After the beast burst from the water’s surface, it soared upward, flying to the same position as Huang Yan. With a flick of its tail, it cast out a beam of light, surrounding Huang Yan in the middle.

“ROAR…”

With another roar, Huang Yan, hovering in midair, slowly opened his eyes. When his gaze fell upon the jade-green beast before him, his expression changed slightly, and multiple emotions suddenly flashed in his eyes—shock, excitement, grief, joy…

These emotions intertwined, causing Huang Yan’s facial expressions to change rapidly. Looking at the beast before him, Huang Yan leisurely reached out his hand.

“Dark Spirit,” Huang Yan softly called its name.

Hearing this call, the Dark Spirit beast’s crimson eye sockets seeped tears. It moved closer to Huang Yan, lowered its head, and nuzzled his outstretched hand.

Below, by the hot spring, everyone watched this scene.

After the Dark Spirit beast appeared, Mu Yunjin observed its form. It had a body like an ox but with a long, slender snake’s tail. Its entire body was jade green, and its eyes were blood-red. It looked quite different from ordinary divine beasts, somewhat resembling a Fei beast, yet different.

No wonder it was called a strange beast.

…

…

“They say this Dark Spirit beast was imprisoned at the bottom of this hot spring because of its fierce and violent nature, but seeing it today, those rumors seem mistaken,” State Preceptor An sighed leisurely, his gaze fixed on the Dark Spirit beast that was now docilely clinging to Huang Yan’s side.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin curled her lips and glanced at State Preceptor An. “Can’t it be fierce outside but a good boy inside?”

“Hmm, good point,” State Preceptor An raised his eyebrows in agreement, then looked up and called out to Huang Yan, “Hey, young man, don’t forget there’s a more important matter waiting for you here.”

Hearing this call, Huang Yan quickly awakened from his memories, wiped the tears that had seeped from the corners of his eyes, and stroked the Dark Spirit beast’s antennae. “Dark Spirit, wait for me for a moment.”

The Dark Spirit beast nodded.

Seeing the Dark Spirit beast, Huang Yan felt deeply comforted. After he had plunged into the hot spring yesterday, he initially felt the cold energy constantly surging within his body. His body was ice-cold, but with the scalding hot spring water, he could endure.

Later, as the cold energy gradually dissipated, he could feel the increasing discomfort at the bottom of the pool. He was aware that after all the cold energy was extracted, he might die directly at the bottom of the hot spring.

But this unbearable sensation didn’t last long. Suddenly, he felt an energy slowly rising from the bottom of the pool. When this energy approached his body, a refreshingly cool sensation spread around him.

This mysterious energy lasted for a long time—so long that Huang Yan, confined alone at the bottom of the hot spring, had time to think about other things.

He thought that this energy seemed familiar…

But why it was familiar, he couldn’t recall at the moment. He only felt that, at some point, somewhere, he had encountered this energy before.

After spending much more time at the bottom of the pool, the sky outside darkened. At the bottom of the pool, with clouds and mist covering above, he didn’t know what was happening outside.

As the cold energy within his body became less and less, and the clear energy from the bottom of the pool became more and more abundant, amid haziness, fragments of memories suddenly flashed in Huang Yan’s mind.

Those scenes seemed to be from a long time ago—

“Yin Chu, I have arranged your marriage with True Lord Yolan. Since you are both among the Ten Yama Kings of the Underworld, I believe you will get along well in the future,” the Heavenly Emperor announced this matter in front of everyone.

Hearing this, Yin Chu’s eyes revealed a hint of surprise and disbelief. He immediately knelt, clasping his hands. “I appreciate the Heavenly Emperor’s kindness, but I have no feelings whatsoever for True Lord Yolan. I beg the Heavenly Emperor to withdraw this command.”

Beside him, True Lord Yolan turned her head slightly, her long eyelashes trembling lightly.

“Yin Chu, do you know what you’re saying?” The Heavenly Emperor seemed angered, suppressing his rage as he glared at Yin Chu.

Yin Chu nodded. “I know, but I cannot agree to this.”

“You…” This was the first time the Heavenly Emperor had encountered someone who dared to refuse his decree in front of so many people. His anger grew. “You are merely a minor Yama King. Do you know what fate awaits those who defy my orders?”

Yin Chu nodded again.

Nearby, someone spoke first, their tone chillingly sarcastic: “Refusing the Heavenly Emperor’s decree, according to the rules, is punishable by burning in fierce flames until one is completely obliterated.”

The Heavenly Emperor, still fuming, heard this and said without hesitation, “Fine, let it be so!”

In that instant, Yin Chu’s face turned ashen. He couldn’t understand how refusing Yolan would bring such a catastrophe upon him.

Yolan, hearing this response, revealed a faint smile at the corner of her lips and transmitted a secret message to Yin Chu beside her: “Yin Chu, I don’t like you either. But not liking you is one thing, yet I can’t bear to see you reject me. Hehe.”

Yin Chu clenched his fists. He never imagined that True Lord Yolan, who usually appeared so gentle and magnanimous, would have such a venomous heart. He had truly misjudged her all along.

“Take him away!” With the Heavenly Emperor’s command, Yin Chu was dragged out.

The pain of being burned by those fierce flames was something he would remember for all eternity.

And after he was gone, his divine beast, Dark Spirit, suddenly went berserk. One day, it charged into the Heavenly Emperor’s palace, biting and gnawing at everyone present. In the end, it was imprisoned at the bottom of the hot spring.

……

Remembering these past events, Huang Yan couldn’t hide his sorrow. Back then, he had inexplicably suffered the punishment of being burned by fierce flames until he was completely obliterated.

Just as he steadied himself at the edge of the hot spring, a figure flew toward him, embracing him, burying her head against his chest.

“Hua Ying,” Huang Yan reached out and tightly embraced Hua Ying in return. For him, this was the first time seeing Hua Ying so proactively throwing herself at him, and he suddenly felt flattered and surprised.

“Huang Yan,” Hua Ying also softly called his name. At this moment, she had so much to say but didn’t know where to begin.

Chu Li and Mu Yunjin slowly approached the couple, and then Mu Yunjin spoke first, “Huang Yan, aren’t you going to explain to us the origins of this Dark Spirit beast?”

“Before I explain, may I ask how you knew this beast is called Dark Spirit?” Huang Yan asked in return, quite curious about this.

“It was written in a book,” Mu Yunjin replied.

Huang Yan raised his eyebrows, his eyes clearly saying he didn’t believe it. “Then do you know what the original master of this Dark Spirit beast was called?”

“…” Mu Yunjin certainly didn’t know.

Not only did she not know, but even Chu Li wasn’t entirely clear on this.

Seeing that both Mu Yunjin and Chu Li couldn’t answer, State Preceptor An lowered his eyes, smiled lightly, and said, “The Divine God Yin Chu, isn’t it?”

“You’re quite clever,” Huang Yan looked up and praised State Preceptor An.

After State Preceptor An’s words, both Mu Yunjin and Chu Li’s eyes simultaneously flashed with surprise, both somewhat disbelieving what they had heard.

The name Yin Chu was not unfamiliar to them.

Especially for Chu Li, when he succeeded to the position of the God of Death, he had heard someone mention briefly that the former True Lord Yin Chu, who resided in the Dream Palace among the Ten Yama Kings, had once publicly refused marriage with True Lord Yolan of the Dark Palace. Later, the Heavenly Emperor was furious and sentenced him to the punishment of being burned by fierce flames.

At that time, he had only heard about it without investigating further, which is why later, when he saw books about the Dark Spirit beast, he didn’t connect this beast with Yin Chu.

Because for him, these matters were within the range of things he couldn’t be bothered with.

However, he never expected that today these two would be connected…

If so, could Huang Yan be the reincarnation of Yin Chu?

If that were true, then his seniority would be far greater than both his and Huan’er’s…

Hmm, that somehow felt a bit uncomfortable.

……

Mu Yunjin knew the name Yin Chu, naturally, because she had heard people mention this punishment of being burned by fierce flames. At the time, she was idly flipping through books on various punishments, saw this particular one, and then heard Fish Granny mention someone called Yin Chu.

Tch, so it was Huang Yan all along.

At this moment, everyone present couldn’t help but look at Huang Yan with fresh eyes.

Huang Yan stretched his muscles and tendons, not bothering to recall the suffering he had endured in the past. Now, with all the cold and damp heat energy dispersed from his body, he had truly transformed into a snake spirit.

Thinking of this, Huang Yan became excited. He bent down and lifted Hua Ying by the waist. “Hua Ying, shall we get married tonight?”

“Tonight? Isn’t that too soon? It’s already afternoon…” Hua Ying was a bit dazed, unable to react.

“Not too soon, not too soon. Let’s bow to the heavens and earth under the moon tonight, alright? You should know I’ve been waiting for a long time, and I truly don’t want to wait a moment longer. Will you say yes?” Huang Yan looked at Hua Ying with anticipation in his eyes. In his excitement, he bent down and kissed Hua Ying’s red lips.

Hua Ying bit her lip, a rare shyness appearing on her face. She didn’t want to wait either. Huang Yan had done so much for her; how could she want to waste any more time?

“Alright, tonight it is,” Hua Ying agreed.

“Then let’s leave this place first.” Huang Yan’s face lit up with joy. After speaking, he carried Hua Ying and flew toward the main gate of the Celestial Mountain Villa.

Nearby, the Dark Spirit beast, having just reunited with its master, saw its master carrying a woman and running off. Thinking its master was abandoning it again, it hurriedly flew after them.

“ROAR, ROAR…” It roared while running, looking truly comical.

With Huang Yan and Hua Ying gone, only a few people were left staring at each other by the hot spring.

Seeing Huang Yan eager to marry Hua Ying as soon as he transformed into a beast spirit, Mu Yunjin couldn’t help but think of herself. She had been back in the Tianshen Continent for so long, yet Chu Li still hadn’t mentioned marriage.

Could it be that he had truly forgotten about this matter?

But if Chu Li didn’t bring it up, she was too embarrassed to mention it directly, after all, she was a woman…

The more Mu Yunjin thought about it, the more tangled she became, and the more her mood declined. But fearing that Chu Li would notice something amiss, she wiped the sweat from her face. “Well, everything has been resolved perfectly. I should go check on little Mu’er now.”

With that, she walked toward the exit.

Behind her, Chu Li stood in place, watching Mu Yunjin’s retreating figure. He wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Beside him, State Preceptor An couldn’t help but smile and said softly to Chu Li, “Look at that stubborn girl. If you don’t comfort her properly, be careful, she might run away.”

“She won’t. She can’t escape,” Chu Li raised his eyebrows slightly, the look in his eyes filled with endless tenderness.