After Vice Palace Master Yao and Emperor Fire Cloud left, Lin Yun was alone in the room.
“Phew…” Lin Yun let out a long breath, staring at the ceiling.
At that moment, his heart was heavy with immense sorrow!
Unable to use internal energy, reduced to a cripple, reliant on medicine, with only eighty years left to live…
This was a devastating blow to Lin Yun!
He had always felt young among cultivators, believing that even without reaching immortality, he had thousands of years ahead.
Now, facing this sudden reality with so little time left, the contrast was overwhelming!
Then, Lin Yun steadied his emotions, forced a smile, and walked out of the bedchamber.
He didn’t want to pass his despair onto his loved ones.
Outside the Bedchamber.
“Daddy! Daddy!”
As soon as Lin Yun pushed open the door, Lin Ke Xin rushed toward him with a child’s excited cry.
“Ke Xin.”
Lin Yun smiled, crouching to catch her as she threw herself into his arms, then lifting her up.
“Daddy, you’re awake! Ke Xin is so happy! Let me kiss you.”
As she spoke, Lin Ke Xin planted a kiss on Lin Yun’s cheek.
“Seeing you makes Daddy happy too,” Lin Yun said, his face beaming.
In his near-death moments, images of his daughter and her voice had been a pillar of strength, a reason he survived!
“Daddy, what happened to you? Are you really okay?” Lin Ke Xin asked in her childish voice.
Still so young and inexperienced, she didn’t understand much.
“Daddy just can’t use internal energy anymore, but I’m healthy otherwise. Don’t worry, Ke Xin,” Lin Yun said with a doting smile.
He didn’t want to tell her the full truth.
“As long as Daddy’s healthy, that’s enough. Ke Xin will train hard and protect Daddy when I grow up!” Her young, tender face showed determination.
Warmth filled Lin Yun’s heart.
The bond with his daughter was unlike any other, a feeling only parents could truly understand.
Yu Ying approached, having wiped away her tears, forcing a smile.
Though her heart ached, she didn’t want Lin Yun to spend his remaining days in sorrow. Even if he had only decades left, she wanted him to live happily, not in despair.
“Brother Yun, let’s not dwell on it. Let’s live well from now on. You’ve fought so hard all these years, so tired and burdened. Let’s live a relaxed life moving forward,” Yu Ying said, leaning against him.
“Alright!” Lin Yun nodded with a smile.
Having just taken the pill, he felt no pain for now.
At that moment, Huo Zhen, Liang Yuan, Wei Qi, Yang Wan, the Wanderer, Du Yuanzi, and Old Man Yan ran through the rain from a distance, clearly having heard Lin Yun had woken.
In an instant, they reached him.
“Big Brother! You’re really awake!”
Seeing Lin Yun awake, they were visibly thrilled.
“Haha, disciple, I knew you wouldn’t go down so easily. You always create miracles, and I knew you’d pull through this time too!” the Wanderer laughed heartily.
Wei Qi grinned. “I always believed Big Brother would wake up!”
“Yes, yes, we all knew you’d make it!” Huo Zhen and the others nodded, smiling in agreement.
“By the way, Lin Yun, are you fully recovered?” Old Man Yan asked.
Lin Yun gave a bitter smile and shook his head. “I’m awake, but I can never use internal energy again.”
“What?” The group’s faces turned ashen, as if doused with cold water, their excitement and joy extinguished.
“Unable to use internal energy… doesn’t that mean you can’t cultivate or fight anymore, Big Brother?” Yang Wan said in shock.
“Yes,” Lin Yun nodded slowly.
He only told them about losing his internal energy, not that he relied on medicine to survive with only eighty years left.
“This… this is fate’s cruelty, a genius struck down! With your talent, your future was limitless. You had a greater chance than most Ninth Transcending Tribulation cultivators to reach immortality, and now… it’s come to this,” the Wanderer sighed, unable to hold back.
The others fell silent.
Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Yu Ying quickly said, “It’s alright. Brother Yun waking up is already great news. Surviving the soul-severing poison is rare, and he’s already remarkable for that.”
“Yes, yes, Big Brother waking up is a huge win. Even if he can’t use internal energy, we’ll protect him!” Huo Zhen declared confidently.
“By the way, where’s the metal bear?” Lin Yun asked.
During the battle, the metal bear was badly damaged. After Lin Yun fell unconscious, he knew nothing of what followed until waking now.
He tried sensing it with his soul but couldn’t feel the metal bear’s presence.
“This… we don’t know,” Huo Zhen and the others shook their heads.
“Damn, is Big Bear still there?” Lin Yun’s expression changed.
“I need to find it!” he said urgently.
“Big Brother, you can’t! Without internal energy, leaving East Yuan Prefecture is too dangerous,” Huo Zhen and the others urged.
Yang Wan added, “Big Brother, if the metal bear is alive, it would’ve come back to you. Since it hasn’t, it’s likely… gone.”
“Big Brother, let me go look!” Huo Zhen volunteered.
“No, I can’t let you risk it,” Lin Yun shook his head.
“It’s fine, Big Brother. East Yuan Prefecture is within the Fire Cloud Empire, and they’re currently purging the demon clan there. His Highness even sent elite troops. No celestial demon would dare show up now, nor would they risk it to target me. I’m not valuable enough to them,” Huo Zhen said.
The demon clan had taken such a risk to target Lin Yun because of his immense value, especially due to his ties with the dragon clan. They wouldn’t take that risk for Huo Zhen—it was obvious.
