Qin Yu followed the calamity trail that had been forcibly suppressed but still retained its warmth all the way south. As the sky of the Void Obliteration Domain gradually lowered and darkened, he stopped at the edge where the realms intersected. Ahead of him, an ancient forbidden domain that should have been full of danger and the echoes of life was lying between heaven and earth in a state of almost "flattening"—the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return.
This place was originally one of the most mysterious forests in the southern part of the Void Obliteration Domain. The trees had shadows as their roots and souls as their leaves. They were dark during the day but cast countless afterimages at night. The Asura Immortal Hall had set up multiple layers of blockade here, with high-ranking disciples and law enforcement elders stationed here year-round. Any outsider who stepped within three steps would be dragged into the depths of no return by the Shadow Devouring Rules of the forest, and even their name would be slowly eaten away.
At this moment, Qin Yu stood outside the forest domain, only feeling a chilling emptiness. It wasn't the safety that came after the danger had disappeared, but rather Emptiness even the "danger itself" had been stripped away beforehand. The outer forest belt of the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return stood withered like a corpse, the towering shadow trees had lost the flowing shadow patterns that should have appeared, and the shadow soul runes on the tree trunks that had once wriggled like living things were all stiffened, as if forcibly stopped by an invisible hand.
The wind swept through the forest, no longer carrying low murmurs, but instead swirling up fine, grayish-black dust—the remnants of life, worn away to the point where even a remnant soul could not coalesce. Qin Yu's gaze swept slowly across the edge of the forest. He saw no bloodstains, no signs of battle, Does Not Exist even the chaotic aftermath of their escape. It was as if everything here had been "cleared out" at some predetermined moment, and then quietly awaited something to come.
He muttered to himself, his voice unusually clear in the deathly silence, "Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return... Isn't this the jurisdiction of the Asura Immortal Hall? How come... there isn't even a single resident disciple?" The further he looked into the forest, the more intense the anomaly became. The Shadow Devouring rules, which should have progressed in layers, seemed to have had their main trunk removed, leaving only an empty shell of laws. Deep within the forest, large areas displayed smooth fault lines, as if repeatedly crushed.
It was as if some being had deliberately "walked ahead" here, clearing away all variables that might interfere with subsequent actions. Qin Yu could even sense several causal nodes that had been forcibly stripped away. Those nodes originally belonged to the patrol system of the Asura Immortal Hall, but now only broken logical echoes remained, emitting almost inaudible wails at the edge of his perception.
He didn't rush in. Instead, he completely suppressed his outward aura, minimizing his presence. The Silent Origin Stainless Sword lay quietly deep within his Fate Soul, without stirring up the slightest ripple. Qin Yu knew very well that the ability to Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return to this extent was not merely for slaughter or destruction. This place was being "prepared," and the target of that preparation was very likely the true target of the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng.
He slowly stepped into the first shadow realm of the forest. The shadow soil beneath his feet did not try to devour his shadow as before, but instead, like a shell devoid of instinct, allowed his presence to pass through. At this moment, Qin Yu's consciousness was completely immersed in the undercurrent of causal logic. He no longer pursued the apparent whereabouts of the calamity beast, but instead chose to go against the traces of being cleared, exploring little by little the true reason why this forbidden area had been stripped away, reorganized, and "given way".
After Qin Yu stepped into the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return, he did not rush to delve into its core. Instead, he walked slowly along the edge of the forest. His senses were like an invisible yet extremely intricate net, spreading out little by little along the earth's veins, shadow patterns, and remaining rules. Soon, he realized that the anomaly did not come from "destruction," but from "complete erasure."
Beneath an ancient shadow tree, entirely black yet still bearing faint shadow patterns, he stopped, raised his hand and pressed it against the trunk. The moment his fingertips touched it, the shadow patterns, long since lifeless, briefly lit up before dissipating into tiny ripples of logic.
Within these ripples, Qin Yu saw traces of forced stripping—not the remnants of a battle, but the empty space left after the precise dismantling of the "core sealing structure" used by the Asura Immortal Hall to suppress the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return.
It was an extremely calm and skillful technique. The seal was not violently destroyed, but rather extracted layer by layer, like dismantling a well-understood array. In the remaining echoes of cause and effect, Qin Yu saw scenes being "deleted": the elders of the Asura Immortal Hall stood at the heart of the forest, their bloodlines connected to the Shadow Devouring Rules, and the disciples lined up in all directions, maintaining the balance of the entire forest domain. In the next instant, these scenes were erased from the "existence record" by an invisible hand, leaving only blank logical gaps.
Qin Yu's gaze darkened slightly. He was now certain that this was a premeditated massacre. The Asura Immortal Hall's garrison, all the Asura Immortal Hall's Void Emanation Realm disciples, were directly "removed" from the causal dimension without any chance of resistance.
He continued deeper into the forest. The further he went, the more subtle aura of the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return began to change. Beneath the gray, shadowy soil, a new pulse was faintly reviving, as if the long-suppressed logic of life was slowly returning. Just as Qin Yu stepped into a completely cleared area in the heart of the forest, the shadow beneath his feet suddenly stretched and twisted uncontrollably, then abruptly detached from his body, transforming into a dark passage leading directly to the deepest part of the forest.
Almost simultaneously, an ancient and boundless will awakened from the deepest part of the Forest of No Return, drawing Qin Yu with an irresistible pull, forcibly dragging him into the lowest level of the forbidden domain.
The world seemed to flip at that moment. The once cold, decaying, and death-filled Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return was as if an invisible giant hand had abruptly shifted the scale of time, and the deathly aura receded like a tide. When Qin Yu steadied himself, the scene before him had completely changed.
--The pitch-black shadowwood began to lose its deathly color from its roots, the bark cracked open to reveal a jade-like interior, and new buds sprouted from its branches and leaves in just a few breaths, layer upon layer of emerald green spreading out like waves. The sky was no longer low and dark, but was shrouded in a layer of warm light, the light not dazzling, but carrying a gentleness that soothed even the Fate Soul.
Above ground, the once scorched earth of Shadow Soil surged and reorganized, transforming into fertile and vibrant spiritual soil. Clear water gushed from the cracks in the forest, its surface reflecting the brilliance of the sky, as if turning the entire forbidden area into a slowly unfolding scroll.
Flowers bloom among the shadowy trees, their colors vibrant yet understated. Each petal is adorned with subtle patterns of light, like the first strokes of life. The wind rustles through the woods, no longer bringing a low, mournful cry, but instead carrying the fragrance of grass and trees, gently brushing against Qin Yu's robes.
What was most shocking was not the sudden vitality, but that Qin Yu clearly perceived something amidst this breathtakingly beautiful spring scenery—this was not an illusion, nor a temporary change in environment, but the revival of the "primordial will" of the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return, which had been suppressed for countless years.
Death, devouring, and no return are merely the outer shell of rules imposed upon this place. The true origin of this place is an ancient forest of life before it was polluted. At this moment, it is reshaping itself in an almost magnificent way, as if welcoming a witness who is capable of stepping into its deepest depths.
Qin Yu stood in the center of the interplay of light and shadow in the forest, his gaze calm yet wary. He knew very well that such a revival could not have been without reason. The seal of the Asura Immortal Hall had been erased, the whereabouts of the Glazed Dao-Extinguishing Zheng pointed to this place, and the ancient will of the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return forcibly pulled him into the deepest layer at this moment—all of this was pointing to a truth that had been deliberately hidden.
At this moment, the light and shadow in the deepest part of the Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return completely froze. The originally warm and spring-like world suddenly lost the concept of "flow." The wind stopped, the leaves ceased, and even the gurgling water was invisibly smoothed out. Qin Yu in the center of the forest and felt as if his Fate Soul was being slowly examined by an unseen pair of eyes. In this moment of Ultimate silence, the light between heaven and earth began to converge upwards, as if drawn by some higher level of will.
It was not mere light, but a "phantom framework" woven from countless shadow patterns, causal remnants, and the essence of Asura. Within the light and shadow, a magnificent Asura phantom, too grand to be measured by conventional standards, slowly appeared. It was not a physical entity, yet it gave people a sense of oppression heavier than reality. The phantom was entirely composed of a mixture of deep darkness and crimson radiance, as if it were superimposed from countless war remnants. Its outline was indistinct, sometimes clear as a deity, and sometimes dissipating into surging shadow mist.
Its face could not be fully seen; only a pair of Space Silence and deep eyes could be barely discerned. There were no pupils there, but they seemed to reflect the afterimages of countless worlds coming and going.
When it spoke, no true "sound" was uttered. It was a resonance that acted directly on the depths of Fate Soul, deep, magnificent, and layered, like billions of Asura chanting at the same moment, or like the echo of an ancient battlefield at the end of time. Each word did not vibrate from the air, but emerged simultaneously from Qin Yu's sea of consciousness, Fate Soul, and causal chain, slowly falling with an irresistible weight:
"The mysterious mirror floats in the ruins, and obsessions take form—"
As the first sentence fell, the light and shadow around Qin Yu trembled slightly. He seemed to see countless shattered mirrors floating in the void, each reflecting a different obsession and the remnant of the self.
"The shadow resembles my appearance; reality and illusion are mutually unreliable—"
The silhouette of the phantom briefly overlapped with Qin Yu's figure in this sentence, as if hinting at some kind of inheritance, or as if denying all verifiable reality.
" To Break Delusion, one must Void Evolution to attain the Dao."
As this sentence rang out, the vitality of the entire Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return rippled gently, and beneath the spring breeze, a deeper layer of nihilistic veins vaguely emerged, as if reminding us: to transcend illusion, one must first relinquish attachments.
"Only by dispelling attachments can one see Silent Profundity."
As the last word fell, the crimson radiance surrounding the Asura phantom suddenly dimmed, leaving only a nearly imperceptible wisp of clear light that flickered slowly on the phantom's chest.
Qin Yu stood rooted to the spot, his brows furrowing involuntarily. He could clearly sense that this wasn't an attack, nor a test of power, but rather an ancient declaration sealed here, open only to those who "arrive." He subconsciously muttered to himself, his tone unusually tinged with confusion and wariness, "... What the hell? The ancestor of the Asura Immortal Hall? Or some kind of obsession left behind by the Asura?"
However, before his words had even finished, the wisp of "Silent Profundity Light" on the chest of the Asura phantom suddenly magnified, transforming into a pure beam of light that pierced through heaven and earth. The light contained no temperature, nor any impact, yet in the instant it appeared, it directly transcended the concepts of space and defense, precisely striking Qin Yu's Fate Soul logic. In the next instant, Qin Yu felt his connection with the outside world forcibly severed; his vision, perception, and the flow of time all broke down simultaneously. He didn't even have time to react before he was completely absorbed by that light.
The world turned upside down, and the scene of Shadow-Devouring Forest of No Return rapidly receded before his eyes, turning into countless shattered fragments of light and shadow. Before completely losing consciousness, Qin Yu only had time to grasp one thought—this was not a coincidence, but a "guidance" that had been waiting for him deep within the realm of cause and effect.