# 1573
Chapter 1569: The Coffin
Mist.
Over a dozen divine rays burst from the deep sea, crimson blood staining the ocean's surface.
Guangchengzi gripped the Sky-Turning Seal, flying up from the sea's surface, and respectfully bowed to the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of the West in the sky. "This beast has been slain."
The Jade Emperor glanced down at the deep sea and gave a slight nod.
"Qiye..."
On the Somersault Cloud, the pale-faced An Qingyu tightly grasped Lin Qiye's wrist.
"Qingyu, don't talk yet. Your body is too depleted..." Lin Qiye said urgently.
An Qingyu's gaze gradually dimmed, a sharp pain in his mind nearly causing him to pass out. Despite this, he still gripped Lin Qiye's wrist, speaking word by word: "Bring Jiang Er... back..."
Before An Qingyu could finish speaking, he exhausted all his spiritual energy, completely losing consciousness and collapsing into his arms.
"Qingyu!" The ghost-like Jiang Er saw this, her face turning pale. "What happened to him?"
"It should be the immense spiritual pressure from forcibly connecting to the Gate of Truth..." Lin Qiye started to explain, but his gaze toward Jiang Er soon turned grave. "Jiang Er, tell me what just happened? Where is your body?"
Jiang Er opened her mouth, a bitter smile appearing in her eyes...
...
Two hours later.
Heavenly Court.
An Qingyu's eyelashes fluttered as he slowly opened his eyes, a familiar face quickly entering his vision.
"Qingyu, you're awake?" Cao Yuan's dim eyes flickered with a glimmer of hope.
An Qingyu lay on a soft water surface, staring blankly at the palace ceiling for a long while before recovering some alertness. He suddenly sat up from the water.
"Where is this? Where's Jiang Er?!"
"Don't panic, don't panic. Taigong said your body is still too weak—you shouldn't have strong emotional fluctuations..." Cao Yuan steadied him, comforting him gently.
An Qingyu took a deep breath, finally regaining his composure. He looked around and realized he was lying in an ancient, elegant palace. Beneath him was a shallow pool with lotus leaves and lotus flowers. Behind Cao Yuan stood the two Golden Immortals, Guangchengzi and Taiyi Zhenren.
An Qingyu's peripheral vision caught something—he noticed that the ground around him was dotted with one-person-sized cavities, and the stone carvings along the edge of the shallow pool were mostly gone, as if something had gnawed at them.
"This is..."
"You were continuously generating temporal disturbances while unconscious, so someone had to stay by your side to prevent you from being swallowed up and transported to another place." Cao Yuan explained.
Hearing this, An Qingyu froze, a deep regret flickering in his eyes.
"Where's Jiang Er?"
"She..." Cao Yuan opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.
Seeing Cao Yuan's expression, An Qingyu's heart sank. Disregarding his weak body, he directly climbed over the edge of the shallow pool. Droplets of water stained the ground as he walked barefoot, using all his strength to stumble toward the palace entrance.
Guangchengzi seeing this was about to stop him, but Taiyi Zhenren pressed his shoulder from the side, shaking his head silently.
"Jiang Er... Jiang Er!!" An Qingyu rushed out of the palace. The drizzle of rain ran down the eaves, falling onto his body, cold and piercing.
"Qingyu! Slow down! You shouldn't run around now..." Cao Yuan hurried to follow, about to say something when An Qingyu's grey eye swept across the surroundings, quickly locking onto a certain palace, and ran wildly toward it.
...
"...No, there must be another way!"
In the empty palace, Lin Qiye, draped in his deep crimson cloak, stood before the shattered remnants of a black coffin, shaking his head continuously. "She only damaged her physical body, but she's not dead. Why is there no way?!"
Lin Qiye's roar echoed through the palace. The Jade Emperor and Queen Mother of the West stood not far away, their expressions complex.
"It's not that simple." The Queen Mother of the West spoke slowly. "Her physical body isn't just damaged... That demon ate nearly seventy percent of her body. If it were elsewhere, that would be one thing, and Heavenly Court does have methods to regenerate flesh and bone. But her only active organ—her brain—has been torn to shreds, and then soaked in Lucifer's blood corrupted by the [Black Goat]...
Her brain has no possibility of being saved."
"Then abandon the physical body! She's standing right here. Why can't she be kept?!" Lin Qiye pointed at the white-robed girl beside him, his eyes wide.
The ghost-like Jiang Er floated in mid-air, her head bowed, staring at her own toes in silence...
Her body was more illusory than two hours ago, as if she would soon dissipate completely.
"What's standing here isn't her soul, but a magnetic field with self-awareness... This, you should understand." The Queen Mother of the West said helplessly. "The brain is the root of maintaining the [Spirit Communication Field]. Without a brain, she is merely a rootless duckweed...
Jiang Er died when her body was torn apart.
The reason she stands here is simply because her magnetic field hasn't yet dissipated. You think she's alive only because this magnetic field possesses its own consciousness... As the magnetic field weakens, her consciousness and existence will gradually blur until they disappear completely."
Lin Qiye stood frozen.
His gaze fell on the Jiang Er beside him. The latter bit her lip, saying nothing, like a child who had done something wrong.
"No, the more impossible it is, the more 'miracles' can happen... Let me try!" Lin Qiye said stubbornly, then quickly stepped forward, covering the black coffin fragments with [Mortal Divine Realm], his spiritual energy surging outward.
Seeing this, the Queen Mother of the West sighed deeply: "The 'Miracle' is indeed powerful, but it's not omnipotent. Moreover, this body has been stained with the blood of a fallen angel. No matter how you use [Mortal Divine Realm], it won't be effective."
Lin Qiye's eyes flickered, sinking into complete silence.
Drip... drip...
A faint sound of water droplets came from the palace entrance. Lin Qiye turned to look—only to see a drenched figure standing weakly at the doorway, staring blankly at the black coffin in the center.
"Qingyu..." Lin Qiye opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't get the words out.
An Qingyu silently looked at the shattered black coffin, then took steps, stumbling into the palace...
"Are these... all the fragments?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yes." Lin Qiye nodded. "I've brought back all the fragments I could collect..."
"Qingyu..." Jiang Er spoke softly, floating to An Qingyu's side.
An Qingyu stopped walking.
He looked at the already half-transparent figure, opened his mouth, and squeezed out a smile on his pale face:
"Jiang Er... wait for me. I'll repair you... I've completely recovered. I can perform the most precise surgery in the world... I can definitely repair you."