Chapter 2799 This Body Has Wandered For So Long

Lin Xun accepted the thick bundle of clothes and said solemnly, “Mother, we can’t linger here. If we delay, something unforeseen may happen. Once we leave this place, we can talk all we want.”

His words steadied Luo Qingxun and Lin Wenjing, cooling the rush of joy that had overwhelmed them.

“I’ll go pack.” Luo Qingxun turned back toward the thatched cottage.

Lin Wenjing, however, pointed toward the distant hall, its silhouette bathed in eternal night. “Xun’er, your great-grandfather took the Eternity Coffin from that hall. But it is veiled by temporal restrictions so profound that even the Fortune Sword cannot force its door. That is why your mother and I have never been able to set foot inside.”

Lin Xun looked up. The hall was ancient beyond reckoning, steeped in the heavy breath of time itself. Strands of shadow and light interwove across its surface, cloaking it in mystery.

“I’ll take a look.”

At that moment, Lin Xun thought of Xia Zhi’s slumbering true body sealed within the Eternity Coffin. His heart gave a tremor. Still, he pressed forward. Nine flights of stone steps led up to the darkened hall. At the end, the great doors remained tightly sealed, a curtain of obscure temporal power draping across them.

As Lin Xun climbed, his mind churned with doubts.

Even the Fortune Sword cannot unravel this restriction. Then how did my great-grandfather force his way inside to seize the coffin?

It was a riddle without an answer. Unless he met Luo Tongtian himself, no one could ever know.

Lin Xun took a deep breath, about to summon the Eternity Coffin. Suddenly, a searing heat surged through his heart meridian. A torrent of temporal power gushed forth, rushing straight toward the sealed hall.

Boom!

His vision blurred, the world twisted, and in the blink of an eye, he was no longer in the present. What filled his sight was a scene from countless years ago.

Before the pitch-black hall, nine tiers of stone steps were drenched in blood. Atop the highest step sat a slender figure. A black crown rested upon her head, and in her hand she held a divine staff carved from black jade. Her ancient black robes were soaked through with blood.

Her face was flawless, porcelain-pale, her beauty so radiant it could topple all beings and eclipse heaven and earth. Even drenched in blood and wrapped in ruin, she remained breathtaking beyond belief.

Xia Zhi!

Lin Xun’s heart convulsed violently. This had to be Xia Zhi’s true form! The vision shifted abruptly.

Now a thin man knelt at the base of the ninth step. His armor was shattered, his body broken, and his cold yet handsome face was etched with unbearable grief. He cried hoarsely, “My Lord, you must act at once! Leave this Fortune Dominion!”

“It is useless.” The woman’s expression remained calm, her voice as clear and tranquil as a mountain spring. “They wish to exploit my wounds to seize my fortune. But that is nothing more than a delusion.”

Clang!

With her fair, bloodstained left hand, she drew forth a divine sword. “Thirteen, take this sword and leave.”

Lin Xun recognized it instantly. The Fortune Sword!

“My Lord, you...” The thin man’s face contorted, grief carving into his handsome features. His voice cracked with despair.

The woman said softly, her voice calm yet resolute. “Once you are gone, I will seal this world with the sum of my cultivation, making it my resting place. If fate allows it, I will awaken one day from silence. If not...then let all this fortune be buried here with me.”

“My Lord!” Thirteen’s anguished cry tore through the air. “I will fight with my life to protect you and carve a path for your escape!”

The woman sighed softly, her eyes softening. “Thirteen, I will not truly perish. If fate allows, we will meet again.”

As she spoke, the divine sword in her hand gleamed. “Take it and go to Fortune Divine City.”

The vision shifted again. The woman rose and slowly walked into the depths of the dark hall. A faint sigh drifted in the air, “In this darkness...no one remains to walk beside me...”

The great doors slowly rumbled to a close.

Boom!

All scenes vanished. Lin Xun’s expression shifted endlessly. The visions he had witnessed were steeped in blood, tragedy, and suffocating despair. If that was Xia Zhi’s true form, what kind of desperate plight had she faced to force her to sit alone atop those blood-soaked stone steps and calmly prepare for her own death?

One thing was certain: Xia Zhi’s true form had been gravely wounded. In that weakened state, countless enemies closed in to steal her fortune. However, in the face of such calamity, she chose to imprison herself within this place!

Lin Xun drew a deep breath, forcibly calming his emotions. Only then did he notice the temporal restrictions shrouding the hall’s door had quietly opened. He pushed the doors open and strode inside.

Inside lay a darkness like eternal night, devouring all light, so thick that nothing could be seen. Only endless, suffocating shadows.

“It was here that my great-grandfather took away the Eternity Coffin. And it was here that Xia Zhi’s true form entered this hall...and sealed herself within it.”

A flicker of distraction crossed Lin Xun’s eyes. Then, a wisp of luminous flame bloomed at his fingertip, and the suffocating gloom was swept away.

In the center of the hall stood a lone jade platform, shaped like a daoist altar. Apart from it, the hall was utterly empty. Lin Xun stepped forward. The platform was made from an unusual black jade stone, its surface stained with words written in blood: “This body has wandered for so long, with no one to lean on. If fate allows, I will sever this body’s past, and never again endure the pain of darkness and loneliness.”

This body has wandered for so long...this body has wandered for so long...

Lin Xun’s mind went blank. A memory surged into his mind. Years ago, when he first met Xia Zhi in Feiyun Village, she had said, “Lin Xun, before meeting you, my world was nothing but darkness. Only after meeting you did I finally see light.”

She had also said, “My world is so small, it can only hold you. As long as you are by my side, I care for nothing else.”

Never again endure the pain of darkness and loneliness...Was it because she had once lived in this very darkness...

Lin Xun’s chest ached. He reached out and brushed the blood-carved words.

Just how lonely and helpless must she have been to leave behind such words in this endless darkness?

At that moment, Lin Xun felt a powerful urge within him. He wanted to summon Xia Zhi to let her see this place with her own eyes. In the end, he held back.

He was afraid. Afraid that if something went wrong, Xia Zhi might become someone else, and then...would she still stay by his side, clinging to him as she once had and never leave?

It was a selfish fear. However, Lin Xun could not deny that he was truly terrified of losing her from his life.

His fingertip lingered on the words ‘sever this body’s past.’ His gaze grew distant, his heart surging with an indescribable storm of emotions. Only then did he truly grasp their meaning. Xia Zhi’s true body had chosen to cut off all ties to her past, rather than suffer again the agony of endless darkness and loneliness!

In other words, before stepping into the coffin, she had already made her choice. She would rather remain here forever, never to awaken again, than endure that torment once more! After a long silence, Lin Xun exhaled slowly, pressing down the tide of emotions in his chest.

“Xia Zhi, once I uncover your past, your life, your origins, and everything you endured...I will make my decision!” Lin Xun turned, leaving behind the hall of eternal darkness.

Outside, Luo Qingxun and Lin Wenjing were already waiting.

“Xun’er, what did you see there?” Lin Wenjing asked cautiously.

“It was empty. Nothing inside.” Lin Xun shook his head.

Lin Wenjing was taken back and about to press further, but Luo Qingxun pinched him sharply at the waist. His mouth twitched in pain.

“Why ask so many questions? Can’t you see he’s unsettled? If he wants to tell us, he will. If not, don’t force him.” Luo Qingxun sent a voice transmission. She had already sensed her son’s heavy mood.

“Mother, why treat Father like that?” Lin Xun chuckled. How could he not notice Luo Qingxun pinching Lin Wenjing?

“Your father likes it. He’s long used to it. If you don’t believe me, ask him,” Luo Qingxun said with a smile.

Lin Wenjing laughed heartily. “Yes, I like it this way. After all these years, if she doesn’t pinch me now and then, I feel something’s missing.”

Luo Qingxun arched a brow. “Why do I feel like you’re complaining to Xun’er?”

Lin Wenjing waved his hands frantically. “I wouldn’t dare.”

The gloom lingering in Lin Xun’s chest eased, warmth quietly replacing it “Father, Mother, let’s leave. Elder Taixuan is waiting.”

“Then let’s not delay.” Lin Wenjing nodded quickly, looking like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, almost as if he feared Luo Qingxun would ‘discipline’ him again.

Lin Xun couldn’t help but secretly admire his mother.

She truly has a way with things...She managed to tame Father into such obedient submission...

As they made their way out of the hidden realm, Luo Qingxun whispered to him, “Xun’er, don’t follow your father’s example. It’s fine that he listens to me, but when you marry in the future, don’t give in to everything your wife says.”

Lin Xun frowned.

Why should that be any different?

“You clearly don’t understand the ways between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Forget it, I’ll explain it to you later. It’s more profound than the dao of cultivation itself. You must learn it well, or else you’ll stumble before women one day...” Luo Qingxun sighed.

Lin Xun had wanted to tell them about Zhao Jingxuan and their son, Lin Fan, but seeing the situation, he forced himself to hold back. Now was not the right time. Better to wait than make them needlessly worry.

Outside the Flowing Light Forbidden Realm, Taixuan rose the moment he saw Lin Xun emerge with the couple. Smiling, he said, “Only half an hour has passed, it seems everything went smoothly.”

“Elder, I owe you my deepest thanks.” Lin Xun bowed, then introduced his parents.

Luo Qingxun and Lin Wenjing immediately stepped forward, offering their respects, their words brimming with gratitude.

Taixuan waved it off with a smile. “We’re no strangers. There’s no need for such formality. For now, the most urgent matter is leaving this place.”

“Yes, once we reach Fortune Divine City, we’ll be safe.” Lin Xun wasted no time. He placed his parents into the protection of the Limitless Abyss Sword Cauldron.

“Let’s go.”

Taixuan flicked his sleeve, and together they vanished into the void.

Not long after they left...

Boom!

Beyond the Flowing Light Forbidden Realm, a deafening roar erupted. The stars shuddered as the void split open, and a figure tore their way through the heavens.