To the east of the Void Obliteration Domain, above the Chaos Sea Abyss.
There is no clear boundary between "sky" and "sea" here, only an eternally surging gray-black chaos. The chaotic tides rise and fall like breathing, and each surge is accompanied by the contraction and expansion of space, as if the entire Source Realm is slowly beating its heart here.
In the depths of this chaotic realm, beyond the reach of coordinates— the Shadow Void Capital —it did not "appear," but was perceived.
When the chaotic tide surges to a certain Threshold frequency, a region in the void that was originally Emptiness suddenly gains a kind of "weight." It is not the weight of matter, but the density of existence itself suddenly increases, causing the perceptions above the Chaos Realm to involuntarily converge on this place.
The Shadow Void Capital City floats directly above the Chaos Sea Abyss, without a foundation or support. The entire city seems to be supported by some invisible primordial will, neither falling nor rising, but simply drifting slowly under the propulsion of the chaotic tides.
It only completes a full displacement once every hundred years, and during the displacement, all attempts to understand its existence using "direction," "distance," or "coordinates" become meaningless.
To mortals, there is nothing here. Even low-level cultivators would only feel that this place is "Emptiness yet unsettling."
Only those who have truly entered the Chaos Realm can perceive the outline of that city deep within their sea of consciousness—not its physical form, but a vast, calm, all-encompassing chaotic pulse.
The city walls were a thousand feet high.
It was forged from Chaos Essence Crystal, yet it had no fixed form. On the surface of the city wall, black, white, and gray chaotic energy flowed slowly like living things, sometimes transforming into continuous mountains, and sometimes collapsing into void cracks in an instant. Cultivators who approached the city wall would find their "sense of boundaries" constantly being eroded, as if even their "own outline" was being rewritten.
A moat surrounds the city. It is not water, but water Formless.
The river's surface is like a mirror, yet it reflects nothing of the outside world, only the Chaos Origin deep within the observer's heart. Some see nascent Chaos Shadow Sprout in the river, some see their own future disintegration, and some see nothing at all—those who see nothing are often swallowed by the river in the next instant, not even having time to struggle, before turning into a wisp of silent chaotic nourishment, absorbed by the city.
The city gates had no gates.
When you are "allowed to enter," the city gate exists; when you are "not yet qualified," even if you stand in front of the city wall, you will only wander in place and eventually get lost in the chaotic tide.
Inside the city.
The streets are not paved with stone slabs, but rather with dense, constantly self-reorganizing chaotic runes.
Each time someone steps onto the street, the runes light up briefly before quickly dimming. Time here is extremely unstable—some people step into the street and look up to find a hundred years have passed; others stay in the city for "several days" only to find that a moment has passed in the outside world.
The architecture is even more bizarre.
By day, Shadow Void Capital a magnificent, almost oppressive, chaotic divine city, with numerous palaces and crisscrossing corridors, each building exuding a profound and ancient primal aura; but when "night" falls—though Does Not Exist true day and night here—
The entire city would silently collapse into a shadowy ruin, with broken walls and overlapping phantoms, as if it had witnessed countless destructions of civilizations.
Only cultivators who truly possess the Chaos Shadow Core can see the "complete form" of the Shadow Void Capital during the alternation of day and night.
In the center of the city stands the Primordial Hall, a structure that defies architectural comprehension.
The hall had no walls, no beams, no dome, and no floor. Only an eternally rotating vortex of chaos floated in the center of the void. The vortex rotated slowly and steadily, and with each rotation, it created an illusion for the approaching cultivators—
It was as if one's name, realm, identity, and even the "path of cultivation" were being worn away little by little.
This is the sacred place where cultivators at the Chaos Realm · Extremity comprehend "returning to Nameless".
It is also the place where countless people who tried to reach higher levels ultimately failed and perished.
At this moment, Jin Hanyan stood on a main street in the Shadow Void Capital. She did not release any aura.
His robes were simple and clean, his figure was slender, and his steps were unhurried, as if he were just walking in an ordinary city.
But with each step she takes, the chaotic runes briefly freeze beneath her feet, as if deliberately making way for her a path that "won't disrupt time."
Her gaze was calm, yet more profound than the Chaos Essence Crystal on the city wall. The clamor of the Shadow Void Capital City automatically receded around her.
The whispers of cultivators in the Chaos Realm, the primal fluctuations emanating from the vortex, the temporal dislocations caused by street runes—these phenomena, enough to unsettle countless powerful individuals, seemed to be separated from her by an invisible layer of "silence."
She looked up at the slowly rotating chaotic vortex deep within the city.
In his eyes, there was no longing, only calm judgment. "The Shadow Void Capital..."
She murmured to herself, "It's been such a long, long time since I've strolled around this bustling main city."
The frequency of the chaotic tides is subtly changing. And this often means—
Some entities truly capable of shaking the balance of power in the Source Realm are already on their way.
The Shadow Void Capital.
It is not only the core of the eastern part of the Void Obliteration Domain, but also the only one of the eight core main cities of the Void Obliteration Domain that "stands on the sea".
The so-called "sea" is not water, but a vast, turbulent, Chaos Sea Abyss.
The dark gray chaotic waves rose and fell slowly beneath the city. Each surge was accompanied by the folding and unfolding of spatial layers, as if the city was not "built on the sea", but was actively lifted and enshrined on the crest of the waves by the Chaos Origin.
The city has no foundation or anchor point beneath it, only layers upon layers of interlocking chaotic force fields that firmly support the entire main city.
The cultivators who can walk in this city are all at least at the initial stage of the Silent Mystery Realm. Those a step lower do not even have the qualifications to step into the Shadow Void Capital.
This is the last "public domain" before the Chaos Realm, and also the end point that countless cultivators can never reach in their entire lives.
Today, however, the Shadow Void Capital is unusually bustling.
The chaotic tides were gentle and stable, and the Chaos Essence Crystal on the surface of the city walls shimmered with a soft gray glow, no longer exhibiting violent disintegration. The moat of the Formless water was still as a wave, and occasionally a cultivator would walk by the riverbank, the water reflecting only a faint chaotic light before returning to calm.
On the city streets, the chaotic runes operated in a rare "low-frequency stable state," suppressing the temporal distortion to a very small range, making walking, talking, and trading exceptionally smooth.
This is an extremely rare sight.
It was as if all the recent turmoil, undercurrents, and deadly traps in the Void Obliteration Domain had been kept outside this main city.
The streets were teeming with people.
There were Chaos Realm robes and exuding a deep, abyss-like aura, conversing in hushed tones; there were also powerful figures at the pinnacle of the Silent Mystery Realm · Supreme, strolling through the market in clone form; and there were also beings whose auras were extremely restrained, almost merging with the chaos itself, simply sitting quietly on street corners, as if waiting for some yet-to-arrive moment.
Stalls lined the street, but what they sold here was never "spiritual items" in the ordinary sense.
Chaotic crystals, unnamed fragments of origin, unmanifested shadow embryos, and even sealed "remnants of failed attempts at chaos transformation"... any one of these, if it fell into the traditional fantasy world, would be enough to trigger a bloody struggle between True Immortal Emperor and even Sacrificial Dao- level beings.
In the Shadow Void Capital, however, they are simply displayed quietly with prices clearly marked.
Jin Hanyan walked among the crowd.
Her pace was unhurried, her gaze composed, as if she were observing an ordinary, bustling city. The chaotic air currents parted naturally around her, and pedestrians subconsciously gave way, yet no one dared to truly probe her aura.
At this moment, her expression even seemed somewhat... relaxed.
It was as if all the murderous schemes, plots, and conspiracies from the outside world had been temporarily put on hold.
Her gaze finally settled on a palace.
That was a hotel palace renowned Shadow Void Capital.
The entire palace was not built on the ground, but suspended three zhang above the street, supported by nine Chaos Essence Crystal. The palace was magnificent but not ostentatious in appearance, and its whole body was a warm gray-white color, as if it had completely tamed the restlessness of chaos.
There was no plaque above the palace gate.
Only a single, faintly visible chaotic rune flowed slowly in the void; those who understood its meaning would know that it represented "food and Return to One."
Jin Hanyan stepped into the hall.
The interior space was far more expansive than it appeared from the outside. The layered spatial structure was cleverly folded, yet there was no sense of oppression. An indescribable fragrance permeated the air; it was not merely a sensory stimulation, but a gentle comfort to the soul and one's origin.
A waiter-like figure came forward to greet them.
He appeared ordinary, yet his aura was unfathomable, and a fleeting, chaotic light flashed in his eyes. He respectfully bowed to Jin Hanyan, without asking a single question about her identity, and led her through several spatial corridors to a private seat at the deepest part of the palace.
That was a small, independent, chaotic, and still domain.
The surrounding void flowed slowly like a scroll painting, completely isolating the outside world from noise, leaving only a perfectly quiet space. The seat was formed from Formless material, so one would not feel its solidity when sitting down, yet it perfectly supported the body.
Jin Hanyan took her seat.
The menu is not a piece of paper, but a chaotic array of light and shadow suspended in the air.
She casually ordered a few dishes. Not many.
Yet each of these things was enough to make True Immortal Emperor in a traditional fantasy world lose his composure on the spot.
The Primordial Essence Soup is made by simmering the primordial essence remaining from the Chaos's First Birth with various other primordial-level ingredients. True Immortal Emperor consume it can directly solidify their Dao fruit and break through the gate of Sacrificial Dao.
The Shadow Transformation Fish is made from Formless creature that naturally forms in the Shadow Sea Abyss. It melts upon entering the mouth and allows cultivators to briefly experience the true meaning of "the fusion of the real and the unreal," enabling True Immortal Emperor to leapfrog several minor realms.
The Chaos Return to One Cup is a colorless and odorless liquid, yet it is the essence of the natural sedimentation of chaotic energy, enough to allow even the most powerful beings in any low-level cultivation system to directly touch upon higher levels.
If these delicacies were placed in the outside world, each one would be enough to ignite a massive bloodbath.
However, in the Shadow Void Capital, their only purpose is to fill their stomachs.
For Jin Hanyan, these foods only brought a mild sense of satisfaction, allowing her soul to relax slightly, but they did not improve her cultivation in the slightest.
She savored it quietly, her demeanor composed and her expression serene.
At this moment, the prosperity, bustle, and tranquility of the Shadow Void Capital merged with her figure.
It's as if all the impending storms are merely a future yet to unfold.
The Shadow Void Capital.
It is one of the eight main cities of the Void Obliteration Domain, but it is also the only one that is truly suspended above the sea—however, this "sea" is not water, but an endless, surging Chaos Sea Abyss.
A dark gray chaotic tide surged beneath the city, its waves constantly swallowing and spitting out fragments of primordial chaos that were yet to be ordered. The entire city was like the core of a world held in the palm of chaos, neither sinking nor rising.
Here, "below" is not the direction of the fall, nor is "above" a symbol of height.
All directions are based on the chaos. This is why the Shadow Void Capital is called the true core city in the eastern part of the Void Obliteration Domain.