Futile Devices Scans

Chen Yixin’s clear eyes perfectly reflected Wenren Li’s appearance, and it made Wenren Li realize something—he had frightened Chen Yixin again.

The hesitation in his eyes gradually hardened into resolve. Meeting Chen Yixin’s gaze, he said softly, “With A-Rong’s intelligence, you should have already guessed what’s happening. The origin of my Divine Crystal was contaminated long ago. Now, I am no longer the Divine Tree that protects the Upper Realm, but rather…” He paused before continuing, “The Demon God destined to spread the corruption of Void Origin across every divine land.”

Including the phrase “slaying immortals to prove demonhood,” which even the Heaven’s Secret Sect Elder who had foretold those words could not comprehend, Wenren Li now suddenly understood. His strength was the strength of Void Origin. He was the Demon God, and he was also the source of destruction. “Slaying immortals to prove demonhood” was a fate he could not escape in this lifetime. If he could remain true to his original intentions toward the Upper Realm and the Divine Race, then the most appropriate thing for him to do now would be to completely destroy himself before he lost his reason. But he could not bear it. He could not bear to leave Chen Yixin. After going around in a circle only to discover that he himself was the greatest source of evil, Wenren Li felt somewhat wistful. He could deceive everyone in the world, but he could not deceive Chen Yixin.

As he spoke, the wooden branch appeared once more. Within Wenren Li’s aura, the Otherworldly Demon Jiu Yu remained exceptionally obedient. Their auras were nearly of the same origin.

What Wenren Li said might not have been the complete picture, but there was not the slightest deception toward Chen Yixin. His earlier episode was the result of long-term accumulation, not an accident. What had happened now was merely an earlier triggering of something inevitable.

Chen Yixin bit his lip. His grip on Wenren Li’s hand tightened further, stubbornness filling his gaze. “But I clearly used divine blood to cleanse all of it…”

Naturally, the first person to notice the demonic aura on Wenren Li was Chen Yixin, who spent every day with him. He had tried many methods. In the end, when he had no other choice, he had used divine blood to wash it all away.

Yet now the Divine Crystal that had once been cleansed by his divine blood had become pitch-black once more, and it had happened without either of them noticing.

“A-Li, tell me honestly. What happens when the Divine Crystal is completely corrupted?”

“I will become a demon. A bloodthirsty, slaughter-loving demon that has lost all reason. A demon that regards immortals, gods, and demons as food. Wherever I go, the flowers, forests, mountains, and rivers that A-Rong loves will all become scorched wasteland. No living being in either the Upper Realm or Taixuan will be able to escape.”

Hearing that, Chen Yixin felt the tightness in his chest grow even worse. He continued to press the issue. “Then what about me? What will I be in A-Li’s eyes?”

Wenren Li fell silent for a moment. Slowly closing his eyes and opening them again, he finally answered, “Food. Food more desirable than any immortal source or Divine Crystal.”

His hand rose and settled upon the vicious bite marks on Chen Yixin’s neck. If his mind had not been captured by that hunger, how could he ever have treated Chen Yixin that way?

Chen Yixin also fell silent. He was thinking, sorting through everything Wenren Li had laid before him. But what was he supposed to do? Even knowing that Wenren Li now genuinely wanted to eat him in the most literal sense, he still could not bring himself to feel fear or rejection.

The silence stretched on for quite a while before Chen Yixin finally released the fistful of Wenren Li’s robes he had been clutching. He shifted backward slightly. Wenren Li’s gaze followed him, but Chen Yixin was only changing clothes. He could hardly continue talking to Wenren Li while remaining half-naked. Once he had dressed himself, however, he took another two steps back, turned around, walked two more paces, then stopped and turned back.

“Come here.”

There were only the two of them in the hall, so he was naturally speaking to Wenren Li.

Wenren Li could not understand what Chen Yixin was thinking, but he still obeyed and walked over. The moment he arrived, Chen Yixin grabbed his hand and started leading him outside.

“A-Li, don’t underestimate me. Until the very end, I won’t give up.” As he spoke, Chen Yixin turned and smiled at him. His beautiful features surpassed even the finest scenery in the Upper Realm. Tightening his grip on Wenren Li’s hand, he added, “Starting today, A-Li listens to me. You’re under my supervision.”

Whether Wenren Li was a demon or an immortal, Chen Yixin would be the one managing him. The word “give up” would never appear where Wenren Li was concerned. And moreover, he refused to accept this outcome. Absolutely refused.

Wenren Li did not answer, but neither did he pull his hand away. They returned to the bedchamber in silence, still holding hands. His thoughts were tangled in chaos, and Chen Yixin was probably not much better off.

After a long silence, Wenren Li finally turned toward him. Chen Yixin also looked over and offered another gentle smile, one without the slightest trace of gloom. Fate had toyed with Wenren Li, but Chen Yixin remained the one gift and accident beyond fate’s control.

A low stool and a basin of water appeared before them. Wenren Li began removing Chen Yixin’s clothing and used the purest waters from the depths of the Sea of Ice Extremity to clean his wounds.

“Does it hurt?” Wenren Li kept his eyes lowered. He hid his emotions well, but his careful movements exposed both his tenderness and guilt.

“It hurts,” Chen Yixin admitted, though the corners of his lips curved upward. Poking Wenren Li lightly at the waist, he said, “Is A-Li planning to raise me until I’m tastier before eating me? It already hurts this much without breaking the skin. If A-Li really took a bite out of me, how much would that hurt?”

“Though pain is one thing. These wounds are difficult to heal. A-Li, remember not to bite my face next time.”

As he spoke, he touched his lips. That was the only place where blood had actually been drawn. His body was that of a genuine Immortal Emperor. The fact that Wenren Li had bitten him until he bled showed just how much force he had used.

Wenren Li’s gaze followed Chen Yixin’s hand to his lips. Frowning slightly, he dabbed the wound with a cloth soaked in Sea of Ice Extremity water. As expected, Chen Yixin sucked in a sharp breath.

Instinctively, Wenren Li leaned closer and gently blew on the wound.

“Hoo… hoo…”

Chen Yixin stopped frowning, but a tear suddenly fell from his eye without warning, splashing onto Wenren Li’s fingernail before he could pull his hand away. All the composure he had been maintaining crumbled beneath Wenren Li’s unconscious tenderness.

His sadness was real.

His refusal to give up was also real.

Wenren Li’s brows furrowed more deeply as helplessness overtook him. At that moment, Chen Yixin lunged forward into his arms. Only then did Wenren Li’s slightly trembling hands slowly wrap around him, holding him tighter and tighter.

“I’m not joking with you, and I’m not threatening you either. But you must erase all those ridiculous thoughts from your head. Right now, I may be in pain, but if A-Li weren’t here, I wouldn’t be alive at all.”

“If one day you truly lose your reason and can never return, then I’ll do as you wish—I will leave. But before that day comes, there is absolutely no way you’ll be allowed to abandon me.”

Even if he left, it would never mean giving up.

Wenren Li opened his mouth slightly and softly replied, “All right.”

Taking the initiative to leave Chen Yixin was something Wenren Li found extremely difficult. Trying to force Chen Yixin to leave him had been decisively rejected before it had even begun. In that case, so be it. There was no other way.

The two of them remained in the room for three days, comforting one another until they gradually calmed down.

Human will can triumph over heaven. Even if there were no path before them, they would carve one out themselves.

The injuries on Chen Yixin’s body no longer looked as frightening after being treated several times each day with water from the Sea of Ice Extremity. Still, complete recovery would require at least ten days to half a month. They did not leave their quarters, spending their time making various arrangements and waiting for departure to the Void Heaven Battlefield.

As for Zhu Yan, Chen Yixin had already sent him back. Nine Sovereigns Hall was Nine Sovereigns Hall, and Myriad Immortals Pavilion was Myriad Immortals Pavilion. For the time being, it was not appropriate to merge the two. However, the news that the Young Master of Myriad Immortals Pavilion had become the Sovereign Consort of Nine Sovereigns Hall had already spread throughout the Upper Realm.

After being driven away by Wenren Li that day, Lan Xin had left Nine Sovereigns Hall. But that did not mean she had given up on “Jiu Yu.”

In the central plaza of the Imperial Capital, a powerful pillar of heavenly light rose into the sky and remained for half an hour before fading. Afterward, hundreds of thousands of immortals gathered in the Imperial Capital were transported to the Void Heaven Battlefield, an arena created within a separate dimension.

Naturally, Chen Yixin and Wenren Li were among them. However, they did not travel alongside the members of Nine Sovereigns Hall. Walking at the rear, they were the last to arrive at the Void Heaven Battlefield. Apart from a handful of people, most immortals had already dispersed.

Moving away from the crowds, they chose a direction and departed as well. After nearly a month of travel, they finally stopped. By then, Chen Yixin had returned to his original appearance, though the red feather remained with him. In addition, he carried a wooden box in his hands. Inside were the ashes of War God Lin Yu.

“Hold it, A-Rong.”

Wenren Li gently stroked Chen Yixin’s black hair before beginning to inscribe formation arrays around the area where they had landed.

Chen Yixin glanced at Wenren Li, then produced a blue thread of divine power. It extended outward and wrapped around Wenren Li’s waist. Only after doing that did he sit down somewhere with the wooden box in his arms, acting as though nothing unusual had happened.

Looking down at the divine thread around his waist, Wenren Li’s eyes showed a trace of helplessness. If Chen Yixin could have his way, he would probably lock Wenren Li somewhere and carry him around at all times before feeling reassured. Yet since Wenren Li had already agreed to Chen Yixin’s demands, he would not easily break his word.

Continuing his work, he focused on inscribing the formation.

The formation Wenren Li intended to create was enormous. It could not possibly be completed in a day or two. Furthermore, this entire region could not be disturbed by outsiders—not immortals, and certainly not Otherworldly Demons.

He alone could not protect Chen Yixin forever.

Qing Ruo and Lin Yu had to be resurrected.

Otherwise, if something happened to him, Chen Yixin would truly do exactly as he had said and refuse to continue living.

The ones who wandered into the area were all dealt with by Chen Yixin. When it came to immortals, he would generally rob them and then let them go. Otherworldly Demons were another matter, though he still did not kill them outright. Instead, he restrained them with Soulreturn Flame and stored them away in porcelain bottles.

“Immortal, save me!” An Immortal King whom Chen Yixin had spared two days earlier came hurtling toward this region. Three green-armored Otherworldly Demons followed close behind him. They were relatively high-ranking among their kind, their cultivation equivalent to that of First- or Second-Rank Immortal Lords.

Originally, after being robbed by Chen Yixin, he had hated him to death. Now that his life was on the line, gratitude unconsciously replaced that resentment. This was truly his last resort.

Yet just as he was about to enter the area, he failed to notice a meteor falling from the sky. It struck him and sent him stumbling. That moment of delay allowed the three Otherworldly Demons to catch up. He had originally possessed a sliver of hope for survival, but that meteor had smashed it away.

Meteors like shooting stars often fell upon the Void Heaven Battlefield, yet almost nobody was unlucky enough to be struck by one. At this moment, the Immortal King wore a miserable expression, completely overcome by despair.

Slowly closing his eyes, he waited to be torn apart and devoured by the three Otherworldly Demons. Suddenly, however, that sensation of death bearing down on him vanished completely. Opening his eyes, he saw a blue-robed immortal holding three flaming divine chains that had restrained the three Otherworldly Demons.

“Many thanks, Divine Lord, for saving my life.” Immortal King Ling Fei bowed respectfully before limping to his feet. The meteor that had struck him was also collected by Chen Yixin.

“You should know the rules,” Chen Yixin said as he continued sealing the Otherworldly Demons into porcelain bottles. Turning around, he played with the bottle while considering how to deal with the Immortal Emperor who had taken advantage of him to save his own life.

“Th-this… this humble immortal’s possessions were all already…” Ling Fei’s expression froze before panic quickly set in again. Aside from the immortal robes Chen Yixin had deemed worthless, everything he owned had already been taken. Where could he possibly find anything valuable enough to exchange for his life now?

One of Chen Yixin’s brows lifted slightly. He pointed a finger toward Ling Fei’s forehead, instantly sending him into unconsciousness. Walking over, he placed a hand upon Ling Fei’s brow while holding the porcelain bottle in his other hand, comparing immortal essence with Void Origin.

Whether he discovered anything remained unknown. Only after half an hour did Chen Yixin rise to his feet. Ling Fei was then tossed out of the region, and all memories concerning Chen Yixin were erased.

As Chen Yixin headed back, Wenren Li appeared to be coming to find him. The invisible thread of divine power still connected Wenren Li’s waist to Chen Yixin’s little finger.

Chen Yixin flexed his little finger, causing the divine thread to appear. Then he stopped and waited for Wenren Li to walk over.

“Tired?” Chen Yixin blinked and asked.

The formation was already seventy to eighty percent complete. Wenren Li had scarcely rested at all. Maintaining such complete concentration for so long could easily be exhausting.

Thinking this, Chen Yixin reached up and touched Wenren Li’s cheek with concern. Seeing the faint trace of something unusual in his expression, he leaned forward and kissed Wenren Li’s lips. “Feeling any better?”

“Mhm.” Wenren Li nodded. The jealousy within him had indeed eased somewhat because of Chen Yixin’s kiss.

Narrowing his eyes, Chen Yixin smiled softly, the expression both gentle and captivating. Leaning into Wenren Li’s embrace, he lightly patted his back, as though soothing Wenren Li, yet also soothing himself.

“Oh, right. A-Li, give me the wooden branch. Let’s try raising it.”

Over the past few days, Chen Yixin had wanted to raise an Otherworldly Demon as an experiment. Yet after comparing one candidate after another, none possessed talent equal to the subdued Otherworldly Demon Jiu Yu. Thus, he stopped searching and decided to test his theory using it instead.

“You can raise it, but A-Rong isn’t allowed to let them touch you.” After a brief silence, Wenren Li set forth a condition. Even seeing Chen Yixin touch someone other than himself made him uncomfortable. It felt worse than the Void Origin energies rampaging through his body.

Chen Yixin paused before finally realizing why Wenren Li had stopped drawing formations and come looking for him.

Tilting his head, he lightly licked the skin behind Wenren Li’s ear before tasting it and declaring, “Sour… very sour…”

The bad tree had successfully transformed into a sour tree, but Chen Yixin still liked him all the same.

He licked him again before whispering into Wenren Li’s ear, “I agree.”

As Chen Yixin straightened up, Wenren Li’s ears turned red. Yet he still added, “A-Rong isn’t allowed to touch them either.”

The smile already lingering on Chen Yixin’s face grew even brighter. Leaning in once more, he pressed a light kiss to Wenren Li’s lips. “Okay.”

After receiving Chen Yixin’s promise through both licks and kisses, Wenren Li finally felt reassured enough to return to his formation work. Meanwhile, Chen Yixin took the wooden branch and hunted Otherworldly Demons nearby, feeding the captured demons to the Jiu Yu imprisoned within the branch.

With a loud crunch, the pitch-black Jiu Yu pounced forward and devoured a black-armored Otherworldly Demon bite by bite. The savage sounds of chewing echoed continuously from its mouth.

Once it had completely shredded and consumed its meal, it turned back around. From within the mass of darkness, a pair of brutal black eyes fixed themselves upon Chen Yixin. The greed in that gaze rivaled what Wenren Li had shown that day. Streams of saliva-like energy dripped from its still-open mouth.

Faced with such a stare, Chen Yixin showed no reaction whatsoever. A flick of his finger sent the Soulreturn Flame Phoenix stomping Jiu Yu beneath one claw. “A-Li can look at me like that. What exactly do you think you are?”

The Soulreturn Flame Phoenix spat out a lighter-colored flame onto Jiu Yu. Immediately, sizzling sounds of corrosion filled the air. Only then did Chen Yixin curl his lips into a smile and watch with obvious interest.

Yet this Jiu Yu never seemed to learn its lesson. Similar scenes repeated themselves again and again. In addition to its eyes, sharp fangs had begun growing from the black mist surrounding it. Every now and then it would bare them and challenge Chen Yixin.

Naturally, such provocations had yet to succeed. Struggling beneath the Soulreturn Flame Phoenix’s claw, it shouted, “If you’ve got guts, stop using the flames!”

Sitting atop a rock, Chen Yixin sighed softly. “I’d like to beat you up personally too, but A-Li won’t let me touch you. Sigh…”

As a result, all that remained for Otherworldly Demon Jiu Yu was miserable howling. Generally speaking, whenever Chen Yixin mentioned Wenren Li, Jiu Yu no longer dared continue talking. It was genuinely afraid of Wenren Li.

Throughout the history of the Upper Realm, many people had feared Wenren Li. Even Dong Fang and Nangong, who had yet to show themselves, feared him. Yet Chen Yixin felt their fear differed from Jiu Yu’s fear.

He did not ask Jiu Yu directly. He wanted to discover the answer himself—the truest answer. Wenren Li’s identity among both the Divine Race and the Otherworldly Demons was far more complicated than it appeared, both in the past and in the present.

After disciplining Jiu Yu and feeding it its fill, Chen Yixin returned to where Wenren Li was. The formation was already complete, waiting only for Chen Yixin to carry out the final step.

Putting away the sealed wooden branch, Chen Yixin produced a wooden box, a red feather, and the Heavenly Phoenix remains resting atop that feather. Slowly, he stepped onto the earthen altar Wenren Li had built and placed both the wooden box and the red feather upon it.

Turning his head, he nodded to Wenren Li.

The formation activated.

At the same time, Chen Yixin transformed into his phoenix true form. While dancing gracefully through the air, he began singing an ancient soul-summoning song. After the song came repeated calls.

“…Elder Brother Qing Ruo, Big Brother Lin Yu, A-Li and I are waiting for you to come home.”

“Elder Brother… Elder Brother…”

Chen Yixin’s calls were intermittent, yet through the formation they spread across the entire Void Heaven Battlefield. At that moment, Wenren Li’s voice joined his.

“Qing Ruo, Lin Yu… I need you to return.”

On the floating island within Taixuan of the Lower Realm, a beam of light rose into the sky. Then everyone upon the floating island and all the people of Yan Province below sat down where they were and began singing the soul-summoning song Chen Yixin and Wenren Li had left behind before their departure.

Even several ancient clans in the Upper Realm, under the orders of their elder patriarchs, began chanting as an entire people. The rumors Chen Yixin and Wenren Li had previously instructed Zhu Yan to spread also started producing results.

“This is an ancient soul-summoning song calling upon our primordial War Gods. Only their return can end this age of chaos.”

One person told ten, ten told a hundred. Many people might not have believed at first, but as more and more joined in prayer and song, they too began to waver and follow suit.

Ancient singing echoed throughout the Upper Realm, the Lower Realm, and the Void Heaven Battlefield. Before any response came from the remnant souls of Qing Ruo and Lin Yu, Nangong and Dong Fang opened their eyes within the Demon Abyss Well deep inside the Void Heaven Battlefield.

“So it has finally come to this…”

A similar sigh escaped Emperor Feng Yuan within the ancient lands of the Phoenix Divine Race. Outside those sacred grounds, several of his sons were petitioning for permission to have their clansmen participate in the soul-summoning as well.

Qing Ruo…

He was the first Sacred Lord of the Phoenix Divine Race.

The Void Heaven Battlefield became enveloped by the peaceful soul-summoning song. Even the normally savage and bloodthirsty Otherworldly Demons vanished without a trace.

Finally, after nearly half a month had passed, a streak of sacred crimson flame pierced through the gray sky and plunged into the Heavenly Phoenix remains resting upon the red feather.

“Big Brother Lin Yu, Elder Brother Qing Ruo is already here. Why haven’t you appeared yet?” Chen Yixin’s voice rang out, filled with anticipation and a trace of anxiety. Both he and Wenren Li were nearing their limits. For a heaven-defying formation like this to have lasted so long was already a miracle.

The azure flame within the Heavenly Phoenix remains suddenly let out a faint cry, and at last a strand of cyan flame descended from the heavens and gathered upon the wooden box.

Chen Yixin reached out to protect them. Wenren Li rose and stepped forward to receive the divine punishment descending from the heavens. By himself, he blocked almost all of it, though a small portion still fell upon the immortals and cultivators participating in the chanting.

But this also proved that their soul-summoning had succeeded. Only then would such divine punishment descend.

The divine punishment lasted for three whole months. Wenren Li remained occupied throughout that entire time, while Chen Yixin sat holding the remains and the wooden box for just as long.

Yet he was not idle. Pressing a finger to his chest, he summoned forth a Divine Crystal that had already shrunk to less than half its original size. Without hesitation, Chen Yixin split it into two and began molding earth, creating bodies through which Qing Ruo and Lin Yu could be reborn.

Using the Divine Crystal as the source, Big Brother Lin Yu’s ashes as the bones, supplemented by the flesh and blood essence of the Heavenly Phoenix remains, and finally nourished with his own divine power, he ultimately managed to mold only two rather misshapen stone eggs. Yet the soul fragments belonging to Qing Ruo and Lin Yu instinctively flew into them.

“Grow up well, you two. Don’t dislike them…”

He had already done his best to make them look better, but this was all the divine power and soul power he had left. This was all he could do for them.

Wenren Li descended from the sky. Chen Yixin immediately lifted his gaze toward him. Smiling, tears of overwhelming joy shimmered in his eyes.

“A-Li, Elder Brother Qing Ruo and Big Brother Lin Yu have come back.”

The two people most important to him had finally returned.

“Mhm,” Wenren Li replied softly, only to see Chen Yixin place the two stone eggs—whose divine power had not yet fully stabilized—upon the ground before rising and walking toward him.

“I’m fine. I’m not tired, and I’m not going anywhere.” Wenren Li understood Chen Yixin’s anxiety. It was the kind of anxiety no amount of reassurance could truly soothe. Reaching out, he pulled Chen Yixin into his embrace and began explaining certain matters. “This alone is still not enough. Qing Ruo’s and Lin Yu’s growth will still require…”

Chen Yixin leaned obediently against him, listening quietly without speaking. Yet his hand slowly rose and settled against the center of Wenren Li’s back before gradually sinking inward.

“A-Li… I’m sorry…”

Those were the final words Wenren Li heard from Chen Yixin before completely losing consciousness. When he tried to awaken, however, he found himself submerged in an ocean of absolute warmth from which he could not emerge.

“You’ve gone mad! You’ve gone mad!” Jiu Yu screamed hysterically from within the branch. Yet he remained completely sealed inside, powerless to interfere, able only to watch helplessly as Chen Yixin exchanged the Divine Crystal hearts belonging to himself and Wenren Li.

Chen Yixin pressed his own Divine Crystal heart into Wenren Li’s chest. After only a brief hesitation, he then inserted Wenren Li’s pitch-black Divine Crystal into his own chest. Without a heart he would surely die, and he was not yet willing to die, so this was the only choice.

The moment the black Divine Crystal entered his chest, Chen Yixin’s hair gradually lost its black color, turning snow-white. Meanwhile, Wenren Li’s Divine Crystal began consuming Chen Yixin’s life force at a terrifying speed.

Turning around, Chen Yixin sent a stream of divine power into the two stone eggs. A teleportation sigil appeared before them. It was the Divine Ruins Formation that he and Wenren Li had used to ascend to the Upper Realm. It could directly transport the two stone eggs back to Taixuan, though it could only be used one final time.

Looking at Wenren Li standing before him, Chen Yixin seemed both hesitant and reluctant. Lowering his head, he gently kissed Wenren Li on the forehead.

“A-Li probably doesn’t know this yet, but my divine flame was originally extracted from your Divine Crystal by Nangong and then discarded into the Sea of Ice Extremity. Returning it now can only be considered restoring it to its rightful owner.”

Thus, the consequences of sustaining his life with Wenren Li’s Divine Crystal were impossible to predict. Wenren Li, however, would remain unharmed. That crystal had always been part of the light within Wenren Li’s heart. His A-Li was a god in the past, is a god now, and must remain a god in the future. No matter how long Dong Fang and Nangong had plotted, they could never change that fact.

“And one more thing… A-Li, don’t be angry with me…”

As the words fell, he gently pushed Wenren Li, sending him and the two stone eggs into the teleportation sigil. The portal closed rapidly behind them, and they were transported back to the floating island of Taixuan.

“You’ve gone mad! You’ve gone mad!” Jiu Yu’s voice had grown weaker, yet he was still unable to calm himself after witnessing Chen Yixin’s actions. How could anyone be so bold? How could anyone sacrifice themselves for another person to such an extent?

He could not understand it. In his eyes, Chen Yixin’s actions were no different from madness.

Chen Yixin paid no attention to Jiu Yu’s agitation. Now that Wenren Li and the two eggs had been sent away, his final concern was gone. All that remained was to survive within the Void Heaven Battlefield for as long as he possibly could.

He sat cross-legged for three days. Then he opened his eyes and vanished into thin air. The divine sense that had swept past earlier belonged to Nangong Chuan, the Qilin Sage. Their disturbance had been expected. Yet Chen Yixin had no confidence in how long he would live, nor did he wish to fall into Nangong Chuan’s hands

Elio’s Notes: The author mentioned “Nan Gong” in the previous chapters. Looks like this is just the family name and “Chuan” is his actual first name.

His blue robes were replaced by a black cloak that completely concealed his aura. Leaning on a long, slender branch, he trudged forward alone. He wandered aimlessly through the Void Heaven Battlefield for nearly two months.

During those two months, he encountered neither Otherworldly Demons nor immortals out hunting them. It was not because the region was barren but because the Void Heaven Battlefield was unimaginably vast. This had originally been the divine land Wenren Li intended to create—a homeland for immortal gods. How could it possibly be small?

Chen Yixin did not use divine power. Simply walking like this made it exceedingly unlikely for anyone to encounter him.

Half a year later, another Immortal King fleeing desperately from Otherworldly Demons crashed directly at his feet.

“I’m dead! I’m dead! This time I’m really dead…”

Coincidentally, this Immortal King was Ling Fei, who had already fallen into Chen Yixin’s hands twice before. Yet before colliding with him, Ling Fei had sensed no one ahead. Seeing only a dark mass, he had assumed he was surrounded by demons.

Crunch. Crunch.

The familiar sound of chewing echoed beside him. Ling Fei kept his eyes squeezed shut for a long while before cautiously opening one eye, then both. Discovering that he was still alive, he was so delighted he could scarcely believe it.

“Where is this?” Chen Yixin lowered his gaze toward Ling Fei and asked. The wind had blown away the hood covering his head, revealing completely snow-white hair. Though his face remained unchanged, the overall impression was entirely different—frail and weathered. That was the impression Chen Yixin now gave others.

Ling Fei swallowed hard before stammering out his reply.

“The Western Desert Sea of the Void Heaven Battlefield.”

Chen Yixin gave no response. Leaning on his branch, he began walking in the indicated direction. Ling Fei scratched his head. Though the person before him was terrifying, he also seemed strangely familiar, as though he had met him before.

Yet no amount of pondering would help. His memories involving Chen Yixin had long since been erased.

“Divine Lord, may I travel with you?”

The Void Heaven Battlefield was simply too dangerous. While treasures existed, they were few compared to the countless times he had nearly died and the many companions he had watched perish. This place was a true slaughterhouse.

“If you don’t want to live, then follow me.”

Chen Yixin glanced at him. Pointing the branch forward, he recalled the fully-fed Jiu Yu back into it. Pulling his hood back into place, he continued onward.

Ling Fei hesitated again and again before ultimately following. The region was simply too dangerous. Without Chen Yixin’s protection, he likely would not survive another day. Besides, while Chen Yixin seemed somewhat lacking in humanity, he wasn’t an Otherworldly Demon that ate immortals.

He followed. Apart from being frightened countless times by Jiu Yu, Chen Yixin never explicitly drove him away.

Thus they continued onward. Ling Fei’s role was simply to help Chen Yixin maintain the correct direction toward the center of the Desert Sea. Meanwhile, his awe of Chen Yixin had risen beyond the level he held even for ordinary Immortal Emperors.

He had spent nearly ten years in the Void Heaven Battlefield and had never once heard of an Immortal Lord or Immortal King keeping an Otherworldly Demon as a spirit pet.

After walking silently for two months, Chen Yixin finally stopped to meditate. Ling Fei paid little attention at first, only to witness Chen Yixin suddenly writhing across the ground in agony. He tried approaching to check on him but was immediately driven away by Jiu Yu.

The pain lasted three days and three nights before Chen Yixin finally calmed down.

“Three days. Half an hour shorter than before.”

He offered Ling Fei no explanation. They continued onward. Two months later, Chen Yixin suffered the same agony again. After witnessing it several more times, Ling Fei eventually stopped making a fuss.

“Divine Lord’s gaze keeps getting colder and colder…”

Earlier, when Chen Yixin had looked at him, Ling Fei had almost thought it was Jiu Yu staring at him.

“Mhm.”

Unexpectedly, Chen Yixin agreed. At the same time, he finally understood how Wenren Li had felt that day. In his eyes, Ling Fei was no longer an Immortal King in human form but a mass of pure immortal essence—immortal essence that stimulated his appetite.

“That’s exactly right!” Jiu Yu chimed in from the side. Its growth had become increasingly obvious. Within the black mist, limbs were beginning to take shape. Looking at Chen Yixin, its eyes now contained a trace of admiration.

Ling Fei thought Chen Yixin was raising Jiu Yu.

Jiu Yu, however, believed it was raising Chen Yixin.

“Eat him. Eat him. Then the pain will stop. Believe me—”

Before it could finish speaking, Chen Yixin used the branch to separate its body into upper and lower halves. The body that would have fully manifested within a few days was destroyed just like that.

“Too much talking.”

The cold sharpness in Chen Yixin’s eyes gradually faded. He rose and continued forward.

Day after day.

Month after month.

Year after year.

From the edge of the Desert Sea to its center, Chen Yixin walked for twenty years. An ordinary immortal could have flown the same distance in at most two months.

But the issue was never time.

The true challenge was adapting to Wenren Li’s Divine Crystal.

By now, the inhuman pain had vanished. Yet hunger remained, constantly seeking to destroy his sanity.

Especially since he insistently kept an innocent, naïve Immortal King by his side. Still, he believed he would not succumb to hunger. He did not want Wenren Li, when he finally came to retrieve him, to find a blood-soaked madman who had lost all reason.

Chen Yixin could not stop a Wenren Li who had lost his sanity.

But Wenren Li could easily restrain him.

That was one of the greatest reasons Chen Yixin had chosen to exchange their Divine Crystals.

“Ling Fei, go ahead and take a look.”

Having finished meditating, Chen Yixin turned and gave Ling Fei the instruction.

Ling Fei nodded. Less than half an hour after leaving, he returned, bringing some snacks back for Jiu Yu along the way. During the twenty years he had spent at Chen Yixin’s side, his rate of growth had surpassed anything he could have imagined in all the years he had lived before.

Now he could step into the ranks of Immortal Lords at any time. It was only because Chen Yixin had told him to keep suppressing his cultivation that he had not broken through. But with such accumulated foundations ready to burst forth, he trusted Chen Yixin’s guidance.

“Divine Lord, there’s nothing ahead but a wasteland,” Ling Fei reported to Chen Yixin. At the same time, he muttered, “If it’s only a wasteland, how could it be as terrifying as the outside rumors claim?”

Hearing this, Chen Yixin glanced at him and rose to his feet. Yet Jiu Yu suddenly shot a great distance away from the wooden branch. “I’m not going. Take that idiot brat with you instead. I’m definitely not going…”

Still confused a moment ago, Ling Fei immediately transformed his confusion into vigilance. Over these twenty years, he had long experienced just how crafty and cunning Jiu Yu was. Any place capable of frightening him to this degree was absolutely not somewhere he could afford to underestimate.

“It’s fine,” Chen Yixin said. With a turn of the branch, Jiu Yu was captured and dragged back once more. After hesitating for a while, Ling Fei ultimately chose to trust Chen Yixin and followed behind him.

They continued all the way to the center of the wasteland. Both Jiu Yu and Ling Fei remained suspicious and highly alert, yet when Chen Yixin said it was fine, it truly was fine. Nothing happened along the way. It was even more peaceful than when they had been traveling through the Sea of Sand outside.

Chen Yixin finally stopped. He cast a somewhat reluctant glance at the wooden branch before drawing Jiu Yu out of it. Then he planted the branch into the ground and slowly knelt down.

“Father God, Heavenly Phoenix Qing Rong has come to pay his respects. I ask Father God, for A-Li’s sake and Elder Brother Qing Ruo’s sake, to appear and grant me an audience.”

Jiu Yu, who could already assume human form, visibly panicked. Instinctively, he reverted to his original form, curled himself up, and tried to minimize his presence. Ling Fei, meanwhile, was completely stunned by Chen Yixin’s words.

As a native-born immortal of the Upper Realm, he had heard stories of Father God since childhood. But that was an ancient god who had vanished from this era, a god who no longer existed. Though fragments of those deeds were recorded in ancient texts, most of what circulated had been embellished and expanded by later generations. Never had he imagined that someone could actually summon Father God again.

A unique aura emerged from the wooden branch. Chen Yixin turned around and pointed at Ling Fei and Jiu Yu. They immediately fell unconscious. Only then did he turn back and bow once more toward the branch.

The branch dissolved into countless points of light scattered across the wasteland. Afterward, a colossal spiritual body appeared before Chen Yixin. Its features could not be seen clearly, but one could vaguely make out the figure of a middle-aged man, incomparably majestic.

“Little Heavenly Phoenix, it’s you again…”

Wenren Li had once summoned him through the same method. After Wenren Li’s departure, he had similarly detained Chen Yixin in this place. Now they met once again. Yet with a single glance, it was obvious that Heavenly Phoenix’s condition was far from good.

“Qing Rong has committed a transgression by disturbing Father God’s peace once more. But in this world, Father God is the only one Qing Rong is willing to trust, the only one Qing Rong can trust,” Chen Yixin said as he bowed again. At the same time, his hat was blown away, revealing snow-white hair streaming in the wind. Apart from his unchanged appearance, his lifespan essence and soul essence had long since been nearly exhausted.

Even Chen Yixin himself felt fortunate that he had managed to stay alive long enough to reach this place.

After a brief silence, a gust of wind brushed through Chen Yixin’s hair. It was Father God’s soul gently sweeping over him. That touch seemed to contain both pity and helplessness.

Chen Yixin abruptly raised his head. The Father God who had nearly filled the sky had already transformed into a gust of wind and disappeared completely.

“So that’s how it is,” Chen Yixin murmured softly. Then he bowed once more toward the place where Father God had vanished. “Qing Rong offers his thanks.”

When Jiu Yu and Ling Fei awakened, they looked around and found that the wasteland had vanished. They were now behind a sand dune sheltered from the wind. Chen Yixin gazed toward the horizon, his expression carrying an unprecedented tranquility.

Before Ling Fei could react, Jiu Yu had already darted up to Chen Yixin. “Even Dong Fang and Nangong couldn’t do it. Why can you?”

Summoning the soul of Father God was a heaven-defying feat. How had Chen Yixin accomplished it? Jiu Yu, who had thought he understood Chen Yixin well enough, suddenly felt things slipping beyond his control. A Chen Yixin capable of such a thing was someone he might not be able to manipulate at all.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Chen Yixin sent Jiu Yu flying away from his line of sight. Then he turned to Ling Fei and instructed, “Find me some materials. I want to forge a new walking stick.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Not wood.”

If he used some other plant or tree as a walking stick, Wenren Li would probably get jealous once he found out.

The thought of Wenren Li softened Chen Yixin’s gaze so obviously that Ling Fei was momentarily stunned. Quickly lowering his eyes, he acknowledged the order and went off to gather suitable materials nearby.

Soon, a lightweight stone walking stick was completed, and they set out once more, continuing westward.

Another twenty years passed before they finally emerged from the Sea of Sand and arrived at a fortress town belonging to the immortal camp in the western region. More than forty years had passed in total. Many things had happened on the Void Heaven Battlefield during that time, but the overall situation remained much the same as it had been forty years ago.

“You may go,” Chen Yixin said, waving a hand at Ling Fei. His tone contained little emotion.

Yet Ling Fei looked as though he were about to cry. His cultivation could no longer be suppressed. The Void Heaven Battlefield was not a suitable place for him to advance into the Immortal Lord realm. Returning to the Immortal Realm, preferably to his own clan, would be the most appropriate course of action.

He stepped back several paces and solemnly bowed to Chen Yixin three times. He said no words of thanks. Turning around, he departed. Within this immortal town stood a formation capable of returning one to the Immortal Realm, provided one paid sufficient resources.

The items Chen Yixin had casually given him over the course of their journey through the Sea of Sand were already more than enough to cover the cost.

“Don’t want him carrying a message?” Jiu Yu sat opposite Chen Yixin. Glancing sideways at Ling Fei’s departing figure, he could not help but remind him.

“I do, but I can’t,” Chen Yixin replied. He lifted his wine cup and took a light sip, finding no reason to deny it.

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