Beginningless Single Thought, the Only Path to Void Evolution

Qin Yu amidst the lingering dust and mist of the eastern street, his gaze unwavering as he followed the crowd. Although the mutated demonic spirits, Annihilation by the combined efforts of the hundred guards, had been reduced to ashes, he could still sense wisps of extremely subtle energy lingering deep within the air. This was not ordinary Demon Qi, but a corrosive "Calamity Factor," like a shadow that refused to dissipate even after being torn apart, silently extending into the distance along the gaps in the street's spiritual veins. He did not immediately pursue it, but slowly took steps, using the dispersal of the crowd as cover, walking with an extremely low profile along the traces left by that factor. His pace was neither fast nor slow, as if he were merely strolling casually, but with each step, his consciousness absorbed all the changes in the aura within a hundred feet around him. He could clearly determine that these factors did not dissipate naturally, but were "carried" by some entity, briefly lingering within the main city before quickly withdrawing, as if testing or marking.

Just as he was preparing to continue his investigation, the murmurs from the other side of the street grew clearer. Small groups of people gathered, their voices low but filled with barely concealed anxiety. "It seems the major cities of the Void Obliteration Domain are truly in danger. It hasn't been long, and demonic spirits have already infiltrated the cities." "I heard the five great temples have already formed alliances; no one dares to fight alone anymore." "Now, it seems there's no truly safe place in the entire Void Obliteration Domain." "So what if it's unsafe? If we encounter demonic spirits, we'll Annihilation if we can, otherwise we'll run. Life is more important."

Someone lowered their voice and continued, their tone tinged with mystery, "Haven't you noticed? Almost all the direct disciples of the major temples have returned to their temples; fewer and fewer are out and about." "Yes, yes, I also heard something else. Jin Hanyan, the eldest direct disciple of the Silent Nothingness Divine Hall, went into the forbidden area of Shadow Demon Valley alone a couple of days ago." "What? The Shadow Demon Valley? What would she be doing in a place like that? With calamity beasts rampaging everywhere, is she courting death?"

Amidst the murmurs, someone immediately sneered, "You don't understand. While the Shadow Demon Valley is dangerous, it's also one of the most challenging forbidden zones in the Annihilation Void Obliteration Domain for rapidly honing one's cultivation. The moment of life and death makes it easiest to solidify one's realm, even forcibly break through barriers. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. That kind of place isn't for people like us." "That's true, but it's still the Shadow Demon Valley..." "People at her level... let's not worry about them. Let's take care of ourselves first."

Qin Yu stood at the edge of the crowd, listening to every word. His eyes remained calm, but at that moment, he slowly stopped his pursuit of the Calamity Factor. The name Shadow Demon Valley gently settled in his heart, like a chess piece yet to be revealed. The lingering effects of the array above the main city silently reminded him that the situation in the Void Obliteration Domain had truly begun to spiral out of control.

He turned and merged into the crowd, his aura once again concealed as if he had never existed, while the trace of the Calamity Factor that he had not yet fully traced slowly disappeared into the deeper shadows at the end of the street.

Standing outside the main city, amidst the lingering aftershocks of the void, Qin Yu's robes were gently lifted by an invisible current. His gaze pierced through layers of spatial folds, landing on the dark and unknown depths of the Void Obliteration Domain. In an instant, his mind settled on the name Jin Hanyan and the Shadow Demon Valley, which overlapped and surfaced in his mind. He murmured to himself, his tone calm yet carrying a sharp certainty, "Shadow Demon Valley... Jin Hanyan has already gone in. I am now at the Annihilation Dawn Realm · Supreme. If I want to quickly advance to the Void Emanation Realm · Initial Stage, I really can't wait any longer. It seems I must make a trip there myself." The moment his words fell, he raised his hand and tore open the void before him. The crack spread like black lightning. The next instant, his figure was swallowed into the rift, and the world behind him rapidly closed, as if no one had ever left.

However, just as Qin Yu vanished into the void, in the lingering light and shadow high above the main city, a figure paused slightly, then revealed a look of helplessness mixed with interest. He gazed at the rapidly receding spatial trajectory, sighed softly, and said with a casual, teasing tone, "Hey, what are you doing going to a place like that, buddy? The Shadow Demon Valley is no joke. What if you really get stuck there...? I finally found someone who might help me rescue my sister. If this person is gone, all my efforts will have been for nothing." He shook his head, but a slow smile crept onto his lips. "Fine, fine, since you're in such a hurry, I'll go with you. Let's see if you really have the ability."

Deep within the void, Qin Yu's figure traversed the spatial rifts at incredible speed. Just as he was about to create a significant distance between them, a barely perceptible tightening appeared between his brows. He keenly sensed a peculiar aura steadily following his path behind him. This aura wasn't sharp, nor was it deliberately concealed; rather, it seemed to smooth out time and distance, maintaining a state of "just right presence." Qin Yu's heart skipped a beat. The next instant, he abruptly stopped, the void beneath his feet freezing. He turned, his gaze sharp as a knife, pointing directly at the seemingly Emptiness space behind him. "Fellow Daoist, I've followed you for so long. What is it? Why don't we come out and speak face to face?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the void seemed to be casually tugged. There were no cracks, no tremors, just a slight sway, and a figure naturally "stood" there, as if he had always been there. The newcomer wore a simple long robe, his aura restrained, his face carrying a hint of gentleness and nonchalance. He raised his hand and waved to Qin Yu, his smile bright and clear, "Hehe, sorry, fellow Daoist, I've been following you all this way, I almost forgot to introduce myself." He straightened up slightly, but his gaze remained relaxed, "My Zhou Yujin."

As the name was uttered, an extremely eerie yet chilling aura flashed around him. Time seemed to lose its measure in that instant, and the distance of space became blurred. Qin Yu clearly sensed that the other person stood there, yet seemed to stand anywhere. Past and future could not find a foothold in him. The threads of cause and effect snapped before he could even get close. Zhou Yujin added calmly, "Cultivation level, twelfth realm, Silent Mystery Realm."

He raised his eyes to look at Qin Yu, his gaze as deep as No Moment, No Bounds sea. "The path I cultivate is called Silent Profundity - No Moment, No Bounds. When I unleash it, time and space are meaningless to me. Distance ceases to exist, position vanishes, cause and effect are unaffected, and past and future are nonexistent." He paused, then smiled, his tone becoming casual again. "Don't worry, I'm not your enemy. I'm just... quite interested in you."

In the void, two figures stood facing each other, one still and one in motion, one deep and one shallow. Meanwhile, in the darkness further away, the direction of the Shadow Demon Valley was slowly baring its fangs, waiting for new entrants.

Qin Yu stood at the intersection of the void rifts, his robes fluttering slightly in the still air. He looked at Zhou Yujin, who had suddenly become so familiar with him, and spoke in a tone that was neither warm nor cold, yet carried his usual restraint and wariness, "Since you are not an enemy, then why have you followed me all this way, fellow Daoist?"

Zhou Yujin wasn't embarrassed by this; instead, he smiled openly. His gaze lingered on Qin Yu for a moment, as if sensing something beyond appearances. "Fellow Daoist, please don't misunderstand. I'm following you not out of malice, but..." He paused, his tone softening slightly, becoming genuinely earnest, "You possess a rare quality. It's not an overt strength, nor a deliberately crafted righteousness, but a steadfast composure standing on the edge of chaos and Annihilation, like someone willing to shield others from the wind even when the world collapses."

Qin Yu's brow twitched almost imperceptibly halfway through the conversation, and he immediately raised his hand to interrupt, "Alright, alright, there's no need for that. Just tell me what it is."

Zhou Yujin wasn't annoyed; instead, his smile became more relaxed. He raised his hand and made a sweeping motion in the air, a storage crystal core flashing in his palm. However, he didn't immediately take it, but instead spoke first, "I come from a small village on the edge of the Desolate Abyss Ice Field in the Northern Region the Void Obliteration Domain. Calling it a village is an understatement; it's really just a few cultivators barely surviving in the cracks." His voice was noticeably lower at this moment. "My sister has suffered from a terrible disease since birth. It's neither a physical body nor a soul, yet it gradually erodes her existence. To suppress or even cure it, an extremely special medicinal herb is required."

Qin Yu's gaze narrowed slightly. "Medicinal herbs? Why don't you just go and get them yourself?"

Zhou Yujin gave a wry smile and shook her head. "If it were just an ordinary dangerous place, I naturally wouldn't ask for it, but that medicinal herb... grows in one of the forbidden zones of the Void Obliteration Domain — the Nameless Eternal Land."

"A restricted area?" Qin Yu almost instinctively scoffed. "How could you even think of that? If it's a restricted area, who would want to go with you? Not even a relative."

"Fellow Daoist, please don't be so quick to refuse." Zhou Yujin quickly raised her hand. "Let me finish. As long as you are willing to accompany me and help me retrieve that medicinal herb, I will definitely reward you handsomely and make sure you don't leave empty-handed."

Qin Yu shook his head, his tone decisive, "Forget it, I'm used to being alone. You should go find someone else."

"No, no, no, fellow Daoist!" Seeing this, Zhou Yujin finally stopped beating around the bush. He took a deep breath, and the storage crystal core in his palm suddenly lit up as he took something out.

In that instant, the void seemed to be gently cleaved open by some unnamed force.

What appeared before Qin Yu was not a treasure in the traditional sense. It had no fixed shape, nor a measurable size. Only for the instant it was "seen" did it reveal an extremely brief yet chilling appearance—a silver-black crack so thin that even the concept of a "line" was negated. In the center of the crack, a "dot" that could not be described in terms of size floated.

That point simultaneously presents absolute blackness, as if devouring all light and information; then in the next instant, it reveals absolute pure white, so white that even the attribute of "white" itself is erased; and on a deeper level of perception, it is completely transparent, so transparent that even the term "transparent" cannot be placed within it. The three states devour and give birth to each other, endlessly cycling at a frequency that transcends time, so what is seen externally is only a paradoxical flash of light that is forever stuck in the state of "about to be born, and about to be annihilated".

The flash was so brief, lasting no more than a moment, yet it seemed to never disappear; it existed both within the observer's field of vision and simultaneously in a place where "the observation itself Does Not Exist."

Zhou Yujin's voice broke the eerie silence, "This object is called [The Beginningless Single Thought], also known as the Wedge of Void Evolution, the Primordial Wedge of Paradox, and the Wedge of the Zeroth Ordinal."

He looked directly at Qin Yu, his tone more serious than ever before, "Fellow Daoist, you are currently at the Annihilation Dawn Realm · Supreme. To step into the Void Emanation Realm, normally, you would need an extremely long period of accumulation, and you would also need to find the legendary 'Finality Realm,' 'The Reflection of the End of the Endless,' and 'The Torn-Out First Page.' Any one of these things would be enough to drive the entire Void Obliteration Domain mad." He paused, holding the paradoxical flash of light in his palm even more firmly, "But this [Beginningless Single Thought] in my hand can directly allow you to cross that most difficult threshold and steadily step into the Void Emanation Realm · Middle Stage."

Zhou Yujin added softly, as if mocking herself, yet also as if confessing, "If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have rashly approached you. After all, there aren't many people at the peak of the Annihilation Dawn Realm · Supreme who can still leave me unable to see through their true strength."

The Emptiness, and the Wedge of Paradox floated quietly between the two. Qin Yu's gaze fell on the undefinable flash of light, and he did not utter a word. At this moment, the direction of the Shadow Demon Valley seemed to become even more mysterious.