The fleet sailed through the desolate starry sky for seven days. The closer they got to the target coordinates, the sparser the surrounding stars became, and even the cosmic background radiation became extremely weak, as if an invisible hand had drained away all the energy of "existence".
"We'll reach the original coordinates in three hours." The Star Patrollers leader's electronic voice carried a barely perceptible fluctuation. On the star map projected by its crystal head, the area representing the target was a pure black, unable to detect any signal even with the most advanced detectors. "Based on the analysis of the residual spatial ripples, this wasn't natural annihilation, but rather... 'active zeroing'."
"Actively reset to zero?" Qing He frowned. "You mean, this galaxy chose to disappear on its own?"
"More accurately, it's being 'guided' back to nothingness by some force." The Star Patrollers's blue light flickered, "Like water flowing downhill, following a 'law of return' that we haven't yet understood."
Xiao Yan's fingertips caressed the transparent petals in the jade box. The blank spaces on the petals seemed to tremble slightly, resonating with the surrounding stillness. He could feel the Seed of Creation emitting a muffled hum within the Heart of the Flame Realm, as if it were on alert for something.
When the fleet arrived at the target coordinates, the sight before them made everyone gasp in shock.
There were no broken stars, no remaining fragments of laws, not even the "nothingness" of the Abyss of Nothingness —only an absolute "blank space" from which even light could not escape. This blank space was about the size of ten galaxies, with distorted space faintly visible at its edges, as if a piece of the universe had been scooped out here, leaving a smooth and eerie wound.
"The detectors have completely failed." The Mechanical Clan cultivator's face was pale. "There... is absolutely nothing here, and even the dimensions of space itself are collapsing."
Xiao Yan activated the power of the Seed of Creation, attempting to probe the blank area with the Power of Order. But as soon as he made contact, the power vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.
"This is not nothingness," he said in a deep voice. "Nothingness at least has the attribute of 'nothingness,' but here... it's an 'absolute blankness' where even 'nothingness' has been erased."
Before the words were finished, a faint gray ripple suddenly appeared at the edge of the blank area. From the ripple, a blurry figure slowly emerged—its entire body was composed of flowing gray light mist, without facial features, without a solid form, and without even energy fluctuations, as if it were just a phantom created by spatial distortion.
But Xiao Yan knew this was not an illusion. Because when that figure appeared, the transparent petals in the jade box suddenly trembled violently, and the memories of the cultivators on the bridge began to become confused.
"I... what was I about to say?" A swordsman rubbed his temples, his face full of confusion. "It seems like something very important..."
"Watch out!" Xiao Yan roared, transforming the Power of Order into a barrier that enveloped the bridge. As soon as the barrier took shape, the gray figure stretched out its "hand"—which was just a denser wisp of light mist—and gently touched the starship.
There was no explosion, no impact. A piece of alloy wall on the left side of the bridge suddenly became transparent, and then completely disappeared as if it had never existed, revealing the deep starry sky outside. Even more strangely, in the memories of all the cultivators, that wall "never existed in the first place." Only Xiao Yan, relying on the power of the Seed of Creation, barely retained the knowledge that "the wall once existed."
" The Emissary of Returning to Silence..." The Star Patrollers's electronic voice carried an unprecedented solemnity, "The ' Cosmic Corrector ' recorded in the Star Patrollers's database, specializing in erasing 'unbalanced existences'."
The gray figure did not launch an attack, but simply hovered quietly at the edge of the blank space, as if observing. Its "gaze" swept across the starship, and wherever it passed, the runes on the surface of the ship began to fade, and the tokens on the waists of some cultivators and the weapons in their hands became briefly transparent.
"It's 'assessing' us." Xiao Yan gripped the Heaven Burning Sword tightly, its blade flowing with gray-gold law power. "Assessing whether we belong to the 'unbalanced existences that need correction'."
He attempted to release a wisp of friendly, Power of Order, but it was directly "absorbed" by the light mist surrounding the gray figure, without any feedback. Clearly, this being did not accept "communication" and only followed some cold "rules of correction."
Suddenly, Qing He cried out in pain. The longsword in her hand was becoming transparent, and the " Wuwang Sword " runes on the blade were disappearing at a visible speed. Even her memories of "how to comprehend sword intent" were beginning to blur.
"It's targeting the 'root' of the laws!" Xiao Yan instantly understood that this attack wasn't aimed at the physical body or energy, but rather directly erased the "foundation of existence"—for a sword, it was runes and sword intent; for a living being, it was memories and the imprint of the laws.
Without hesitation, he unleashed a gray-gold sword beam from the Heaven Burning Sword, slashing towards the gray figure. The sword beam pierced through the mist but caused no damage, only causing the figure to sway slightly, as if ripples were being disturbed in the water.
But at that moment, something miraculous happened. Within the mist of light touched by the sword's edge, fragmented images briefly appeared—countless stars vanished into nothingness, countless living beings disappeared in silence, finally settling on a gigantic "eye" made of mist of light.
"This is... the Lord of Return to Stillness?" Xiao Yan's heart trembled violently.
The gray figure seemed enraged by the sword strike, the light mist churning violently, and the distorted space at the edge of the blank area suddenly accelerated its collapse, an invisible suction force rushing towards the starship. This suction force was not a physical pull, but acted directly on "existence itself," the ship began to become transparent, and the cultivators' bodies also appeared as afterimages.
"Retreat!" Xiao Yan decided immediately. "This is not the place to fight!"
The Star Patrollers's main ship immediately released energy shields to cover the retreat of the " New Journey ". The gray figure did not pursue, but simply sank back into the empty area, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion. But that absolute emptiness was like a silent eye, staring intently at the retreating fleet, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.
After the fleet withdrew from the danger zone, everyone collapsed to the ground, their faces pale. Qing He's longsword had returned to its physical form, but a piece of the " Wuwang Sword " rune on the blade had been permanently lost, leaving an irreparable gap in her memory of sword intent.
"This is... the power to make galaxies disappear?" The Blazing Sun Realm Lord's voice trembled. He could feel that the Law of Flame within his body were showing signs of "forgetting," as if they were slowly forgetting "how to burn."
Xiao Yan remained silent, staring at the jade box in his hand. The blank area on the transparent petals had expanded slightly. He knew this was just the beginning. The appearance of the Emissary of Returning to Silence was like a signal, indicating that the "Universal Correction Hand" had already taken notice of the existence of All Heavens and Myriad Realms.
The fleet changed course and headed back towards the heavens. The light of the starships appeared exceptionally faint in the desolate starry sky, as if they might be swallowed up by that absolute emptiness at any moment.
Xiao Yan leaned against the porthole, gazing at the receding empty space, a resolute glint in his eyes.
They are facing a terrifying force that can render "existence" meaningless. But it is precisely because of this that they must guard those "traces of existence"—whether it is the blooming of a flower, the sharpness of a sword, or the starlight of a galaxy.
Because these traces are the only spark to resist " Return to Silence ".