immortal Lord, and even Immortal Emperors regarded him with a degree of respect. His relationships throughout the Upper Realm were not poor.
“Vermilion Birds and phoenixes share the same origin. If Your Highness and the Imperial Sovereign had not come, I would have sought Sovereign Feng Yuan’s protection.”
After considering every possibility, that was indeed the safest choice. They were both ancient divine birds. Sovereign Feng Yuan would not mistreat him, and the chance that he would grow suspicious of Zhu Yan was relatively low.
Of course, nothing in the world was absolute. Sovereign Feng Yuan was still nowhere near as trustworthy as Chen Yixin and Wenren Li arriving with Qingruo’s red phoenix feather in hand.
“Feng Yuan… I’m afraid he wouldn’t help you very much.”
Sovereign Feng Yuan was no longer the same old phoenix who had once hidden Chen Yixin away. He had chosen a neutral position, and having done so, he would never allow Zhu Yan to drag the troubles of Nine Sovereigns Hall onto the Phoenix Divine Clan. At this point, his supposed neutrality was barely distinguishable from helping the enemy.
As Chen Yixin spoke, he rose and walked in a slow circle around Zhu Yan. Then his steps stopped. He beckoned toward Wenren Li, and the red phoenix feather flew back into his palm. Chen Yixin gently closed his hand over it. Two breaths later, his entire aura had changed.
Even Wenren Li raised his brows in slight surprise. When he carefully examined Chen Yixin, he could not detect the slightest flaw. By using the red phoenix feather to transform his own ice-cold aura, Chen Yixin could probably deceive even Nangong and Dongfang.
But Chen Yixin’s transformation was not yet complete. His neatly arranged hair came completely loose. Three ice-blue feather marks appeared on his forehead and gradually turned crimson, while his black hair transformed into a fiery red.
Chen Yixin glanced down at his clothes. The blue merfolk-silk robe had been replaced by a brilliant red one.
His facial features changed slightly as well, becoming a little younger. He now looked like a youthful Immortal Lord who had only just entered the world. Finally, he added a silver mask over his face, giving his youthful appearance an additional trace of mystery.
Chen Yixin sat back down beside Wenren Li, lifted his chin, and looked at Zhu Yan. “Zhu Yan, beginning today, as far as the outside world is concerned, A-Li is your master. And I… am the Young Master.”
If Wenren Li was going to play the Immortal Emperor secretly standing behind Myriad Immortals Tower, then he naturally had to remain far more mysterious than whatever imaginary backer Zhu Yan had fabricated in the past. Such a figure could not appear casually. The Young Master, however, was a different matter.
Zhu Yan nodded, already understanding Chen Yixin’s plan. Jiuyu wanted to harm him. If Jiuyu then discovered an even purer divine source in the “Young Master” beside Zhu Yan, there was no possibility he would let that opportunity pass. At that point, Jiuyu would be the one walking into their trap.
Zhu Yan left to discreetly leak the appropriate information. The moment he was gone, Chen Yixin had already climbed into Wenren Li’s lap. His hand rubbed back and forth across Wenren Li’s chest. “It’s not the first time A-Li has pretended to be my elder anyway…”
If anyone was truly losing out in terms of seniority here, it was Chen Yixin.
“A-Rong, be careful above all else. Your safety matters more than anything.” If Chen Yixin intended to lure Jiuyu into a trap, Wenren Li could not reveal himself directly. The connection between his own body and the broken-wood remnant would make it far too easy for Jiuyu to sense him.
If Wenren Li simply appeared and attacked Jiuyu head-on, they had roughly a seventy-percent chance of success. But the moment Jiuyu was eliminated, Wenren Li and Chen Yixin would be exposed as well. Nangong and Dongfang would inevitably appear, and that seventy-percent chance would fall to perhaps thirty. Everything that followed would become far more complicated.
So despite his concern, Wenren Li ultimately accepted Chen Yixin’s plan.
“I know.” Chen Yixin lifted his chin and kissed Wenren Li lightly on the lips. “I’m the Young Master, but I’m also A-Li’s man.”
Originally, Chen Yixin had considered transforming into an eight- or nine-year-old child, the sort of little thing who looked especially easy to deceive. But after remembering Wenren Li, he had silently made himself somewhat older. At least this way, Wenren Li would not be unable to bring himself to kiss him.
“Elder Brother’s red phoenix feather and my aura share the same origin. That’s why I can use it to disguise myself.” As Chen Yixin spoke, he leaned even closer and rubbed his cheek lightly against Wenren Li’s. The red phoenix feather had stirred up his longing for Qingruo again.
Wenren Li wrapped both arms around Chen Yixin and pulled him completely into his embrace. He gently stroked Chen Yixin’s hair. He said nothing, yet the silence itself was more comforting than any words.
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