Deep within the Void Abyss Forbidden Domain, a voice suddenly resounded, devoid of emotion or inflection.
It wasn't a declaration, more like a judgment. "The third trial is over—the fourth trial begins."
The moment the sound faded, the wasteland beneath Qin Yu's feet silently collapsed, and his consciousness seemed to be ripped from the world by an invisible hand.
There was no sense of falling, nor any spatial distortion, only an extremely bizarre sense of dislocation—he was still standing, but no longer in his original position.
When his vision returned to normal, he found himself standing in a closed and infinitely expanding labyrinth.
The Fourth Trial: The Logic Abyss, the Illusory Realm Paradox Labyrinth
The surrounding walls were not solid, but rather composed of densely packed, self-negating runes.
This door exists, Does Not Exist.
You have entered the maze, provided you hadn't yet.
Moving forward is moving backward, unless you choose to stop.
The runes didn't emit light, yet they made the vision itself unreliable. Qin Yu only glanced at them, but his mind instinctively wanted to "understand" them. The next moment, a slight dizziness surged into his consciousness, like a gear starting to spin in vain.
He immediately looked away.
Just then, the space above the maze slowly collapsed, and a spherical life form woven from countless logical chains emerged.
The chain is not metal, but a manifestation of a concept.
"If time holds true, then space does not hold true; if space holds true, then time must hold true."
They intertwine, negate, and reconstruct each other, keeping the sphere in a state that cannot be fully defined.
The Paradox Weaver, manifest. It is silent, yet it continuously poses propositions within its very existence.
Are you thinking about this question?
If you answer no, does that mean you've already answered yes?
Can you prove that you are not trapped?
Qin Yu did not respond.
Because he has realized that the attack in this level is not aimed at the body, but rather at inducing you to use logic itself.
He took a step forward. The maze responded immediately.
The wall ahead flipped up, revealing a passage, at the end of which three paths branched off simultaneously. Above each path floated a constantly changing proposition.
Those who choose the left path are bound to make the wrong choice.
The only way to pass through the middle lane is not to choose it.
The right path leads to the center, provided the center Does Not Exist.
Qin Yu stopped. The instant he paused, the runes on the ground suddenly writhed, and several tiny figures "peeled" out from the wall.
Interference entity manifestation · Logic Parasite
Their forms are indistinct, like half-formed rune figures, each carrying a single, yet extremely stubborn, logical assertion.
One of them whispered repeatedly, "We have to choose, we have to choose, there's no way we won't choose."
The other constantly denies this. "All choices are mistakes, and mistakes mean failure."
The third disruptive entity had no language; it simply created the illusion of the "correct path" repeatedly at the edge of Qin Yu's field of vision, causing space to fold and overlap continuously.
They don't attack, they only interfere.
It forces you to reason, to judge, and to fall into the trap of "having to think things through."
The Paradox Weaver slowly rotated in the air, the chain of logic began to accelerate, and the structure of the maze changed accordingly. Each change perfectly responded to Qin Yu's still-forming thoughts.
He realized one thing—the maze wasn't fixed; it was generated according to his thoughts.
Qin Yu closed his eyes. Not to meditate, nor to suppress his thoughts, but to deliberately abandon the "answer."
He no longer looked at the proposition, no longer looked at the road, and no longer tried to judge the truth or falsehood. At this moment, the maze beneath his feet lost its object of "understanding," and the flipping of the runes was briefly delayed.
The disruptor began to stir. "You have to think!"
"You are failing!" "You cannot move forward!"
Amidst the chaos, Qin Yu slowly took a step forward.
It's not left, not right, and not forward.
Instead, he stepped back down to the spot where he had just been standing.
At that moment, the maze suddenly trembled.
This behavior lacks logical motivation.
It's not a choice. It's not avoidance. It's simply "continuing to search."
The paradoxical runes on the wall began to crumble, like ashes losing their anchor. The disruptive entities shrieked and disintegrated; their very existence depended on being "deduced."
The Paradox Weaver paused for the first time.
In the center of the maze, a faint yet consistently present "blank" point emerges.
There are no propositions there. There are no definitions there.
There isn't even a concept of a "center".
Only one thing remains true—the search itself is happening.
Qin Yu opened his eyes and walked straight towards the blank space.
The Paradox Weaver frantically shrinks the logical chain, attempting to reconstruct the proposition, but all the chains fail, break, and become meaningless as they approach that point.
Qin Yu didn't think. He reached out and directly touched the core of that concept.
The moment the fingertip touched the ground, the entire labyrinth of paradoxes collapsed silently, all the symbols turned into meaningless dust, and the Paradox Weaver, having lost the premise of being "understood," was completely deconstructed and vanished into nothingness.
The voice rang out again.
"The fourth trial— the Logic Abyss —has been passed." Space has been reorganized, and the passage is now open.
Qin Yu stood rooted to the spot, his breathing steady, yet he was acutely aware of one thing—
From this moment on, any battle that relies too heavily on reason will become his weakness.
The announcement that the fifth trial had begun did not finish. It only said half of it.
"The Fifth Trial - The Causal Loop."
The next instant, the sound was forcibly dragged and extended by some deeper force, as if this trial itself was not satisfied with a single test.
Instead, they are looking for "the most likely point of attack that will break people down".
The space beneath Qin Yu's feet did not collapse, but rather slowly folded.
What he saw was not an illusion, but rather—a causal branch that was allowed to exist.
The first layer of the Causal Loop: if I hadn't intervened, countless "Qin Yu" figures would have appeared around him.
They are not phantoms, but complete, real entities with their own weight in time.
Qin Yu stood at a distance, coldly observing the battle between the six Devil Beasts and the monsters.
In that timeline, he chose to be "cautious" and did not intervene.
The scene continues to advance, revealing that the two Three Nether Yin Puppets have survived.
Years later, in another realm, they joined forces to break the seal, causing destruction ten times greater than it has today.
In another timeline, Qin Yu acted prematurely. His swift strike attracted the attention of those at a higher level.
The Thought Severance Devouring Emperor arrived ahead of schedule, causing everything to collapse prematurely.
The third timeline: He intervened, won, but saved the wrong person.
Those who were saved later became the key figures in the future, triggering an even more devastating catastrophe.
Every causal link was closing in on him.
They didn't attack. They just kept repeating the same question, "Wouldn't things have been better if you hadn't intervened?"
Qin Yu's spiritual sense began to show obvious signs of strain.
It's not the pain, but the overwhelming sense of responsibility.
He discovered an extremely dangerous fact: this wasn't a test of his choices, but rather an attempt to force him to reject "the action itself."
Just as he was about to be dragged into "infinite reflection" by the Causal Loop, the trial underwent its second mutation.
The second layer of forced insertion, the Emotion Furnace, the Sea of Seven Emotions Fire.
The cause-and-effect picture was suddenly torn apart.
A sea of fire erupted from the causal rift, like a finishing blow specifically prepared to "crush the will."
Seven colors of flames surged up.
They didn't scorch the space, but they directly ignited the corresponding emotional roots within Qin Yu's sea of consciousness.
Emotions are not memories, but rather ongoing psychological reactions.
Happiness
When he sees himself being praised and revered in certain timelines.
Anger
When he saw the countless deaths left behind by the Three Nether Yin Puppets and the Thought Severance Devouring Emperor.
Sorrow
Those scenes of "those who could have been saved, but didn't" began to replay repeatedly.
Fear
For the first time, I clearly realized that failure here wouldn't just be a serious injury, but rather being "wiped out."
At the same time, in the center of the sea of fire, a seven-faced fire giant slowly stood up.
Illusory beings, Emotion Monarch
When each of its faces opens, the corresponding emotion is amplified.
What's even more frightening is that it "borrows images from Causal Loop as fuel."
Qin Yu discovered that once he experienced a significant emotional fluctuation towards a certain causal line, that timeline would be "materialized" by the Emotion Monarch and transformed into an attack.
This was his first attempt at "completely suppressing his emotions."
The result was extremely tragic.
All the flames surged at the same instant.
The voice of the Emotion Monarch rang out for the first time:
"Suppression is also a form of control."
Qin Yu's consciousness was nearly torn apart.
He tried "accepting his emotions" for the second time.
The moment the rage was unleashed, that angry face opened its mouth and devoured that part of the "angry self."
He clearly felt
If a certain emotion is fully ignited, it will be permanently stripped away.
At this moment, the Causal Loop is still progressing.
The timeline is shrinking.
The trial rules have finally been revealed.
If the Causal Loop and the Emotion Furnace cannot be completed simultaneously, both will be superimposed and return to zero.
Standing in the sea of fire, Qin Yu stopped all his countermeasures for the first time.
It's not thinking.
Instead, it stopped completely.
He no longer tries to "solve the problem".
Instead, we should examine the trial itself.
He realized a fact that had been deliberately hidden—
This isn't about asking "right or wrong".
It's not a question about "emotions".
Instead, it's asking a deeper question:
Do you need a 'reason' to take action?
The Causal Loop compels him to produce a perfect result.
The Emotion Furnace forced him to express his emotional stance.
But reality never gives people such opportunities.
Qin Yu finally did something extremely dangerous.
He voluntarily gave up answering the question about Causal Loop.
It's not a denial, nor a rebuttal.
Instead, it acknowledges
There is no standard answer to the question of cause and effect.
He allowed those timelines to continue existing, but no longer assigned any "should" to any of them.
At the same time, he did not step into any of the flames of emotion.
Instead, it moves slowly among the seven flames.
Emotions are burning.
But it no longer influences his choices.
In the final step, the Emotion Monarch unleashed its true killing intent.
The simultaneous compression of seven flames forced him to "choose an emotion as his stance."
Qin Yu, however, did something the trial had never expected.
He said in a low voice:
"Emotions exist, but they don't need to be released."
"Causality exists, but it doesn't need to be proven."
He did not choose any of the four emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, or desire.
Instead, they chose --
Indifference to emotions itself.
Not cold-blooded.
It's not that I'm heartless.
Instead, it allows emotions to lose their "decision-making power."
In that instant, the seven faces of the Emotion Monarch shattered simultaneously.
For the first time, all timelines in the Causal Loop stop advancing.
The voice finally rang out in its entirety, but it carried an unprecedented depth:
"Fifth Trial - Passed."
Deep within the Void Abyss Forbidden Domain, the passage leading to the sixth level slowly opened.
Qin Yu stood still, his breathing steady, but he knew clearly that if he slowed down even half a breath, he would truly be erased by cause and effect and emotions at the same time.