From Fanwu to Xinghai

Chapter 43 The Mark Shatters

Lin Chen took a deep breath, raised his hand, and activated the last mark between his eyebrows.

In an instant!

Purple light burst forth from between his brows.

The light did not spread outwards, but instead condensed into a thin beam that shot straight towards the crack between Shen Qingluan's eyebrows.

boom!

The dimensional gaps oscillated violently.

The surging purple light, like an enraged beast, roared silently as it pressed towards Lin Chen.

Lin Chen felt an immense pressure coming from all directions, as if it were going to crush him into dust.

But he did not back down.

His consciousness followed the purple beam of light and rushed into the crack.

The interior of the dimensional rift was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

There is no up, down, left, or right here, no flow of time, and not even a distinction between light and dark.

Only endless purple light surged, like some living creature breathing.

Lin Chen's consciousness became incredibly heavy here.

He felt as if he were soaking in a viscous liquid, and every movement required tremendous effort.

And that repulsive force from the dimensional rift was pushing his consciousness outward little by little.

"Too weak." Su Wan's voice came from all directions. "Your time imprint has not been fully awakened. Here, your power is simply not enough."

Lin Chen gritted his teeth.

She's right.

His time manipulation abilities are not yet fully developed. Compared to higher-dimensional beings like those in the dimensional rift, he is like a baby who has just learned to walk.

But he will not give up.

He closed his eyes, abandoning the idea of ​​using force to resist.

Since we can't break through head-on, let's try another approach.

He remembered that sentence in his father's manuscript.

"Time is not a straight line, but a net."

He is not trying to fight against time.

He wants to merge with time.

Lin Chen emptied his mind, no longer trying to push away the repulsive force with willpower, but instead letting his consciousness completely merge into the fluctuations of the river of time.

He was no longer a resister.

He was an observer.

He followed the flow of time, gradually approaching Shen Qingluan.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

To the outside world, perhaps only a few breaths had passed.

But for Lin Chen, those few breaths felt like an eternity.

He finally saw Shen Qingluan.

She sat cross-legged in the void, her body becoming almost transparent.

Those purple threads were wrapping around her from all directions, slowly drawing away her soul.

Her face was terribly pale, and there was a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.

But her eyes were still open.

There was something in those eyes that Lin Chen had never seen before.

It's not fear.

It's not despair.

It is calm.

A kind of calm that comes from seeing through life and death, from understanding fate.

"You've come." Her lips moved, but her voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.

"I've come to pick you up." Lin Chen's consciousness drew near to her, reaching out an invisible hand to grasp her equally invisible hand.

"Come pick me up?" Shen Qingluan's lips curled up slightly, but there was a hint of bitterness in her smile. "You can't do it. The repulsion here is too strong; your strength alone is simply not enough."

"I know," Lin Chen said.

"So go back," Shen Qingluan said. "Don't waste your time imprint on me. You have more important things to do. Fifty years to ascend to a higher dimension, you can't fall here."

"I know," Lin Chen said again.

"Then why don't you!"

"I told you, I came to pick you up."

Lin Chen's voice was soft, but every word carried an unwavering determination:

"You've done so much for me. I can't just do nothing."

Shen Qingluan was stunned.

She looked at Lin Chen, her expression complex and difficult to decipher.

There was surprise, emotion, and a hint of sadness she tried hard to hide in her voice.

"You child..." Her voice was a little hoarse, "just like your father, stubborn to the extreme."

"I know."

Shen Qingluan remained silent for a while.

Then she laughed.

The smile no longer held bitterness, but only a sense of relief and ease.

"Fine," she said. "Let's give it a try then."

She reached out and shook hands with Lin Chen.

In an instant!

The two people's consciousnesses resonated with each other.

Lin Chen felt a warm power coming from Shen Qingluan's palm, and that power and his time imprint formed a strange fusion.

Purple and golden light intertwined, forming a dazzling pillar of light.

The beam of light crashed into the edge of the dimensional rift, producing a deafening roar.

The dimensional gaps were trembling.

The surging purple light seemed to be repelled by some force and began to retreat.

The silk threads wrapped around Shen Qingluan's body were also breaking little by little.

"It works!" Lin Chen was overjoyed.

But the next second!

A sharp pain came from between his eyebrows.

That final mark is burning.

The burning of the marks of time was more painful than he had imagined.

That wasn't ordinary pain.

That was the pain of a soul being burned.

His consciousness felt as if it had been thrown into a furnace, every inch of it being scorched by the high temperature.

The mark between his eyebrows was crumbling little by little.

"Almost...almost there..." He gritted his teeth, desperately trying to stay conscious.

Most of the purple silk threads had broken off.

Shen Qingluan's body is changing from transparent to solid.

She is free.

But Lin Chen's consciousness was already so blurred that it was about to dissipate.

He couldn't see anything around him; he could only feel a tremendous force pushing him away.

Push away from the dimensional gap.

Push back to the real world.

The last glimmer of purple light disappeared from between his brows.

That final mark suddenly shattered.

The real world.

The seventh floor of the Demon Suppression Tower.

Lin Chen's body suddenly fell backward.

Xiao Yan reacted quickly and caught him.

"Lin Chen! Lin Chen!"

Xiao Yan's voice seemed to come from a very far place.

Lin Chen barely opened his eyes, and the first person he saw was Shen Qingluan.

She's awake.

She sat up from the stone bed, her face pale, but her eyes clear.

There was a tenderness in those eyes that he had never seen before.

"You child..." Her voice was soft, tinged with reproach, "I clearly told you not to waste the mark, why wouldn't you listen?"

Lin Chen wanted to laugh, but his lips only twitched slightly.

"You are my... elder..." his voice trailed off, "How can I... watch you..."

Before he could finish speaking, his consciousness went dark.

I don't know how much time passed.

Lin Chen opened his eyes again.

He lay on a soft bed, with a wooden ceiling above him and a faint scent of sandalwood wafting through the air.

The sunlight streaming in through the window told him that it was already the next day.

"You're awake."

A voice came from beside the bed.

He turned his head and saw Shen Qingluan sitting on a chair by the bed, holding a bowl of medicine in her hand.

Her complexion was a little better than yesterday, but she was still pale.

"I..." Lin Chen opened his mouth, wanting to ask something.

"Don't talk, drink your medicine first." Shen Qingluan handed him the bowl.

Lin Chen took the bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

The medicine was very bitter, but after drinking it, a warm feeling flowed through his body, making him feel much better.

"You can speak now," Shen Qingluan said calmly. "What do you want to ask?"

"My mark..." Lin Chen subconsciously raised his hand to touch his brow.

It was completely empty.

The mark that had been with him for two years disappeared.

"It shattered," Shen Qingluan said. "You used your last strength to break free of the dimensional rift and pull my consciousness back. The price was your time imprint—it has burned away completely."

Lin Chen remained silent for a while.

He already knew this outcome.

But when I actually faced it, I still felt a slight, indescribable sense of loss.

That was his greatest asset.

It is the foundation upon which he stands in this world.

It's gone now.

"How long will it take to recover?" he asked.

"Three to five years," Shen Qingluan said. "Su Wan told me that the restoration of the Time Imprint requires your own growth as nourishment. The higher your cultivation level, the faster you will recover. But at least three years is inevitable."

Three years.

Lin Chen silently recited the number in his mind.

A three-year vacuum period.

During these three years, he will become an ordinary person, with no time-related abilities available to him.

Those menacing enemies will not give him three years to catch his breath.

Zhao Yuanzhen.

Elder of the Bai family.

The forbidden land protects one lineage.

There are also the three thousand soldiers of Yanhuang Pass.

and also……

Lin Yuan.

He raised his head and looked at Shen Qingluan:

"Where's Uncle Chen? Has he come back?"

Shen Qingluan's eyes flickered slightly.

"He's back," she said, "but..."

Her voice paused:

"His condition is not good."

Lin Chen's heart sank.

"What's wrong?"

"He fought against the descendant of the Forbidden Land Guardian lineage outside the Demon Suppression Tower," Shen Qingluan said. "In that battle, he used up too much of his lifespan. Although he didn't die, his lifespan is almost gone."

"What?!"

Lin Chen suddenly sat up, which aggravated his injuries and caused him to cough.

"Don't get agitated." Shen Qingluan pressed his shoulder. "He's not in immediate danger, but his lifespan has been severely depleted. If we can't find a spiritual medicine to replenish his lifespan, he can only live for a maximum of three more years."

Three years.

Another three years have passed.

Lin Chen felt a wave of powerlessness.

He lost the mark of time.

Uncle Chen only has three years left to live.

It will take him three years to recover.

It all seemed to be arranged by some kind of fate.

"Three years..." he murmured, "Why three years again?"

Shen Qingluan looked at him, a complex expression flashing in her eyes.

"Because this is the price," she said. "Everything comes at a price. If you want to save me, you have to pay with your mark. If Chen Xuanfeng and I want to save Su Wan, we have to pay with our lifespans. That's how the laws of time work—fair, yet cruel."

Lin Chen fell silent.

He knew she was right.

But even knowing it, I still find it hard to accept.

Shen Qingluan stood up, walked to the window, and turned her back to him.

"But there's one thing I must tell you."

Her voice suddenly became low:

"The fact that you've lost your time imprint can no longer be hidden."

Lin Chen's pupils suddenly contracted.

"You mean!"

"The Demon Suppression Tower caused such a commotion last night, the sect couldn't possibly be unaware," Shen Qingluan said. "Moreover, the people guarding the forbidden area have been monitoring you. They must have already noticed that your mark has shattered."

She turned around and looked at Lin Chen:

"Three years. You have three years without any time or ability available. And during these three years, all the enemies will take advantage of the situation."

"I've already received word from Zhao Yuanzhen. He's already contacting the Bai family and other forces, preparing to take action against you."

"And the Xiao family too. Xiao Yan's betrayal of the sect has angered the Xiao family's higher-ups. They won't let this opportunity pass them by."

"Even the royal family might get involved. With the 50-year countdown to dimensional ascension underway, everyone wants a piece of the pie before it happens."

Her words were like a bucket of cold water, chilling Lin Chen to the bone.

He had just thought he had saved Shen Qingluan and done a good deed.

But reality told him that this was just the calm before the storm.

The real test is yet to come.

"Are you scared?" Shen Qingluan suddenly asked.

Lin Chen was stunned for a moment.

Afraid?

He asked himself.

Having lost the mark of time, they now face Zhao Yuanzhen, the Bai family, the Xiao family, the lineage guarding the forbidden area, and possibly even the royal family...

Does he have the right to be fearless?

But what's the use of being afraid?

Can fear change reality?

Can fear restore the marks of time?

No.

Since we can't, we can only face it.

"I'm not afraid," he said.

Shen Qingluan looked at him, a hint of relief flashing in her eyes.

"Why aren't you afraid?"

"Because I am not alone."

Lin Chen sat up in bed, his gaze resolute:

"Chen Bo is here, Xiao Yan is here, Qin Mo is here, and so are you. I am not fighting alone."

He paused, then added:

"And then there's my father. He's watching over me from somewhere. I can't let him down."

Shen Qingluan fell silent.

She looked at Lin Chen, her expression growing increasingly complex.

After a long while, she sighed.

"You and your father are so alike," she said. "The same stubbornness, the same courage, the same...heartbreaking."

She walked to the bedside, reached out, and gently touched Lin Chen's head.

The movement was very gentle, like a mother stroking her child.

"Your father was the same way back then." Her voice was very soft, as if she were talking to herself, "Knowing that there was a pit of fire ahead, he would still jump in. I couldn't stop him, and you couldn't stop yourself."

She withdrew her hand, a resolute glint in her eyes:

"But this time, I will stand by your side."

"Even if there are mountains of knives and seas of fire ahead, I will brave them with you."

Outside the window, the sun is shining brightly.

But Lin Chen knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

The real battle has only just begun.

Having lost his sense of time, he now faces an even more perilous situation than before.

Zhao Yuanzhen, the Bai family, the Xiao family, the lineage guarding the forbidden area...

And then there's the enemy who's always lurking in the shadows.

He has no time stamp.

But he has something else.

He also possessed the dimensional perception that Su Wan had passed down to her.

He also has secrets hidden in his father's manuscripts.

He also possesses great cultivation and wisdom.

He also has partners who are willing to go through fire and water for him.

He is not without anything.

He just needs to fight in a different way.

Lin Chen took a deep breath and stood up from the bed.

"What do we do next?" he asked Shen Qingluan.

Shen Qingluan looked at him, a slight smile playing on her lips:

"You should focus on recovering from your injuries. I'll handle things with the sect."

"But you must remember one thing!"

Her gaze sharpened:

"From this moment on, you can no longer trust anyone from the Qingyun Sect. Nobody."

"Because the real enemy may be right beside you."