The dome of the main hall of the Chaos First Palace was still slowly flowing with primordial light patterns, seemingly unshaken by the blood and fire outside. However, the moment Qin Yu stepped into the hall alone, this temple, which should have been as stable as ever, suddenly became oppressively stagnant. Azure Ring had already returned to his sea of consciousness, and at this moment, only the sound of his footsteps could be heard in the hall, clear and lonely.
Hall Master Yun Yanwan and Deputy Hall Master Yun Yanxi stood up almost simultaneously, their gazes urgently falling on Qin Yu. The next moment, they spoke in unison, their voices filled with undisguised panic and unease, "Qin Yu, why did you come back alone? Where is Liangyan? Where is Elder Liu Xu?"
Qin Yu did not answer immediately. He stood in the center of the hall, raised his hand to his brow, and the Annihilation Devil Pupil - Final Spirit Core manifested. A deep and restrained dark radiance flowed from his palm, as if an Ultimate, compressed domain was being slowly opened. A tiny but stable crack appeared on the surface of the spirit core, and a gentle and pure aura of life emanated from it. Qin Yu's movements were extremely cautious, as if he were holding up a precious treasure that could shatter at any moment.
The next instant, he pulled Ling Liangyan out of the spirit core. Her breath was weak but not yet gone, her hair fell messily into Qin Yu's arms, her clothes were tattered, and her Fate Soul fluctuations were like a candle flickering in the wind, yet it still firmly maintained its last thread of existence. She was gently enveloped by the dark light, as if the spirit core was still continuously stabilizing her Fate Soul and preventing her injuries from worsening.
Yun Yanwan and Yun Yanxi's expressions changed completely at this moment.
Fear, shock, and disbelief flickered in their eyes. Vice Hall Master Yun Yanxi almost instinctively stepped forward, taking Ling Liangyan from Qin Yu's arms. Her movements were swift and steady; her Chaos Realm aura instantly expanded, protecting Ling Liangyan completely. She took a deep breath, her words rapid yet perfectly coherent, "I'll take her to the Forbidden Hall to recover immediately. Hall Master, stabilize the main hall's formation. Qin Yu, you stay here and tell the Hall Master everything."
Before she finished speaking, she had already turned and left with Ling Liangyan in her arms. The light and shadow in the hall trembled slightly as she left, then returned to normal.
Only now did Qin Yu slowly raise his head and look directly at the Palace Master Yun Yanwan. His voice was deep and clear, without any deliberate attempt to embellish the tragic atmosphere, yet every word he uttered was truthful. He recounted everything that had happened in the Ancient Mausoleum of Shadowy Remains, from the Logic Remnants Lord of the replicable Fate Soul left to its host, to the main order calibration caused by the Abyss of the Causal Soul Logic Realm Abyss, to the awakening, transformation, and final battle of the Master Soul Dominion's dominance, bit by bit. He did not omit the irreversible price Elder Liu Xu paid in searching for weaknesses, nor did he conceal the severe injuries suffered by Wan He and Ling Liangyan, nor did he avoid mentioning Elder Liu Xu's choice and dissipation at the last moment.
When he said, "Elder Liu Xu has already sacrificed himself," the hall fell into a long silence.
Yun Yanwan closed his eyes, as if the breath in his chest had been forcibly suppressed. After a long while, he slowly exhaled, his voice filled with undisguised exhaustion and sorrow. "The disciples and elders who returned early have already reported to us that the three of you fought the Master Soul Dominion alone to buy them time. At that moment, I had a bad feeling, but I still chose to believe that you would all return together." He opened his eyes, his gaze falling on Qin Yu, complex and heavy. "Life is unpredictable... Qin Yu, it's already a stroke of luck that you were able to bring Liangyan back. At least, the disciples and the other elders have returned safely."
He paused, his voice lower but with a newfound resolve, "I will personally go to bring Elder Liu Xu's family back to the temple, settle them properly, and provide for them for life. This is Chaos First Palace owes him."
Qin Yu paused for a moment, then spoke again, his tone no longer merely declarative, but carrying a clear intent, "Palace Master, most of the Causal Soul Logic Realm Abyss within the Void Obliteration Domain have likely been Annihilation by the combined efforts of various temples, sects, and factions. However, in the northern part of the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt, there remains one last calamity beast— the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng —that has yet to appear. It leads tens of thousands of demon spirits and divine beasts, and if left unchecked, the consequences will be unimaginable. I intend to go there alone and completely Annihilation it. Moreover... these Causal Soul Logic Realm Abyss may very well be part of the scheme orchestrated by the Thought Severance Devouring Emperor."
Yun Yanwan's brows furrowed slightly, then he nodded. "This journey is perilous, but you're right, we can't delay any longer." He added in a deep voice, "There's another matter. The Palace Master of the Silent Nothingness Divine Hall and the elders of the Lotus Immortal Hall have sent me messages. When they were fighting in various parts of the Void Obliteration Domain in the Causal Soul Logic Realm Abyss, they never saw any trace of the Asura Immortal Hall or the Nine Alliances Gang. This is extremely unusual, but we have no way to investigate it for the time being. The Vice Palace Master and I need to stay in the Divine Palace and should not act rashly. Moreover, with the frequent appearances of the Abyss, we cannot send any more disciples out to investigate."
His gaze returned to Qin Yu, and his tone was solemn, "If you go to the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt, be sure to pay attention to the movements of the Asura Immortal Hall and the Nine Alliances Gang, and find out why they have not shown up. There is probably something else going on behind this."
Qin Yu nodded slowly, "I understand, Palace Master. I will investigate this matter thoroughly."
He immediately took a step back, bowed solemnly, and without saying a word, turned and left the main hall. His figure gradually disappeared into the distance amidst the chaotic light patterns, as if the next step would lead him into an even deeper storm.
The sky over the Northern Territory of the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt always presents a deathly gray-white hue, as if scorched by fire. The wind swirls high in the sky, yet brings no life; it's as if even time itself has been dulled and coarsened here. When Qin Yu stepped into this region alone, the wasteland beneath his feet silently crumbled. Fine, dark red sand particles hovered around him, then quietly fell under an invisible pressure. His aura was completely concealed, but it didn't disappear; instead, it merged with the Silent Origin rhythm of the entire world, making the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt itself seem like an extension of him.
Standing atop the desolate plain, his gaze slowly swept across the distance. His Void Emanation Realm divine sense no longer expanded linearly, but instead, anchored by Causal Retracing and the aftershocks of his Fate Soul, probed downwards against the remnants of time into the crevices between the earth and the void. In an instant, the "past" of the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt was revealed. Countless fragmented echoes of battle, erased Fate Soul fluctuations, and lingering demonic Spiritual Qi emerged layer by layer, like ashes being lifted. Qin Yu clearly "saw" that the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng had not fled as everyone had speculated. It, along with tens of thousands of demonic spirits and divine beasts, remained in place. However, the entire area had been forcibly separated from the normal narrative of the Source of Epochless by an extremely high-level isolation technique, as if banished into a "gap where no one could see it."
It wasn't a simple concealment, but a manipulation imbued with absolute coldness— Qin Yu confirmed almost instantly that this was the work of the Thought Severance Devouring Emperor. The structure of that isolating power was completely identical to the Fate Soul- level patterns of the traps he and Jin Hanyan had encountered; both were pre-arranged dead ends, waiting to be triggered, cruel designs that disguised "inevitable encounters" as "accidental stumbles." The wind in the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt seemed to freeze for a moment, but Qin Yu's eyes grew even calmer, with no outward display of anger, only a deeper killing intent slowly condensing in his heart.
He didn't act immediately. Instead, he raised his hand and gently drew a line in the air. The sword intent of the Silent Origin Stainless Sword didn't materialize, but instead transformed into an invisible "tracing imprint," extending along the residual Fate Soul radiation of the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng. This time, he no longer merely tracked the existence itself, but directly locked onto the "causal intersection point" where the calamity beast had come into contact with external forces. That causal line wasn't straight; instead, it was deliberately twisted, cut, and then reattached, like a route that had been repeatedly modified, attempting to guide the pursuer in the wrong direction.
However, when Qin Yu overlapped his Fate Soul Order Adjudication with that of Void Evolution Jiwu, all pretense lost its meaning at that moment. The causal line was completely restored before his eyes, ultimately pointing to a coordinate that made even the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt itself tremble slightly— the Nine Alliances Gang, the Nine Heavens Gate.
In that instant, Qin Yu's aura tightened abruptly, only to return to absolute calm in the next breath. Without any hesitation, without summoning any reinforcements, and without even glancing back at this desolate region, he felt the space beneath his feet being torn apart. The boundary wall seemed to be sliced open by a sharp, invisible will, emitting a barely audible groan. The storm in the Northern Territory of the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt was left behind, while the area where the Nine Heavens Gate was located was rapidly approaching in his perception.
He stepped into the rift, and before his figure disappeared, he left behind only a fleeting but undeniable aftershock of the Silent Origin.
The moment Qin Yu stopped ten miles away from the Nine Heavens Gate, the entire world seemed to be pressed down by an invisible giant hand, the air freezing so solid it was almost impossible to move. Even before he had truly stepped into the Nine Heavens Gate's domain, he had already smelled that piercing and chilling "aura of termination."
There was no bloodshed, no lingering screams, no wailing of remnant souls, only a deathly silence after everything had been utterly wiped out, as if all life had been torn from the pages of the book of existence at the same time. Qin Yu looked up and saw that the once majestic Nine Heavens Gate's mountain gate had collapsed into a tilted, broken mountain; the protective array patterns had shattered into meaningless streaks of light; and fragments of laws that had been forcibly severed floated in the air, yet Does Not Exist a single trace of Fate Soul that could be attached to cause and effect remained. His pupils narrowed almost imperceptibly for a moment, and he murmured to himself from the silence, "Slaughtered so cleanly... What exactly does the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng want?"
He didn't immediately venture deeper, but slowly ascended, his figure seemingly lifted by the night, hovering directly above the dilapidated main hall of the Nine Heavens Gate. The hall beneath his feet had collapsed into irregular geometric ruins. The central axis of the main hall, once a symbol of inheritance and order, had been directly severed from the causal level by a brute and precise force. Qin Yu closed his eyes. The sword intent of the Silent Origin Stainless Sword did not manifest, but instead completely subsided. His consciousness sank into a deeper logical corridor. The lingering charm of the Void Evolution Jiwu slowly unfolded in his sea of consciousness, not to "see" what had happened, but to question "what should have remained after it happened but was deliberately erased."
In the next instant, the world reversed in his perception, and the "past" of the Nine Heavens Gate was pulled out, like a scroll that had been repeatedly rewritten. Countless lines of cause and effect tried to piece together again, but were forcibly torn apart by some catastrophic existence at the moment it was about to take shape.
Qin Yu raised his right hand, his fingertips slowly tracing lines in the void. Invisible logical markings appeared, representing his reverse deduction of the remaining laws, anchored by his own Fate Soul. Below the main hall, the previously Emptiness ground began to ripple with extremely subtle light and shadow. A gigantic beast, large enough to crush mountains, flashed by in the light and shadow, followed by tens of thousands of chaotic yet highly unified remnants of demonic Fate Soul. They were not scattered or fleeing.
Instead, it was guided by a clear "command-type causality," like a precisely commanded army. Qin Yu's consciousness continued to extend along this causal trajectory, the layers of space peeling away, and the ruins of the Nine Heavens Gate rapidly receded in his perception. The trajectory crossed the edge of the Shattered Luminary Wasteland Belt, passed through several mid-level areas torn apart by war, and finally pointed without hesitation to the south of the Void Obliteration Domain.
At that moment, Qin Yu opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade as he looked into the distance. The world south of the Void Obliteration Domain seemed to be tinged with an ominous darkness in his vision. He did not get an answer, but instead confirmed an even more dangerous fact— the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng was not running rampant out of control; it was carrying out a clear and ruthless mission, and the Nine Heavens Gate was merely a stop along its path that it had to "clear out."
In that instant, Qin Yu's aura returned to its sharpest and calmest Ultimate. Without hesitation or lingering, space was torn apart again in front of him, and the boundary wall emitted a low and short hum. His figure transformed into a silent, ethereal Silent Origin, following the trajectory left by the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng, heading straight for the southern part of the Void Obliteration Domain.