Chapter 112 - 111: Mortal
Standing upon the balcony of the master pavilion, Lin Yuan looked out over the quiet valley. The crimson silk draperies and glowing spirit-lanterns still adorned the gardens, a beautiful, and lingering testament to the vows he had sworn to Bai Qingyue just hours prior.
But the time for open gates and festive had passed. The Lord Tournament of the Central Continent loomed exactly three months away.
Lin Yuan raised his right hand, his deep purple eyes narrowing with absolute authority. He channeled his Late Stage Nascent Soul Cultivation, tapping directly into its spatial laws.
Wooooom!
A profound vibration echoed through the bedrock of the valley. During the wedding, Lin Yuan had intentionally lowered the primary defensive dome to allow the invited cultivators to freely enter and leave the estate.
Now, with the wedding festivities over, he reactivated the formation, restoring the estate’s powerful defensive barrier.
An invisible dense barrier of Qi violently erupted from the edges of the valley, rushing upward to meet at the absolute zenith of the sky. The barrier seamlessly locked into place, instantly cutting the estate off from the outside world. It was a shield so robust that most Nascent Soul experts would have to expend significant, earth-shattering effort to crack it.
High above the dome, completely hidden within the swirling, dark clouds of the atmosphere, the Eye of Heavenly Tribulation remained stationed. The colossal eye pulsed with a slow, and terrifying vigilance. It was the ultimate, autonomous executioner, ready to instantly vaporize any entity at or below the Nascent Soul realm that dared to approach the valley harboring even a single drop of killing intent.
Satisfied that his home was entirely secured, Lin Yuan lowered his hand.
He then turned away from the balcony and descended the grand staircase, his morning robes gliding silently over the floor. He found Bai Chen in the central courtyard, actively directing a few of his newly acquired guardian spirit-beasts to patrol the perimeter. The young cultivator was still practically vibrating with leftover adrenaline from the wedding—and perhaps from his brief, flustered interaction with the Saintess of the Pure Cloud Sect.
"Brother-in-law!" Bai Chen called out, immediately jogging over and offering a crisp, deeply respectful martial bow. "The guests have all cleared the outer perimeter. The valley is entirely ours once more."
"You have done well, Bai Chen," Lin Yuan said smoothly. He then stepped closer, his expression shifting into serious focus. "Listen to me closely. I have reached an agreement with Lord Zhao Shenming. In three months, I will fight in the Emperor’s Lord Tournament to secure the opportunity to ask the Void Refinement Emperor to help restore Qingyue’s cultivation."
Bai Chen’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping in sheer shock. "The Lord Tournament?! Brother-in-law, you are truly going to challenge the monsters of the continent for her?"
"I would challenge the Heavens themselves," Lin Yuan replied without a moment of hesitation. "But to ensure absolute victory, I must elevate my cultivation to the next realm. I am about to enter the cultivation chamber on the highest floor. I will be in secluded cultivation for about a month."
"One month?" Bai Chen repeated, quickly processing the timeline. "Understood! I swear upon my foundation, I will not let a single blade of grass disturb your meditation."
"Your primary duty is not to guard my chamber," Lin Yuan corrected, placing a firm, reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder. "Your duty is to attend to your cousin’s needs. Ensure she eats the spirit-nourishing meals I have prepared in the pantries. Keep her company. If she wishes to walk the gardens, you walk with her. Do not let her feel the chill of the coming autumn."
"With my life, Brother-in-law," Bai Chen vowed, his youthful face hardening with fierce, familial devotion.
Lin Yuan offered a brief, approving nod. With his responsibilities perfectly delegated and his wife’s safety absolutely guaranteed, he channeled the Thunder Step. In a flash of crackling purple lightning, he bypassed the corridors and materialized directly inside the cultivation chamber at the very pinnacle of the master pavilion.
The chamber was a sanctuary of absolute silence, the walls thrumming slightly with the dense, ambient Qi funneled by the high-tier spirit-gathering arrays.
Lin Yuan walked to the center of the room and sat cross-legged upon the woven mat. He took a deep, steadying breath, clearing his mind, as he needed absolute, unbroken focus for what was about to come.
With a thought, he reached into his spatial storage and commanded the primordial artifact to manifest.
Woom!
The River of Years Pagoda materialized in his palm—a miniature, nine-story pagoda. The glowing temporal runes cascaded down its architecture, representing the localized manipulation of time itself.
Lin Yuan’s physical body dissolved into a streak of pure light, seamlessly absorbed into the second floor of the Pagoda.
He reappeared within the endless, suspended void of shimmering twilight. The massive temporal runes drifted lazily through the air, completely isolated from the frantic rushing of the outside world. Here, on the second floor, one single day in the physical world equated to five full years.
Lin Yuan had told Bai Chen he would be in seclusion for a month. Thirty days.
Within this void, thirty days would stretch into a staggering one hundred and fifty years. It was the exact, precise amount of time Lord Zhao Shenming had spent within the dream domain to temper his own Mortal Heart.
Sitting in the center of the temporal void, Lin Yuan withdrew the Dao Stone from his spatial ring. The crystalline orb rested heavily in his palm, its internal grey mist swirling with the phantom echoes of a billion mortal lives.
Having already tested the domain, Lin Yuan knew exactly what he needed to do. The Spirit Severing realm demanded that he truly understand the fragile, desperate, and beautiful nature of mortal attachments.
He closed his deep purple eyes, completely sealing away his Late Stage Nascent Soul cultivation. He then projected his sheer will into the Dao Stone, setting the parameters for the blank canvas of the illusion.
I do not want to be a cultivator, Lin Yuan commanded the dream domain. I want to feel the bite of the winter cold. I want to feel the crushing weight of poverty, the desperation of responsibility, and the terrifying vulnerability of love. Make me mortal.
The Dao Stone pulsed violently in response.
Wooooom!
The twilight of the River of Years Pagoda violently shattered, replaced entirely by the suffocating grey mist of the Dao Stone. The essence of the Seek the Dao with the Illusion of the Heart flooded his consciousness, forcefully dragging his awareness out and plunging it deep into the fabricated reality.
Lin Yuan felt the sensation of falling—a long, disorienting plunge through the fabric of space and mind.
Then, the sensation of cold, hard wood pressed against his knees. The sharp, bitter scent of medicinal herbs and damp earth filled his nostrils.
Lin Yuan’s consciousness fully awakened. He slowly opened his eyes, the deep purple glow entirely gone, replaced by the mundane, exhausted brown eyes of a mortal man, kneeling beside a humble bed as the illusion of his new lifetime officially began.