Xu Xingchen’s fingertips trembled as he gripped Shen Liuxiang’s hand. “Elder Brother agrees too, doesn’t he? What fierce beast! What Qiongqi! Why, why must Father Emperor solve this again! He just needs to stay peacefully in the Imperial Palace, waiting for ascension. He doesn’t need to do any of this!”
Shen Liuxiang’s heart surged with shock. If what Heng Jiuyin said was true, it matched the original story.
He had been puzzled why, in the original story, there was no mention of Qiongqi breaking free from its seal and endangering the world. Now it seemed that perhaps Di Yunyu had successfully prevented it, but at a cost.
Di Yunyu’s fall would occur during the most peaceful and stable era this continent had ever seen.
However…
Shen Liuxiang said: “Calm down. These are all just Heng Jiuyin’s claims. He deliberately destroyed the scroll to prevent us from finding the seal, then fed us this information to stop us from informing Father Emperor. His actions aren’t for Father Emperor’s sake—he likely has ulterior motives.”
“No! No! Father Emperor *has* forgotten many things! And—!” Xu Xingchen shook his head frantically, too agitated to listen.
“And! There’s a secret chamber in the Imperial Palace with a star lamp holding Father Emperor’s lifebound artifact, the Phoenix Feather. Before, he’d only spend an hour there daily. But recently, Xinglian told me he sometimes stays half the day. When he emerges, the spiritual energy around him is noticeably thinner.”
Xu Xingchen murmured: “This is proof his cultivation is dissipating.”
Someone handed him a cup of water. “Aside from the tribulation lightning, the world knows little about ascension. Heng Jiuyin clearly researched this thoroughly. He might still be hiding something. Shouldn’t you trust Emperor Di Yunyu more than him?”
Xu Xingchen blinked, thanked Zhou Xuanlan, and took a sip. “Of course I trust Father Emperor, but…”
His voice cracked: “If this is true, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Di Yunyu never shared his plans or intentions with anyone. Even Xu Xingchen, his blood-related son raised by his side, couldn’t decipher his thoughts.
Xu Xingchen’s panic stemmed from intuition—a familiarity with Di Yunyu’s patterns—that told him Heng Jiuyin’s words rang true.
Shen Liuxiang massaged his temples. If Di Yunyu truly neared ascension, he should at least inform them. To leave them unprepared for his departure—or fall—was unthinkable.
But Shen Liuxiang recalled how Di Yunyu never explained why Xu Xinglian couldn’t leave the palace. Perhaps he indeed planned to vanish without warning, casually saying, *”Farewell. Cultivate well and join me soon.”*
Shen Liuxiang: “…” A headache.
If only Di Yunyu or Qiongqi could break the seal, why would Di Yunyu seek it unless the beast threatened to escape? Shen Liuxiang remembered Ling Ye’s intent to reinforce the seal. Perhaps the weakening seal, tied to Di Yunyu’s fading power, had loosened.
The group debated their next steps.
Xu Xingchen insisted: “Don’t tell Father Emperor the beast’s location! The tribulation is terrifying—no cultivator would expend energy before ascension! He has only half a month left!”
After deliberation, Shen Liuxiang proposed: “Since we haven’t pinpointed Qiongqi’s location, delaying the news is acceptable. Split tasks: I’ll keep searching for the seal, while you verify Heng Jiuyin’s claims.”
Xu Xingchen agreed, then contacted Xu Xinglian via jade slip. “How is Father Emperor lately?”
Xu Xinglian: “He’s often in the secret chamber. I rarely see him.”
Xu Xingchen’s face darkened. She whispered: “When will you send someone to sneak me out? You promised…”
“Now’s not the time!” Xu Xingchen snapped, then softened. “Stay in the palace. Watch over Father Emperor for me.”
The jade slip dimmed. Xu Xingchen pocketed it. “We act now.”
—
Shen Liuxiang scoured western Demon Capital’s perilous secret realms—buried in blizzards one moment, scorched by lava the next. After three sleepless days exploring seven realms with no trace of Qiongqi, he moved to an eighth.
Zhou Xuanlan gripped his arm. “Master, rest.”
Shen Liuxiang probed the realm with spiritual energy. “I’m fine.”
Xu Xingchen’s latest message confirmed Heng Jiuyin’s claims were 70% credible. A reclusive master had hinted “merit” determined tribulation severity. Given Di Yunyu’s unparalleled virtue, perhaps his lightning would be milder.
Mid-thought, Shen Liuxiang froze—he’d been walking in place.
Zhou Xuanlan, watching him struggle, smirked and swept him into his arms. “Back to the Demon Capital.”
“But time’s short,” Shen Liuxiang argued. If Qiongqi broke free before Di Yunyu’s ascension, disaster loomed. If after, no one could stop it.
The only solution: find Qiongqi, assess the seal, and act.
“Master asks Xu Xingchen to calm down, but I think it’s Master who needs to calm down,” Zhou Xuanlan took a big stride and, under the night sky, carried him away.
Back at their lodgings, Shen Liuxiang was placed in a warm bath. After bathing, he was picked up and thrown onto the bed.
Shen Liuxiang tried to get up, but was pressed back into the soft bedding.
“Master, think calmly,”
Zhou Xuanlan pinned down his slender white wrists, his dark hair falling slightly over his neck and shoulders, lowering his head to stare intently at Shen Liuxiang.
“Heng Jiuyin didn’t hesitate to destroy the scroll to hide Qiongqi’s sealing place and prevent you from finding it. Now you and Ling Ye traverse various secret realms daily, yet he doesn’t interfere. Is he really so certain you won’t find it?”
Shen Liuxiang pressed his lips together, having naturally considered this. Not just this point, but Yao Mengyue’s wedding day being arranged by Heng Jiuyin during this particular time couldn’t be without some ulterior motive.
Thinking of this, he tried to rise again: “What you say is correct. The secret realms need to be searched, and matters in the Demon Capital need investigation. Let me…”
Before he could finish, Shen Liuxiang’s lips were sealed, and he couldn’t speak.
His dark eyelashes trembled slightly, his slender wrists struggling, only to be restrained more tightly.
The handsome young man on the bed was held down and kissed for a long while until he finally behaved. When released, he turned his face away, breathing slightly heavily, his fair wrists marked with red from being gripped.
Zhou Xuanlan then tucked him into the blankets with only his head exposed, before removing his own clothes and getting into bed, embracing the slender figure in his arms.
“Master doesn’t need to send Imperial Palace people to the secret realms. My subordinates have arrived outside the Demon Capital; let them go instead.”
Shen Liuxiang, completely enveloped in a familiar warm aura, lowered his eyelids. His body and mind relaxed somewhat, and suddenly, he felt somewhat tired.
He blinked, unable to resist closing his eyes.
Zhou Xuanlan held the soon-to-be-sleeping person tightly and closed his dark eyes as well.
The bedroom was quiet for nearly half an hour when suddenly, a faint demonic pattern appeared on the handsome face on the bed.
Zhou Xuanlan’s brows furrowed tightly, his forehead unknowingly covered in cold sweat. His thin lips parted slightly, calling out “Master” again and again, occasionally in a grieving voice.
Shen Liuxiang was awakened, rubbed his phoenix eyes, and half sat up to look at Zhou Xuanlan.
Seeing his pale face and pained expression, as if trapped in a terrible nightmare, he immediately pushed him, “Wake up, Zhou Xuanlan—”
Zhou Xuanlan couldn’t respond. At that moment, he stood in a scene that seemed incredibly real, his heart and soul shattered.
“Master! Master!! Master—”
Zhou Xuanlan couldn’t move, only able to call out with a throat-tearing force, hoping the figure in his sight would hear and quickly return to his side.
But his master ignored him, rushing to a white-robed sword cultivator amidst mountains of corpses, seas of blood, and attacks from demon beasts in the sky.
Protecting him in every way.
Persisting despite being pushed away and treated coldly.
Zhou Xuanlan’s eyes turned blood-red, wanting to take him back, but an invisible force constrained him, as if silently reminding him that he was merely a spectator.
At the end of the nightmare, Zhou Xuanlan suddenly opened his dark eyes wide, his pupils violently shaking, all strength instantly drained from his body.
His vision gradually reddened as he witnessed a scene that seemed to drag him into a hell of asuras.
The demonic pattern was stimulated, a strange dark shadow silently emerging from his temple. The figure soaked in cold sweat opened his eyes, his expression invaded by savagery.
Zhou Xuanlan stared at the worried Shen Liuxiang before him, his mind still flashing with the previous images, unable to distinguish where he was, instinctively grabbing him into his embrace.
“Master, is it Master—”
Shen Liuxiang had never seen him with such an expression—fearful, insecure, every movement filled with panic. He quickly comforted him: “I’m here, I’m right here. Did you have a nightmare?”
Zhou Xuanlan said nothing, only holding him tightly in his arms.
After a while, just when Shen Liuxiang thought he had calmed down, an extremely strong force pressed him down onto the bed.
Shen Liuxiang’s head hit the soft pillow, his black hair disheveled across the bed. His upper garments were instantly torn apart, revealing snow-white skin and exquisite, beautiful collarbones.
Shen Liuxiang was stunned for a moment, encircled in the embrace of the person pressing down on him.
Just as he was about to struggle, a suppressed, hoarse voice came to his ear, “Don’t reject me, Master… please don’t reject me at this moment… please.”
Shen Liuxiang’s heart trembled. He didn’t know what had happened to Zhou Xuanlan, suddenly losing control like this. Though he was unreasonably pinning him down, he said words that made Shen Liuxiang’s heart ache.
“Dreams are all false, don’t be afraid,”
Shen Liuxiang tried to relax his body, tilted his head up, and kissed Zhou Xuanlan’s tense thin lips. Meeting his slightly stunned gaze, his hands, which had been pushing away, now caressed the broad shoulders.
“I will never reject you.”
Zhou Xuanlan was stunned. His heart, which had felt like it was falling into an abyss, was gradually filled again.
The person in the scene who sacrificed himself to save Ye Bing wasn’t… wasn’t!
This person before his eyes was his master!
Zhou Xuanlan lowered his head to capture the red lips, his desire for Shen Liuxiang reaching an extreme. After tearing away all hindering clothes, he eagerly, almost frantically, felt everything about the person in his arms.
It was his master!
His!!
A cool night breeze blew through the window crack into the bedroom, lifting a corner of the hanging curtain. The bed inside shook constantly, occasionally emitting ambiguous sounds.
The long night passed, and only at dawn did they finally pause.
But just for a moment—the fair legs near the bed curtain couldn’t stop trembling. After a while, the slightly pink toes curled, and they continued.
##
Oh my ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄-⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄
Thank You for the new chapter (ฅ’ω’ฅ)♥