The Chaos Formation restrictions slowly closed beneath Qin Yu's feet, and the still unordered void suddenly developed a sense of "layers," as if the heavens and earth had been forcibly divided into front and back, near and far. Immediately afterward, imperceptible ripples spread across the void, without sound or energy fluctuations, yet causing Qin Yu's Fate Soul to instinctively tense up.
The next instant—ten figures simultaneously appeared from different directions within the Chaos Formation.
They didn't "walk out," but rather seemed to be "drawn" directly from nothingness. Initially, they were just outlines, then gradually solidified, and finally fully manifested in Qin Yu's vision.
Those were ten Phantom Yao Spirits.
Their appearance is that of long, slender bodies, with an almost transparent, luminous form, as if outlined by flowing mist and starlight. Beneath their skin are not flesh and bones, but fine and elegant light patterns, like countless tiny galaxies slowly flowing within them. Each light pattern is extremely restrained and unassuming, yet it carries a sense of refinement and order that transcends the level of living beings.
Their heads have soft lines and facial features that are almost humanoid, yet clearly transcend human aesthetics. A faint point of light floats between their brows, like an unignited star core. Most bizarrely, behind them are several "limbs" formed from light mist that slowly unfurl, like ribbons, tentacles, or wings that are not yet fully formed. They sway naturally in the void, and each slight movement stirs up a cloud of fine light dust, yet no energy leaks out.
They floated silently, their posture elegant and Kong Ling.
There was no Demon Qi, no oppressive force, not even—no fluctuations in cultivation level. Qin Yu's pupils contracted almost imperceptibly for a moment.
He clearly sensed that within these ten Phantom Yao Spirits, there were no traces of cultivation levels, no chaotic aura, no trace of power circulation, and even the concept of "cultivation" itself seemed to have never existed within them. They were like "images" directly projected into this Chaos Formation, rather than beings that existed through cultivation and power.
This is precisely why the sense of danger is amplified.
In the Gloomy Mist Soul-Entangling Swamp, the most terrifying thing is never the powerful beings, but those things that cannot be measured by cultivation level.
Qin Yu did not take a single step back.
His right hand slowly rose, palm facing upward, the movement extremely slow, yet carrying an undeniable sense of stability. The next moment, a silent and profound sword light condensed and took shape in his palm— the Silent Origin Stainless Sword silently appeared.
The sword was not dazzling; instead, it resembled a "blank space" compressed to its Ultimate. All light that approached it was gently swallowed up, leaving only a barely perceptible, cool glow on the edge of the blade. The moment the sword appeared, the surrounding chaotic void, which was still in disarray, seemed to be forcibly "calibrated." The ambiguity of space was briefly suppressed, and the sense of presence beneath one's feet became clear again.
Qin Yu held his sword in one hand, the blade slightly lowered, yet his gaze remained fixed on the ten Phantom Yao Spirits ahead.
His aura was completely concealed, with no killing intent released and no power surging, yet he was like a sword half-drawn from its sheath, ready to cleave this chaotic and undefined world at any moment.
The ten Phantom Yao Spirits remained motionless.
They were merely "watching" Qin Yu —not with their eyes, but with a perception closer to the level of his Fate Soul. Limbs, like shimmering mist, slowly unfolded behind them, forming a faint echo between them, as if waiting for some command yet to arrive, or as if confirming whether Qin Yu was worthy of being "responded to".
The Chaos Formation's restrictions completely closed at that moment. The Chaos Formation truly "operated" at that instant.
It wasn't a roar, a burst of light, or any kind of tremor in terms of power, but rather an extremely strange sense of dislocation— Qin Yu was clearly standing in place, yet for a moment he had the illusion that "he was being seen," not by his physical body, not by his aura, but by something that directly bypassed all external levels and gazed upon his soul and Fate Soul essence itself.
The ten Phantom Yao Spirits raised their heads simultaneously.
Without focused gazes or flashes of murderous intent, the unlit points of light between their brows trembled slightly at the same instant, and then—the points of light went out.
The next instant, Qin Yu's heart sank.
It wasn't an attack on him, but rather that the "outline of his Fate Soul" deepest within his consciousness was gently touched by something invisible, like a cold fingertip touching the boundary of his Fate Soul that hadn't yet fully manifested. It wasn't tearing, it wasn't erosion, but a measurement—as if confirming "who you are," "where you come from," and "whether you are qualified to continue existing."
The figures of the ten demon spirits changed simultaneously.
They did not advance, nor did they release any material energy. Instead, extremely subtle "soul ripples" began to appear on the edges of their bodies, like water being gently stirred by something invisible. The ripples did not spread through space, but directly crossed space and reflected into Qin Yu's soul level.
Qin Yu's vision was forcibly "turned inward" at this moment.
The Gloomy Mist Soul-Entangling Swamp, the Chaos Formation, and the forms of demonic spirits outside faded away. What he "saw" was the silent realm deep within his Fate Soul that bore everything—the soul consciousness endured silence, all causes Return to One, Gate of Silent Origin stood quietly at the original origin.
And right at the edge of this origin point—ten unfamiliar "soul shadows" are being projected in simultaneously.
They lack complete self-awareness and are more like activated soul modules. Each soul shadow approaches Qin Yu's Fate Soul Nucleus in a different way: some try to align with his soul consciousness frequency, some imitate his causal rhythm, and some simply "reenact" the path he once took to enter the Silent Origin, attempting to embed themselves through resonance.
This is not an attack. This is a probing attack.
It is the final screening of "entrants" by the Chaos Formation —whether you possess Fate Soul structure sufficient to bear the subsequent cause and effect.
Qin Yu's gaze turned completely cold at that moment.
He neither retreated nor shut down his consciousness, but instead made an extremely dangerous yet absolutely clear-headed choice—to take the initiative and meet the attack head-on.
His soul consciousness no longer restrained itself, but instead slowly spread out with "silence" as its core. It was not an outward display of soul pressure, but a pure manifestation of Fate Soul: without concealment or disguise, allowing his Fate Soul logic to be fully exposed in front of these ten soul shadows.
In that instant—the "soul shadow" of the first Phantom Yao Spirits changed.
Its previously blank soul structure suddenly solidified, and the sense of silence completed its cycle within it, as if it had finally found a template to project onto. The next moment, an incomparably clear boundary mark emerged deep within its soul shadow—
The Silent Source Realm: All realms Annihilation, all causes Return to One. Only when the soul and consciousness bear this tranquility can one enter the source.
Almost simultaneously, the soul shadows of the other nine demon spirits also completed their "anchoring." They were no longer Emptiness; instead, they began to copy, analyze, and deduce the Silent Origin Logic within Qin Yu 'Fate Soul.
Then—growth began. It wasn't about cultivation or accumulation; it was about synchronous leaps.
A moment later, the soul shadow of the first demon spirit trembled, the Silent Origin Closed Loop was forcibly stretched and reconstructed, and the boundary marker collapsed and was reshaped.
With the second breath, it has already stepped into the next level.
In the third breath, the outline of the soul shadow became more stable, and its presence increased dramatically.
Fourth breath... Fifth breath...
Qin Yu clearly sensed that it wasn't just one demon spirit breaking through, but ten Phantom Yao Spirits ascending in sync with his Fate Soul, using it as a reference. Each of their realm leaps was a reverse verification of Qin Yu's Fate Soul structure.
As the seventh breath fell, the soul of the first demon spirit had completely escaped the realm of "perception".
It is still there, but it can no longer be directly observed by the soul.
The Severed Observation Realm: No one can be observed, no consciousness can be measured. It is the limit of Nonexistence Form, the source of conceptual disturbance.
The eighth breath, the ninth breath—the rest of the demon spirits completed the same leap in succession. Ten breaths were not yet complete.
All ten Phantom Yao Spirits, starting from a state of "no cultivation," progressed through the Silent Source Realm, advancing one realm per second, directly to the Severed Observation Realm level.
At this moment, the Chaos Formation fully revealed its true purpose. It was neither a killing formation nor a sealing formation.
Instead, it is an extremely cruel yet incredibly precise Fate Soul filter—those who cannot withstand its deductive pressure will have their Fate Soul disintegrate during the test; while those who can withstand it will be "copied" by it, becoming part of the formation, or even... becoming nourishment for the formation.
Qin Yu finally understood completely.
These Phantom Yao Spirits initially lacked any cultivation level because they themselves Does Not Exist a fixed hierarchy. Their cultivation level depended on the upper limit of the Fate Soul of the object they were probing.
He exhaled slowly, his gaze growing increasingly calm. "I see..."
The Silent Origin Stainless Sword trembled slightly in his hand, not as a strike, but as a response.
Qin Yu's Fate Soul no longer passively endured, but for the first time—it reversed and locked onto the core of the soul structure of these ten demon spirits.
He is no longer the one being selected; rather, he has begun to reverse the selection process of the Chaos Formation itself.
The Chaos Formation completely reconstructed its true form the instant the ten Phantom Yao Spirits simultaneously entered the Severed Observation Realm.
Without the expansion of array patterns or the ascent of beams of light, the entire space Gloomy Mist Soul-Entangling Swamp instantly "froze," as if some invisible hand had pressed the pause button. The air ceased to flow, the ghostly mist solidified into layers of translucent dark gray curtains, and even the viscous shadows that had been slowly churning in the swamp remained in a state between tearing and healing. Ten demonic spirits hovered in different locations, their forms beginning to blur, their outlines transforming into countless fine soul lines. These soul lines intertwined and entwined in the void, eventually converging into a massive "resonance circuit" covering the area where Qin Yu was located.
At that moment, Qin Yu clearly sensed an extremely dangerous change—his Fate Soul was no longer just being observed and deduced, but being written into.
It's not about sealing or suppressing, but about attempting to completely solidify his Fate Soul logic into a part of the formation, making his existence a "permanent parameter" of this chaotic restriction. Once completed, he will no longer be an entrant, but an inseparable Fate Soul node extending from the formation itself.
The cultivation levels of the ten demon spirits leaped once again during the resonance.
Their presence suddenly became faint, as if they might slip out of reality at any moment, yet they firmly "stuck" the position of cause and effect at a higher level— the Void Emanation Realm. Neither existent nor nonexistent, reality and illusion intertwined, the flow of existence stopped at the formless. They no longer possessed complete forms, but occupied every key soul position in the formation in an almost rule-like manner.
The resonant circuit began to contract. Silently, yet with a heart-stopping speed. In that instant, Qin Yu raised his hand.
The Silent Origin Stainless Sword fully materialized in his hand. The sword no longer emitted any outward radiance, but instead became exceptionally "clean," as if it had been stripped from all energy systems, leaving only the purest existence. On the spine of the sword, the Silent Origin patterns, so subtle as to be almost imperceptible, lit up inch by inch, then quickly returned to their inner state, as if making a final calibration for the upcoming strike.
Qin Yu didn't shout angrily, nor did he unleash his power. He simply took a step forward.
With this step, the space beneath his feet did not shatter, but it felt as if an invisible blade had precisely sliced open a "soul layer section." The once unbreakable chain of reflection between the ten demon spirits and his Fate Soul simultaneously emitted a silent sense of collapse. It was not the sound of breaking, but a kind of "mismatch" at the level of rules—the formation was calculating, but he was no longer participating in the calculation.
The Silent Origin Stainless Sword was then swung out.
There was no scene of Sword Qi crisscrossing, no roar that tore the heavens and earth apart; the trajectory of the sword was so faint that it was almost invisible to the naked eye, leaving only a very faint, almost transparent arc. But the moment this arc passed the core of the resonance circuit, the underlying logic of the entire chaotic restriction was forcibly severed.
Soul mapping failure. Resonance circuit collapse.
The existence of the ten Void Emanation Realm demon spirits suddenly became unbalanced. Their "neither existence nor non-existence" was no longer stable, the transition between the illusory and the real was forcibly torn apart, and their soul threads vibrated wildly in mid-air, like a high-dimensional projection whose foundation had been removed. The next moment, Qin Yu's gaze turned completely cold.
He swung his sword a second time.
This time, the instant the sword fell, the entire southern edge of the Gloomy Mist Soul-Entangling Swamp seemed to be pulled into another narrative speed. The figures of the ten demon spirits froze simultaneously, and then, starting from the core, they were compressed inward as if by an invisible hand. Their Flow of Void Emanation was forcibly reversed, and the continuity of their existence was smoothed out inch by inch. There were no explosions, no screams, only an extremely clean "disappearance".
One strike. Ten Void Emanation Realm beings Annihilation simultaneously.
They did not turn into residual energy, nor did they leave behind even a trace of emptiness. They only left ten rapidly dimming voids in the original floating positions, which were then swallowed up by the ghostly mist as if they had never existed.
The Chaos Formation has lost its fulcrum.
The entire restriction began to collapse from the inside. The chaotic patterns that originally covered the area were like a skeleton that had been removed, quickly losing their structure. The ghostly mist began to flow again, and the solidified space emitted a subtle but continuous feeling of cracking. A few breaths later, the core of the formation completely collapsed, turning into a chaotic cloud of soul dust, which was slowly swallowed by the shadow of the swamp.
Qin Yu stood still, the Silent Origin Stainless Sword slowly lowering.
His aura remained perfectly undisturbed, and after a brief period of silence, the fluctuations of his Fate Soul Return to One deeper and more restrained state of stability. The first chaotic restriction had thus been completely broken.
He raised his head, his gaze passing over the still churning mist and looking into the deeper shadows of the swamp.