The Empress Has Fallen

The next day at noon

The bedroom door opened, and Lin Fan emerged from the room, yawning as he went.

Ever since reaching the Immortal Emperor realm, this was the first time in ages that he had slept until noon.

It seemed that as the spiritual power within his body dissipated and the spiritual essence of heaven and earth grew scarce, his bodily functions had gradually begun to resemble those of a mortal.

If that was the case, then how was she doing...?

Lin Fan turned toward the sofa. The bedding and pillow he had placed there the night before remained untouched, while Long Yue still sat cross-legged on the sofa in the same meditative posture, her eyes shut and her body motionless.

She had actually gone without food or water, maintaining that meditation posture from last night until noon!

As expected of the Empress of the Immortal Realm—her perseverance was incredible...

It seemed he had underestimated this woman after all...

Lin Fan gave Long Yue an admiring look. Not wanting to disturb her, he headed straight into the bathroom to wash up.

Just as he wiped his face with a towel, a loud thud suddenly came from the living room, as though something had hit the floor.

Lin Fan set down the towel and poked his head out of the bathroom curiously.

Long Yue, who had been sitting on the sofa moments ago, had fallen headfirst from it onto the floor. Her body even seemed to have gone stiff...

"Hey, hey, hey, are you okay?"

Lin Fan hurried over, crouching beside Long Yue with concern.

"Uh... ngh..."

Dark circles hung beneath Long Yue's eyes, her lips were cracked, and her complexion was so weak that she could barely keep her eyes open. All she could manage were faint groans.

"Doesn't look like you're okay..."

Lin Fan carefully helped Long Yue back onto the sofa, then poured a glass of water and brought it to her lips.

Long Yue held the glass with both hands and greedily gulped it down.

"Slow down, slow down."

"Honestly, I told you not to push yourself."

Lin Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry. He set the empty glass on the table and turned toward the kitchen.

"Wait here. I'll get you something to eat."

He had expected Long Yue to suddenly collapse; it had merely been a matter of time.

She had not eaten or drunk anything, had spent two and a half hours cleaning the room at high intensity, had not slept the entire night, and had even forcibly used immortal arts earlier, draining all the spiritual power from her body. She had already been in a weakened state from spiritual exhaustion. It would have been strange if she had not fainted.

Honestly, the fact that she had lasted this long was already somewhat beyond his expectations.

Long Yue lay weakly on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling with a look of utter hopelessness.

Her Celestial Immortal Embryo could absorb the spiritual essence of heaven and earth to nourish her immortal body, allowing her to forgo food and water and maintain a state of purity. So long as there was even a trace of spiritual essence in heaven and earth, she would not need to eat or drink.

She refused to believe that this place contained not the slightest bit of spiritual power, so she tried using Spirit Absorption Breath techniques to draw in the spiritual essence of heaven and earth.

Yet after meditating for an entire night and trying dozens of Spirit Absorption Breath methods, she had not sensed even the faintest trace of spiritual power!

Unable to absorb the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, her Celestial Immortal Embryo naturally became useless in this world as well.

Just now, her head had grown heavy, and her body had collapsed to the floor against her will.

Long Yue struggled to rise from the sofa and tried to move her feet. The next second, her entire body lost balance and pitched forward.

Seeing this from the kitchen, Lin Fan abandoned what he was doing and rushed forward, steadily catching her in his arms.

"Empress, what's wrong? Why did you get up again?"

"M-My legs... I can't feel my legs..."

Long Yue lay in Lin Fan's arms, looking up at him with tearful eyes. She felt an unprecedented fear well up inside her, and her voice carried a faint sob.

In the past, she had meditated for as little as a day and as long as decades. Never had she encountered anything like losing feeling in her limbs.

Lin Fan: "..."

Seeing Long Yue's pitiful yet frightened appearance, Lin Fan did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Then again, she had remained completely still in a cross-legged posture for over ten hours. It would have been difficult not to lose feeling in her legs...

If she sat any longer, she might even need her legs amputated. Merely losing sensation was already fortunate.

"It's normal not to feel them. You've been sitting for so long that the blood circulation in your legs has been poor, so they've temporarily gone numb. Rest for a while, and you'll be fine."

Lin Fan carried Long Yue back to the sofa, then poured her another glass of water from the table.

"Here, drink some more water."

Long Yue took the cup and gulped down the water once again.

Lin Fan took the empty cup from her hands and asked, "Do you want more?"

Long Yue did not respond. Only soft, steady breathing could be heard.

Lin Fan lowered his head and saw that Long Yue had somehow already leaned against his shoulder and fallen soundly asleep.

This Empress had finally been unable to hold on any longer. He just did not know whether she had passed out from hunger or succumbed to sleepiness...

If she had listened to him earlier and eaten properly and gotten some rest, she would not have tortured herself into such a weak state.

Lin Fan smiled helplessly, picked her up, and carried her back to the bedroom. He gently laid her on the bed and tucked her beneath the covers.

Time flew by. Night gradually blanketed the world outside the window, and the dark bedroom was lit only by the faint glow of the computer screen.

"Mmm..."

On the bed, Long Yue groggily opened her eyes, slowly sat up, and let her long black hair fall messily before her.

For the first time in a long while, she had dreamed—a truly terrifying dream!

In the dream, she and the Demon Supreme had fallen into another world. The terrifying part was that there had not been even a trace of spiritual energy in that world!

As an Immortal Emperor, she had been reduced to an ordinary mortal in an instant, and had nearly starved to death!

It was terrifying!

"Yo, you're awake, Empress~"

As Long Yue sat dazedly on the bed, Lin Fan, seated at the computer desk nearby, blinked at her and greeted her with a smile.

Long Yue turned to look at Lin Fan, her expression blank and confused. Then she looked around the room, and her face gradually turned into one of resigned despair.

Ah, so none of it had been a dream...

This truly was an utterly terrible world...

"What's wrong? You look like you're about to cry. Didn't you sleep well?" Lin Fan asked worriedly.

"It's nothing. This Empress is merely feeling a little despair over this world..."

Long Yue said with a self-mocking, lifeless expression.

Lin Fan froze for a moment, then could not help laughing.

"Ha ha ha! Who would've thought? Who would've thought that I would hear the Empress say something like that."

Long Yue shot Lin Fan an irritated glance. The intense hunger in her abdomen left her without even the strength to bicker with him.

By now, she understood that she could not survive in this world without eating.

If she wanted to return, she first had to make sure she stayed alive.

"I'm so hungry..."

Long Yue rubbed her flat little stomach and looked pitifully toward Lin Fan beside her.

Her peerlessly beautiful face was weak and pale, and paired with her soft, feeble voice, she seemed unbearably delicate and lovable at that moment.

Lin Fan stared blankly for a moment, then smiled helplessly and got up to head for the kitchen again.

"Honestly, wouldn't it have been better if you'd just been this straightforward from the start..."