The concealment array slowly dissipated, and the natural echoes of cause and effect returned to the world. Only at this moment did the three leading elders truly realize how close they had come to being "completely wiped out." The leading elder of the Chaos First Palace let out a long breath, his robes already soaked with cold sweat. He stared at the direction where the Divine Phoenix had disappeared, his voice low and filled with lingering fear. "That was close... If Guest Elder Qin hadn't told us to hide immediately, that sudden movement would probably have locked onto us all."
The elders of the Lotus Immortal Hall and the Silent Nothingness Divine Hall also had solemn expressions. When they looked at each other, they could see the fear and relief in each other's eyes. Then they all cast sincere grateful glances at Qin Yu. Even those with unfathomable cultivation could only feel awe for "survival" when faced with a shadow that transcended all logic.
Qin Yu stood at the front of the formation, not rushing to respond to the thanks, but patiently spreading his aura. His speech was steady yet each word was like a nail, concisely and clearly recounting everything that had happened in the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest —from the mutation of the Judgment Core and the imbalance of Soul-Suppressing Authority, to how he and Jin Hanyan first truly sensed the outline of the "Logicless Domain" within the forest, and then to the appearance of the Divine Phoenix, whose movements were not random but carried a clear "clearing direction." He didn't exaggerate, but the more the elders listened, the more terrified they became, because it wasn't some accidental catastrophe, but an ancient and ruthless harvesting sequence unfolding.
As soon as the words fell, an elder of the Silent Nothingness Divine Hall couldn't help but speak in a low voice, his tone filled with barely suppressed gravity. "If what Guest Elder Qin said is true, then what should we do next? Should we immediately retreat to the temple, or continue patrolling outside?"
The leading elder of the Chaos First Palace then turned to Qin Yu, his gaze now showing more seriousness and reliance. "Guest Elder Qin, this matter involves far more levels than we anticipated. Should we return to the Divine Temple to set up defenses, or are there other arrangements?"
Qin Yu did not hesitate. He looked up at the distant horizon where the Divine Phoenix had disappeared, his tone calm and decisive. "Now that the Divine Phoenix has appeared, the Nine-Headed Calamity Beast and the many other creatures that have escaped from the Deep Root Lower Layers will inevitably undergo drastic changes. The most important thing now is not to pursue rashly, but to stabilize the rear. All the major temples must immediately return to defense, seal off key areas, and prevent the Calamity Beast from taking advantage of the situation."
He paused, then looked away, his voice low but carrying an undeniable resolve. "I will discreetly investigate the situation in the Black Sea. Once I confirm the true purpose of the Divine Phoenix's actions, I will return to the temple immediately."
The elders fell silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement. The leading elder of the Chaos First Palace said in a deep voice, "Very well. We will return to the temple immediately, report this matter truthfully, and strengthen the defensive barriers in each area to prevent any opportunity for calamity."
Ling Liangyan frowned slightly. She took a step forward, her voice filled with worry. "Young Master Qin, the Black Sea is extremely unpredictable. It's far too risky for you to go alone. Why don't you come back to the temple with us and discuss this further?"
Another elder from the Chaos First Palace also spoke up to dissuade him, clearly unwilling to let Qin Yu take the risk alone. However, Qin Yu simply shook his head, his gaze firm and clear. "Elder Ling, everyone, please rest assured. I am not a reckless person; I have sufficient means to protect myself. The Divine Phoenix's trip is not merely a show of force; its very appearance is a signal. If we don't figure it out quickly, by the time it truly makes its move, it may be too late to respond."
His tone was low, yet it silenced all attempts at persuasion. The crowd finally fell silent, leading their disciples back to the temple. The vast array quietly retreated on the causal plane, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
The crowd dispersed, leaving only the sound of the wind and the lingering tremors of the established order. Jin Hanyan walked to Qin Yu's side, her gaze fixed on the Black Sea, her tone calm yet firm. "Young Master Qin, this journey is perilous. I will accompany you. If anything goes wrong, I can share the burden with you."
Qin Yu glanced at her, sensing an unwavering determination in her eyes. After a moment, he nodded, offering a brief but solemn reply, "Okay, then let's go together."
In the direction of the Black Sea, the sky grew increasingly somber, as if awaiting another, more profound judgment.
The Black Sea was still a hundred miles away, yet the sky had already lowered, the clouds seemingly being repeatedly crushed by an invisible giant hand, transforming into layers of dark, surging waves that slowly rolled high in the sky. Three teams approached from different directions in parallel, not yet having joined forces, but drawn by the same "point of calamity," they were closing in on the Black Sea. Two disciples in the teams had escaped back to the Immortal Palace to report the news. The Asura Immortal Hall had also immediately summoned its forces to go to the Black Sea to exterminate the demonic beasts.
The battle formation of the Asura Immortal Hall was the most formidable, with blood-red immortal patterns intertwining in the void, faintly revealing an aura of both killing intent and order. The Heavenly Sha Alliance of the Nine Alliances Gang unleashed its killing intent, with its Sha Qi swirling like black flames. The gang leader, Li Tiansha, stood at the head of the formation, his aura stabilized, yet traces of the shock from his previous hasty escape remained. The group from the Clear Origin Heavenly Palace appeared restrained and calm, their Dao patterns spreading out layer by layer like water, attempting to suppress the increasingly unsettling causal fluctuations from the Black Sea direction with the "Pure Source" method.
Just as the three teams were about to step into the area dozens of miles outside the Black Sea—
Suddenly, the world fell silent.
It wasn't that the wind stopped or the clouds dispersed, but rather that "sound itself" was briefly removed, as if the whole world held its breath for a moment.
The next moment, a phoenix cry fell from the high heavens.
It wasn't a cry that pierced the air, but rather it resounded directly in the consciousness of all living beings—high-pitched, mournful, and indifferent, carrying a final rhythm that transcended narrative. The cry wasn't long, but the moment it rang out, it forcefully overwhelmed all logical structures of "self-explanation," as if treating the world as a tattered manuscript that could be torn up at will.
"Sound--!"
As the first phoenix cry rang out, the void shattered like a mirror. The elders of the Asura Immortal Hall paled and shouted, "Not good—everyone, stabilize your divine seas!"
Before the defensive formation could fully close, the second phoenix cry had already arrived.
This sound was clearer than the first, yet also more cruel. It was no longer just a vibration, but began to "correct". The causal anchor points in the divine seas of dozens of disciples whose cultivation was still at the Void Emanation Realm level were directly erased. Their entire bodies lost the continuity of existence on the spot. Their physical bodies had not yet collapsed, but their souls had been completely severed. Before they could even scream, they turned into a meaningless gray-white light dust and scattered with the wind.
The array was thrown into chaos instantly.
The third phoenix cry followed immediately.
This time, the cry seemed to descend from beyond the heavens, carrying a condescending scrutiny that directly crushed into the core of everyone's logic. Li Tiansha, the leader of the Heavenly Sha Alliance, groaned, as if struck by a heavy blow. The Causal Loop within his chest violently backfired, causing him to uncontrollably spit out a mouthful of blood, his aura instantly plummeting. Had it not been for the simultaneous intervention of several elders from the Asura Immortal Hall, who forcibly superimposed defensive formations and locked his location, this cry would have been enough to "delete" him on the spot.
High in the sky, only chaotic breathing and the lingering echoes of the phoenix's cry remained.
On the other side, a hundred miles outside the Black Sea, Qin Yu and Jin Hanyan were both startled.
The aftershocks of the phoenix's cry traveled across space, still carrying a heart-palpitating sense of oppression, but the defensive formations around the two of them lit up immediately. Layers of causal protective rings unfolded like star trails, forcefully isolating the "unreasonable sound" that attempted to invade their divine sea, only stirring up rapid ripples of light on the surface of the formation.
Jin Hanyan frowned slightly, her breathing a little erratic, but she quickly regained her balance and whispered, "They're here... faster than I expected."
Qin Yu looked up in the direction from which the phoenix cry came, his gaze calm to the point of being almost icy. He could clearly sense that it was not an indiscriminate intimidation, but an extremely precise "cleanup operation"—anything deemed to potentially interfere with the Black Sea's progress would be eliminated in advance.
The Divine Phoenix doesn't care who belongs to which faction.
It only cares about who still "has the right to exist".
The aftershocks of the phoenix's cry had not yet completely dissipated, and the clouds above the Black Sea were still churning and twisting, as if being repeatedly kneaded by some invisible will. Dozens of miles away, the forces of the Asura Immortal Hall, the Nine Alliances Gang Heavenly Sha Alliance, Clear Origin Heavenly Palace forcibly stabilized their formation amidst the chaos. The remaining protective array runes flickered in the void, and many disciples were pale-faced, their souls not yet fully recovered from the phoenix's cry.
Li Tiansha stood in the center of the formation, his chest heaving violently, blood still lingering at the corner of his mouth. His gaze was fixed on the direction of the Black Sea, his voice filled with undisguised terror and trembling. "This is not right... This is definitely not the aura of the Abyssal Wheel Beast Crown. No matter how strong the Abyssal Wheel Beast Crown, it couldn't possibly disrupt our existence logic with just a single cry."
An elder from the Clear Origin Heavenly Palace slowly raised his hand and pressed it against the still trembling Destiny Plate, his face solemn to the point of being gloomy. "In that cry, there was neither 'beastly nature' nor 'demonic origin,' but rather it seemed more like... a judgment declaring 'deletion.'"
The elder leading the Asura Immortal Hall had turned completely pale. He abruptly turned his head, his gaze as sharp as a knife as it fell on the two disciples who had brought the news. His voice was low and suppressed. "Didn't you say it was just the Abyssal Wheel Beast Crown?"
The two disciples knelt down almost simultaneously, their words rapid and disordered. "Elder, please be wise! We witnessed with our own eyes that the Abyssal Wheel Beast Crown truly appeared, and our second senior brother, Zhang Ning, was also present! However, the chaos erupted later, and we were scattered. We would never dare to deceive the Temple! Once he returns to the Temple, he can prove that we are telling the truth. Elder, you can examine our souls to find out."
A brief silence spread through the formation, as if the air had been compressed into a heavy block of iron.
The elder of the Clear Origin Heavenly Palace was the first to suppress his aura and said coldly, "Now is not the time to assign blame. Just those three phoenix cries have already cost us dozens of lives. If we continue forward, we will only be wiped out."
The elder of the Asura Immortal Hall took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger, and waved his hand. "Withdraw. Everyone, immediately evacuate a thousand miles from the Black Sea, seal off the news, and we will discuss this further back in the palace."
As the command was given, the three-way formation quickly retreated, the protective array recoiled, and a large number of figures rapidly retreated in the void, with no one daring to look back at the Black Sea once more.
In the shadows high above, Qin Yu and Jin Hanyan stood silently suspended.
The aftershocks of the phoenix's cry also swept over their protective formation, causing the space around them to tremble slightly. However, all the tremors were weakened by the pre-laid cause and effect and the Order Adjudication, leaving only a low echo like distant thunder.
Jin Hanyan withdrew her gaze, her tone unusually grave. "That sound is merely an echo. The true 'resonance' is not in the sound itself."
Qin Yu's gaze remained fixed on the depths of the Black Sea. After the phoenix's cry, the sea's color was no longer simply black, but rather appeared as if it had been repeatedly painted over, erased, and rewritten, presenting an unclassifiable layering of dark hues. He spoke slowly, his voice low and calm. "It's not about intimidating them, it's about selection."
Jin Hanyan was slightly taken aback, then realized. "This is a clearance operation."
Qin Yu nodded, a faint yet dangerous glint in his eyes. "The path taken by the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix was not a pursuit, nor a warning, but rather a process of eliminating 'variables that shouldn't approach the core.' They just happened to step on the edge."
Above the Black Sea, the last lingering trace of a phoenix's cry vanished completely, and the world returned to silence. But that silence was more unsettling than any noise, as if the entire region had been marked by some irreversible logic.
Qin Yu withdrew his gaze and said in a low voice, "The Phoenix Cry has ended, but things have only just begun."
Jin Hanyan looked at him, her gaze unusually serious. "Are you planning to go further?"
Qin Yu did not answer immediately, but stared at the Sea of Form of the Black Sea, which was still slowly churning, as if he were looking at a being that had not yet appeared.