Severed Cloud Gorge.
Originally a narrow pass between realms, it was later listed as a forbidden zone by the sect Cause Realm's source and the chaotic surge of spiritual tides. Now, as three figures slowly approached, they saw a strange faint purple light emanating from the gorge, as if a thunder spirit was whispering in the darkness, waiting for the three to step onto their destined path.
Qin Yu stopped, his brow furrowing slightly. "Something's not right... This place should be under lockdown, so why is the magic array activated?"
Zhou Yu also sensed something was amiss, and the lightning pattern in his mind twitched slightly. "The Silent Lightning Mark in my sea of consciousness is unstable... as if it's being interfered with by some kind of 'lightning soul suppression field'."
Before the words had even finished --
"Boom--!"
The entire canyon suddenly closed, and countless purple soul chains fell from the sky, instantly locking up the surrounding space like shackles of a prison!
The void trembled as a figure descended like lightning, tearing through space. He was shrouded in a dark gold soul robe, and a lightning-patterned military seal floated behind him. He was none other than [Sha-Slaying Marquis], one of the high-ranking Soul Generals of the Soul Hunting Army!
He looked down at them, expressionless.
"You killed two of the Shang Lineage's World-Aware Battle Souls, stole the fruits of Shang Lineage Soul Refining Mission, and still think you can escape unscathed? Qin Yu, Zhou Yu, you should pay for this."
With a wave of his hand, five Soul Sha Puppet shadows stepped out simultaneously, each step shaking the very soul.
At the same time, the space tore open on both sides, and two Amethyst Soul Explosion Beast appeared with low roars. Behind them, a nine-layered Soul Beast Sealing Array was slowly spreading throughout the Severed Cloud Gorge - this was the most brutal "Hunter-level Soul Encirclement" of the Soul Hunting Army, which could Realm Consciousness Fifth Stage to the point of shattering the Soul Core!
Damn it!
Qin Yu gave a low shout, the Black Bone Long Spear in his hand already condensed with the aura of a ring seal, and the desolate soul domain behind him rippled. Zhou Yu pointed his sword at the sky, and a bolt of Silent Lightning rolled from his palm into the Heavenly Dao meridian.
Yao Wanqing suddenly whispered, "... Don't make a move."
Zhou Yu was taken aback, glancing sideways at her, only to see a faint phantom of a soul needle appear between her brows, her aura rising rather than falling under the pressure of the battle formation. She didn't speak again, but simply took a step back, as if... yielding the battlefield?
In that instant, an ominous feeling rose in Zhou Yu's heart.
The Sha-Slaying Marquis has already made his move.
First Form: Lightning Prison Soul-Severing Chain!
Purple chains crisscrossed, and the Soul Domain suppressed, instantly separating Qin Yu and Zhou Yu.
"Zhou Yu!" Qin Yu roared, tearing a crack in the spear, but in the next instant, Sha-Slaying Marquis appeared before him, his battle spirit chain sweeping across like ten thousand thunderbolts!
"Ring Spear - Silent Severing Abyss!"
Qin Yu unleashed a burst of gray light, his second move striking out head-on against the Battle Soul Chain. In a single clash, the space itself shattered seven layers!
However, the soul chain contains the "Realm-Severing Seal Aura," a soul skill specifically developed by the Shang Lineage family to counter "Ring-Type Soul Seal Users."
"Puff--!"
A jet of blood spurted from Qin Yu's chest. Sha-Slaying Marquis's palm strike. His Soul Seal trembled, and cracks appeared in his sea of consciousness!
On the other side, Zhou Yu was surrounded and attacked by the three-headed Soul Sha Puppet.
He roared angrily:
"Burning Radiance Sword Chapter - Fourth Form: Radiance-Slaying Spirit-Shaking!"
The radiant fire pierced the soul, shattering the puppet's consciousness, but the Soul Explosion Array had already taken shape.
"Fifth move!"
"Burning Extreme Destiny - Final Severance!!!"
The spiritual flames pierced the sky, incinerating the puppet soul's life wheel, shattering all three puppets. However, he also suffered a backlash, vomiting blood, and the tendons in his right arm burst open.
Yao Wanqing remained unmoved.
She gazed at the battle, her eyes filled with complex emotions. After a long while, she finally moved.
With a flick of her fingertip, she flicked a soul needle, which precisely struck the soul core of a Soul Explosion Beast—the beast paused for a moment, but then instantly transformed into a raging thunder roar, blasting her back several feet.
"... I am not the enemy," she whispered calmly.
But no one heard it.
But the Sha-Slaying Marquis suddenly laughed.
"You think this is the end? The real killing spree is just beginning."
He roared angrily:
Second Form: Realm-Severing Lightning Soul Formation - Spirit-Suppressing Nine Silences!
The sky transformed into a thunderous abyss, and nine Realm Lock descended from the heavens, pressing Qin Yu and Zhou Yu into them—if this attack struck, no one below the Realm Consciousness Fifth Stage could survive!
A matter of life and death!
Qin Yu mustered his last breath and raised the spear high.
"Ring Spear - Heaven-Extinguishing Ash!"
The power of annihilation has reappeared, turning the heavens to ashes!
The Sha-Slaying Marquis roared in fury, "Not enough! Die!!"
But at this moment of destruction, deep within Qin Yu's sea of consciousness, a soul wheel suddenly rose quietly from the Azure Ring!
"... Silent Origin: Wheel of Prisons."
The ten-fold soul wheel slowly rotates, completing one cycle per lifetime. With each rotation, a layer of the enemy's true self is severed!
In his mind's eye, Sha-Slaying Marquis was both furious and terrified. "What kind of soul skill is this?!"
Qin Yu took a step forward, and his Soul Wheel crashed down like a collapsing galaxy:
"Silent Origin: Wheel of Hell!"
Ten lifetimes of souls annihilated, a single move shattered the Nine Realms of Lightning!
The spiritual energy of Severed Cloud Gorge surged violently, causing the heavens and earth to collapse!
As the dust settled, Qin Yu knelt on one knee, while Zhou Yu's shoulder was stained with blood; both were severely injured.
Yao Wanqing walked slowly over, her expression still gentle, but her eyes seemed to see through everything:
"You are too weak... but you're not useless."
Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, just a low murmur.
The soul of heaven and earth has not yet dissipated, and in the depths of the Severed Cloud Gorge, the embers have not yet been extinguished.
The Soul Hunting Army General, who had been as Sha-Slaying Marquis as a god, was utterly annihilated in the "Silent Origin Wheel Prison" without even leaving a roar. His soul, origin, weapon, and even his Soul Seal were all crushed into nothingness by the Wheel of Reincarnation.
In the perception of the Heavenly Dao, even the trace of "his existence" seemed never to have been recorded.
Qin Yu stood silently before the cliff, his body covered in blood, the Black Bone Spear trembling slightly. His face was pale, but his soul was calmer than ever before. Deep within his sea of consciousness, the ten soul shadows continued to rotate, each one flowing like a torrent of time, shattering the very essence of the enemy's existence.
This is a power that does not belong to True Soul cultivator.
And at this moment-
Far away, inside a core Soul Tower the Soul Hunting Army, before the Thousand Soul Seal Screen, a high-ranking Soul Master suddenly rose in fury, his face deathly pale:
"... The Soul Seal of the Sha-Slaying Marquis —has it been annihilated?"
"No, it was... stripped of its very essence—its Soul Seal, lifeline, weapon patterns, battle artifacts, military records—all vanished!"
"How is that possible! With arrangements like those in Severed Cloud Gorge, even Realm Consciousness Fifth Stage Perfection could never..."
Before he could finish speaking, he stared at the blurred, broken trajectory of the soul's shadow, where only a faint, indistinct remnant remained.
The halo of ten cycles of reincarnation, ending once in a lifetime.
His pupils contracted sharply, and his voice nearly lost control:
"This isn't... this can't possibly be a technique system from the Spirit Firmament Great Realm!!!"
Meanwhile, above Severed Cloud Gorge, Yao Wanqing stood on a distant cliff.
Her soul consciousness kept vibrating and reassembling—even though she was the sect's "number one prospective disciple in the sensory Soul Arts," she had just experienced a complete "sensory deprivation" at that moment, as if her consciousness had been crushed ten times in that round of soul prison and then pieced back together.
She couldn't understand what kind of combat technique Qin Yu had used, nor could she comprehend how a True Soul Realm cultivator could instantly annihilate a Soul General at the Realm Consciousness Fifth Stage.
That spear strike wasn't a severe blow, nor a defeat, but a complete annihilation, as if the world had never contained that powerful being's existence.
She gazed at Qin Yu's retreating figure, her eyes gleaming with a cold, misty light.
What exactly is he?
But she did not back down an inch; instead, a rare sense of awe and fear arose deep within her heart for the first time.
Zhou Yu, standing behind Qin Yu, was wounded and silent, but suddenly smiled.
"Silent Origin: Wheel of Hell...?"
He muttered to himself, as if he had expected it all along. He recalled that day in the sect's secret realm, that broken abyss of laws, and the moment when Qin Yu stood in that sea of destructive lightning, even space itself trembled in fear of him.
"This guy... he's gotten stronger again."
"But that's more like it."
Zhou Yu slowly tightened his grip on the sword hilt in his hand, and a wisp of Silent Lightning pattern quietly shone on the back of his hand.
"If not, how can you embark on that path... the one only you can take?"