45: Lin Wei, who is very protective of her children

After Chen Jun received a portion of Venerable Yuehua's collection, his body underwent a miraculous transformation in the eyes of outsiders.

The rare treasures in Venerable Yuehua's Secret Treasure Hall, valuable enough to cause Stellar Level cultivators to fight over, were unsparingly turned into daily medicinal tonic soups by Lin Wei.

In the morning, it was Tremella Soup infused with fragments of 'Stellar Tears'; at noon, it was exotic beast bone soup slow-cooked for six hours with 'Earth Vein Ganoderma'; and in the evening, it was a calming tea brewed with tender leaves of 'Nine-Reincarnation Soul-Returning Grass'.

She meticulously fed these Universe rare treasures to Chen Jun, as if nurturing the most precious seedling.

The effects were astonishing.

In just a few days, Chen Jun's pale complexion gradually faded, replaced by a healthy rosiness; his dry, wrinkled skin became plump and elastic again; his formerly sparse, graying hair became much thicker and darker; and even his hunched back straightened.

He walked with steady, powerful steps, his eyes sparkling with vigor, looking as if he had returned to his prime in his early forties. He could even easily run a few laps in the courtyard and play with the lively Star Language without feeling tired.

This 'rejuvenation' naturally fell into the neighbors' eyes.

One warm, sunny afternoon, Chen Jun was energetically holding a toy that floated automatically and shimmered with soft starlight, making Chen Xingyu in the stroller giggle.

Lin Wei watched from the side, a satisfied and gentle smile on her face, holding a bowl of freshly brewed medicinal tonic, emitting a strange, fragrant aroma.

Old Man Zhang from the next yard was bent over, tending to his precious, glowing, humming exotic flowers and plants.

He glanced over here, letting out an almost inaudible snort from his nose, as if talking to himself, yet also as if speaking to Chen Jun on this side of the fence:

"Tsk, 'Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Marrow Milk' for cleansing meridians and purifying the marrow, 'Void Flower' powder for strengthening the Origin and nurturing the vital Qi... Such a waste, a terrible waste! These things, given to any War General Rank youngster, would be enough to propel them straight to War God Level! To use them on a Mortal body, heh..."

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly drifted over the fence.

Chen Jun's smile stiffened slightly, then returned to normal, though his movements in teasing his daughter slowed a bit.

On the other side, Old Madam Wang, the 'retired cultural soldier,' was slowly performing a set of health-preserving boxing, her movements flowing like water, gently circulating the surrounding energy.

She finished her movements and exhaled, speaking calmly:

"Little Chen looks thirty or forty years younger and is full of vigor. But I've lived for so long, I see clearly. Under the rules of the Universe, the iron law of Mortal bodies dictates a Lifespan limit of 150 years. No matter how vast the energy of these Heaven And Earth Treasures, they cannot break through the inherent 150-year life shackles of Mortals."

Her gaze swept over Chen Jun's rosy face, and she gently shook her head:

"No matter how potent the medicine, it's just brushing new paint on decaying wood. What's empty inside remains empty. Ninety-nine percent of the energy poured in accumulates and dissipates, utterly wasted. If these treasures were used for Cultivation, how many pillars of the Federation could they create? What a pity, truly a pity, I really don't know who is giving you these Heaven And Earth Treasures to waste!"

Her words carried a hint of coldness.

Even the 'artist' and 'postdoctoral fellow' couple diagonally opposite occasionally cast their gazes over.

The 'artist' shook his head and sighed, as if lamenting that the treasures were not used for 'true' artistic creation; the 'postdoctoral fellow' pushed up his glasses, his eyes gleaming with calculation, and whispered to his companion:

"According to the law of conservation of energy and the theory of increasing entropy of life, the attrition of telomeres in Mortal cells is an irreversible process. These external high-energy interventions have an efficiency of less than 0.007%, which, from the perspective of optimal resource allocation, is a serious negative-yield investment."

These words, whether direct or subtle, regretful or critical, pricked at Chen Jun and Lin Wei's nerves like tiny needles.

Chen Jun knew better than anyone that what the neighbors said was cold, hard fact.

On the System interface, the number 【Remaining Lifespan: 46 years】 had never wavered in the slightest due to these tonics.

Most of the energy from those rare treasures accumulated within him, slowly dissipating, unable to truly replenish the deficit of his life Origin. It merely maintained a temporarily robust and vigorous shell in vain.

His upper limit had long been locked.

Chen Jun remained silent, the rosiness on his face seeming to dim a bit.

Lin Wei, however, suddenly looked up.

She first carefully drew the happily playing Little Star Language closer into her arms, as if to shield her from those cold remarks.

Then, she turned around, facing the direction beyond the fence. The usual humility and caution she displayed towards these 'important' neighbors were gone, replaced by a stubborn determination, like a mother beast protecting her young.

Her gaze swept over Old Man Zhang and Old Madam Wang in turn. Her voice was clear, even trembling with emotion, yet exceptionally powerful:

"Old Man Zhang, Aunt Wang, and all Seniors... I know, in your eyes, those things are very precious, extremely precious. Using them on Brother Jun is a waste, a terrible waste, a negative return!"

She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slightly, her eyes blazing as if on fire:

"The principles you speak of, the limits of a Mortal body, I understand them all! But!"

Her voice suddenly rose, carrying a kind of almost unreasonable sincerity:

"But in my Lin Wei's eyes, even if all the treasures in the entire Universe were piled together, even if Planetary Level Breakthroughs, peerless research, or eternal legacies were added, they wouldn't compare to Brother Jun being able to spend one more day better with me, one more day better with our children!"

"If he has one more dark hair, one less wrinkle, a slightly better complexion, or walks a bit lighter, to me, it's worth it! It's worth more than anything! A thousand times! Ten thousand times!"

"Treasures, no matter how expensive, can be found again, cultivated again! But my Brother Jun, he is unique! If, due to his physical condition, he accidentally gets hurt, or accidentally disappears, then everything is gone! My sky would collapse! The children would lose their father!"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, rippling through the hearts of the neighbors.

Old Man Zhang's hands, tending to his flowers, stopped. Old Madam Wang's boxing movements paused slightly, and even the couple in the distance grew quiet.

The 'postdoctoral fellow's' hand, pushing his glasses, froze in mid-air.

Lin Wei's eyes welled with tears, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. She looked at these unfathomable neighbors, her tone almost pleading, yet with an undeniable insistence:

"So, please, stop talking about waste... To me, as long as it can make him feel a little better, even if it's just looking a little younger, a little stronger, a little happier, then it's worth it! That's the best use for those things! In my heart, that's a positive return! A huge positive return!"

After she finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent.

Only Little Star Language made incomprehensible babbling sounds, her small hand clutching her mother's tear-dampened clothes.

Old Man Zhang was silent for a long while, finally just shaking his head and muttering softly:

"...Foolish child."

He no longer looked over, focusing on digging his soil, though his movements seemed gentler than before.

Old Madam Wang slowly exhaled, looking at Lin Wei with complex eyes. There was less criticism and more an ineffableFeeling in her gaze. She resumed her boxing, but her Aura was much softer, and a subtle wisp of the circulating energy quietly brushed Chen Jun's body, bringing an almost imperceptible soothing sensation.

The 'artist' gently put an arm around the 'postdoctoral fellow's' shoulder. The 'postdoctoral fellow' finally sighed softly and said no more.

Chen Jun reached out and tightly grasped Lin Wei's slightly trembling hand.

Her palm was sweaty and cold from agitation.

He said nothing, just held on tightly. Lin Wei gripped his hand back just as fiercely, as if clinging to a lifeline.

The neighbors no longer spoke.

But the silent atmosphere had changed; it was a tacit, perhaps slightly respectful, concession.

They still rationally believed it was a huge waste, but they began to respect and understand the heavy, stubborn, almost primal emotion behind this 'waste'... That night, all was silent.

Chen Jun leaned against the headboard. Although his complexion was rosy and his energy seemed abundant, the lingering fatigue in the depths of his eyes was thicker than ever.

He watched Lin Wei, who had just coaxed Little Star Language to sleep and was now tiptoeing over.

Under the lamplight, her appearance was even more beautiful due to Cultivation and ample resources. Her skin was radiant, her figure lithe, and a vibrant vitality, characteristic of a War God Level powerhouse, flowed around her.

This formed a stark and cruel contrast with his own body, which was maintained by external means, its interior long hollowed out and destined to be short-lived.

A thought, like a vine growing in the darkness, once again tightlyEntanglement his heart.

He reached out and grabbed Lin Wei's wrist, the force a little strong.

Lin Wei looked up in surprise, meeting his unusually bright, almost frantic eyes.

"Weiwei,"

His voice was hoarse from urgency,

"Let's have another child, a child of ours!"

Lin Wei's face instantly went pale. She abruptly tried to pull her hand back, her voice filled with terror and disbelief:

"No! Brother Jun, are you crazy?! No! Absolutely not!"

She looked at his unusually dark hair, at the unnatural light in his eyes, and her heart felt as if it was being squeezed by a cold hand, aching so much she could barely breathe:

"Don't you know what's wrong with your body? It's all fake! It's propped up by medicine! How can your Lifespan withstand another ten years being deducted? I forbid it! Don't even think about it!"

"Weiwei, listen to me!"

Chen Jun urgently interrupted her, grabbing her shoulders forcefully, his eyes burning:

"If we don't have a child now, we'll never have the chance to have a child that belongs only to us! Venerable Yuehua..."

He was about to explain that Venerable Yuehua was pregnant with an Innate Sun Body, and the actions the Federation might take once Venerable Yuehua sensed she was carrying an Innate Sun Body, when his wife directly interrupted him.

"Then don't!"

Lin Wei almost roared, tears streaming down her face, her whole body trembling,

"I don't want a child! I only want you! I only want you to live well! To be with me! To watch Xi'er, Yaoer, Lu Lu, and Star Language grow up! That's enough! More than enough! I don't want to carry any more children! Not even if that child is an Innate Star Body!"

She threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly, as if he would disappear if she let go. Her voice was choked with sobs, full of fear:

"Don't scare me anymore... Brother Jun, I can't take it... I really can't bear to see you age dozens of years in an instant again... That's more painful than killing me... Please, don't have such thoughts again..."

Chen Jun held his trembling wife in his arms, feeling her fear. His anxious heart, as if doused with a basin of ice water, instantly cooled by more than half.

He understood.

He wasn't asking for a child; he was using a blunt knife to cut his wife's already scarred heart.

He closed his eyes, forcibly pushing the thought of having a child back into his heart. When he opened them again, only tenderness and deep guilt remained.

He gently patted Lin Wei's back, his voice becoming low and hoarse, full of soothing strength:

"Okay, okay... No more, I was talking nonsense... I scared you... Don't cry, don't be afraid, I won't... We'll just live our lives well, watching my precious wife get younger and more beautiful, watching our children grow up and succeed..."

He comforted her, and he knew it was just comfort.

That was an Innate Sun Body!

On the day its Aptitude was detected, could Leader Yun Xi truly grant him even the most basic human rights?

Under his repeated reassurances, Lin Wei's emotions gradually calmed down, but she still clutched his clothes tightly, as if afraid he would go back on his word.

That night, she snuggled beside him, sleeping very restlessly, waking up occasionally to confirm he was still there before falling back into an uneasy sleep.

Chen Jun listened to his wife's even yet tense breathing, gazing at the soft starlight projected onto the ceiling, his eyes clear and wide awake.

Give up?

He hadn't truly given up.

He had merely temporarily buried the thought.

He comforted Lin Wei simply because her reaction was too strong.

So, it was just comfort... But deep down, he knew better than anyone that once the astonishing Aptitude of Venerable Yuehua's child was detected, the future he had predicted, one of completely losing his autonomy, would inevitably arrive!

...