No need to hide

By the time he came to his senses, he had already taken out Spirit Stones and bought the spiritual robe. As it turned out, his instincts had been right.

The pale white spiritual robe suited Yin Fan perfectly. Subtle patterns of roaming dragons and auspicious clouds adorned its hem and cuffs, faint gleams of light rippling across them as he moved.

Ignoring the Demonic Qi surrounding him, Yin Fan looked very much like a chosen son of heaven from the righteous path.

"Junior Brother Jing truly is a dragon among men." Wu Fei's lips curved slightly, a hint of aggression entering his gaze as he looked at Yin Fan and reached out to him.

The battle in the Northern Region had split the earth for a thousand miles.

Wu Fei stood quietly, his lowered gaze fixed on the thousand-mile fissure below. Traces of the violent aura from Yin Fan's battle with the former Northern Region Devil Venerable still lingered there.

With a slight stir of thought, he moved downward.

Alarm flashed in Yin Fan's eyes. "Senior Brother?"

Wu Fei glanced back at him without explaining, simply taking Yin Fan's hand and bringing him down along with him.

The fissure was too deep to see the bottom, like a savage wound that had suddenly appeared in the earth. Demonic Qi raged within it, and even after so many years, its immense pressure still kept other Devil Cultivators well away.

As they approached the fissure, Wu Fei's gaze shifted slightly. He raised a hand to touch it. The instant he made contact, the previously quiet Demonic Qi erupted, surrounding them like a whirlwind.

Yin Fan froze for a moment, then stared intently at Wu Fei, wondering what he intended to do.

Just then, a slender wisp of Demonic Qi separated from the whirlwind. Upon closer examination, it actually carried a faint trace of Yin Fan's aura.

The Demonic Qi touched Wu Fei's palm. He slowly closed his eyes, and the scene before him abruptly changed. Beneath an endless dark night sky, Demonic Qi surged. A figure wearing a black mask stood in midair, his bonded spiritual sword alternating between fire and cold as he swung it fiercely toward where Wu Fei stood...

In an instant, the scene shattered into specks like starlight.

So this was the final moment of that battle. While still at the Spirit Transformation Stage, Yin Fan had single-handedly fought the Northern Region Devil Venerable and the Northern Region's devil army, finally slaying the Devil Venerable with the Blazing Cold Sword and leaving behind this thousand-mile fissure.

And why had Yin Fan been so determined to kill the Northern Region Devil Venerable? Because the massacre of Heavenly Clear City over two hundred years ago had been the Northern Region Devil Venerable's doing...

The lingering Demonic Qi bearing Yin Fan's aura here was not merely Demonic Qi. It also contained the powerful obsession Yin Fan had harbored back then.

With this thought, Wu Fei suddenly turned his palm upward. Countless wisps of Demonic Qi bearing Yin Fan's aura separated from the whirlwind and surged toward Wu Fei, who ultimately drew every last one into his body.

Watching from beside him, Yin Fan recognized the Demonic Qi as remnants of his battle all those years ago, but he truly could not guess why Wu Fei was doing this.

Wu Fei opened his eyes and looked at him, tightening his grip slightly on their joined hands. After absorbing that Demonic Qi, his eyes were even deeper.

Yin Fan's brow furrowed slightly at the sight, worry lurking within him. Then he heard Wu Fei speak.

"From this moment on..." Wu Fei's voice was low, carrying both the depth that came after falling to the demonic path and the meditative quality unique to Buddhist cultivators. "Your obsession is my obsession."

Vengeance for the brutal deaths of his parents, his clansmen, and the city's people... hatred at having been schemed against and made a fool of...

At those words, Yin Fan froze completely. A moment later, his mind was thrown into turmoil, and Demonic Qi surged around him.

He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, affection and possessiveness lay utterly undisguised in his gaze. "Buddha's Son, if you treat me like this, there will be no possibility of me ever letting you leave."

Author's note:

Thank you all so much for your support. I'll keep working hard. Sending hearts-

Chapter 25: No need to hide

"Then don't."

Seeing the unease hidden beneath Yin Fan's determined expression, Wu Fei sighed softly inwardly. He had used "falling to the demonic path" as a reason to release his true nature, yet that same "fall" had made Yin Fan unwilling to believe that he held the same feelings in his heart.

Wu Fei's voice was firm. Just as he finished speaking, their joined hands suddenly tightened. His gaze shifted slightly, and he lifted Yin Fan's hand, pressing a kiss to the inside of his wrist.

They had plenty of time. He would simply make Yin Fan believe him little by little.

Just then, a voice transmission talisman suddenly flew toward them through the air. Yin Fan's gaze sharpened slightly as he raised a hand to catch it. Fu Hong's voice came from the talisman.

"The three Devil Venerables, Blood-Sealing, Ming Yu, and Night Baleful Intent, have come to visit you, my lord. From what they said, they seem to have come about the altar in the Flame Spirit Realm."

Once the message ended, a small flame flared from the talisman between Yin Fan's fingertips.

Wu Fei narrowed his eyes. "They certainly are well informed."

He and Yin Fan had merely left the hall, swept over the Devil Palace, and stood above the fissure for this short while, yet the other three Devil Venerables already knew he had awakened and could not wait to come calling.

A trace of coldness also rose in Yin Fan's eyes. "I've been too lenient with them."

Before, he had simply not bothered to deal with it. But now that Wu Fei was in his hall, it was time to clean out those who betrayed him for outsiders, lest they leave trouble for some future day.

In the main hall, the Devil Venerables had waited so long that they were growing impatient. Moreover, the Devil Cultivators here in the Northern Region had not even served them a cup of tea.

Displeased, the Devil Venerables let their Demonic Qi surge, their auras oppressive.

Fu Hong had initially ignored this, but the Devil Venerables' auras kept growing stronger, and the pressure of the Mahayana Stage made some of the devil attendants tremble.

He reached into his robes and took out a fist-sized, deep purple sphere, even tossing it up and down a few times.

Ming Yu and the others' Demonic Qi faltered. "..."

Why does your Northern Region have so many Heaven-Shaking Thunders?!

Although it might be fake, what if it was real... They had no desire to face a Heaven-Shaking Thunder that could even blast open the Flame Spirit Realm.

Amid this strange atmosphere, Wu Fei and Yin Fan finally arrived.

Yin Fan, who was not wearing a mask, carried a trace of blood about him as he walked straight to the throne and sat down. The black-robed Buddha's Son sat beside him without expression, their hands clasped behind their broad sleeves.

Although the Devil Venerables could not see their joined hands, the intimacy that their movements could not conceal gave them an indescribably strange feeling.

The pressure against his hand alternated between light and firm as Wu Fei quietly moved his fingers, gently kneading Yin Fan's hand. His body involuntarily stiffened before returning to normal a moment later. In a low voice, he said, "Sorry to have kept you Devil Venerables waiting. I was dealing with a few unruly traitors just now, so I was a little late."