“Brother Yun, I don’t know who spread it, but now everyone’s talking about how you can never use internal energy again,” Yu Ying said.
A few days ago, when Lin Yun appeared publicly, people only knew he was alive, not that he was crippled.
Now, the sudden spread of this news suggested someone was deliberately stirring things up. Ordinary people wouldn’t know the specifics of the soul-severing poison.
Lin Yun shook his head with a smile. “Who else? It’s likely the Dongguo faction spreading it. I’ve always been at odds with them. Before, my strength and His Highness’s favor protected me, so they couldn’t touch me. Now that I’ve fallen, they must be thrilled.”
He could imagine how delighted they were to hear he was a cripple!
“Brother Yun, forget them. Let’s just live our lives well,” Yu Ying said earnestly.
“Of course,” Lin Yun nodded with a smile, glancing at his daughter, Lin Ke Xin.
Though his heart ached, what could he do? His crippled state was a fact.
“Ke Xin, let Daddy show you.”
Lin Yun stepped forward, taking the wooden sword from his daughter.
“Ke Xin, watch closely.”
With that, he began to wield the sword.
As peach blossoms fell, Lin Yun danced with the wooden sword.
Soon, he completed a set of sword techniques.
“Daddy’s amazing!” Ke Xin clapped excitedly.
Lin Yun stood still, as if realizing something.
“Even if I can’t use internal energy, I can still practice swordsmanship. It doesn’t rely on internal energy!” A spark of joy lit his face.
Lin Yun’s love for the sword was undeniable.
Not cultivating these past few days had left him restless.
“Master, you could try wielding your heavenly-grade weapon for practice,” the spirit of the Qiankun Supreme Cauldron said in his mind.
“Good idea, I’ll try!”
Lin Yun flipped his hand, summoning his Purple Qiong Sword.
Weighing over ten thousand jin, the sword was easily wielded without internal energy.
With his late-stage Myriad Form Body, Lin Yun’s physical strength was immense. Though the poison prevented him from using internal energy, his physical power remained!
In other words, even as a cripple, his Myriad Form Body gave him considerable combat ability. He could still fight using his physical strength.
With this strength, he could easily overpower anyone below the Transcending Tribulation realm.
This was the benefit of his powerful body refinement technique.
Holding the Purple Qiong Sword, Lin Yun began dancing under the peach tree.
Wielding it without internal energy, relying solely on physical strength, he felt a new understanding of his swordsmanship.
“Haha, this is interesting!” Lin Yun laughed as he swung the sword.
“Ke Xin, come here. Don’t disturb your father,” Yu Ying called, and the mother and daughter watched Lin Yun quietly.
“By the way, spirit, do you have any way to completely remove the soul-severing poison?” Lin Yun asked telepathically.
It suddenly occurred to him to ask the cauldron’s spirit. As an ancient sacred artifact, its knowledge far surpassed even Emperor Fire Cloud’s!
The spirit’s previous master, Emperor Chu Chen, died over a hundred thousand years ago, meaning he existed at least two hundred thousand years prior. And Chu Chen was only its most recent master; the spirit likely had others, making it incredibly knowledgeable, aware of things even modern powerhouses didn’t know!
“There is a way,” the spirit replied.
“You have a solution?” Lin Yun’s face lit up with wild joy.
He hadn’t held much hope, just asking casually. Even Emperor Fire Cloud and Vice Palace Master Yao said there was no solution, so he assumed it was impossible. That’s why he hadn’t asked the spirit earlier.
“There is a way, but it’s difficult to execute,” the spirit said.
“Tell me!” Lin Yun said eagerly.
“Find an immortal strong enough to transfer the poison from your body into theirs. You’d recover, but that immortal would suffer the poison’s torment and be ruined,” the spirit explained.
It continued, “A cultivator below the immortal realm can’t withstand the transfer. They’d die from the poison instantly, halting the process. It must be a powerful immortal willing to sacrifice themselves, like Emperor Fire Cloud. His strength might prevent death, but the poison would torment him, likely preventing him from using internal energy.”
“In short, whoever takes the poison is doomed. It’s essentially trading one life for another.”
“This… how is that possible…” Lin Yun shook his head with a bitter smile.
“This method is nearly impossible, so I didn’t mention it earlier,” the spirit said.
“Is there another way?” Lin Yun asked cautiously.
“There’s one more: the Chaos Heart, an ancient sacred artifact born from the purest Xuanhuang energies. Its immense power might purify the poison, though I can’t guarantee it—only that it’s possible,” the spirit said.
“The Chaos Heart? The top-ranked ancient sacred artifact?” Lin Yun exclaimed.
Then he gave a wry smile. “That thing vanished over a hundred thousand years ago. No one knows where it is.”
But a spark of hope ignited in his heart.
There were solutions!
The Chaos Heart might be lost, but with eighty years left, he could try to find it!
At that moment, Huo Zhen ran into the courtyard.
“Big Brother, I’m back!” he shouted.
“Huo Zhen’s back?” Lin Yun stopped his sword dance and turned to him.
“Big Brother, I found the metal bear,” Huo Zhen said, revealing the metal bear with a wave.
The bear’s body was covered in cracks.
“Big Bear!” Lin Yun called out. Though just a metallic construct, like a robot, it had helped him greatly.
