Chapter 915: Liked Before

Qin Luoyin's voice faded until it was no longer audible. Her once bright, intelligent eyes dimmed, losing all their luster, and the pallor of death began to appear.

Chu Feng roared, clenching his fists. He threw open the crystal coffin and desperately channeled his surging life force into her body.

Her eyes vacant, she looked at Chu Feng, trying to manage a gentle smile, but failed. Her once beautiful and flawless face was now stiff.

She had fought and clashed with Chu Feng, but eventually, they found peace and came together. Although she had never imagined choosing him as her companion, a century spent in another realm brought back memories: his life-risking rescues, their constant companionship. After returning, he even dared to brave the Great Dream Pure Land alone to marry her. How could her heart not be stirred? Ultimately, there was joy, tenderness, and affection.

In this life, she had loved.

Yet now, her life was ebbing away, her consciousness fading, like a bud swept by autumn winds, losing its vibrancy, rapidly withering, and falling despondently.

In her final moments, Qin Luoyin experienced a brief flicker of life, nodding with difficulty at Chu Feng, a soft expression on her face. Then, she became utterly still, her eyes losing all their light.

"Luoyin, I'm sorry. I failed to protect you!" Chu Feng cried out, like a wounded lone wolf, filled with immense sorrow.

He tried everything, desperate to hold onto her, but no matter how much life energy he channeled into Qin Luoyin's body, nothing changed.

To his horror, he realized her soul-light was losing its vitality, on the verge of collapsing and dissipating into the world.

At the same time, the golden light that had been entwined with her threatened to evaporate along with it.

Chu Feng unleashed all his divine abilities and techniques, attempting to suppress the area, seal everything off, and prevent her soul-light from scattering, hoping to preserve what remained.

Yet, from ancient times until now, no one had ever been able to reverse life and death under the cosmic laws. The dead cannot be brought back; how could he change this?

"Luoyin, you're not dead!" Chu Feng cried today, something he hadn't done before. In the past, no matter what hardships or trials he faced, he met them with a smile.

But today, as a man, he couldn't help but feel his nose sting and his eyes blur. He growled, unwilling and unable to accept this cruel reality.

Qin Luoyin died right before his eyes, and he was powerless.

Especially when he recalled her words—that he had never loved her, that she had never entered his heart, and that their being together was merely for their child, an act of responsibility.

This pierced Chu Feng's heart, filling him with guilt and bitterness. He hated himself, wondering why he hadn't shouted out then, why he hadn't spoken even a single word to fulfill her dying wish.

Yet, in her final moments, she had looked at him gently, and he could see that she had smiled, found release, and truly loved in her lifetime.

But he, in the end, had said nothing. Now, he felt a tearing pain in his heart, punching himself violently, tasting blood in his mouth. Guilt and regret made his blood feel as if it were burning; he wanted to scream and rage, unable to accept such a brutal and terrifying truth.

Beside him, a small, helpless child called for his mother, sobbing heartbrokenly, collapsing and weeping ceaselessly.

Chu Feng's heart twisted in agony. He could barely endure it, only able to let out low roars. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his hands clenched, bone grinding on bone.

Qin Luoyin's soul-light dimmed, extinguished, and simultaneously began to scatter, poised to vanish completely from the world.

Chu Feng's eyes were bloodshot as he tried with all his might to stop it, until his mind trembled violently and he brought forth the Soul Bell, which astonishingly stabilized Qin Luoyin's lifeless soul-light.

It was dim and lifeless, like a monochrome scroll, devoid of all its former vitality. A mere breeze would be enough to destroy it, to make it vanish into thin air.

"What is this? It's stopping the soul-light from turning into rain and returning to the heavens?!" The old woman was sorrowful yet astonished, almost disbelieving.

She had personally cared for Qin Luoyin since childhood, when she first entered the Great Dream Pure Land. She was deeply saddened and grief-stricken, now longing for a miracle, but ultimately felt disappointment again.

Chu Feng had only managed to stabilize Qin Luoyin's physical body and her dim, collapsing soul-light; he could no longer feel any vitality from her.

"No soul-light escaped, no substance leaked out. She's still here, she hasn't left! Outsiders may think she's gone, but I believe she's still here!"

Tears streamed down Chu Feng's face. He clenched his fists tightly, his expression filled with hope, unwilling to give up.

The ancient saint from the Great Dream Pure Land, who had been cut in half, had partially recovered and came to the scene. He looked at Qin Luoyin's lifeless, dull soul matter, devoid of any activity, and shook his head.

"Her spiritual essence has scattered; only the energy that forms the soul-light remains, a mere substance. Luoyin... she is dead! None of us want her to leave, we don't want her gone, but she truly isn't here anymore. Please accept our condolences!" The old saint's voice trembled, filled with sorrow, yet he was trying to comfort Chu Feng.

"You don't understand, she's still here!" Chu Feng declared, tears blurring his vision. He wiped them away forcefully, firmly believing there was still hope.

Then, he turned, rushed out, carrying the Purple Gold Bamboo and the Heavenly Dao Umbrella, and went into outer space. There, he began to forcefully grind the seeds from the stone box.

One seed had transformed into the Soul Bell, stabilizing Qin Luoyin, and two more seeds remained in his hand.

He had originally found the stone box at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, containing three mysterious seeds. One had helped him continuously evolve, while the other two had never changed.

Since the Soul Bell had such a profound effect, he wanted to try the other two, intending to grind them into powder for Qin Luoyin to consume!

Recklessly, he felt that these three seeds were of an astonishing origin, perhaps grinding one down would be equivalent to a divine elixir.

To his fury, not even the Purple Gold Bamboo could crush a single seed, and wielding the Heavenly Dao Umbrella proved equally futile!

At that moment, Chu Feng couldn't spare a thought to marvel at the uncanny nature of these two seeds. His face was etched with sorrow; what other way was there to save Qin Luoyin?

He dove back to the ground, entering the room. Seeing his weeping young son and Qin Luoyin's motionless body, Chu Feng's heart was a chaotic mess, filled with unbearable pain.

He forced himself to calm down, knowing that concern often led to confusion. Now, he needed to find every possible way to save her, without panicking.

"Go to Earth, and ask the Heaven-Reflecting level experts for help!" Chu Feng felt he had lost his composure and overlooked this possibility. Earth still had powerful cultivators, people who could help.

He used the Soul Bell to stabilize Qin Luoyin, then bid farewell to the elders of the Great Dream Pure Land, entrusting his child to their care. After selecting coordinates, he used their teleportation array to depart, entering a distant starfield.

In an uninhabited area, Chu Feng contacted the Heavenly Wormhole Company to open a path to Earth.

Approaching Earth, after exiting the wormhole, he immediately plummeted down, heading straight for the desert in the western region, searching for the Other Shore Flower.

With the spiritual energy revival, Earth's landscape had transformed dramatically; there were no longer any deserts, only vast, boundless oases.

"Senior Other Shore Flower, please reveal yourself to save a life! I am willing to bear any great karma!" Chu Feng shouted.

With a rustling sound, vast fields of eerie blue Other Shore Flowers emerged on the surface, stretching endlessly, a mesmerizing, almost intoxicating blue.

A sigh resounded, saying, "It seems Earth is no longer a place for me. I shall journey far."

"Senior!" Chu Feng was overjoyed. He had indeed summoned the Other Shore Flower, filling him with immense excitement.

He immediately explained his purpose, holding nothing back.

A shadowy bridge appeared, carrying him towards the horizon, into a small patch of netherworld on Earth, a self-contained space within what used to be the desert.

Now, Chu Feng had entered.

"It's this substance... I am powerless. And she no longer has any life fluctuations."

Even the Other Shore Flower had no solution, finding it baffling.

"Senior, aren't you one of the paramount figures among Heaven-Reflecting evolvers? Can you truly not refine this substance?!" Chu Feng couldn't believe it.

"This golden substance has congealed with her dim, lifeless soul-light. If I refine the golden substance, her soul-light will also dissolve and be refined away, ceasing to exist. This substance is the most troublesome; once more than half of the soul-light is covered by it, it becomes extremely difficult to deal with, almost insoluble."

The Other Shore Flower said helplessly, admitting its powerlessness.

Chu Feng felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar. Even the Other Shore Flower was helpless? He was a Heaven-Reflecting level expert, one of the most powerful individuals in the current Netherworld Universe!

Chu Feng was distraught. He truly couldn't watch Qin Luoyin die. Heartbroken, he still desperately wanted to save her; he couldn't accept this reality.

"There's still hope, I can still save her!" Chu Feng murmured, but his face was pale. He was truly on the verge of despair.

"I must leave now. You should also depart quickly. People from the Yang Realm are coming, and they will find this place sooner or later. I once killed some brats from the Yang Realm!" The Other Shore Flower informed him.

Chu Feng nodded numbly, then dejectedly carried Qin Luoyin away from the western region.

Boom!

A blue light shot into the sky as the Other Shore Flower departed. Its final sigh echoed, saying, "I have a premonition that I will most likely face a great tribulation. But I will take some people down with me; even if I die, it won't be in vain!"

"Take care!" Chu Feng looked up, watching him vanish into the void.

At this moment, a black divine dog was sprinting through the cosmos, having long since left the golden gourd. It was the Little Celestial Hound.

Though called "Little Celestial Hound," in its normal state, it was over two meters long, very strong, with shiny black fur and fierce, intimidating eyes.

Its target, surprisingly, was Earth. It muttered to itself, "My innate divine ability tells me that the Earth Mouse is in this star system. Coupled with the information I've received that his home planet is here, he must be hiding nearby. No mistake, I'll drag you out the moment I find you!"

Meanwhile, Chu Feng was traversing Kunlun Mountain, arriving at the "Gate of Hell," a place named for its constant thunder.

In the past, when Chu Feng first ascended Kunlun Mountain, he was once framed by a Purple Gold Woodpecker King and nearly died in the lightning.

This area was perpetually struck by lightning. After the spiritual energy revival, the lightning became even more terrifying. In fact, there was a path to purgatory beneath this very place.

Chu Feng had arrived; he wanted to enter this perilous land!

"Back then, I even traversed reincarnation. Today, I'll take you in to see if there's a way out!" He wanted to enter purgatory with Qin Luoyin to see if any path to life remained.