Qin Yu in the void, the lingering storm of the Black Sea still present. He turned his head to look at the Azure Ring on his shoulder, his gaze calm yet sharp. "Let's go. It seems we're about to face a long and arduous battle." As soon as he finished speaking, his figure transformed into a shadow folded by cause and effect. The void beneath his feet contracted layer by layer, then silently closed behind him, and he vanished towards the Chaos First Palace, as if the world itself had chosen to send him off.
Inside the main hall of the Chaos First Palace, a solemn and dignified atmosphere prevailed. Chaotic patterns slowly rotated on the dome, resembling a primordial sky before the separation of Yin and Yang. On the main seat, Palace Master Yun Yanwan and Vice Palace Master Yun Yanxi sat side by side, their auras contrasting, one still and the other dynamic, like the two poles of the beginning of chaos and the return of all laws to order. To the left and right of the hall, more than ten palace elders sat in rows, each with a profound aura and restrained logic. The entire hall was like a sealed abyss, so quiet that it made one's mind unconsciously tighten.
Just as the discussion in the hall was subdued and no conclusion could be reached, a slight shift in space appeared outside the main entrance. The next instant, Qin Yu stepped into the hall. There was no thunder, no strange phenomenon, yet all eyes in the hall converged on him at the same time. Yun Yanwan was the first to rise, her tone carrying an undisguised concern, "Qin Yu, you're back. We were just considering whether to send someone to meet you." Qin Yu bowed slightly, his expression calm and respectful, "You've worried, Hall Master." Seeing that his breathing was steady and his Fate Soul unharmed, the weight that had been hanging over Yun Yanwan's heart slowly lifted. She immediately raised her hand to indicate, "It's good that you're back safely. Come, take a seat." Qin Yu sat down to the side of the Hall Master as instructed. At that moment, the atmosphere in the hall froze completely. Everyone understood that the true mystery of the Black Sea was about to be revealed.
Yun Yanwan's gaze sharpened as she stared directly at Qin Yu. "Qin Yu, what exactly happened in the Black Sea? We have withdrawn our various investigation teams, but what was the Divine Phoenix that flew out of the Corruption Soul-Suppressing Forest doing in the Black Sea? We still can't piece together the whole story. We can only wait for your return to explain it to us personally." Qin Yu picked up the Logic Immortal Tea from the table, took a sip, but the tea brought no relief. He put down the teacup, his voice not loud, but each word clearly resonated in every corner of the hall. "Hall Master, elders, the matter of the Black Sea is far more complex than a single calamity beast, nor is it simply the appearance of the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix." As soon as he finished speaking, several elders' brows twitched slightly, vaguely sensing an ominous weight approaching. Qin Yu continued, "Above the Black Sea, I confirmed an even more terrifying being, named— the Thought Severance Devouring Emperor, whose cultivation has reached the Severed Thought Realm · Pinnacle."
These words were like a cold boulder thrown directly into the previously calm sea of thoughts within the hall. Yun Yanwan's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly, Vice Hall Master Yun Yanxi's fingers, which had been hanging limply, slowly tightened, and several elders even forgot to conceal their auras for a moment, their chaotic power surging uncontrollably within them for a breath. Qin Yu, however, did not stop. His speech remained steady, yet it seemed to be constantly amplifying the heartbeats of everyone present, "This being is not native to the Void Obliteration Domain, but rather Realm Breaking from an unknown world in the Shadow Demon Valley region. After its appearance, it not only commanded the seven remaining Calamity Beasts and the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix, but also brought eight beast executors from other worlds, all at the Chaos Realm level. Beside it, there are also three terrifying beings at the Stainless Realm · Middle Stage, known as the Three Nether Yin Puppets."
No one spoke in the hall. The air seemed sealed by some invisible force, even breathing became extremely light. Yun Yanwan slowly exhaled, her voice low and deep, "The Severed Thought Realm · Pinnacle... such an existence should no longer appear in the Source of Epochless · Middle Layer." Qin Yu nodded, but his gaze was calmer than anyone else's. "More importantly, its purpose in coming here is not to conquer various regions, but to repair the most dangerous object it possesses— the Annihilation Realm-Breaking Pearl." This time, the hall was no longer just filled with fluctuations in aura, but a brief but real silence fell. The faces of the elders turned extremely ugly in an instant, Yun Yanxi even stood up directly, whispering, "The Annihilation Realm-Breaking Pearl... isn't that the forbidden object recorded in the Ancient Scripture of Epochs?"
Qin Yu didn't answer directly. He slowly rose, walked to the center of the main hall, and with a wave of his hand, unleashed his Fate Soul power and causal memories. The void seemed to be cleaved open, and scenes appeared in the hall: the surging Black Sea, the prostrate Divine Phoenix, the array of calamity-bringing beasts, and the figure standing in the air, silencing all Thought Stillness —everything seemed to be realistically recreated, pressing down on everyone's mind. Finally, the image froze on the broken bead floating in the void, gray-black cracks spreading like a spider web, the surrounding space distorting and healing unstablely, as if even heaven and earth were rejecting its existence. Qin Yu's voice slowly fell upon the image, "That is the Annihilation Realm-Breaking Pearl. Although it is now broken, it still possesses the potential to rewrite the order of levels."
He paused briefly, allowing everyone to fully process the scene before him, before continuing, "Once this bead is completely repaired, the Thought Severance Devouring Emperor can directly break through to the Realm Breaking Realm. At that time, no temple in the entire Source of Epochless · Middle Layer will be able to directly counter it." The hall fell into a deathly silence. Shock was no longer an expression, but rather a deep-seated tension and chill in the eyes of every elder. Qin Yu's gaze swept over everyone, but at the last moment, he chose restraint. He slowly said, "As for the specific conditions for repairing the Annihilation Realm-Breaking Pearl... this matter is extremely complex, and I am not yet fully certain. I can only confirm one thing: it cannot be completed in a short time."
As soon as the words were spoken, no one in the hall objected, but no one breathed a sigh of relief either, because everyone knew that this was not the end, but merely the final silence before the storm truly approached.
Within the main hall, the oppressive silence was broken, as if a Limit string had finally been plucked. The voices of the elders from various halls rose and fell, not in a clamor, but in a clash of their own sharp logics. Some advocated for the Chaos First Palace united front against the other halls, establishing an absolute suppressive domain outside the Black Sea to forcibly seal the Thought Severance Devouring Emperor and his hordes of calamities within the main battlefield. They argued for sacrificing halls for time, Fate Soul for a delay, even at a heavy cost, to prevent the Emperor from continuing his repair efforts. Others, with grim expressions, proposed a covert strategy to block the attack.
They believed that a direct confrontation would be futile, and the real chance of victory lay in cutting off its repair path, finding the weakness of the Annihilation Realm-Breaking Pearl, or interfering with its key node of "absorption progression," quietly cutting away the stairway to the Realm Breaking, and keeping it forever at the Threshold. The atmosphere in the hall was pulled back and forth between these two voices, and the chaotic patterns on the dome accelerated their rotation, as if even space itself was hesitating about which side to tilt to.
Qin Yu sat quietly to the side, not interrupting. He knew that no single word would suffice to subdue the crowd at this moment. Yun Yanxi's brows furrowed slightly, hesitating several times as if she wanted to speak, while Yun Yanwan remained seated in the main seat, her gaze like a deep pool, letting the debate churn without interrupting. Until one moment, the turbulent voices began to veer towards chaos. Yun Yanwan slowly raised his hand, and the instant his five fingers came together, all the breaths in the hall froze, as if pressed back to their original positions by an invisible hand. His voice was not loud, but it sounded like a judgment falling from the depths of chaos, "Enough."
The argument abruptly ended with that statement. Yun Yanwan rose, her gaze sweeping over each elder in the hall, her tone regaining its unwavering composure. "From now on, everyone will proceed as planned. All major areas of the Chaos First Palace will be fully staffed, the causal channels will be sealed, and the boundary nodes will be stabilized. No disciple is permitted to leave the mountain without authorization; all are strictly prohibited from leaving until further notice."
This was not a discussion, but an order. The elders, though they had a thousand unspoken words, could only respond in unison at this moment. Then they rose one by one to take their leave. The hall doors opened and closed again, and in just a few breaths, the main hall had returned to its previous emptiness and silence.
The hall was empty. Yun Yanwan and Yun Yanxi simultaneously turned their gazes to Qin Yu. There were no extra words between the three; a single glance was enough to convey a silent consensus. Qin Yu's mind stirred slightly, and he rose to follow. The three figures left the main hall one after the other, passed through several layers of inner restrictions, and stepped into an inner hall deeper within the Chaos First Palace. The inner hall was not grand, but it was extremely ancient. The walls bore the chaotic marks eroded by time, as if countless eras had once lingered and departed here.
Yun Yanwan stood still in the hall, turned to Qin Yu and said, "Qin Yu, we will wait here for the Ancestor. He will arrive shortly." Qin Yu remained calm, without the slightest surprise. He had already realized that all the hesitation and restraint he had shown in the main hall earlier were not due to indecisiveness, but rather to leave room for this moment. He nodded slightly, took his seat in the hall, and remained calm and composed.
In just over ten breaths, the air in the inner hall suddenly underwent a subtle yet fundamental change, as if some higher-level being was approaching. The space did not tear apart, but instead collapsed inward on its own. The sense of the flow of time became extremely blurred in that instant. A figure silently appeared from behind the hall. It was not that he stepped in, but rather that he was "remembered" by this space. His appearance had no light, no pressure, yet it made people instinctively lower their breath, as if any extra movement would disturb an extremely long slumber.
He was a man who appeared old but possessed a restrained spirit. His hair was as white as frost, yet it was not disheveled. His robes were simple and plain, and he did not reveal any fluctuations of power. However, the pure aura unique to the Stainless Realm · High Stage spread out quietly like an invisible lake, causing people's minds to unconsciously return to tranquility. He stood there, like a preserved historical moment, and the chaos around him lost its restless meaning.
Yun Yanwan and Yun Yanxi rose simultaneously, their expressions solemn, and bowed deeply, "Junior welcomes Ancestor." Qin Yu also rose and bowed, his movements neither humble nor arrogant, "Junior Qin Yu welcomes Ancestor." The old man's gaze fell on Qin Yu, carrying a hint of gentle scrutiny, as if he had already seen his origins and destiny countless times. He gently raised his hand, his voice unhurried, "No need for formalities, please sit down."
The three took their seats as instructed, and the inner hall returned to tranquility, but with an added weight of Ultimate composure, as if a discussion that could truly determine the future of the Chaos First Palace was about to unfold in this unassuming inner hall.