Chapter 62: False Immortal Palmstrike 2
Bai Chen stared at Lin Yuan blankly. For several breaths, the young man seemed to have forgotten how to speak. His face was still pale, and his legs remained weak beneath him despite the fact that Lin Yuan had already withdrawn the spell.
He then slowly turned his head toward the distant mountain, expecting to see a cratered ruin or a it shattered into debris.
But the sky had returned to its normal state. The swirling clouds had settled, the terrifying torn void had completely disappeared, and the distant mountain peak still stood as though nothing had happened.
Yet Bai Chen knew exactly what he had just witnessed.
He had seen Heaven descend.
Or at least, that was what his instincts told him. The sheer weight of the palm was burned so deeply into his mind that he felt he would see it every time he closed his eyes.
"My lord..." Bai Chen finally managed to speak, breaking the silence. His voice was incredibly hoarse, as if he had been screaming for hours. "Was that... truly a spell?"
Lin Yuan didn’t answer immediately; his eyes were closed and his mind was entirely lost in thought. The spell was far more profound and terrifying than he had initially imagined. He had never actually seen a True Immortal before in his life, yet the False Immortal Palmstrike had replicated the aura and manifestation of one to such an extent that even Lin Yuan himself could no longer distinguish the real from the false.
And after witnessing what the power of a True Immortal might actually look like, Lin Yuan finally understood the terrifying disparity between his current cultivation and that legendary realm. At the Early Nascent Soul Realm, the distance between him and a True Immortal was so vast that even millions of miles could not adequately describe the gap.
Perhaps the difference was like that between a mortal looking up at the boundless sky and an insignificant ant looking at a towering mountain.
No.
Perhaps even that comparison was far too modest. It was the difference between a single drop of water and the entire, boundless ocean of the expanse.
Then, Lin Yuan’s lips curved slightly into a contemplative smile. There was something else that profoundly interested him about the illusion. He kept his eyes closed and carefully examined his own Dao Heart, the invasive sensation from earlier still lingering like a phantom within its depths.
That feeling of absolute insignificance.
That instinctive terror.
That dangerous moment when his own mind had actually begun accepting the illusion as reality.
Lin Yuan’s expression gradually became incredibly serious, the faint smile vanishing.
The False Immortal Palmstrike was unimaginably powerful, but it was also incredibly dangerous to him. If his Dao Heart had been even slightly weaker, or if his comprehension had been lacking, perhaps he would have been utterly unable to distinguish reality from the illusion he himself had cast.
He might have genuinely believed that a True Immortal had descended to claim his life. And once such a heavy belief took root within a cultivator’s mind, it could easily leave behind a permanent flaw in his Dao Heart, becoming a lingering shadow that would inevitably hinder his future cultivation.
A cultivator’s greatest enemy was often not the opponent standing before him, but the hidden weakness lurking within his own heart.
Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes, a thoughtful glint flickering within their depths.
"Interesting," Lin Yuan murmured to himself.
Bai Chen, who was still trying to steady his breathing, immediately turned toward him.
"My lord?" Bai Chen asked.
Lin Yuan did not answer at once. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand and carefully examined his own palm, as though trying to grasp the lingering insight left behind by the spell.
"If I intend to use this spell against an enemy, I can absolutely rely on its overwhelming aura to completely crush their will," Lin Yuan began, his voice calm. "But before I do that, I must first ensure that the illusion cannot leave any flaw within my own Dao Heart."
He paused, his expression becoming exceedingly solemn.
"A spell capable of completely fooling the enemy but disturbing my own conviction is no different from a double-edged sword," Lin Yuan stated. To wield such a blade, the hand holding the hilt must be forged to greater extent.
Bai Chen nodded instinctively. Although the young man did not fully understand the meaning behind Lin Yuan’s words, he could easily tell that his lord had gained an important insight from the experience.
Lin Yuan then shifted his gaze away from the distant mountain and looked toward his house. Behind those walls, Bai Qingyue was still waiting for him.
A faint and warm smile appeared on his handsome face.
"Let’s go back," Lin Yuan said, turning his attention back to Bai Chen. "Qingyue is waiting."
Bai Chen nodded in agreement. The two men turned around and stepped back from the edge of the porch, crossing the threshold of the house.
As they entered the dim interior, the terrifying atmosphere that had violently enveloped the entirety of the area gradually dissipated, leaving behind an eerie calm in its wake.
Outside, cultivators slowly emerged from their hiding places. Their faces were still pale from the lingering terror. Some raised their trembling heads, staring up at the empty sky with lingering fear and confusion. Others immediately retrieved their communication talismans, sending urgent messages to their sects and clans across the area, desperately reporting the terrifying phenomenon they had just witnessed.
And a few bolder cultivators, driven by greed or sheer foolish curiosity, even summoned their flying artifacts and rushed toward the distant mountain. They were hoping to uncover the identity of the terrifying existence that had briefly descended upon their region, or perhaps scavenge a supreme artifact left behind.
But they would find absolutely nothing.
There was no True Immortal waiting atop the mountain peak, no hidden expert meditating in a cave, and no mysterious, heaven-defying treasure concealed within the surrounding. There was only an ordinary mountain peak, standing silently beneath the sky exactly as it had for countless years.
And inside his small house, Lin Yuan had already completely moved past the chaos unfolding outside.
Bai Qingyue, who was sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, looked up the moment he entered the bedroom.
"You’re back," she said softly.
"Yes," Lin Yuan replied, as he smiled warmly and walked toward her.
He had only left the room for a very short while. Yet for some inexplicable reason, after intensely experiencing the overwhelming pressure of the False Immortal Palmstrike, returning to this room felt strangely and profoundly peaceful.
He then sat down closely beside her on the bed, and reached out to gently hold her soft hand.
With that sudden proximity, Bai Qingyue’s keen gaze immediately fell upon the faint trace of blood lingering at the very corner of his lips. Her serene expression changed at once, the warmth in her eyes instantly replaced by a sharp worry.
"You’re injured?" Bai Qingyue asked anxiously, her voice trembling slightly. "What happened? Where did you go? Did someone attack you out there?"
Lin Yuan reached up and gently wiped away the trail of blood with his free arm, completely dismissing the severity of the situation. "It’s nothing serious. I merely suffered a little backlash while testing a spell."
"A little backlash?" Bai Qingyue frowned, her brows knitting together in disapproval. "You’re bleeding from the mouth, yet you call that a little backlash?"
She reached out instinctively, unable to stop herself. Her slender fingers lightly touched his cheek as she carefully examined his face for any other signs of injury. "Are you certain you’re not injured somewhere else? Did your cultivation become unstable?"
Seeing the sheer concern in her beautiful eyes, Lin Yuan’s expression completely softened into one of pure affection.
"Qingyue, I’m truly fine," Lin Yuan assured her softly. "My cultivation hasn’t been affected in the slightest, and the injury is of absolutely no concern."
But even after saying this, Lin Yuan noticed that Bai Qingyue was still not completely satisfied. The deep worry in her eyes had not faded in the slightest, clearly showing that his casual reassurance had done very little to ease her concerns.
Lin Yuan smiled helplessly. He reached for the hand that was caressing his cheek and held it much more firmly, his fingers gently and intimately intertwining with hers.
"I’ll be more careful next time," he promised softly.
Bai Qingyue stared at him in silence for several long moments, her eyes searching his for any pain, before finally letting out a quiet sigh.
"You’d better," she whispered.
Her intense gaze softened as she lowered her eyes, her delicate fingers remaining firmly intertwined with his.
"I don’t care how powerful the spell is, or how extraordinary your cultivation becomes," Bai Qingyue told him, her voice filled with love. "No matter how strong you become, you still have to be careful. I don’t want you returning to me covered in blood just because you wanted to test a spell."
Lin Yuan’s smile deepened significantly at her words.
"I will," Lin Yuan affirmed.
Only then did the tension in Bai Qingyue’s expression finally begin to ease, though a faint trace of worry remained deeply embedded in her beautiful eyes.
Lin Yuan looked at her. He thought about the sudden chaos of the cultivation world, the fleeting nature of life, and the fact that their union had originally begun under the guise of an arrangement, entirely devoid of the grand celebration she truly deserved.
He reached up with his free hand, gently brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. His eyes held an ocean of absolute certainty.
"Qingyue," Lin Yuan began, his voice dropping to a tender octave. "I have been thinking about it... about us, and everything we have endured since you arrived at this house."
She looked up, her breath catching slightly at the sudden shift in his tone. "Thinking about what, Lin Yuan?"
"Our beginning," he murmured, his thumb gently tracing the back of her hand. "It was hasty. It was an arrangement born of my necessity and survival. You were cast out by your clan, and I was merely eager to pay my debt. But you are my Dao Companion now, in this life and the next. I want the heavens and the earth to recognize it properly. I want them to know exactly who you are to me."
Lin Yuan leaned in closer, his gaze locking with hers.
"I want us to have a proper wedding."