The third round was forcibly initiated without warning. Qin Yu in the deepest, darkest part of the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest. The soil beneath his feet was no longer earth, but layers of soul debris and fragments of memory corroded by time. The air was filled with a smell that seemed to be a mixture of rust and rotting flesh. Every breath eroded the very edge of his "existence." He slowly raised his head and looked at the center of the collapsing and rebuilding forest before him. There were no longer any specific tree forms there, but a massive "Judgment Core" woven from countless Cause Splitting and effects, death obsessions, and the logic of Soul-Suppressing Judgment.
It had no physical form, yet it floated there in a regular manner, like an open eye made of corruption itself, coldly overlooking all life that entered this place. The next instant, the entire Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest trembled at the same time, and all the dead trees emitted a resonant sound as if ten thousand people were chanting. The true will of the forbidden zone was fully manifested for the first time. It no longer used indirect erosion and interrogation, but instead used "Are you allowed to exist?" as the sole proposition to judge Qin Yu.
Qin Yu didn't retreat; instead, he took a step forward. The instant his foot landed, the surrounding space briefly distorted, as if stretched into a thin film by an invisible hand. His gaze completely shifted from the demonic beast, locking onto the Judgment Core. The next instant, he raised his hand, and the Silent Origin Stainless Sword manifested in his palm. However, there was no sword hum, no burst of light; instead, the entire area seemed to be emptied of sound, as if the Realm Master held its breath. The sword's strike didn't unleash energy, but rather an absolute diagonal line that "denied the legitimacy of the Judgment itself," striking wherever it passed.
The judgment logic of the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest was like a wound that had been forcibly torn open. Large swathes of rule runes were dragged out and turned into burning gray-white cracks in the air. For the first time, the will of the forbidden zone showed a delayed reaction. The entire forest suddenly went out of control. Dead trees grew upside down, soul shadows flowed backward, and memories of death overlapped in reverse, as if this forbidden zone was being forced to recall the moment when it "had not yet become a forbidden zone".
At the very instant the core of the judgment was directly shaken, the Chaos Realm · Middle Stage, let out a howl that was no longer that of a beast. The sound seemed to resonate from the simultaneous collapse of countless corrupt worlds. Its body suddenly exploded, but it did not die; rather, it completely lost its original form. Rotten flesh, bones, and black soul mud were forcibly stretched, spliced, and recombined in mid-air. The power of the Soul-Suppressing Forest's origin was no longer just "enhancing" it, but directly opening up deeper levels of authority to it. Several rifts piercing the heavens and earth tore open in the beast's back.
Twisted, gray-black soul wheels sprouted from the crack, their rims etched with corrupting propositions. Each rotation eroded the stability of the surrounding space. Its head split into a three-tiered structure: the outer layer was a beastly face that constantly rotted and regenerated; the middle layer was a humanoid face that silently roared; and the innermost layer was a corrupted core of light that continuously wrote and erased "existential pronouncements." At this moment, the aura of the demonic beast underwent a qualitative change, no longer merely possessing the destructive power of Chaos Realm · Middle Stage cultivator, but becoming the "executor" of the Soul-Suppressing Forest's judgmental will.
It took a step, but the earth didn't sink. Instead, it directly "denied" the existence of that space, leaving an unfillable, dark void. The corrupt cause and effect swept towards Qin Yu like a torrent. Every wisp of corrupt energy carried a complete "sample of a failed fate," attempting to forcibly drag Qin Yu's future into it. After a brief period of imbalance, the Soul-Suppressing Judgment Core stabilized again and began to resonate with the demonic beast. The will of the forbidden zone was no longer hidden. It clearly declared: This place refuses to be understood, refuses to be possessed, and refuses to be rewritten.
Qin Yu stood in the eye of the storm, his robes fluttering, but he no longer swung his sword forward. He clearly realized that the battle had escalated completely. This was no longer a simple duel between powerful enemies, but a direct confrontation between him and the will of an entire forbidden zone. If he made a mistake, he would not only lose a battle, but also his "qualification to exist" in this place. The demonic beast, which had mutated again, was slowly raising its giant claws covered with the corrupted soul wheel, preparing to carry out the final judgment from the Soul-Suppressing Forest.
At this moment, the depths of the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest completely lost the "silence that a forbidden zone should have." Qin Yu stood atop the void fractured after the core of judgment collapsed. Beneath his feet were not earth, but layers of surging corrupt cause and effect and fragments of Soul-Suppressing Authority. The ancient logic originally used to "interrogate existence" was like torn decrees, spinning, burning, and falling chaotically in the air. The entire forest resonated with a low and continuous sound, as if a huge judicial organ was being forcibly reversed. Qin Yu did not retreat, nor did he continue to entangle with the demonic beast executioner. His gaze passed over the enormous monster that had begun to lose control and went straight to the true core of judgment in the Soul-Suppressing Forest. It was not a specific form, but a "node of veto will" that was constantly repairing and corrupting itself.
Using the forbidden zone itself as its shell and corruption as its language, it attempted to drag Qin Yu back to the position of "the one being interrogated." Just as the will to judge converged once more and the invisible torrent of negation was about to fall, Qin Yu raised his hand. His fingertips pointed not at the enemy, but at the main causal backbone that supported the entire Soul-Suppressing Forest. The Order Adjudication structure deep within his Fate Soul was fully unfolded by him. At this moment, the world seemed to be forced to change its perspective. Causality was no longer a line, but a layer; judgment was no longer power, but a logical module that could be written and disassembled.
He simultaneously activated [Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence - Six Severances Seal - Master Book Seal Severance - Naming Reconstruction] and [Three Forms of Fate Construction - Cause and Effect Deconstruction]. The two forces were not superimposed, but nested within each other. The Master Book Seal Severance seized the "naming right," Soul-Suppressing Judgment- Suppressing Judgment from an "unquestionable Ultimate veto" to a "recorded rule entry." Cause and Effect Deconstruction, like a precise and calm hand, directly severed the most crucial Causal Loop between the core of the judgment and the entire forbidden zone. In an instant, the sky seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force, and gray-black judgment runes fell in swathes. A brief but fatal void appeared in the Corrupt Forest.
Qin Yu took the opportunity to cover his own existence with [Void Evolution Jiwu], causing his causal coordinates to be delayed and shifted in the Soul Suppression System. He did not try to become the master of the forbidden zone, but instead seized a "local Soul Suppression Authority" that was enough to shake the whole situation. In just an instant, the entire Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest lost its absolute judgment on him for the first time. The will of the forbidden zone emitted a near-disorderly roar, like an ancient machine with an unknown module forcibly inserted, which began to frantically self-examine and devour itself.
Just as the shockwaves of this collapsing judgment spread deep into the forest, the almost still, Silent Void atmosphere in the cave where Jin Hanyan sat suddenly stirred. Her world was silent, yet a remarkably clear cause and effect was forcibly straightened and amplified. It wasn't hostility, nor danger, but a connection she couldn't ignore. "It's him." This thought formed in her heart with unusual calmness, yet carried absolute certainty. "Why would he come to the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest?"
She opened her nearly transparent, icy blue eyes, her gaze seemingly piercing through layers of decaying tree shadows, locking onto the source of the core turmoil. In the next instant, her figure began to blur, her white robes and long hair like afterimages with their outlines erased, her entire being transforming into a state of "Silent Void before judgment." The corrupt logic automatically yielded before her, and she swiftly moved along the causal trajectory forcibly pulled apart by Qin Yu, each step rendering the corrupt rules of the Soul-Suppressing Forest ineffective.
At the center of the battlefield, the corrupt beast that had originally existed as the executor completely lost control the moment its judgment core was stripped of its power. The corrupt causal core within its body began to collapse in reverse, only to be forcibly pulled and reassembled by the remnant will of the forbidden zone. Its massive body repeatedly cracked, healed, and cracked again, emitting roars that tore through space. It no longer distinguished between friend and foe; it began to instinctively devour all the remnants of rules around it.
Even the corrupt logic of the Soul-Suppressing Forest itself was caught up in it. A series of rumbling sounds came from the depths of the forest. Judgment rejected judgment, corruption eroded corruption, and the entire forbidden zone showed unprecedented signs of "self-devouring". The boundary between the sky and the earth disappeared in the distortion. Time was like crumpled paper constantly turning back. The battlefield was no longer limited to one place, but the entire Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest was simultaneously heading towards the edge of collapse, like an ancient behemoth whose core had been cut open, frantically tearing at its own internal structure.
The Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest continued to tremble at a low frequency, and the remnants of the severed structure swirled in the air like decaying scriptures. Qin Yu stood in the center of the collapsing battlefield, clearly sensing that this was no longer a simple battle between demonic beasts, but rather the will of the forbidden zone using the "Executive Body" to continue exerting pressure. If this dragged on any longer, the entire forest would be drawn back into the self-devouring circuit. Therefore, he no longer hesitated. With a resolute thought, the azure presence deep within his Fate Soul, which had responded to him countless times before, was truly awakened. "Azure Ring," Qin Yu uttered, and the Azure Ring manifested.
The moment Azure Ring materialized, the corrupting causality in the air seemed to be forcibly muted. She stood beside Qin Yu, her long, dark blue hair cascading down. The translucent blue flames at the ends of her hair were no longer burning, but rather collapsing inward, forming a reverse flame shape that "rolls back towards Does Not Exist." The blue chains on her ankles trembled slightly, and the cracked remnant bell emitted a very soft yet precise "clang—" This sound was not a sound, but a precise strike to the "corruption judgment frequency."
Azure Ring raised the broken sword held upside down, her gaze finally settling on the mutated, corrupted monster for the first time. She didn't rush to strike, but instead let the sword tip droop, and blue blood tears dripped into the void, transforming into tiny yet complete Azure Ring in mid-air. These Azure Ring didn't surround the monster's body, but instead embedded themselves directly into the rapidly operating "Corruption Causal Core" within its body—the logical node used by the Soul-Suppressing Forest to maintain the monster's execution qualifications, responsible for constantly tracing "corruption" back from a result to a legitimate cause.
What Azure Ring released was not a violent annihilation technique, but rather her most suitable judgmental divine power for use on "forbidden zone executors"—[Realm Abyss Reverse Evolution]. This technique does not attack existence itself, but forcibly locks onto the target's combat skills, actions, and even the causal result of "existence being permitted," and then pushes all of this back along the causal chain to the "initial state before it was established."
The moment the Realm Abyss Reverse Evolution truly activated, the Azure Ring embedded in the core of corruption lit up simultaneously. All the corrupt logic running within the demon beast suddenly lost its "result fulcrum." Every roar, every expansion, and every repair completed by borrowing the origin of the Soul-Suppressing Forest was forcibly traced back to the origin "before it was adjudicated and permitted." The corrupt adjudication of the Soul-Suppressing Forest attempted to intervene, but was directly repelled by the Reverse Derivation Logic the instant it came into contact with the Azure Ring. The causal chain of the forest's own origin began to entangle itself and cancel each other out.
Then an extremely bizarre scene unfolded—the demonic beast was neither shattered nor burned; its massive body began to "regress in existence." Its scales receded first into the outline of uncorrupted bone, which was then pushed back into an uncondensed causal image. The image continued to regress, returning to the logical draft of the Soul-Suppressing Forest, which had not yet decided "whether an executor was needed." And at that very moment, Azure Ring gently swiped forward.
This stroke wasn't a strike, but an end. She used the broken sword to sever the starting point of "Reverse Derivation regression," trapping the monster's existence in the gap between "not being allowed to begin, yet unable to return to a state before its existence." There was no explosion, no wailing, only a very brief sound of logical collapse, like heavy pages of a book being slammed shut all at once. The corrupt monster, along with its causal core, was completely erased from all timelines and records of judgment, leaving not even the qualification of "having failed as the executor of the Soul-Suppressing Forest."
The Soul-Suppressing Forest emitted a very low echo, not of anger, but of an empty response after its authority had been forcibly revoked. The rate of decay throughout the forest noticeably decreased, and the autophagy chain was abruptly severed. Azure Ring sheathed her sword, and Qingyan became docile again. She turned to Qin Yu, her tone light as if she had only resolved a minor problem. "See, Little Qinzi, dealing with these logic-driven guys is easiest with Reverse Derivation. Remember to call me earlier next time, otherwise you'll have to reason with them, which is exhausting."
As Qin Yu watched the battlefield fall silent, his understanding of this technique became clearer. He nodded, his tone solemn and restrained. "I understand. Your power is meant to end logic that shouldn't continue, not to walk the entire path for me. I can't always rely on you when I encounter difficulties. Unless absolutely necessary, I need to handle things myself as long as I can." Azure Ring smiled, the chains on her ankles swayed slightly, the cracking bell rang again, and her figure faded away.
At that very moment, the decaying aura deep within the forest was cleaved by a more primal, calmer "nothingness," and a white figure slowly emerged from the end of the tree shadows. As Jin Hanyan appeared, the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest instinctively made way for her; the withered tree trunks ceased to ooze putrid liquid, and the corrosive patterns on the ground receded to an "undefined" state beneath her feet. She was dressed in white, still without wind, her long silver hair cascading to her ankles. Her icy blue eyes swept over the still-lingering traces of the cut, her expression remaining indifferent, yet a very subtle pause appeared the instant her gaze fell upon Qin Yu.
"It's you." Her voice wasn't loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear in the empty forest. "What are you doing here?"
The moment Qin Yu saw her Anran, his tense nerves finally relaxed a little. He didn't hide his worry and asked directly, "Are you alright? I met a direct disciple of the Asura Immortal Hall on the road, and he told me that you were forced to come here."
Jin Hanyan looked at him quietly, without responding immediately. She was used to being alone and bearing everything, used to resolving all dangers with a single thought. But at this moment, the connection she considered a "very weak cause and effect" truly responded with warmth—someone had entered the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest not because of orders, not for profit, but simply because they "knew she was here." She suppressed that fleeting change in emotion deeply, her face remaining expressionless, only her gaze softening slightly for a moment, unnoticed even by herself.