131: The regret of the ancient immortal, the ultimate death

Their lips parted.

The icy sensation seemed to linger on his lips, carrying the saltiness of tears, but also an unprecedented warmth, enough to brand itself deep into his Soul.

Su Meier's cheeks flushed with a captivating blush, yet she stubbornly didn't avert her gaze, her misty peach blossom eyes fixed directly on him.

Lin Fan could clearly feel that in the deepest part of both their Divine Souls, the thread of light formed by the “Power of Affection” was subtly trembling, transmitting each other's truest heartbeats and emotions.

A new connection, far more intimate and fundamental than the concentric soul jade, was thus established.

He could even perceive her current shyness, nervousness, and beneath that shyness and nervousness, an uncontainable, volcano-hot reliance and affection.

This feeling was novel, yet incredibly reassuring.

"From now on, wherever you go, I will follow."

She clasped his hand, their fingers tightly intertwined, as if to meld her very bones and blood into his palm.

"You're courting death."

"I'll collect your corpse."

Lin Fan looked at the pure and brilliant smile on her face, a smile he had never seen before, and a corner of his heart was completely filled.

He returned the clasp, holding her hand even tighter.

"Good."

One word, worth a thousand.

Just then, the faint resonance from the depths of Su Meier's Bloodline, transmitted even more clearly into Lin Fan's perception through their newly established Soul connection.

It was an ancient, vast, and infinitely longing call.

As if in the deepest part of the Secret Realm, something of the same Origin as her had been waiting for eons.

Lin Fan looked up, his gaze piercing through layers of gray mist, towards that unknown, even more dangerous area.

The corner of his mouth curved into a familiar arc.

"It seems the next 'experience package' has delivered itself to my doorstep."

Upon hearing this, Su Meier, instead of tensing up as usual, merely gave him a look, a hint of playful blame in her eyes, but more so, indulgence.

"I'll watch over you."

"Don't die too ugly."

... The two walked hand in hand, deeper into the Secret Realm.

The deeper they went, the more terrifying the invisible Soul pressure became.

The air seemed to turn into a viscous swamp; every step forward was like carrying an invisible mountain.

Within the gray mist, countless distorted, resentful, and unwilling remnant Souls began to howl.

Those sounds were like countless fine needles, trying to penetrate every crevice of one's mind, stirring up the deepest fears, driving people to madness.

Su Meier's face gradually turned pale.

She had to constantly circulate her Soul Power to guard her mind, barely able to resist this mental erosion.

However, Lin Fan beside her presented a completely opposite, strangely comfortable state.

The Soul pressure that would make even a Golden Core cultivator struggle to walk, to him, was like a gentle breeze.

And those demonic sounds that could instantly shatter the weak-willed, when they fell upon him, made his "Domain Seed" emit a joyful hum.

Not only did he feel no discomfort, but he was as comfortable as a fish returning to the sea, exuding a sense of ease from head to toe.

Lin Fan noticed Su Meier's struggle; with a thought, his vast Soul Power naturally surged out, creating a three-foot-diameter, absolutely silent Domain around her and him.

All the terrifying pressure and howls, upon entering this range, melted away instantly like ice meeting the sun.

Su Meier immediately felt her body lighten, the pressure that had almost torn her Soul apart vanishing without a trace.

She leaned closer, almost pressing half her body against Lin Fan's arm, feeling the incredibly reassuring Soul Power fluctuations emanating from him.

"These ghostly things seem to really like you."

She murmured softly, listening to the increasingly frantic howls outside the Domain.

"Maybe I'm just more popular."

Lin Fan casually replied, earning an exasperated yet amused eye-roll from her.

After passing through a storm zone composed of countless wailing remnant Souls, the scene ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a secluded, absolutely dead silent place.

The storm ended here, as if an invisible wall separated the inside and outside into two worlds.

And in the center of the dead silent land, an extremely ancient stone Immortal Cave stood quietly.

At the entrance of the Immortal Cave, several skeletons lay scattered haphazardly.

Those skeletons were crystal clear like jade, and even after countless years, they still emitted a faint spiritual glow, indicating that they were at least powerful Nascent Soul level Cultivators in life.

But they were all dead.

Their deaths varied: some maintained a cross-legged meditation posture, while others seemed to have suffered immense pain, their entire skeletons twisted into a bizarre shape.

What they had in common was a tiny hole in the top of their skulls.

Their Souls had long been drained, leaving not even a trace of residual aura.

Upon seeing this scene, Su Meier's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively clutched Lin Fan's hand tighter.

Just the sight at the entrance of the Immortal Cave exuded an absolute danger that sent chills down one's spine.

Lin Fan's gaze, however, did not linger on the skeletons.

He merely glanced calmly, then pulled Su Meier and walked directly into the Immortal Cave.

Inside the Immortal Cave, it was empty.

There were no Magic Treasures as imagined, no mountains of Spirit Stones, not even a stone bed or a stone table.

Here, there was only one thing.

In the very center of the Immortal Cave, suspended in mid-air, was a wisp of extremely faint, golden Divine Thought.

That wisp of Divine Thought was as thin as a strand of hair, its light dim, as if it could extinguish at any moment.

Yet, even such a faint wisp of Divine Thought exuded a terrifying aura that seemed to transcend this heaven and earth, Immortal and detached from worldly things.

Merely looking at it.

Lin Fan and Su Meier's Divine Souls began to tremble violently, uncontrollably.

That was not a tremble stemming from fear, but a kind of absolute suppression from the most fundamental level of life.

Like an ant gazing up at a Dragon.

A Mortal glimpsing an Immortal trace.

A reverence from the Soul made them almost want to kneel on the spot and worship.

"Ancient... Immortal... remnant... Thought..."

Lin Fan's throat painfully squeezed out these few words.

He didn't need System prompts; his "Domain Seed," which had become incredibly active from devouring too much Soul energy, was frantically transmitting information to him.

This thing before him was a true wisp of Divine Thought, a remnant of an Ancient Immortal from the Immortal Realm.

Within it, contained a trace of true Immortal Law.

It also contained the supreme Dao charm, enough to cause the Divine Soul of any living being that touched it to experience Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

Lin Fan's breathing, at this moment, became incredibly rapid.

He looked at that wisp of golden Divine Thought, the greed and fanaticism erupting in his eyes a thousand times more intense than when he had seen any top-tier Magic Treasure or top-tier Cultivation Technique before.

This was the Treasure Trove.

This was the true, ultimate Treasure Trove of the entire Secret Realm of Souls.

A super "experience package" capable of transforming him completely, allowing him to ascend to the heavens in one step.

A perfect, unparalleled "Death Opportunity."

Su Meier, beside him, felt her heart sink to rock bottom the moment she saw the change in his eyes.

She was all too familiar with that look.

It was the exclusive look of Lin Fan, the "Death-Courting Maniac."

"Lin Fan! Don't go!"

Her voice, with an uncontrollable tremor, was almost a scream.

She desperately clutched Lin Fan's arm, her other hand trembling as she pointed at the skeletons at the entrance of the Immortal Cave.

"Look at those people outside! They were all Nascent Soul Old Monsters! Just touching it means Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering! Without even a chance at Reincarnation!"

She was truly scared.

Death, she had gradually gotten used to.

But Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering was a true, eternal disappearance that even Lin Fan's System couldn't reverse.

She couldn't, and would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.

Lin Fan slowly turned his head.

He didn't look at the skeletons, nor did he look at the wisp of golden Divine Thought.

His gaze, gentle, fell upon Su Meier's face, which was filled with terror and pleading.

He turned his hand and grasped her cold hand.

"Meier, I know."

His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

"But you also know that what we will face in the future might be enemies and calamities ten thousand times more terrifying than this."

"I need power."

"I need a power that can truly transform me."

He looked into her eyes, speaking each word with utmost seriousness.

"This is the path I must take."

"Help me protect the Law."

"Wait for me to return."

The last four words struck Su Meier's heart like a heavy hammer.

Tears instantly welled up and streamed down her face.

She looked at his eyes, burning with fire, and at the unwavering determination on his face.

She knew she couldn't stop him.

And perhaps, from the moment she decided to "court death with him," she shouldn't have tried to stop him.

All she could do was trust.

Su Meier bit her lip hard, until a hint of blood spread in her mouth.

She released his hand and nodded heavily.

Lin Fan smiled.

From his storage ring, he took out a warm jade pendant, radiating soft Soul Power fluctuations, and placed it in Su Meier's hand.

It was precisely the nine aperture soul-nurturing jade obtained from the auction.

"If I'm a bit weak when I return, this will be my reliance."

He made a joke in a relaxed tone.

Then, without further hesitation, he walked directly to the center of the Immortal Cave and sat down cross-legged.

"Soul Condensation Art."

"Dividing Soul and Transforming Thoughts."

He operated these two top-tier Soul Dao secret arts to their fullest extent.

Buzz!

His entire Divine Soul, at this moment, seemed to transform into a brilliant sun, infinitely compressed and purified.

Dazzling white light burst forth from his body, illuminating the entire dark Immortal Cave as if it were daytime.

Su Meier, stung by the light, instinctively closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, Lin Fan had already stood up.

He walked to the front of the wisp of golden Divine Thought.

He took a deep breath.

Under Su Meier's gaze, which was so anxious it almost stopped her breathing, he resolutely extended his right hand.

His fingertip slowly and firmly reached towards that wisp of golden Immortal Divine Thought, representing immortality and destruction.

Time, at this moment, seemed to completely stand still.

The next instant.

An indescribable torrent of information, powerful enough to surge through the Universe and erase eons of time, mixed with a trace of terrifying pressure, even if unconsciously emitted by the Immortal.

Through his fingertip.

It violently poured into his Sea of Consciousness.

Lin Fan's body violently shook.

From his seven orifices, golden, thick, pulp-like Soul blood slowly flowed out.