When Ling Xiao saw Song Mingyue actually shedding tears, he was slightly stunned. ’This Brother Song is great in every way,’ he thought. ’His bearing is elegant, his speech refined, his presence as gentle as a spring breeze, and he never says anything to provoke others. It’s just his temperament... it’s a bit too much like a girl’s! That’s not good!’

"Er... Brother Song, don’t be sad. Everyone experiences birth, aging, sickness, and death. It’s something no one can resist." Ling Xiao’s words, however, only seemed to make Song Mingyue even more upset. His shoulders trembled as he clearly tried his best to hold back, but he couldn’t suppress the grief in his heart.

Finally, Ling Xiao said helplessly, "Could it be that the famous doctors you sought out before never told you that your father’s meridians are normal?" He glanced at the motionless Song Yi lying there and said softly, "In other words, there’s still hope for your father to recover!"

Song Mingyue staunched his tears, lowering his head to wipe them away before giving Ling Xiao an apologetic smile. "My apologies, I lost my composure. It’s just that for the past few years, I have been running myself ragged, expending immense effort and hoping for my father to be healthy again. Actually, what I told you on the ship—that a Martial Artist’s life is for pursuing the pinnacle of the Martial Dao and immortality, and that everything else is meaningless—is both right and not entirely right. At the very least, if I could restore my father to health right now, even if he were just an ordinary person, I would be happy to let him live out his later years in peace. Just as you said, everyone experiences birth, aging,sickness, and death. It’s something no one can resist. As long as he’s alive, and can live a healthy, normal life, that’s better than anything else!"

Watching the genuine emotion pouring from Song Mingyue, Ling Xiao himself felt a bit moved. ’Familial love truly is the hardest thing for humans to let go of. No wonder some Cultivators walk the Path of Emotionlessness.’ However, Ling Xiao was somewhat scornful of the Path of Emotionlessness. ’If you become a heartless person who has seen through everything, so what if you achieve immortality? You wouldn’t even have a shred of emotion. Is your Dao... supposed to be like a stone?’

Song Mingyue had now recovered his elegance and composure. Although the rims of his eyes were a little red, his voice was steady. "The famous doctors we sought out before all said the same thing: Father’s meridians were functioning normally, and it didn’t look like Qi deviation. They suggested he might have been afflicted by some strange poison. But my grandfather said the poison theory was utter nonsense, just quacks deceiving people! He insisted that my father suffered from Qi deviation from his own training. Sigh... to this day, I still don’t know why he ended up like this."

Ling Xiao suddenly asked, "The sword technique your father practiced... was it one with exceptionally ferocious power? And before his Qi deviation, had he already cultivated this technique to an advanced level?"

Song Mingyue froze, then an excited look appeared on his face. He lunged forward and grabbed Ling Xiao’s hand, exclaiming in pleasant surprise, "Brother Ling, how did you know? Does this mean my father can be saved?"

Ling Xiao felt very uncomfortable having his hand gripped by a grown man. What was even more disconcerting... was that he didn’t feel any revulsion. ’Why are Song Mingyue’s hands so warm and soft?’

Song Mingyue immediately realized he had lost his composure. He subtly let go of Ling Xiao’s hand, his expression a little unnatural. Still, he looked at Ling Xiao with anticipation and said, "My father’s sword technique does indeed follow a fierce and powerful path. I remember him saying before his Qi deviation that out of the technique’s six layers, he had already cultivated it to the peak of the fourth layer and was preparing to break through to the fifth!"

His brow furrowed as he spoke, and he asked softly, "Brother Ling, do you think my father’s Qi deviation is related to the technique he was practicing?" Then he muttered to himself, "That can’t be right. In the rare moments he’s lucid, he’s never mentioned that!"

Ling Xiao glanced at the motionless Song Yi on the bed. ’If your father understood this,’ he thought, ’he never would have suffered Qi deviation in the first place!’

’It seems Song Yi didn’t fall into Qi deviation because of poor Mental Cultivation. That makes sense. As a Tier One Sword Emperor, even if his mental state wasn’t perfect, it couldn’t have been that bad!’

’Based on the shape of Song Yi’s Dantian, I deduce that he must have practiced an incredibly fierce and powerful sword technique. Then, while trying to break through to become a Tier Two Sword Emperor, he attempted to advance both his cultivation level and his sword technique in one go! But he never expected that at the critical moment, this intensely powerful technique would backlash, causing immense damage to his Dantian and leaving it twisted...’ Ling Xiao once again marveled at Song Yi’s formidable life force.

’What a madman!’

Ling Xiao sighed internally. ’No wonder he was able to attempt breaking through to Tier Two Sword Emperor in just over a hundred years. This Song Yi probably didn’t pay much attention to his wife and son on a daily basis. His mind was likely filled with only one thing: cultivation!’

’Otherwise, he wouldn’t have single-mindedly sought death during his lucid moments. For someone like him, strength is more important than life itself. Without his strength, he feels his life is useless.’

Ling Xiao chose his words carefully. He didn’t want to give Song Mingyue too much hope, because the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. This was a universal principle. It was better to take things as they come; by remaining calm, one might be pleasantly surprised.

"Brother Song, your father’s Dantian is twisted and his injuries are extremely severe. Hmm... the fact that he’s still alive is, frankly, a miracle," Ling Xiao said slowly.

The light in Song Mingyue’s eyes dimmed. He nodded and said, "I’m already shocked that you can describe the state of my father’s Dantian, Brother Ling. All the previous doctors said his meridians were fine, but none of them could inspect his Dantian! In this regard alone, you have already surpassed those famous doctors. But alas, it seems it’s still hopeless. Perhaps this is just fate."

Ling Xiao shook his head slightly. "Do you think your father could accept becoming an ordinary person? I mean, if we were to completely destroy his Dantian, causing him to lose all his strength..."

Song Mingyue shook his head slightly. "My mother and I could certainly accept him becoming an ordinary person, but... he himself would likely not. If that happened, he would immediately commit suicide." He sighed. Just then, the sound of light footsteps came from outside. A woman who looked remarkably young and beautiful entered, her face etched with worry. She looked at Song Mingyue, then gave Ling Xiao a slight, apologetic bow.

"Forgive the intrusion. I was so worried about my husband, I couldn’t help... but come and see."

Only then did Ling Xiao realize this young-looking woman was actually Song Mingyue’s mother. They looked so much alike! ’If Song Mingyue were a woman, standing next to his mother, anyone would mistake them for a pair of sisters!’

Song Mingyue looked up at his mother. The dimness in his eyes told her everything: it was still no use.

The woman was a bit stronger than Song Mingyue, but the rims of her eyes reddened as well. She said softly, "I’ve grown somewhat used to it. Over these past three years, so many famous doctors have come. At first, I would have great expectations, but later... I lost all hope." The woman’s voice grew quieter and quieter. Sniffling softly, she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

"Aunt, you don’t need to be so heartbroken. Actually, your husband’s condition..."

The moment they heard this, Song Mingyue and the woman both stared with wide eyes, their expressions identical. "He can still be saved?" they asked in unison.

Ling Xiao gave a wry smile. ’This is exactly what I was afraid of.’ He would never make a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep. Once a promise was made, it had to be fulfilled! Although Ling Xiao didn’t have many taboos, it was still beneficial for a Cultivator to form as few karmic ties as possible.

When one reaches a certain level of cultivation, advancing in strength relies entirely on comprehending the Celestial Dao. That’s when the power of karma becomes apparent! If you have karmic ties, your mind is preoccupied, and you can’t devote yourself wholeheartedly to comprehending the Celestial Dao!

This was a completely different matter from practicing the Path of Emotion.

Ling Xiao sighed internally, then said, "There is indeed hope! But it’s not that I was deliberately hiding it. The truth is, this hope is far too slim. If I speak of it, it will inevitably lead to great expectations. If we fail, the resulting disappointment might be more than you can bear."

Everyone understood the logic behind Ling Xiao’s words. It was like telling a terminally ill person on the verge of death that their disease was curable, but the hope was incredibly slim. Both the patient and their family would likely subconsciously ignore the latter part of the sentence and only remember the first. If the treatment failed and the person died, the pain their loved ones would endure would be many times greater than it would have been otherwise.

Song Mingyue’s eyes were incredibly bright. He stared at Ling Xiao and said, each word firm and resolute, "Even if it means mountains of daggers and seas of fire, as long as there is a sliver of a chance, I... the Song Family, will not give up!"

Song Mingyue’s mother, who seemed to be an ordinary woman without profound cultivation, was equally resolute. "That’s right! My Sea Domain Song Family, even if we must exhaust the entire clan’s resources... we will cure him!" As she spoke, her eyes fixated on her husband, unwilling to look away.

At this moment, Song Mingyue gave Ling Xiao a meaningful look. The two of them stepped outside, and the oppressive atmosphere lightened somewhat. Song Mingyue looked at Ling Xiao and said, "The things required to treat my father must be extremely hard to find, aren’t they?"

Ling Xiao nodded lightly. ’Hard to find is an understatement,’ he thought. ’Even I only know what those things look like; I’ve never seen them in person! Trying to find them is a completely different concept from finding the ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill. The Purple Blue Fruit, Stone Bamboo Grass, and Heart of the Earth Dragon needed for the Foundation Establishment Pill can only be considered high-grade Spirit Medicines, but they are far from being Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. In fact, some of the ingredients in the Beauty Pills I refine are much better than them! That’s because some of the materials required for the Beauty Pill are already Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures! It’s only because the Foundation Establishment Pill has such a unique effect that its ingredients seem so important.’

’I don’t even know if the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures needed to refine the Small Returning Pill even exist in this world!’

Hope and despair are like twin siblings; when you see one, you often see the other.

Song Mingyue bit his lower lip and said, "Brother Ling, please wait a moment. I will go and plead with my grandfather to open the Song Family treasury. First, we will see if the treasury... contains any of the required materials!"

Ling Xiao was stunned. With this move, Song Mingyue was clearly planning to open the Sea Domain Song Family’s treasury, accumulated over a thousand years, to him without reservation!