194: Perfect resurrection, cold moon in arms

Dead silence.

Time and space lost their meaning in this Ice Crystal Valley.

Li Hanyue slumped to the ground, her body cold, and the heart that beat for Lin Fan seemed to have stopped pulsating.

She watched him disappear with her own eyes.

Watching him completely erase his own 'existence' from this world.

That wasn't death.

It was a return to Void Realm, more thorough than death.

The position of her heart was terrifyingly hollow, and waves of tearing pain almost crushed her Divine Soul.

She didn't cry out.

She just raised her head, her beautiful eyes, now devoid of all luster, fixed intently on the Void Realm where Lin Fan had last vanished.

Two lines of clear tears, uncontrollably, slid from the corners of her eyes, leaving cold trails on her pale cheeks.

She believed.

She believed with her crumbling Dao Heart, with all her remaining will.

He would return.

He would definitely return.

Just then.

In that absolute Void Realm, a faint light spot, without warning, lit up.

It didn't appear out of thin air.

It was born from 'nothingness'.

The light spot began to extend, outlining a human figure.

The illusory outline gradually solidified, Laws were reconstructing, flesh and blood were regenerating, and the Immortal Soul was returning.

The entire process was silent, yet it contained a profound mystery akin to creation, one that even the Heavenly Dao had to take notice of.

Li Hanyue stopped breathing.

Her pupils contracted violently, and all the sorrow and despair were, at this moment, replaced by an unspeakable ecstasy.

Several breaths later.

Lin Fan's figure, completely unharmed, reappeared in that Void Realm.

He stood quietly, his clothes neat, not a single hair out of place.

Only his aura had changed.

If his previous half-step Void Refining Realm meant he had one foot outside this world's heaven and earth.

Then now.

His entire being seemed to stand 'outside' the world, creating a sense of detachment, both close and distant, from this world's Laws.

He existed here.

Yet he didn't entirely belong here.

He opened his eyes, his gaze immediately falling upon the beautiful figure kneeling on the ground, trembling all over.

His heart gave a fierce wrench.

The next second.

He appeared before Li Hanyue.

Before Lin Fan could speak.

The figure, who had been disguising herself with a strong facade, could no longer suppress the turmoil within her heart.

Li Hanyue suddenly stood up, rushed over, and plunged into his embrace.

She used all her strength to hold him tightly, desperately.

Her body trembled slightly, violently, from extreme lingering fear and excitement.

Lin Fan's body stiffened slightly.

He could clearly feel the coldness and trembling of her delicate body, and the force of her embrace, as if trying to merge him into her bones, a force born of reunion after loss.

He reached out and, in turn, pulled her even more tightly into his arms.

He gently rested his chin on the top of her head, inhaling the familiar, cool, faint fragrance.

"I'm sorry."

Lin Fan's voice was a little hoarse, filled with endless guilt.

"I made you worry."

This apology instantly broke through all of Li Hanyue's defenses.

"Woo..."

A faint sob, suppressed for a long time, finally muffled from his embrace.

Li Hanyue buried her face deeper into his chest.

The warm touch, the familiar heartbeat, let her know that none of this was an illusion.

Her voice was heavy with sobs, and a trace of an undisguised, commanding plea.

"Next time..."

"Don't use this method again."

She knew it was impossible.

But she had to say it.

Lin Fan's heart softened completely.

He didn't answer.

Because he couldn't make such a promise.

He just lowered his head, lifted her face, and gazed at her beautiful jade-like countenance, tear-streaked and pitiable.

He reached out a finger and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

Then, his lips gently pressed against hers.

Salty tears melted on his lips.

This kiss carried no lust, only endless tenderness and comfort.

Li Hanyue trembled slightly, closed her eyes, her long eyelashes still adorned with glistening tears.

After a long while, their lips parted.

Lin Fan smiled, looking at her cheeks flushed with excitement and shyness.

He took her hand, and an incredibly pure, perfectly formed Origin power gently flowed into her body through their clasped hands.

That was the power of the Void Refining Origin Dao Fruit.

This power was no longer mere energy; it was, in itself, a perfect crystallization of a 'Dao'.

As the power surged through Li Hanyue's limbs and bones, the most subtle Dao injuries left by her previous extreme burning were instantly healed.

Her Realm, which had just broken through to Soul Transformation Peak and was still slightly unstable, was thoroughly solidified and stabilized under the nourishment of this power.

Furthermore, her Taiyin Source, under the baptism of this perfect Dao Fruit, became even purer and more transparent.

Her cultivation remained firmly at the threshold of Soul Transformation Great Perfection, needing only an opportunity to take the final step.

Li Hanyue could clearly feel a transformative change occurring in both her body and Divine Soul.

This feeling made her feel warm all over.

The two quietly embraced and cherished each other in the Ice Crystal Valley.

A moment later, Lin Fan began to examine the Heaven-Defying rewards brought by this SSS-rank death in his consciousness space.

His mind first immersed itself in a profound stream of information.

[High-Dimensional Law Anchor (Incomplete)]

This was not a Magic Treasure.

Nor was it a Cultivation Technique.

It was a qualification.

Lin Fan instantly understood.

With this anchor, he could open up a miniature, independent Law Domain around himself.

Within this Domain, that high and mighty 'chess player' would no longer be able to 'correct' and 'reconstruct' him with its rules.

Although it was incomplete and extremely small in scope.

This was undoubtedly the ultimate life-saving trump card when facing that terrifying existence.

It was the most fundamental qualification for him to truly stand on the chessboard and play against the opponent in the future.

Next, was the second reward.

[Soul Law Exemption (One-time)]

Lin Fan could feel an indescribable, absolute protection added deep within his Immortal Soul.

This protection could shield him once from any form of fatal Soul-level attack.

Whether it was a curse, an erasure, or a higher-dimensional Soul crushing.

Another ultimate trump card, enough to turn the tide at a critical moment.

Lin Fan slowly exhaled a turbid breath.

This 'Conceptual Self-Detonation', though extremely insane, yielded rewards so abundant that they were enough for him to face any upcoming crisis.

He completely absorbed the remaining power of the [Void Refining Origin Dao Fruit].

The last trace of 'half-step' in his half-step Void Refining Realm was completely erased.

His Realm was perfectly round and completely stabilized.

The power of the Void Refining stage within him surged like a dormant volcano, ready to erupt at any moment, triggering a Heavenly Tribulation and ascending to the heavens in one step.

He could now enter the true Void Refining Realm.

However.

Just as this thought arose in Lin Fan's mind.

Just as he and Li Hanyue were enjoying this warm and tranquil moment after their ordeal.

Boom—!!!

A dull, extreme roar, as if from the Nine Netherworlds, and yet also from the Nine Heavens, exploded deep within the Souls of all living beings.

The entire Cultivation World trembled violently at this moment.

In the Burial Immortal Valley, those Spirit Transformation Old Monsters, who had just recovered from the shock of Lin Fan's 'Conceptual Self-Detonation', looked up in horror.

In the Ice Crystal Valley, Lin Fan's expression also changed instantly.

He suddenly looked up at the sky.

The sky had changed.

The originally clear firmament was instantly enveloped by an indescribable, deep, nine-colored tribulation cloud.

That was no ordinary tribulation cloud.

Its scope was boundless, from the Shores of the East Sea to the Western Regions Desert, from the Dense Forests of Southern Xinjiang to the Snowy Mountains of Northern Plains.

The entire continent was completely covered by this unprecedented, terrifying tribulation cloud.

Within the clouds, there was no lightning flashing.

Only streaks of nine-colored divine chains, formed by the purest Laws of world destruction, slowly moved.

A cold, emotionless, judgment-like will descended from the depths of the Heavenly Dao Origin.

That will locked onto Lin Fan's body with an unyielding grip.

This time, it was not a test.

Not a tempering.

It was wrath.

It was judgment.

It was the ultimate, inescapable tribulation of death, brought down by this world's Heavenly Dao for Lin Fan's 'self-cancellation' suicidal behavior.

This 'virus' had to be completely eradicated.