The moment the last wisp of silver mist dissipated from the Illusion Evolution Limitless Mirror, Qin Yu's outline trembled subtly yet dangerously, as if being gently pulled by countless invisible mirrors. A half-breath misalignment appeared between his shadow and his true form. He was still breathing, but it seemed as if another "self" was drifting outward. The residual flow of the Membrane of Void Evolution swirled within him, attempting to continue splitting and replicating. It was the inevitable aftershock of the Illusion Evolution Limitless Mirror's "annihilation," quiet yet deadly.
Just as the imbalance was about to intensify, Azure Ring swiftly moved to Qin Yu's side. Azure flames suddenly condensed into intricate causal locks around her. She raised her hand and placed it on Qin Yu's shoulder, silently unleashing her divine power. It wasn't suppression or severance, but rather the forceful return of that superfluous "possibility" to its unborn state. The flow of energy was smoothed out inch by inch, and Qin Yu's shadow returned to its ground, his presence restored to a singular and stable form. Azure Ring withdrew her hand, her tone unusually serious, "Fortunately, you can only use this Illusion Evolution Limitless Mirror once. No more than that, or you will be completely erased. Next time you use it, you must enter the Chaos Realm, otherwise, Little Qinzi, you will be directly wiped out by its backlash." Qin Yu nodded slightly, without arguing, and put the Illusion Evolution Limitless Mirror back into the Annihilation Devil Pupil - Final Spirit Core. The mirror mist subsided, as if it had never existed.
The void before the exit gradually regained its layers, the gray-white traces of the cut slowly smoothed by time. Only the Void Authority World-Annihilating Divine Sword remained, still standing quietly in the center, emitting neither pressure nor killing intent, like a forgotten "Line of Does Not Exist," hanging there alone. Azure Ring's gaze sharpened, and the logic of cause and effect unfolded. Her perception traced back along the remaining traces of authority, and after a moment, she let out a soft "Eh," turning back to look at Qin Yu. "Strange, that guy at the Stainless Realm didn't actually form a soul bond with this divine sword. From beginning to end, it was just borrowing it, never truly becoming its wielder." She looked at the divine sword again, her eyes filled with scrutiny. "In other words... it's currently ownerless."
Without hesitation, Azure Ring flew forward and stopped directly in front of the Void Authority World-Annihilating Divine Sword. With her hands on her hips and her azure flames swaying slightly, she asked, "Hey, what's your name? What's your background? What are your abilities?" Her voice echoed in the void, but received no response. The divine sword remained silent, like a piece of history that had been erased.
Qin Yu stood behind, silent, simply watching the divine sword, a vague sense of unease rising in his heart. In that instant, the Void Authority World-Annihilating Divine Sword suddenly trembled slightly. There was no sword sound, no burst of light, but the surrounding space seemed to have been turned over by an invisible hand. All colors were rapidly extracted and recombined, and a soft yet undeniable purple glow slowly condensed in the "Emptiness space".
The sword neither shattered nor vanished, but instead collapsed inward along the boundary of "Does Not Exist," its shape elongated and softened, transforming into a slender human figure. Silver-white hair cascaded from the void, gleaming with a faint, cold light. A purple-moon-like halo slowly formed behind her, like an unnamed mark of authority. She wore a light yet intricate purple-silver dress, the fabric seemingly woven from moonlight and mist, its hem floating, untouched by dust. Her toes lightly touched the void, as if she were perched on a Does Not Exist branch. She raised her head, her gaze clear yet Kong Ling, as if looking at Azure Ring, or perhaps through the two of them, gazing into some distant "empty space."
There was no oppressive atmosphere, but rather a quiet that made people instinctively hold their breath, as if even the act of "judgment" itself had chosen to remain silent at this moment.
The void seemed to be gently pressed down the moment she spoke. The light behind the purple moon stopped flowing and solidified into a stillness akin to "the judgment completed." The woman, who had materialized from the Void Authority World-Annihilating Divine Sword, slowly lowered her eyelashes. Her voice was not loud, but it landed directly on existence itself, without echo, nor needing an echo. "I am not a weapon." She raised her gaze, the purple light in the depths of her pupils like an unextinguished ember. "I am the remnant vessel of the will to judge, the empty echo left in the Void Authority Realm by the concept of 'the end being ended.' My name is Void Authority World-Annihilating."
Her tone was calm, almost gentle, yet it subtly created a sense of separation at the edge of space, as if even the act of being addressed was being repeatedly recalibrated within her logic of existence. Azure Ring listened, narrowed her eyes, then a look of realization dawned on her face. She put her hands on her hips and flicked her tail flame. "The Void Authority World-Annihilating... Oh, so it's that legendary divine sword. No wonder that guy in the Stainless Realm couldn't truly wield you." Her tone carried a hint of self-assured mockery. "Because anyone who tries to control you will eventually understand— the Void Authority World-Annihilating Divine Sword has never had a 'wielder,' because even the act of 'possessing' itself has long been erased by you."
Void Authority World-Annihilating slightly, as if confirming a judgment that had already been established. "Yes, that's right." Her voice remained gentle, yet carried an unalterable sense of finality. "So I am only temporarily used by it. It doesn't control me, but rather allows me to exist within the trajectory of judgment." Her gaze swept over the lingering remnants of Annihilation around her. "I need the Stainless Origin, and I also need the Origins of these Annihilation who have been cleared out, to fill the 'empty void' within myself."
Upon hearing this, Azure Ring immediately became alert. Her azure flames shrank slightly before exploding outwards. She took a step forward, hands on her hips, and said, "So, do you also want to absorb our essence?" Her tone was unfriendly, and the causal lock pattern had already quietly spread out beneath her feet. As long as the other party showed the slightest intention to overstep the boundary, the countermeasure would be completed instantly.
At this moment Void Authority World-Annihilating Min revealed a faint yet exceptionally genuine smile. The smile carried neither aggression nor calculation, but rather a respect for the "boundary." "You jest, I wouldn't dare," she said softly, her gaze lingering on Azure Ring for a moment before passing over her and landing on Qin Yu, who remained silent behind her. "Because I know who you are." Then, her gaze returned to Qin Yu, "and I also know that the young master over there is no ordinary person, and—" she paused slightly, "He still carries the echo of your essence."
Azure Ring subconsciously took a half step back, her tail flame flickering gently, her vigilance no longer sharp. "Since you know who I am..." she raised her chin, her tone regaining some composure, "Then you shall come with us. Although you won't acknowledge anyone as your master, I think you will acknowledge us."
Void Authority World-Annihilating didn't answer immediately. Instead, she looked up at the direction of the reopened exit, as if confirming some unfinished causal line, before slowly nodding. "Yes." Her voice held a hint of certainty at this moment. "The reason I manifested my true form is precisely for the upcoming master recognition ceremony. Not 'possession,' not 'control,' but—consensus."
Azure Ring grinned and waved, "Alright, let's go then."
Qin Yu then slowly took a step forward, his gaze briefly meeting that of the Void Authority World-Annihilating. There were no words exchanged, but in that instant, they completed a deeper kind of eye contact, as if two ending trajectories that should not have intersected were being recalibrated onto the same unnamed future line.
With a gentle wave of her hand, Azure Ring caused the causal lock flames to recede from the void like a receding tide. She stepped to the side, leading the woman manifested from the Void Authority World-Annihilating Divine Sword to Qin Yu's presence. The woman's robes fluttered, and a purple-silver radiance slowly flowed around her, like the lingering glow of a severed blade. She stopped three steps in front of Qin Yu, her hands clasped in front of her abdomen, her posture upright and solemn. Then, she slightly bowed, performing an extremely ancient and almost lost curtsy. At that moment, even the lingering aura of Annihilation around her seemed to diminish in presence. She raised her head, her eyes gentle and clear, her voice soft yet resonant, penetrating deep into Qin Yu's heart. "Next, I request that you accept my master-recognition ceremony, young master."
Qin Yu gazed at her silently, his eyes unwavering, as if the life-or-death decision he had just faced had left no trace of agitation on him. He paused for a moment, then spoke calmly, his tone restrained yet resolute. "In your conversation with Azure Ring just now, you said your name was the Void Authority World-Annihilating Divine Sword. Now that you are about to acknowledge me as your master, and have shed the single title of 'sword,' I will call you from now on— Wan He, is that alright?" The moment those two words were uttered, it was as if they had imbued a certain final will with the meaning of seasons and growth.
The woman paused slightly, then a very subtle fluctuation appeared in the purple light in her eyes. It wasn't a tremor of power, but rather a confirmation of being named. She gave a faint smile and softly replied, "Yes. Young master has named me. From now on, I will be Wan He."
The next instant, the recognition ceremony officially began. Azure Ring stepped aside, the Wheel of Cause and Effect slowly rotating behind her, but no longer interfering. She knew very well that any external interference at this moment would disrupt the integrity of the recognition process itself. Wan He stepped forward, raising her hands. No physical divine sword appeared in her palms, only a constantly collapsing and expanding illusory white light domain, the original form of "Void Realm Annihilation Breath". The light domain suddenly flipped, as if the world had been forcibly folded. The space beneath Qin Yu's feet silently collapsed, and he was pulled into a gray-white world without up or down, without near or far.
In that world, time lost its flow, space lost its boundaries, and Qin Yu saw not enemies, but "himself." One possible future after another was projected before him. In some, he was erased by the Nameless Judgment before even entering the Chaos Realm, leaving no trace of his existence; in others, he successfully ascended, only to have his Realm-Self Return to Zero in a higher-level cleanup, even the knowledge that "I once existed" no longer held true; and in still others, he wielded countless supreme powers, yet in a single choice, he personally denied the meaning of his own existence, turning into a blank space of self-annihilation. These scenes were not illusions, but rather the lingering shadows of possibilities that had been truly acknowledged and then severed by the Void Authority World-Annihilating, like countless silent judgments, approaching layer by layer.
In the void, Wan He's voice was no longer gentle, but became clear, calm, and absolute. "Recognizing the Lord is not submission, but confirmation. You must face all the 'erased versions of yourself' and answer one question—when all possible versions of yourself can be denied, why do you still exist?" As her voice fell, those lingering images of the future began to overlap and collapse, transforming into a "Line of Does Not Exist" that stretched across the gray world. At the other end of the line was the complete Realm-Self Return to Zero.
Qin Yu stood still, neither retreating nor resisting. He didn't swing his sword, nor did he unleash any supernatural powers; he simply closed his eyes slowly, letting the erased possibilities of the future pass through his consciousness. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was unusually calm, as if he had already seen the answer, "Because existence is not for being acknowledged." His voice echoed in the Boundless Realm, "But because I chose to come to this point."
The moment those words fell, the "Line of Does Not Exist" suddenly shattered, and the gray-white world broke into billions of light fragments like a mirror. The Void Realm Annihilation Breath around Qin Yu and rapidly flowed back, Wan He's figure reappeared in reality. The final step of the recognition ceremony was completed. She knelt on one knee, her forehead touching the void. The purple-silver light transformed into an extremely fine cutting mark, which disappeared into the depths of Qin Yu's sea of consciousness, but left no sense of restraint. Instead, it was like an empty space that had been recognized.
The instant the recognition was successful, Qin Yu's consciousness was briefly pulled deeper. He saw a world beyond description—a world without light or darkness, without life or death, without the distinction between observer and observed. All concepts dissolved into each other on the same level; it was the true state after "Realm-Self Return to Zero." At that moment, he clearly realized that if Wan He wished, even his present self could be completely negated. The afterimage vanished in a flash, and Qin Yu stood once again in the void before the exit. His aura seemed unchanged, yet he possessed a stability that could not be easily judged.
Wan He stood up and stood beside him, her expression calm and resolute. Azure Ring clicked her tongue softly, her tail flame flickering as if confirming that something had finally settled.