Qin Yu sat cross-legged, his figure slowly calming down in the center of the sea of flowers. The light and wind from the outside world seemed to be blocked by an invisible veil. His breathing gradually became long and steady. The drop of "water" that he obtained from the flower did not stay at the level of flesh and blood, but in the next instant, it fell silently into the depths of his sea of consciousness along the meridians of his Fate Soul.
Within the sea of consciousness, there was originally a vast and dark void, with star-like fragments of consciousness suspended within it. At its very core, a Void Divine Tree stood silently, its branches and leaves making no sound, only a sense of silence that transcended reality.
It was as if it was not born from the world, but rather a "vacancy" that existed before the world was formed. When that drop of origin truly touched the sea of consciousness, the entire void suddenly lit up.
That wasn't an eruption, but an extremely grand "awakening".
The trunk of the Void Divine Tree was the first to change. Fine, deep golden veins emerged from the previously almost transparent wood grain. These veins were not static, but rather flowed slowly within the tree, like a galaxy meandering through the wood.
In the next instant, the origin transformed into a gentle yet unbearable halo, spreading out from the roots of the divine tree. The "ground" of the sea of consciousness was no longer nothingness, but rather like a night sky unfolding, with layers of dark blue and deep purple surging in the light, as if the entire world of consciousness was being redefined in scale.
The branches of the sacred tree began to extend, but not wildly. Instead, they differentiated slowly at an almost solemn pace. Each extension left a brief golden afterimage in the void, like a frozen meteor trail. The tips of the branches had not yet truly condensed into starlight.
Yet it has already begun to cultivate an indescribable sense of "judgment," as if some irreversible end point in the future is being written in advance in the form of this sacred tree.
At the same time, that drop of essence was not exhausted. Beneath the divine tree, it transformed into countless tiny particles of light, falling in reverse like rain. Then, in mid-air, they were drawn back together by an invisible force, gathering back into the tree. With each cycle, the aura of the Void Divine Tree became even more solidified.
However, this solidification is not an accumulation of power, but an increase in "density of existence," as if it is slowly approaching some true Ultimate form from a divine tree that has not yet been fully named.
Qin Yu clearly perceived all of this in his sea of consciousness. He felt neither surprise nor greed, but simply watched the changes in the divine tree quietly. He was perfectly clear in his heart that this was merely nourishment, a prelude, a light touch that was still extremely far from the true "Annihilation Gold Starlight".
At that moment, he also realized that the "water" the old woman asked him to fetch was not a vessel, nor a reward, but a key, a confirmation, a gentle examination of whether it was "qualified to bear" the water.
The changes in the Void Divine Tree gradually stabilized, and the golden veins slowly disappeared, leaving only an extremely fine yet incredibly clear mark at the very core of the tree. That mark was like a star core that had not yet been fully lit, calm yet dangerous, as if once it truly awakened, it would no longer need any announcement.
Qin Yu's consciousness slowly returned to reality from his sea of consciousness. The sea of flowers was still there, the wind was still blowing. He opened his eyes, his gaze clear and restrained, as if the starlight evolution in his sea of consciousness just now was just a cosmic-level breath that no one could see.
He stood up, already certain in his heart that this drop of essence had completed its mission for this stage;
The Void Divine Tree has taken an extremely important, yet still long, step toward achieving the "Annihilation Gold Starlight".
In the distance, the palace stood still, as if it had been waiting for Qin Yu's return.
Qin Yu turned back, and the sea of flowers behind him gradually quieted down, as if the test in the name of origin had never happened. Only when his footsteps fell did a faint echo of nothingness remain in the air.
Just as he was about to step back onto the stone steps in front of the palace, Azure Ring suddenly raised her hand and gently patted Tangyi's little dragon head with her slender fingertips. The action seemed casual, but it carried a sense of natural intimacy and dominance.
Tangyi narrowed her dragon eyes, the crimson now faded, and with a soft breath, quietly circled down. Azure Ring then flew to Qin Yu's side, tilted her head to look him over, and a sly, smug smile appeared on her lips. Her tone was light and teasing. "Looks pretty good, Little Qinzi. Although you came back empty-handed, you actually reaped quite a harvest."
Before she finished speaking, her figure had already transformed into a thin wisp of blue light, disappearing into Qin Yu's brow without warning. In an instant, Qin Yu's sea of consciousness fully opened.
That was not the sea of consciousness of an ordinary cultivator, but a world prototype that was being constantly "defined". The void stretched out like an endless sky, with layers of darkness and radiance intertwined. The boundaries of consciousness were not fixed, but stretched and changed slowly like breathing. It was as if as long as Qin Yu had a thought, this sea of consciousness could rewrite its own structure.
At the core of this sea of consciousness, the Void Divine Tree stands silently. It is no longer just a single point of existence, but rather the "axis" of the entire sea of consciousness, around which all light and shadow, reverberations of laws, and Fate Soul circuits form a natural vortex.
On the sacred tree, newly sprouted branches have begun to take shape, gleaming with a golden starlight that is not yet fully lit, subtle yet stable, carrying an unspoken but destined-to-be-terrifying potential.
Azure Ring hovered beneath the sacred tree, hands on her hips, circling the trunk once. Her gaze was critical and serious, then she nodded in satisfaction, her tone full of self-righteous possessiveness. "Hmm, very good. New branches have grown. We can use one to make a swing."
She didn't linger any longer, as if it were all perfectly natural. The next instant, the azure light swept back, Qin Yu's sea of consciousness returned to silence, and Azure Ring reappeared, leisurely sitting back on Tangyi's dragon body, swinging her legs lightly as if taking a stroll in her own backyard, her tone lazy yet carrying an undeniable certainty. "Let's go, she's been waiting for you until she fell asleep."
Qin Yu walked to the front of the hall. The old woman was still sitting with her eyes closed, her breathing long and steady, as if she had never moved an inch. He stopped in front of her, bowed, and said in a low and respectful voice, "Thank you for bestowing this source, Senior."
The old woman slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze wasn't sharp, but unfathomable. She scrutinized Qin Yu from head to toe, as if she had already seen through the silent yet breathtaking changes in his sea of consciousness. Then, she nodded slightly, her tone calm yet resolute. "Hmm, not bad. Go in. It seems you've already obtained the source of the Flower of Nothingness's inheritance."
She raised her withered hand, her movements slow yet carrying an undeniable authority of cause and effect. The instant her fingertips flicked, the entire palace seemed to awaken. The heavy, ancient doors trembled silently, and a sliver of deep light first pierced through the cracks.
The light then rapidly spread, transforming into layers of shimmering shadows that poured out from within the door. The opening of the palace door was silent, yet it was more oppressive than any other sound, as if it were not a door opening, but a long-forgotten era being pushed back into reality.
Qin Yu bowed again, his tone calm and sincere. "Thank you, senior."
Then, without lingering, he led Azure Ring and Tangyi into the depths of the slowly opening palace, where light and shadow danced.
The palace gates closed completely behind Qin Yu, shutting out the last ray of light from the outside world. In their place was a near-vacuum silence. It wasn't that there was no sound, but rather that all sounds here had lost their meaning, as if even the echo itself had been erased beforehand.
As Qin Yu took a step forward, the floor beneath his feet suddenly lit up. These were not ordinary array patterns, but layers of light bands resembling star trails, spreading outwards from the ground at an extremely slow speed, yet with terrifying precision.
Where the light streaks across, space seems to be gently peeled away, and the "surface structure" of the palace is receding. The beams, pillars, domes, and walls that were originally visible are folded and pulled away as if by an invisible hand, turning into countless fragments of light and shadow that rise into the air and dissipate.
The true core space unfolds completely at this moment.
It was a star palace suspended in the void. There were no boundaries around it, only an Ultimate deep dark starry sky. The stars were not fixed, but flowed slowly, as if guided by some enormous will.
The Star Palace itself is not large, but it presents an illusion of "infinite inner potential". At the center of the palace, a star core that has not yet fully manifested is suspended. The surface of the star core is covered with layers of light gold and dark patterns. Each pattern is like an abstract reflection of dragon scales, but also vaguely carries the blank gaps unique to "Absolute Thoughtlessness".
The moment the core space became completely stable, Tangyi's dragon body suddenly trembled.
It wasn't an external impact, but a response from the depths of her bloodline. Her already docile little dragon body suddenly tensed, and subtle dark red and gray-white patterns of light emerged beneath her scales—the old marks left by the Severed Thought Realm were being reawakened.
Her breathing became erratic, a fleeting moment of confusion crossed her dragon eyes, followed by an almost instinctive throbbing—like a forcibly sealed memory trying to break free.
Above the dome of the Star Palace, the star stream suddenly shifted, the originally calm river of light began to rotate in reverse, and subtle and cold ripples of intent spread out from the center of the palace. It was neither an attack nor a summoning, but a "rewind." A hidden rewind related to the Severed Thought Realm.
Tangyi let out a low, almost inaudible dragon roar, which was instantly swallowed up, but it triggered a chain reaction within the structure of the Star Palace. The patterns on the surface of the star core at the center of the palace began to light up one by one, and then quickly went out, as if repeatedly confirming some kind of qualification.
Qin Yu sensed the anomaly immediately. His gaze fell on Tangyi, and the causal threads in his sea of consciousness instinctively began to tighten, but he did not rashly intervene. Almost at the same instant,
Azure Ring had vanished from Tangyi's body, and when she reappeared, she was standing firmly on Qin Yu's right shoulder. Gone was her earlier playful demeanor; her eyes were unusually calm and focused. Her gaze swept across the entire core space, and her tone was low and resolute. "It seems this palace was prepared for Tangyi."
As if in response to those words, the void directly above the Star Palace suddenly cracked open. Stroke by stroke, as if ink were cast from the stars and paper from nothingness, several enormous and ancient characters slowly appeared.
"Crabapple Shadow Star Palace"
The moment the words were formed, Qin Yu understood. This was not a name generated temporarily, but a "naming" that had long been written into the origin of this space. This was the true place of inheritance left by that powerful being for Tangyi.
The next instant, a sudden change occurred.
Those four words did not stay in the air, but began to decompose. The last word "dian" suddenly fell, turned into a solid star shadow, and sank directly into Tangyi's dragon tail.
In an instant, a dense and pure green light burst forth. The light was not intense, but it was so heavy that it seemed capable of crushing space. Tangyi didn't even have time to utter a complete dragon roar before her entire dragon body was enveloped in the green light and vanished from the spot in an instant.
Neither Qin Yu nor Azure Ring showed any panic. Qin Yu simply stared quietly at the spot where Tangyi had disappeared, his expression calm and resolute; Azure Ring, on the other hand, gave a soft hum and crossed her arms, clearly having already seen through the fact that this was not danger, but rather the inevitable start of a trial.
In a completely different space, Tangyi's consciousness suddenly sank.
When she regained her senses, what she perceived was an endless, Sea of Form. There were no waves, no wind, no distinction between heaven and earth, only an absolutely calm "sea."
The sea surface was like a mirror, but it was not water; rather, it was a state of being formed by the fusion of diluted Primordial Chaos Qi and the power of Annihilation. Every inch of this "seawater" was silently eroding her dragon body and soul.
This is the surface of the Primordial Chaos Annihilation Abyss, Waveless Sea.
As soon as Tangyi approached, she instinctively felt her own life imprint being slowly "diluted." It wasn't excruciating pain, but a heart-palpitating sense of dissipation, as if the weight of her own existence was being erased bit by bit.
No external energy can be mobilized here; stars, heaven and earth, cause and effect are all unavailable. Only her own origin and will become the sole fulcrum.
The sea is calm, yet incredibly dangerous.
This is not a confrontation, not a battle, but a prolonged and exhausting struggle that can destroy any mind. Loneliness is amplified infinitely here, and one's sense of existence is stripped away bit by bit. If one's bloodline is not pure enough, or if one's will wavers even slightly, the dragon's body will unknowingly turn into nothingness, and the soul will sink into the sea, becoming part of this Annihilation.
This is the first trial: the Annihilation Sea Soul Tempering. The true trial of inheritance.