Lifespan Exhausted

The Supreme Imperial Lord, who appeared dignified and imposing to outsiders, was carefully adding firewood to the stove, his eyes squinting slightly from the rising smoke.

Seemingly hearing the noise at the courtyard gate, Chen Changqing suddenly stopped, hurriedly threw down the soup ladle, and turned around.

When Chen Changqing saw Chen Fan standing at the door with his clothes slightly wrinkled, Chen Changqing tense face instantly turned into a relieved smile.

He looked Chen Fan up and down, then strode forward, wiping his greasy hands haphazardly on his apron before grabbing Chen Fan's arm.

"You brat, you've been gone for almost half a month, and you haven't even bothered to break a single Communication Jade Talisman."

Chen Changqing muttered a few words, but his eyes carefully examined Chen Fan from head to toe three times to make sure he wasn't missing any limbs before letting out a long sigh of relief.

"You can't just wander around a place like Emperor's Mausoleum! Old Mo said several Great Vehicle demons from the Mahayana realm went outside, and it scared me so much I haven't slept for days."

Chen Fan stood still, letting Chen Changqing pull his arm and shake him.

Having witnessed countless treachery and the floating bones in the Taixuan Imperial Mausoleum, One-Eye the nagging of this cheap old man could completely calm the murderous intent in his heart.

I got lost on the way and was delayed for a few days.

Chen Fan tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a completely innocent smile.

"Lost? You're kidding me."

Chen Changqing glared at him irritably, then pulled him to the stone table and made him sit down. He then turned around and quickly brought over a large, rough pottery bowl.

"Alright, it's good that you're back safe and sound. Hurry up and drink this bowl of soup."

The scalding hot soup was milky white, with several pieces of stewed, tender Hundred-Treasure Spirit Deer Bones at the bottom of the bowl, topped with a handful of Jade Spirit Wild Scallions Chen Fan had eaten since childhood.

Although the ingredients used were ancient spiritual herbs from the Divine Dynasty's treasury, the method of making the soup was still the same as the old recipe from the Azure Cloud Sword Sect's Setting Sun Mountain.

"I stayed up all night, and it's just cooked through. I drank it while it was still hot to warm myself up."

Chen Changqing sat on the opposite side of the stone bench, his hands supporting his chin, watching him with a smile.

Chen Fan held the warm, rough earthenware bowl in both hands and took a big gulp.

The piping hot, warm broth slid down the esophagus into the stomach.

Buzz!

Niwan Palace, the silent golden pages of the "Myriad Realms Red Dust Scripture" moved without wind, emanating pure Buddhist-Daoist Immortal Music.

This pure, selfless paternal love, devoid of any self-interest, transformed into a vast, pure white spiritual spring, continuously flowing into the Life Formation Core of the Miniature Divine Kingdom.

Above the Divine Kingdom's celestial canopy, the desolate sea, which had been filled with malevolent energy due to the devouring of the Taixuan Sacred Emperor, quickly calmed down under the soothing touch of human warmth.

When Yin-Yang are in balance, the world is stable.

At this moment, the Martial Dao True Intent completed its transformation from killing to protection.

Chen Fan squinted, finished the bone broth in his bowl, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Dad, I put in too much salt. It's a bit salty."

"It's good enough to have something to eat, why be picky!"

Chen Changqing laughed and cursed, reaching out to take back the empty bowl.

The Bamboo Groves in the Imperial Palace's Rear Garden turned green and then yellow again, and the rough earthenware pots on the stone tables were replaced dozens of times.

Cultivating immortality knows no time.

For ordinary people, it is the changing of dynasties Canghai the world; for old masters who have secluded themselves for meditation, it is nothing more than a few breaths of meditative absorption.

Three hundred years have passed silently amidst the smoke from firewood and the aroma of meat broth in the Imperial Palace.

In these three hundred years, the banner of the Limitless Divine Dynasty has been planted in every corner of the Cangwu Realm, and Three Thousand Middle Thousand Worlds and One Hundred Thousand Small Thousand Worlds have bowed down to it. The golden dragon of Fortune has been circling in the sky above the Ziwei Emperor Star for three hundred years.

Deep in the Bamboo Grove of the Rear Garden, Chen Fan, who looked to be about sixteen years old, sat cross-legged on a blue stone.

The last three Spirit-Sealing Seal within his body had completely collapsed and vanished a hundred years ago, swept away by the karma and vast Fortune of all people.

The Miniature Divine Kingdom is no longer a state of chaos.

The heavens and earth are clearly divided into pure and impure; the Life Formation Core transforms into a vast ocean, Death Formation Core condenses into a towering divine mountain.

A galaxy hangs in the sky, and Yongzhen is born.

His bones were crystal clear, flowing with the Origin Source blood energy of chaotic gods and demons. His physical body and Divine Soul unknowingly crossed the threshold of the Great Vehicle Ascension Peak and stepped into the mid-stage of the Ninth-Tier True Immortal.

In the Starry Sky Great World, this is a power powerful enough to create a Star System and make Ten Thousand Races tremble.

However, when Chen Fan opened his eyes, there was no joy in his eyes at breaking through to a higher realm; instead, there was a heavy, unyielding gloom.

He stood up and slowly walked to the door of the bamboo house.

The wooden door was half-open.

There were no lights on in the room, and an old man with white hair and beard lay on the bed.

Chen Changqing is getting old.

No matter how many ancient spiritual herbs Chen Fan had found or how many Supreme-Grade Earth Vein Spirit Marrow he had refined in the past, Mortal Body is still Mortal Body.

Chen Changqing's talent was mediocre to begin with. Back then, he relied on Chen Fan's Origin Source True Essence to forcibly elevate himself to the peak of the Deity Transformation, and his Primordial Spirit capacity and physical meridians had already reached their limits.

The lifespan of cultivators is not infinite.

The peak of the Deity Transformation, with a lifespan of eight hundred years, is the supreme iron law of this world.

Chen Changqing is now 810 years old.

The oil has run out and the lamp is extinguished.

The old man on the bed struggled to open his eyes. When he saw Chen Fan approaching, he managed a kind smile on his aged face covered with age spots.

"Fan'er... is back."

Chen Changqing's voice was dry and hoarse, his chest rising and falling weakly.

Chen Fan remained silent.

He strode to the bedside and grasped the old man's withered, dry hand.

Buzz!

Chen Fan's Divine Kingdom within his Dantian roared instantly, and pure white Life Origin flowed continuously from his palm into Chen Changqing's body, attempting to repair the already decaying and deteriorating internal organs and the withered Primordial Spirit.

"Click."

A soft, crisp sound rang out inside Chen Changqing's body.

The old man's face suddenly turned deathly pale, and a mouthful of black, foul-smelling blood spilled from his throat.

The Creation force of Mid-Stage True Immortal was too vast, Chen Changqing's fragile and withered meridians were simply unable to bear it. In fact, they showed signs of shattering the moment they came into contact with it.

A weak body cannot tolerate nourishment.

The end of the universe has come, Heavenly Five Declines in the physical body cannot be reversed by ordinary spiritual energy.

Chen Fan's hand froze in mid-air, and he immediately withdrew his Origin Source power.

He stared intently at the mouthful of filthy blood, his hands clenching unconsciously beneath his sleeves.

Middle-Rank Peak Martial God True Spirit, a being who has fought against Ten Thousand Races Powerhouses, now possessing the cultivation of Ninth-Tier True Immortal, could not even save the life of a mere mortal in his twilight years.

"Cough cough... Silly boy."

Chen Changqing raised his trembling hand and patted Chen Fan's hand in return.

The old man's eyes were cloudy, yet calm and without a trace of resentment.

"Father... has lived enough."

Chen Changqing, panting heavily, looked at Chen Fan's handsome face with cloudy eyes, his expression full of relief and pride.

"Eight hundred years have passed. Back in the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, I was just a pathetic sect leader who worried about a few low-grade spirit stones every day. Who could have imagined that I would become the Supreme Imperial Lord of the Divine Dynasty and enjoy eight hundred years of peace and happiness in this lifetime?"

"When any cultivator in the world sees me, which one doesn't kneel down, kowtow, and call me 'Ancestor'?"