Divine Emperor Demon Emperor

Chapter 536: Chapter 536: A Withered Tree Encounters Spring

Walking through the Desolate Illusion Realm, Lin Yun reached out to touch the surrounding withered trees. The five great illusion realms of the Flawless Array were truly extraordinary. As his palm moved toward a withered tree, he actually made contact, and the sensation was extremely realistic.

The black, withered wood showed no sign of life at a single glance.

While seeking enlightenment in the Flawless Array, Lin Yun had completely lost track of time. Within the Desolate Illusion Realm, he couldn’t sense any life force—there was only a deathly silence.

Half a month had passed since Lin Yun entered the Flawless Array. Three days prior, Lu Bingning and Lan Xi had also emerged from their seclusion.

The two had gone into seclusion right after returning from the Saint’s Relics, so they knew nothing about the great battle in Wind City. However, all the disciples of Flawless Palace now knew that Lu Bingning and Lan Xi were their Eldest Senior Brother’s women, and as a result, they treated the pair with extreme respect.

From what everyone was saying, Lu Bingning and Lan Xi learned about the battle in Wind City. They were deeply worried when they heard that Lin Yun had fought a hundred men alone and ended up gravely injured. But when they found out he was now in the Flawless Array seeking enlightenment on the Flawless Flesh Body, there was nothing they could do but wait for him to emerge.

In Lu Bingning and Lan Xi’s courtyard, after their recent seclusion, the two women looked even more stunning. Lu Bingning appeared more noble and aloofly beautiful, while Lan Xi was more charming and alluring than ever.

”Sister Bingning, do you think Lin Yun will be shocked when he sees us?” Lan Xi asked with a smile, lounging lazily on a bamboo chair in the courtyard.

”He definitely will,” Lu Bingning replied with a smile.

Having obtained the inheritance of the Double Flower Saint, the two had made enormous gains during their seclusion. Their cultivation had soared directly to the Eighth Layer of Primordial Ocean Realm—an almost unbelievable rate of progress.

Of course, Lin Yun knew nothing of the two women emerging from seclusion. He had been in the Desolate Illusion Realm for so long that his life force was slowly draining away. By now, he had become an old man on the verge of death.

Of course, the space and time within the Illusion Realm were not real. Though Lin Yun felt as if he had lived an entire lifetime in the Desolate Illusion Realm, only twenty days had passed in the outside world.

Lin Yun’s back was hunched, his head full of white hair and a matching beard. The wrinkles on his face had long since erased any trace of his youthful vigor.

Not only that, but even his voice had become raspy.

Everything was so real. It was as if Lin Yun had truly spent his entire life in solitude, slowly growing old and slowly preparing to leave the world behind.

”Desolate Illusion Realm... Desolate Illusion Realm...” His body felt ancient. He couldn’t even remember when he’d stopped moving about. It was just too tiring; a few simple steps left him utterly exhausted. ℴ

Leaning against a withered tree, he sat cross-legged and muttered to himself. In that moment, Lin Yun truly understood what it felt like to go from being full of life to having one foot in the grave.

’Little fellow, although this Withered Wood Illusion Realm isn’t real, your life force is draining away at a frightening pace,’ the Array Spirit Elder mused. ’If you can’t comprehend the Third Layer of the Flawless Flesh Body, you’ll actually die of old age in here.’

With no sense of time, all Lin Yun knew was that he was drawing closer and closer to death. He felt like an ordinary person, fully aware of his impending demise but utterly powerless to stop it.

Helplessness, a daze, memories... All sorts of feelings surfaced one after another in Lin Yun’s mind. The short twenty-odd years of his life replayed in his mind like a film, over and over again.

Even sitting cross-legged had become a struggle. Lin Yun leaned weakly against the withered tree, his eyes fluttering shut as if he had truly reached the end of his road.

’Is this what a person’s life is all about?’ Lin Yun wondered. ’To be born, grow old, get sick, and die? For one’s life force to scatter as the aura of death closes in?’

Just as Lin Yun felt he had truly reached the end, a sudden realization struck him.

’A withered tree blooming in spring...’ That was it. Withered wood symbolized desolation, the very antithesis of life. But it was just like a wildfire sweeping across the plains.

After the flames pass, all life on the prairie is extinguished. But because of that very fire, the desolate, scorched land erupts with incomparable vitality the following year.

All of creation is revitalized—an explosion of life born from utter desolation.

”The Desolate Illusion Realm... within desolation, there is actually an abundance of life force...” Lin Yun said, his voice slow and weak, as the realization in his mind grew ever clearer.

An unbelievable scene unfolded. The land and withered trees, once devoid of life, suddenly sprouted flowers and green grass. New branches emerged from the dead wood.

A withered tree blooming in spring. This was it... this was the True Intent of the Flawless Flesh Body’s Third Layer.

Lin Yun was overjoyed. The life force that had nearly dissipated from his body returned in an instant. The dying old man reverted to his normal, youthful self.

This was the Third Layer of the Flawless Flesh Body: there is life even in withered wood. Having grasped its True Intent, the Desolate Illusion Realm transformed completely, becoming lush, green, and bursting with vitality.

Sitting cross-legged on the verdant grass, Lin Yun successfully broke through to the Third Layer of the Flawless Flesh Body. The focus of the Third Layer was not on increasing Defense Power, but on self-healing.

To find life in a Land of Death, to know there is life even in withered wood—by comprehending the Third Layer of the Flawless Flesh Body, Lin Yun’s self-healing ability took another qualitative leap forward.

To put it another way, he had been gravely injured during the battle of Wind City. But with his current abilities, he could probably recover from such wounds in just three days.

The Flawless Flesh Body truly lived up to its name as the strongest Body Refining Technique on the Celestial Spirit Continent. While being Impervious to Blades and Spears was formidable enough, the technique also included a terrifying self-healing capability.

’He actually comprehended it...’ Witnessing Lin Yun grasp the Third Layer of the Flawless Flesh Body, the Array Spirit Elder was astonished. It seemed that no one in the history of Flawless Palace had ever comprehended the Third Layer while still in the Primordial Ocean Realm.

After successfully comprehending the Third Layer of the Flawless Flesh Body, Lin Yun’s cultivation, as if drawn by some invisible force, naturally arrived at the threshold of the Celestial Spirit Realm.

Having successfully comprehended the Third Layer of the Flawless Flesh Body, Lin Yun noticed his cultivation was on the verge of a breakthrough. Not only that, but his War God Technique and Demon Emperor Technique also grew restless, both poised for a breakthrough of their own.

”Since that’s the case, I might as well break through all at once,” Lin Yun chuckled to himself.

He decided to break through the two techniques first. Lin Yun simultaneously circulated the Demon Emperor Technique and the War God Technique, pushing both to their absolute limits within his body. Two completely different auras began to radiate from him.

On one side was a divine, brilliant Golden Light. On the other, a monstrous, malevolent aura flared with a torrent of crimson light. Had anyone else been present to witness such a scene, they would have been utterly shocked; it should have been impossible for two such diametrically opposed auras to coexist within the same person.

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