Qin Yu followed the direction the old woman pointed, his footsteps barely touching the ground, as if he were walking on a soft, warm layer of light and shadow. A faint warmth and sweet fragrance filled the air, and each breath felt like inhaling countless tiny particles of light, flowing slowly through his meridians. He quickly realized this was no ordinary spiritual energy.
Rather, it is a carefully cultivated "tranquil essence" that can soothe the mind, slow down thoughts, and allow all restlessness to naturally subside. As he continues forward, his vision suddenly opens up completely in an instant. The originally winding and secluded path seems to have been gently smoothed by an invisible hand, and the world opens up dramatically.
He stopped, his gaze fixed on the scene before him. It wasn't an ancient well, nor any architectural ruins, but an endless sea of flowers, stretching from the horizon to the very edge of his vision, as if the entire world had been rewritten into a gentle and magnificent painting, a sea of all kinds of flowers.
The flower stems are slender and upright, the petals are crystal clear like jade, some white like the first snow reflecting gold, others orange like molten fire. Light gold, warm amber, and soft milky hues overlap in the light, and extremely fine golden dust floats on the surface of the petals, like stardust or fireflies, slowly rising and falling in the air. The entire sea of flowers is not static.
As if breathing silently, the waves of flowers undulated gently with an invisible rhythm. In the distance, the flower crowns appeared and disappeared in the misty light, like floating islands of a dream. The sky seemed to hang low, thick, soft clouds descending, and deep within their bellies, a warm golden light pulsed.
It was as if the sky itself was slowly beating its heartbeat, with occasional showers of light pouring down from the gaps in the clouds, yet without dampness, transforming into countless tiny specks of light that landed on the petals and the ground, stirring up soft ripples of radiant light. Standing at the edge of the sea of flowers, Qin Yu felt exceptionally small at this moment. All the killing, scheming, and causal games were quietly pushed away by this scene. He could clearly sense that this was not an illusion, nor a decorative secret realm, but a "quiet land" deliberately preserved.
A buffer and receiving place specially prepared for dragon tamers and those who carry the Absolute Thoughtlessness. Deep within the sea of flowers, there is a faint, barely visible path, naturally formed by the flower stems. The ground is not soil, but light-colored crystalline sand that gleams with a soft light. Each step illuminates a faint ring of light.
As if in response to his arrival, Qin Yu did not rush forward, but stood quietly, letting the light and fragrance of the sea of flowers envelop him. At this moment, his mind was calmer than ever before, as if this endless sea of tulips was silently telling him that the ancient well did not need to exist in the form of a "well". The real water was flowing in this tranquility and beauty, waiting for him to understand, to use, and to receive it.
Qin Yu slowly stepped into the boundless sea of flowers. The crystal sand beneath his feet rippled with soft, restrained light the moment he landed, like ripples spreading gently on the surface of water, yet without a sound. The entire world was so still it was almost unreal; the wind stopped, the clouds hung low, and even the golden dust floating in the air seemed to be held down by an invisible hand.
Hovering in mid-air, he could clearly sense that this was not simply "beauty," but a meticulously maintained balance that, once touched, would reveal the truth hidden beneath the tranquility.
Qin Yu closed his eyes, ceasing his search for the so-called "well" with his gaze. Instead, he sank his consciousness deeper into the depths of his own Fate Soul. His breathing became long and slow, the fluctuations of his Fate Soul suppressed to an almost imperceptible level, before spreading outwards at an extremely subtle frequency, like a transparent pebble thrown into an invisible lake. In an instant,
The entire sea of flowers responded. The first thing to change wasn't the distant flowers, but the nearest strange flower in front of him. Its petals, originally as smooth and lustrous as jade, silently became almost transparent, revealing fine and complex patterns of light within, like the Fate Soul veins etched deep into the petals.
Then, a second, a third, and hundreds and thousands of strange flowers lit up one after another, as if the entire sea of flowers had been ignited, but not with blazing flames, but with a gentle and vast awakening.
Suddenly, the world lost its weight. The sea of flowers was no longer just a sea of flowers. The flower stems stretched and twisted in the light, and the petals peeled away layer by layer, only to recombine in mid-air. Countless light and shadow rose from the flowers, condensing into blurry yet real "images." These were not complete human figures, but rather beings woven from memories, emotions, and obsessions, like fragments of a soul that had been disassembled and reassembled.
When the first image formed before Qin Yu, his heart skipped a beat almost instantly. It was an extremely familiar silhouette, carrying the aura of his own youth, with sharp and stubborn eyes, burning with an almost obsessive desire for power. The light particles in the sea of flowers began to spin rapidly, as if drawn by an invisible vortex. A deep and continuous resonance resounded throughout the space, like countless tiny bells chiming together, vibrating the most hidden corners of his consciousness.
More and more flowers crumbled and reformed, images surging forth like a tide. Some represented the choices he had made, some transformed into his unspoken thoughts, and some were moments he had personally suppressed deep within his heart, moments he never wanted to revisit. They floated in mid-air.
Surrounding Qin Yu in the center, the colors of the sea of flowers began to change. The originally warm golden white gradually blended with deep shadows, and the edges of the orange petals were tinged with cold light, as if beauty and danger were overlapping in the same scene. In the image, a figure was particularly clear—it was himself who had briefly wavered before countless life-or-death choices, standing on the edge of a fork in the road of fate.
A complex light, a mixture of retreat and self-reproach, flashed in his eyes. At that moment, the space suddenly tightened, as if the entire sea of flowers was closing in on him. An invisible shockwave erupted in the air, and the golden dust was shattered into a storm of light rain, pouring down from the sky and crashing onto the petals and the ground, creating dazzling bursts of light.
Qin Yu stood firmly in place, without taking a single step back. He could clearly sense that deep within these images, there was an extremely subtle yet real "empty space." It wasn't a void in form, but rather a gap at the level of Fate Soul essence, as if something that should have existed had been deliberately hidden.
He followed that perception and slowly gathered the fluctuations of his Fate Soul, trying to touch that empty space. In an instant, the entire sea of flowers trembled, all the images froze at the same time, and then turned to him. Their gazes fell on him as if they were real. The world seemed to be frozen in time, and even the rain of light was frozen in mid-air.
The next moment, a sudden shock erupted. A deep, resonant rumble came from the depths of the sea of flowers. The ground didn't crack, but it was as if an invisible abyss was slowly opening beneath their feet. Petals detached from the stems, swirling and falling in the air, only to be lifted up again by an invisible force, forming a boundless "water surface."
The water Does Not Exist in any physical form, yet it was crystal clear in his Fate Soul's perception. It was as if all emotions, memories, and obsessions flowed slowly within it. Qin Yu knew clearly that this was the so-called "Formless Well," the true source of water. However, just as he tried to further solidify his perception, a gentle yet irresistible force suddenly rebounded.
He forcefully pushed the fluctuations of his Fate Soul back into his body. At this moment, the light of the sea of flowers suddenly softened, and all the images receded like the tide, transforming back into quietly blooming tulips, as if the shocking change had never happened.
Qin Yu opened his eyes. The sea of flowers was still unrealistically beautiful. The wind began to blow again, and golden dust drifted down slowly once more. Everything returned to stillness, as if it had just been a brief dream. But he knew very well that...
That was not failure, but the true beginning of the trial. He was not yet allowed to take that drop of "water," because in that Formless Well, there were deeper obsessions waiting to be awakened, faced, and endured. The sea of flowers quietly spread out before him, gentle yet dangerous, as if silently telling him that the real test had just begun.
After a brief period of tranquility, the sea of flowers changed once again. But this time, it was not a sudden, shocking explosion, but a slow and irreversible transformation that was almost imperceptible. The wind was still gentle, and the light was still soft, but Qin Yu realized in the first instant that the test of the strange sea of flowers had started again.
The first thing to change was the "direction" of the sea of flowers. The strange sea of flowers that had once stretched out endlessly was now gradually converging in the perception of the Fate Soul, as if the entire world was quietly tilting. Countless flower stems bent slightly, and the petals turned toward the same unknown center. The ground was no longer a flat expanse, but rather like a slowly rotating star disk. Qin Yu stood in it, as if he had been placed in a huge Fate Soul ritual composed of flowers and light.
Then, the first danger appeared. The flowers didn't transform into weapons; instead, they began to "bloom with memories." Deep within the heart of each of these strange flower seas, an extremely tiny speck of light emerged. These specks of light resembled water, yet were clearer; they resembled tears, yet contained no sorrow. They floated within the flowers, reflecting not beauty.
Rather, it was all the brushes with death that Qin Yu had experienced along the way, all the prices he had paid. Those images were not concrete, but they directly affected the depths of his consciousness through the vibration of his Fate Soul. With each step forward, countless invisible echoes overlapped and amplified in his heart, as if repeatedly asking - was all of this worth it?
The colors of the flower sea began to layer; in the distance, it remained a warm golden-white, while the flowers at Qin Yu's feet gradually turned a cold, silvery-gray, their petals shimmering with tiny, frosty light, like glass kissed by frost and snow.
Tiny specks of light began to fall from the air. They didn't sting when they touched the skin, but they subtly instilled a faint weariness into the depths of Fate Soul. This wasn't a physical oppression, but a more cruel kind of consumption—making one want to stop, to give up the meaning of continuing forward.
The second danger descends silently. Invisible "gaps" appear within the sea of flowers. These are not cracks, but rather blank areas at the level of the Fate Soul. Once stepped into, consciousness is briefly pulled away from reality, plunging into an extremely gentle illusion. In that illusion, there are no enemies, no dangers, only a peaceful refuge and a carefree ease.
Qin Yu sensed the existence of these gaps several times. They were like abysses with open arms, tempting people to sink in the softest way. However, he always kept his pace steady, moving forward at an extremely slow and firm rhythm, neither speeding up nor hesitating, keeping his Fate Soul on the edge of clarity and restraint.
When the third transformation occurred, the entire sea of flowers suddenly rose higher, as if the sky and earth were stretched into a vertical composition. Countless flower stems from the strange sea of flowers extended infinitely in the light, transforming into a staircase of flowers growing upwards. At the end of that staircase, a unique flower bloomed quietly. It was not huge, but exceptionally clear, its petals a nearly transparent milky white.
Inside, a slowly rotating stream of golden light flowed, like a star frozen in time. At the heart of the flower, a drop of true "water" floated, without any form or boundary, yet perfectly clear to all the Fate Soul, as if it did not belong to the outside world, but was some kind of origin waiting to be retrieved.
However, the moment Qin Yu stepped onto the flower staircase, the final danger appeared. The staircase didn't collapse, nor did an attack descend; instead, it began to "rewind." With each step, the surrounding flowers rapidly withered, turning into grayish-white dust that fell, mirroring the path he was traversing.
It comes at the cost of destruction; the higher you go, the faster you wither, until all behind you is Emptiness. It's as if once you stop, there's no turning back. This isn't a threat to life, but a test of "choice"—whether you're willing to crush all possible paths back in order to get that one drop of water.
Qin Yu did not turn around.
He stopped at the top of the stairs, standing before the flower. He didn't reach out, but slowly closed his eyes, completely opening his Fate Soul, no longer resisting or suppressing, allowing all the lingering obsessions, questions, and burdens to flow within him, yet no longer being swayed by them.
The next moment, he opened his eyes, raised his hand and gently held the flower. Without exerting force or demanding anything, the petals slowly unfolded in his palm, as if sensing some kind of true "resonance." A drop of water slowly fell from the heart of the flower, but instead of falling, it actively merged into his palm, transforming into a gentle yet profound light.
In an instant, the entire sea of flowers burst forth with unprecedented brilliance. Withered flowers bloomed anew, the terraces transformed into a plain, and golden and white waves of light swept in from afar, yet without any oppressive force.
At this moment, heaven and earth seemed to take a breath. Qin Yu had successfully obtained that drop of water. It was not an external object, but a "gift" that appeared only after being recognized by the sea of flowers, the trial, and the Fate Soul.
Qin Yu slowly withdrew his hand, the water light disappearing into his body, and the sea of flowers returned to tranquility. Only the flower that had once borne the water droplets swayed gently in place, a faint ring of light remaining on its petals, as if silently announcing that he had successfully passed this trial.