35: Chapter 35 The Sword of Return to the Void

His eyelids were heavy as mountains; every slight tremor tugged at the tearing agony throughout his body. His vision was blurred; only the rough stone walls of the cave ceiling outlined twisted silhouettes in the dim light. A roar echoed in his ears—the lingering sound of blood rushing through ruptured vessels, the screeching of grinding bones, and, more importantly, the arrogant, domineering, and murderous threats from outside the cave, which cut into his nearly numb consciousness like a blunt knife.

"...Hand over Lin Wan and the treasure... otherwise... I will grind your bones to dust..."

Elder Huo Yan's voice, like a cold poisonous thorn, pierced through the muddled barrier deep within Lin Wan's consciousness.

Elder Huo Yan... pursuit... Spirit Turtle Island... Feng Family... danger...

Fragmented information flooded in like a tidal wave. The shadows of intense pain, weakness, and death instantly became clearer and heavier. He wanted to move, wanted to speak, but found he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger. His Meridians felt as if they had been pierced by countless red-hot iron wires; every attempt to circulate his Spiritual Qi brought heart-wrenching torture. Inside his Dantian, the five elements sword core was dim and lusterless, covered in spiderweb-like cracks; every weak rotation felt as if it could shatter completely at any moment. His Divine Soul was like a cracked mirror; every thought brought a stinging, needle-like pain.

Severely injured, near death.

But, he could not die.

Outside the cave were Feng Yushu and the others—people who had taken him in, helped him, and were now trapped in a desperate situation because of him. Inside the cave, before he lost consciousness, he had risked his life to bring out that piece of "void crystal essence" from the Void Realm vortex; it was the hope for repairing the guixu sword and increasing his strength, as well as the key to exploring the Five Elements Returning to Ruins in the future.

More importantly, he still had too many unfinished matters. His wife and children in the Southern Region, his teachers in the Sect, Mo Xuan's entrustment, the unfinished Dao path... How could he die on this isolated island overseas, die under the coercion of a Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator?

No! Absolutely not!

A sense of unwillingness and anger, originating from the depths of his Soul and stronger than death itself, erupted like a volcano that had been suppressed for ten thousand years! This will was so intense, so pure, that it actually suppressed the physical agony and the weakness of his Divine Soul, forcibly driving his broken body to make the most instinctive reaction—opening his eyes!

Gray and hollow, yet deep within, a point of cold, resolute sword light ignited, as if it would drag everything into the Returning to Ruins.

"Elder Lin! You're awake?!" Feng Yushu, who was closest, was the first to notice. He was both surprised and delighted, hurriedly stepping forward to offer support.

"Don't... come over..." A hoarse, broken, and barely distinguishable breathy sound escaped Lin Wan's throat. He shook his head with difficulty and used all his strength to prop himself up into a sitting position. This simple movement alone made his vision go black, and another mouthful of dark red blood surged up his throat, which he forcibly swallowed.

He could feel that the medicinal power of the life-force spiritual spring and the Medicinal Pill was barely keeping his last breath, repairing some of the most fatal physical wounds. However, the severe damage to his Meridians, Golden Core, and Divine Soul, along with the residual power of spatial annihilation within his body, remained like maggots attached to his bones, constantly threatening his life and limiting any power he could wield.

In his current state, let alone confronting the Mid-stage Golden Core Elder Huo Yan, even moving a finger was incredibly difficult.

However, the threat outside the cave would not give him time.

"Three! Time is up! Feng Yushu, it seems you are determined to resist to the end! Then don't blame this old man for being ruthless! Give me—break!"

Elder Huo Yan's murderous roar, accompanied by a sharp whistle that tore through the air, suddenly rang out!

"Boom—!!!"

The crimson giant sword transformed into a pillar of fire that scorched the heavens, carrying an Aura of destroying everything, and slammed fiercely into the defensive Formation at the cave entrance! The Formation's light barrier shook violently, emitting an unbearable groan; its surface was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks, its light rapidly dimming, teetering on the verge of collapse!

With just one strike, this Second-tier High Grade defensive Formation, which had been hastily set up by two Feng Family Elders and was capable of withstanding short-term attacks from an Early Stage Golden Core cultivator, was on the verge of shattering!

"Pfft—!" The two Elders presiding over the Formation spat out blood simultaneously, their faces turning deathly pale, their Auras wilting. The Formation was connected to their hearts and minds; when the Formation was damaged, they also suffered a backlash.

"We can't stop it! At most two more strikes!" one Elder hissed, his eyes filled with despair.

Feng Yushu's face was ashen. He glanced at Lin Wan, who was barely sitting up and on the verge of death, and a flash of determination crossed his eyes. He knew that today would not end well. Lin Wan was too severely injured to fight again. Only by fighting to the death himself could he perhaps buy a chance for the others to escape.

"Elder Lin, everyone, once the Formation breaks, I will hold them off. You must immediately take Elder Lin and escape through the secret passage in the back mountain! Save as many as you can!" Feng Yushu shouted via sound transmission. A deep blue sword with flowing water-like light appeared in his hand, and he prepared to fight to the death.

"Family Head!"

"Fellow Daoist Feng!"

Everyone cried out in sorrow, yet they knew this was the only choice.

"Escape? Where can you escape to? Today, none of you will leave!" Elder Huo Yan laughed wildly, raising the crimson giant sword in his hand again. Even more intense, even more violent fire Spiritual Qi gathered crazily, "Heaven-Burning—Earth-Splitting Slash!"

This time, he would break the Formation in one blow and blast everyone in the cave, along with the severely injured Lin Wan, into dust!

The terrifying pressure, like the collapse of the heavens, locked firmly onto the cave. The scent of death was thick enough to be suffocating.

Inside the cave, everyone's faces were ash-gray. They could already feel the destructive high temperature penetrating the soon-to-be-broken Formation, scorching their skin.

Just at this critical moment, in the instant when everyone's focus was seized by the impending destructive blow—

"Cough..."

A cough, so slight it could almost be ignored, rang out in the deathly silent cave.

It was Lin Wan.

He did not know when he had placed the gray-white, broken, and unremarkable "guixu sword," which he had been holding tightly, across his knees. His movements were so slow, so difficult, as if the sword weighed ten thousand jun. His fingers were still trembling uncontrollably.

But the moment he gripped the cold sword hilt, the gray, hollow light in his eyes suddenly solidified, transforming into a state of ultimate calm—a calm of all things returning to ruins, of all thoughts silenced.

There was no anger, no fear, not even a desire for life.

There was only a kind of indifference—approaching the Dao, approaching the Law.

"Elder Lin, you..." Feng Yushu sensed the abnormality and urgently wanted to say something.

"Don't speak." Lin Wan interrupted him. His voice was still hoarse, but no longer broken; instead, it carried a strange penetrative power that seemed to pierce the Soul, "Guard your heart and mind, close your eyes, do not look, do not listen, do not think."

As he spoke, his gaze penetrated the soon-to-be-broken Formation light barrier, pierced through the rocks and trees outside the cave, and locked onto Elder Huo Yan, who was hovering in mid-air, grinning as he swung his sword down.

At this very moment, Elder Huo Yan's "Heaven-Burning—Earth-Splitting Slash," which had been brewed to the limit, crashed down! The crimson pillar of fire, like a divine punishment from the creation of the world, tore through the air, burning everything, and struck fiercely at the cave!

The defensive Formation shattered at the sound! It dissipated into specks of light filling the sky.

The terrifying high temperature and destructive Sword Qi, now unobstructed, surged into the cave! Feng Yushu and the others could even feel their hair and clothes about to ignite instantly! Death was within reach!

However, at the final moment before this destruction descended—

Lin Wan moved.

He did not stand up, did not swing the sword, and did not even make any unnecessary movements. He simply used his right hand, which was holding the guixu sword, to lightly flick his index finger against the blade.

"Ding..."

A clear, melodious sound of a sword, as if coming from the ancient primordial era and spanning endless years, suddenly rang out!

This sword chime was not loud, yet it instantly drowned out the roar of the crimson pillar of fire, drowned out Elder Huo Yan's wild laughter, drowned out the rapid heartbeats of everyone in the cave, and even... drowned out all sounds in this world!

Amidst the sword chime, deep within Lin Wan's eyes, which were calm to the point of indifference, that point of sword-shaped starlight suddenly erupted with unprecedented, brilliant radiance! An indescribable, terrifying "Intent" that seemed capable of devouring all light, annihilating all existence, and returning all things to the Chaos of nothingness, like a sleeping demon god fully awakening, erupted from within his body!

"Returning to Ruins."

He softly uttered two words.

There were no vast Spiritual Qi fluctuations, no earth-shattering sword light.

There was only a gray, hair-thin line—a Void Sword Mark that seemed not to exist in the present world, yet seemed omnipresent. It shot out quietly from the tip of the guixu sword, piercing through the Void Realm, ignoring distance, ignoring the astonishingly powerful crimson pillar of fire, and even... ignoring the raging protective true fire on Elder Huo Yan's body and several automatically activated defensive Magic Treasures!

"Chih..."

A sound so slight, yet it made the Divine Soul of anyone who heard it freeze.

The crimson pillar of fire of the "Heaven-Burning—Earth-Splitting Slash," with its monstrous power capable of burning mountains and boiling seas, was like a doodle erased by an invisible eraser the moment this Void Sword Mark swept past. Starting from the tip, it silently annihilated and dissipated inch by inch, turning into the most primitive Spiritual Qi particles and returning to the world. There was no explosion, no shockwave; it just... vanished into thin air.

Immediately following was Elder Huo Yan.

The grin on his face suddenly froze; the arrogant, greedy, and vicious look in his eyes was instantly replaced by a fear that was incomprehensible, unbelievable, and deep in his marrow. He lowered his head, looking at his chest.

There, a gray, hair-thin sword mark, which seemed capable of devouring all life force, had unknowingly been imprinted on his heart. Where the sword mark passed, his massive Fire-attribute Golden Core essence, his formidable physical vitality, and his raging fire of life, as if encountering their natural nemesis, were rapidly... extinguishing, returning to ruins, and turning into nothingness at a speed he could neither understand nor stop.

"Im... possible..."

A rattling sound came from Elder Huo Yan's throat. He wanted to mobilize his Spiritual Qi, wanted to activate his life-saving trump cards, but found that all his power was rapidly dissipating under that sword mark; even his thinking became slow and stagnant. He felt as if he were falling into a cold, dead, eternal dark abyss, where there was nothing—even "existence" itself was being erased.

"Thud."

The crimson giant sword in Elder Huo Yan's hand fell powerlessly, piercing into the soil below. Immediately after, his body, still maintaining a look of terror and disbelief, fell straight down from mid-air like a puppet with cut strings, crashing heavily onto the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

His Aura was completely gone.

His life force was completely severed.

Even his Divine Soul could not escape and was annihilated together within that Void Sword Mark.

One sword, or rather, one light flick of a finger.

A Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, famous for many years, with a fierce reputation—Elder Huo Yan—had fallen!

Deathly silence.

A deathly silence, even more thorough and heart-palpitating than before.

Inside the cave, Feng Yushu and the others had long followed Lin Wan's instructions, keeping their eyes tightly shut and guarding their hearts and minds. But even without looking or listening, that clear sword chime, that terrifying intent of annihilation that descended and vanished in an instant, making their Souls tremble, still left them ice-cold, as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, as if they had walked before the gates of the ghost realm.

Outside the cave, the two Huo Family Elders who had followed Elder Huo Yan were now like two clay statues, frozen in mid-air. The original grins and murderous intent on their faces had long been replaced by boundless fear and bewilderment. They watched helplessly as their own Mid-stage Golden Core Elder unleashed his strongest strike, only to be swept by an unremarkable gray ray of light, and then... he just died? Without even a struggle, without even being able to scream, he just... annihilated?

What kind of method was this?! What kind of Divine Ability was this?! That "sickly weakling" sitting cross-legged in the cave, on the verge of death, as if he could stop breathing at any moment—what on earth... was this monster?!

Boundless cold surged up their spines, instantly rushing to the crowns of their heads. They even forgot to flee, forgot their hatred; in their minds, nothing remained but that grey, sword scar that seemed capable of ending everything, and the terrifying scene of Elder Huo Yan's instantaneous annihilation.

Deep within the cave, atop the stone platform.

Lin Wan, having unleashed this world-shocking, annihilation-bringing Return-to-Ruins sword strike, felt as if all support had been drained from him the moment the sword scar was released. His forcibly maintained, indifferent and calm expression instantly collapsed, turning ashen. He violently spat out a large mouthful of dark red blood mixed with visceral fragments and ash energy, his body trembling violently like a candle in the wind, and he fell backward.

The guixu sword in his hand clattered to the ground with a "clang," its light completely dimmed, appearing even more dilapidated than before, as if it had exhausted its last shred of spirituality.

He was already critically injured and dying. Forcibly activating this sword strike, which contained a trace of the true "Five Elements Returning to Ruins" Sword Intent, had almost exhausted his last bit of Origin vitality and completely triggered the violent spatial annihilation power within his body. At this moment, his internal condition was indescribably terrible: his Meridians were completely destroyed, the cracks in his Golden Core had widened, pushing it to the brink of shattering, and his Divine Soul was dim, covered in cracks, as if it could completely dissipate at any moment.

If not for the critical moment when the void crystal essence in his bosom, seemingly stimulated by the Return-to-Ruins Sword Intent and this life-or-death crisis, suddenly erupted with a more intense silver light, pouring out a stream of pure, gentle spatial Origin power to forcibly protect his heart meridian and the core of his Divine Soul, he would likely have already perished alongside Elder Huo Yan.

But even so, he had reached the true state of being at the end of his rope. His consciousness, like a candle in the wind, rapidly dimmed, sinking once again into boundless darkness and cold. This time, it was deeper and more powerless than before.

In a daze, he seemed to hear the exclamations of Feng Yushu and the others, the sound of the two Huo Family Elders fleeing in terror, and the wind outside the cave that had returned with a deathly stillness...

Then, he knew nothing more.

He did not know how much time had passed.

It felt like merely an instant, yet also as long as eternity.

Lin Wan's consciousness slowly surfaced within the boundless darkness and cold. He did not "wake" immediately, but instead, in a strange state akin to internal vision, "watched" inside his own body.

The dove-egg-sized void crystal essence was currently floating quietly above his nearly shattered Dantian, emitting a gentle yet continuous silver halo. Within the halo, countless tiny, profound spatial runes flickered in life and death, continuously releasing wisps of pure, gentle, yet supreme spatial Dao-rhyme Origin power, which slowly merged into his broken body.

This spatial Origin power did not, like the vitality spiritual spring, forcibly repair or connect his severed Meridians and shattered flesh and bones. Instead, it was "reshaping" them in a more profound and fundamental way.

Those cells and tissues destroyed by the power of spatial annihilation and the Return-to-Ruins sword strike did not return to their original state under the infiltration of this spatial Origin power. Instead, like seeds sprouting, they slowly and tenaciously regrew and combined according to a brand-new structure that was closer to the essence of the "Void Realm" and "Five Elements Returning to Ruins."

The newly born Meridians were no longer mere channels for transporting spiritual power, but resembled tiny silver veins containing miniature spatial ripples; they were tougher and possessed a natural affinity for and ability to bear spatial power. The newly born flesh and bones shimmered with a faint silver-grey luster, their density far exceeding what it was before, faintly emitting weak spatial fluctuations. Even the cracked, dim five elements sword core, under the infiltration of the spatial Origin power, began to slowly heal its surface cracks, and the color of the core energy seemed to take on a faint, chaotic silver-grey.

This was not a simple recovery from injury; it was more like a passive, slow "evolution" or "adaptation" of his life level toward some higher form.

Was the Origin power of the void crystal essence transforming his body, making it better able to adapt to and contain the Return-to-Ruins Sword Intent and the power of the Void Realm? Or was it because his body, on the brink of collapse from the forced execution of the Return-to-Ruins sword strike, had instinctively absorbed the power of the void crystal essence in a desperate bid for survival?

Perhaps, it was both.

But regardless, for him, this was an unimaginable Opportunity and an unpredictable transformation. He could feel that his perception of "space" and his understanding of "Return-to-Ruins" were improving at an astonishing speed. Although his body remained extremely weak, those fatal injuries seemed to have been forcibly "glued" and "stabilized" by this new, strange structure. They were no longer deteriorating and were even slowly—extremely slowly—improving.

However, the price of this "improvement" seemed to be that his entire being, from Physical Body to Soul, was shifting toward something more "inhuman" and closer to the "Void Realm" and "Five Elements Returning to Ruins." His greyish-white hair seemed even more devoid of luster, even faintly revealing a hint of silver-grey. Occasionally, subtle silver patterns could be seen flashing across the veins beneath his skin.

A blessing? A curse? Lin Wan did not know. But he knew he had survived. Moreover, it seemed that through misfortune he had found a blessing, embarking on an unprecedented, strange path that not even the "Great Five Elements True Scripture" had recorded—a path that fused "Five Elements Returning to Ruins" with "void crystal essence" Origin power.

He attempted, with his extremely weak Divine Sense, to communicate with and guide that stream of spatial Origin power. At first, there was no reaction; the power seemed to have a will of its own, operating according to some profound trajectory. But when he immersed his mind into the guixu sword and touched it with that lingering, faint Return-to-Ruins Sword Intent, the spatial Origin power actually produced a slight resonance, and its rate of circulation seemed to quicken by a fraction.

"As expected, the Return-to-Ruins Sword Intent is the catalyst, the key." Lin Wan realized in his heart. This void crystal essence likely had a deep connection with the Five Elements Sect's "Returning to Ruins" Dao. Only because he cultivated the "Five Elements Guixu Sword Scripture" and possessed the guixu sword could he trigger, absorb, and refine its Origin power. If it were anyone else, even if they obtained the void crystal essence, they would likely only be able to use it as an ordinary spatial material, or perhaps even be backlashed by its violent spatial power.

Time slipped away quietly amidst this slow and strange "reshaping."

When Lin Wan truly regained his perception of the outside world and struggled to open his eyes, the first thing that came into view was Feng Yushu's face, filled with exhaustion and worry, yet also carrying an expression of unbelievable surprise.

"Elder Lin! You... you are finally awake!" Feng Yushu's voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot, clearly having kept watch for a long time.

Lin Wan rolled his eyes, discovering that he was still lying on the stone platform deep within the cave, with soft animal skins underneath him and clean clothes covering his body. The light inside the cave was dim, with only a few night-luminescent pearls emitting a soft glow. The air was filled with the fresh scent of the vitality spiritual spring and a faint medicinal aroma. At the cave entrance, a Formation light barrier flowed, isolating the inside from the outside.

"How... how long has it been?" Lin Wan asked. His voice was still hoarse but much clearer than before, carrying a strange quality that seemed able to pierce through the human heart.

"It has been... seven days." Feng Yushu hurriedly helped him into a half-sitting position and brought over the warm spiritual spring water that had been prepared long ago, carefully feeding it to him. "Elder Lin, how do you feel? After you fell into a coma that day, your Aura was once so weak it almost ceased; we tried every method, but we couldn't wake you. Later, that silver crystal in your bosom suddenly shone, and then your Aura gradually stabilized, though you remained in a coma. Until today..."

"Seven days..." Lin Wan silently sensed the condition within his body. His Meridians had reconnected for the most part in the form of new, silver veins; although still fragile, they could now slowly circulate a trace of weak spiritual power. The cracks in the five elements sword core had healed by a small portion, and although still dim, the Five Elements spiritual light at the core had been rekindled, slowly rotating and autonomously absorbing the Spiritual Qi mixed with spatial power from the surroundings. The cracks in his Divine Soul were also wrapped and nourished by the silver halo; although still weak, there was no longer any danger of it collapsing.

His physical strength seemed to have recovered by one or two tenths. Although still weak, he was no longer in the near-death state he had been in before.

More importantly, his perception of the surrounding space had become incomparably clear. He could even "see" those wandering, tiny spatial energy particles in the air and "feel" the subtle spatial fluctuations on the Formation light barrier at the cave entrance. With a thought, a wisp of weak Divine Sense extended, actually able to easily penetrate the Formation, stretching out for hundreds of zhang, feeding back the situation of the mountain forest outside the cave in minute detail.

This... was it a qualitative change in Divine Sense? Or an improvement in spatial perception?

"Those two from the Huo Family... did they flee?" Lin Wan retracted his Divine Sense and asked.

"Yes. After Elder Huo Yan was... after he was beheaded by your sword that day, those two Huo Family Elders were so terrified that their Souls flew away and spirits scattered, fleeing in a panic. We didn't dare to pursue. Later, we cleaned up the scene, collected Elder Huo Yan's Storage Pouch and that Red Flame Sword, and disposed of the bodies cleanly. During these days, no one else has come to harass us." As Feng Yushu spoke, shock and awe still remained in his eyes. He took out several Storage Pouches and handed them to Lin Wan. "These are the Storage Pouches of Elder Huo Yan and his followers, as well as that Red Flame Sword. They rightfully belong to the Elder."

Lin Wan did not decline; he took them and put them away. He truly needed resources now. Especially since Elder Huo Yan, as a Mid-stage Golden Core, should have had considerable wealth.

"Elder Huo Yan is dead, and the Huo Family likely will not let this rest. But within the Secret Realm, they should not dare to come again for a short time. We need to leave this place as soon as possible to avoid complications," Lin Wan said.

"The Elder's words are very true. But your injuries..." Feng Yushu said with concern.

"It is no matter; I am able to move. Prepare yourself; we shall leave Spirit Turtle Island immediately and head toward the depths of the Secret Realm. I need to... find a place that is safer, more abundant in Spiritual Qi, and especially more active in spatial power, to go into seclusion for a period of time." Lin Wan looked toward the cave entrance, and deep within his grey, dim eyes, that sword-shaped starlight flickered slightly.

Having survived this ordeal, his injuries were not yet healed, but his gains were tremendous. Not only had he obtained the void crystal essence and initially repaired and reshaped his body, but he also had an unprecedented realization regarding the Fusion of "Five Elements Returning to Ruins" and the "Void Realm." He needed time to digest these gains, truly restore his strength, and perhaps... go even further.

And the depths of this crisis-ridden yet Opportunity-filled Tianhai Secret Realm were perhaps the best place for him to go into seclusion and Breakthrough.

Seeing that although Lin Wan's Aura was weak, his eyes had returned to clarity and firmness, Feng Yushu felt slightly relieved and hurriedly nodded: "Good! I will go and prepare immediately!"

A moment later, the group of ten quietly left the cave where they had taken shelter for seven days, disappearing into the vast mountain forests outside Spirit Turtle Island, and headed quietly toward the depths of the Secret Realm, in the direction where spatial fluctuations were more intense and danger and Opportunity coexisted.

And behind them, Spirit Turtle Island remained quiet. Only that vitality spiritual spring flowed gurglingly, as if silently recounting that a clash had once occurred here—a clash that was brief, yet sufficient to shake the fates of many.