And this was the Dead Domain.
It was the one place Beyond the World that no one should enter, but also the place where he could act without restraint.
If he came all this way and still did not try, wouldn't the trip have been for nothing?
Shen Yi stood still and first withdrew the Authority shrouding him, drawing it back strand by strand until even he could barely sense it.
Then he slowly reached toward the nearest mass of black fog.
The mass did not move. He tried again.
Still nothing.
On the third attempt, he changed direction.
The mass stirred.
Just once, a faint movement as though a breeze had brushed it. After that, nothing else happened.
Shen Yi watched it, withdrew his hand, and started again.
Gradually, marks began to appear on the gray ground at his feet.
Some were scorch marks left by his repeated attempts, their edges curled as though something had seared them from below. Others were faint rings left where masses of fog had closed back together after he pushed them apart.
The rules that shattered and reformed on the ground also left a thin layer of residue.
He ignored all of it.
He simply reached out again and again, trying to draw the black fog toward him. With each attempt, the surrounding rules grew a little thinner.
There had never been many rules in this area to begin with. After his repeated probing, they had worn so thin that a touch could snap them.
He could even hear them breaking, a faint sound like strands of hair being pulled apart.
And the black fog watched from nearby.
When motionless, the masses looked like dead things. Whenever Shen Yi reached out, they moved. Sometimes they retreated half an inch; sometimes an entire mass