383: System hibernation, hero's curtain falls.

Inside the Command Hall.

Lin Fan's body was no longer illusory, yet it fell backward heavily.

The blood he spat out, mixed with golden fragments, was the final ember after he had burned the very Foundation of his existence.

"Lin Fan!"

Zhao Linger's shrill scream tore through the frozen air.

She and Fatty Zhang rushed over, scrambling to support his falling body.

To their touch, he was ice-cold.

Zhao Linger tremblingly placed her finger under Lin Fan's nose; the breath was so faint it was almost non-existent, causing her heart to sink to the bottom.

She hurriedly checked his pulse and tried to sense the spiritual energy within him.

There was nothing.

Nothing was left.

His once vast and unfathomable cultivation was now empty, with not a single drop remaining. The Meridians in his body were like a parched riverbed after being scorched by fire, devoid of any life.

He had become a Mortal.

A Mortal even weaker than the most frail of Mortals.

"How... how could this happen..." Fatty Zhang slumped to the ground, the color drained from his chubby face, his lips trembling as he muttered to himself.

He couldn't understand it.

One moment, Lin Fan was a supreme existence who could confront gods and forcibly reverse life and death.

The next, he had become like colored glass that would shatter at a touch.

This was even more despairing than seeing Lin Fan die with his own eyes.

Just then, a faint, pained groan sounded.

"Ugh..."

Li Hanyue, who had been protected in Lin Fan's arms and was lying safely on the ground, fluttered her long eyelashes and slowly opened her eyes.

Her consciousness was still a bit blurred; she felt as if she had just had a very long nightmare. In the dream, there was the pain of a tearing Soul and the slavery of eternal damnation.

But now, everything had vanished.

In its place was an unprecedented sense of peace and tranquility.

She subconsciously raised her hand to touch her forehead.

It was as smooth as it had originally been.

The brand of the shackles that had brought endless pain and humiliation was gone.

Li Hanyue's movements paused, and her chaotic thoughts instantly cleared.

She suddenly turned her head.

At first glance, she saw Lin Fan lying in Zhao Linger's arms, his face bloodless and his breath as thin as a thread.

And the front of his robes, stained red by his own heart's blood.

That piercing red was like a red-hot needle, stabbing deep into the innermost part of Li Hanyue's heart.

She remembered everything.

She remembered her helplessness when she was erased by "Termination."

She remembered Lin Fan's Heaven-Defying gamble that pulled her back from the abyss of "non-existence."

She remembered the Elder's revenge, the brand of eternal slavery, and the torture that tore her Divine Soul.

Most of all, she remembered that final moment when the man burned everything, using his own Soul to remove that shackle for her, his back resolute.

He had saved her.

Time and time again.

The first time, he gambled all his hidden cards.

The second time, he gambled himself.

Li Hanyue's face, usually as cold as frost, could no longer maintain any expression. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Bracing herself against the ground, she struggled, crawling toward Lin Fan step by step.

"Hanyue! You just woke up, don't move!" Zhao Linger cried out.

Li Hanyue was deaf to her words.

In her world, only the man lying on the ground with his eyes closed remained.

She crawled to his side and reached out a trembling hand, wanting to touch his cheek, but stopped in mid-air, fearing that even the slightest bit of pressure would cause him to shatter completely.

Finally, her hand landed softly on the semi-congealed bloodstain on his chest.

Warm liquid slid uncontrollably from her eyes, dripping onto the bloodstain and merging with his blood.

"You..."

"You... you fool..."

Broken words, heavy with the sound of weeping, squeezed out from her throat.

In all her life, she had never shed a tear.

She thought her tears had long since dried up through endless Cultivation and slaughter.

But now, they surged uncontrollably.

She was no longer that high-and-mighty Sword Immortal, no longer that decisive comrade-in-arms.

She was just a woman, brought back by a fool who traded his life for hers, her heart aching so much she could barely breathe.

Li Hanyue leaned down and carefully took Lin Fan's head from Zhao Linger's arms, letting him rest on her lap.

Her movements were as gentle as if she were handling a rare treasure.

She reached out and used her sleeve to wipe away the bloodstains from the corners of Lin Fan's mouth, bit by bit.

Zhao Linger watching this, cried even harder, yet she also felt a sense of unprecedented determination from Li Hanyue's actions.

The warmth of surviving a disaster and the heart-wrenching pity intertwined in this small Command Hall, forming a silent ocean.

Lin Fan had lost all his power.

But he had completely won their hearts.

From now on, it was their turn to protect him.

"Help him... to the lounge first," Li Hanyue said, her voice slightly raspy from crying, yet carrying an unquestionable resolve.

She had quickly accepted reality and begun to think about what to do next.

Lin Fan was now in a Mortal body and had to receive the best care.

"Okay, okay!"

Fatty Zhang wiped his tears and hurriedly moved to help.

However, at that moment...

Woooo—

A piercing, highest-level alarm, loud enough to tear eardrums, resounded through the entire Command Hall without warning!

On the walls surrounding the hall, rows of crimson warning lights flashed frantically, reflecting a blood-red hue onto everyone's faces.

This sudden turn of events made everyone's hearts skip a beat.

"What's going on?!" Fatty Zhang cried out.

Everyone's gaze instinctively turned toward the massive holographic star chart in the center of the Command Hall, which had been on standby.

Buzz!

The star chart was instantly activated.

On a vast dark background representing the Chaos void around the Tomb of the Epoch, one giant red dot after another, representing high-energy units, appeared out of thin air.

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand... dense and endless!

These red dots converged into a fleet formation of unimaginable size, like a giant net blotting out the sky, closing in from all directions toward the coordinates of the Tomb of the Epoch!

At the very front of the fleet formation, a line of cold Common Tongue text composed of law runes slowly emerged.

[Anomaly Elimination Alliance · Third Purification Fleet]

[Target: Filthy Epoch G-774]

[Directive: Complete Purification]

That familiar will belonging to the Elder, filled with endless fury and cruelty, though not directly descending, clearly transmitted its cold killing intent into the depths of everyone's Divine Soul through those icy words.

A total catastrophe.

Had arrived.

Li Hanyue's body froze instantly. Zhao Linger's tears, which had just stopped, burst forth once more. Fatty Zhang's face was filled with pure, absolute despair.

Their most powerful guardian had just burned everything to save one person.

And the true god he had provoked was now at the gates with his world-destroying legion.

Li Hanyue looked down at the unconscious Lin Fan resting on her lap.

Her hand gently brushed over his pale cheek, and finally, she slowly gripped the hilt of her sword.