Meanwhile, at the other end of the Void Obliteration Domain, Qin Yu had already stepped alone onto the edge of the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins Forbidden Zone, his future uncertain and his fate unknown.
Qin Yu's figure finally stopped at the outer edge of the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins Forbidden Zone.
There are no boundary markers or any identifiable boundary signs here, as if the entire world has stopped writing here on its own. The world ahead presents an extremely strange state—neither barren nor lifeless, but a form of existence forcibly stripped of its "evolutionary meaning".
The sky hung low, displaying layers upon layers of dark gray and pale hues, like countless unfinished curtains overlapping each other.
Yet it refuses to merge. The clouds don't move; instead, they seem frozen in a moment before their very existence is decided.
The edges exhibited blurred, fractured patterns, with occasional glimmers of light and shadow disappearing within them, yet no energy fluctuations emanated from them.
The earth itself is even more bizarre.
There were no undulating mountains or sprawling plains; the ground beneath my feet was like a single, Ultimate polished dark crystal, yet it was not a solid entity. Each step I took left no echo, but stirred up almost imperceptible ripples of existence in the far distance, as if this land did not bear all things, but merely allowed me to walk upon it.
There was no wind.
But Qin Yu could clearly sense that something was slowly "flowing" past him. It wasn't the Wuji True Evolution Flow, nor cause and effect, nor any familiar energy form; it was more like a "flowing away itself" stripped of direction and meaning.
In the distance, at the edge of the field of vision, stood a huge, blurry outline.
The outline resembled ruins, or the lingering shadow of an undefined city, its edges constantly shifting slightly. Some parts, though clearly visible, were negated in the next instant, as if the world itself was repeatedly hesitating: whether to allow it to exist in sight.
There is no sign of life here, but there is also no trace of death.
Everything is in a Threshold state known as "not yet happened, and will not happen".
Qin Yu stood on the periphery of the restricted area, his gaze slowly sweeping over the surroundings.
There was no ambush, no formation, and no force actively spying on him.
This very fact makes the place all the more dangerous Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins. It doesn't need to declare itself through "threats"; its very existence is a denial of all intruders.
Azure Ring sat quietly on his right shoulder, unusually silent, her light blue pupils slowly rotating, as if recalibrating some long-outdated cognitive scale.
Qin Yu didn't hesitate. He simply took a step forward.
There was no Realm Breaking roar as the boundary was broken, no spatial tearing as a phenomenon, and no sense of transition the moment that step truly landed.
The boundary between the outer perimeter and the interior of the restricted area seemed to Does Not Exist from the beginning. Heaven and earth closed silently behind him.
The moment Qin Yu stepped into the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins, the world seemed to be abruptly overturned by an invisible hand. The forest that had been stretching out beneath his feet just moments before was suddenly pulled away, gravity lost its meaning, direction was completely flattened, and space seemed to be folded into countless thin wings.
It whizzed past him, forcibly stretching, rotating, and reorganizing his vision until everything suddenly came to a standstill. He landed steadily, only to find that the concept of "landing" itself had become invalid.
There is no real ground here, only a "space" woven from deep blue and dark indigo, as if the Milky Way has been stretched into a walking vein, with light flowing slowly underfoot, like countless tiny stardust responding to his every step.
He looked up, only to find that the sky was no longer above him. The dome had been replaced by an endless sea of trees, with towering ancient trees hanging down from the "sky." The canopies were not branches and leaves, but layers of light patterns and starlight, as if time had been frozen into annual rings, slowly rotating along the trunks.
Countless luminous butterfly shadows floated among the tree shadows. With a flap of their wings, tiny specks of light fell, only to ripple halfway down and re-enter the space itself. The air was still, yet filled with a deep and distant echo, as if some ancient heartbeat continued to reverberate deep within this realm.
Qin Yu looked around and found that Does Not Exist real "boundaries" to the left and right. The forest path in the distance sometimes stretched upwards and sometimes curved in mid-air. The paths intersected with each other but did not interfere with each other. Each path seemed to lead to a different possibility, yet they all existed at the same moment.
He could clearly sense that this was not an illusion, but a real realm stripped of common sense and order. All the judgment methods he once relied on had lost their anchor here, leaving only the purest perception and will.
The moment his foot landed, ripples suddenly spread across the starlight beneath the realm, and the distant forest trembled slightly, as if responding to a long-awaited visitor. Qin Yu did not stop or hesitate; he continued forward along the path woven from light and shadow.
As he ventured deeper, the Milky Way in the sky gradually revealed swirling patterns, like a giant eye slowly opening. Between the inverted ancient trees, faint runes began to emerge. These runes were not engraved, but rather naturally formed from the "echoes of existence." As they flickered, they vaguely outlined the breath of a world.
At this moment, Qin Yu clearly realized that he was no longer in any corner of the Void Obliteration Domain, but had truly stepped into the core domain of the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins.
A world that doesn't distinguish between life and death, nor is it measured by time; it only recognizes those who "enter." Hesitation is not welcome here.
There was no way out; what awaited him ahead was not a test, but the first response from this forbidden zone itself to his existence.
Qin Yu continued walking forward. The path beneath his feet, paved with stardust and eerie light, rippled slightly with each step, as if sensing some impending change. The ancient tree patterns hanging around him tightened slightly, and the slowly rotating starlight momentarily shifted. At that very instant...
A phoenix's cry suddenly shattered the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins.
That was no ordinary bird cry, but a long chant that pierced through the layers. When the sound arose, space seemed to be sliced horizontally by an invisible blade. Wherever the sound waves passed, light patterns shattered, stardust flowed backward, and the ancient trees hanging upside down trembled in unison. The starlight in the tree crowns was shaken and fell, but it ignited a flame shadow that intertwined with blazing white and dark gold as it fell.
The phoenix's cry contained an undeniable pressure, possessing both the domineering power to burn away all reason and the cold indifference of judgment, as if announcing the arrival of some supreme being. Even the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins itself contracted briefly in this cry.
Qin Yu's mind jolted, and he subconsciously whispered, "Azure Ring." There was no response.
He immediately glanced to his right shoulder, only to find it empty; Azure Ring had been sitting leisurely just moments before, was nowhere to be seen.
He focused his divine sense inward, directly entering his sea of consciousness. He saw that the void, which should have flowed freely, was now unusually quiet. The Void Divine Tree stood silently, its azure light patterns soft and steady.
Azure Ring was curled up among the branches of the divine tree, breathing evenly, sleeping soundly without any guard, as if the phoenix cry that could Realm-Splitting Domain in this Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins was nothing more than an insignificant gust of wind to her.
Qin Yu instantly realized that the phoenix cry was the cry of the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix.
The moment the thought settled, his gaze locked onto the direction from which the phoenix's cry came. The space in that area was slowly collapsing and reorganizing, with intense yet chilling flames flashing and intersecting between the distant sky and the domain, like a boundary forcibly torn open, indicating that the other party had not deliberately concealed its existence.
There was no hesitation, and no need for deliberation.
Qin Yu took a step forward, and the domain beneath his feet suddenly tightened, stardust surged like waves, and his figure transformed into a straight line piercing through light and darkness, rushing towards the direction where the echo of the phoenix's cry had not yet dissipated.
The ancient trees hanging upside down retreated as he passed, and the light patterns automatically split, as if making way for him. The Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins was no longer silent at this moment, but watched him rush towards the being that was capable of burning Mieyin reason.
Qin Yu followed the lingering sound of the phoenix's cry and soared through the air. The scene before him suddenly unfolded before his eyes, and even his heart sank involuntarily.
The core area of Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins is like an inverted abyssal forest, where countless Void Divine Tree grow from nothingness. Their branches are not solid, but rather formed from primordial patterns of gray-white, dark gold, and ethereal blue.
Each branch was like a devouring vein with its own will. In the center of this forest, which resembled a prison, the enormous body of the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix, which was almost obscuring the sky, was nailed to the void.
Its wings spread out, but the phoenix feathers that should have burned away all magic were now dull and lifeless. The feathers were torn and jagged, and the essence blood that was a mixture of dark red and golden white dripped down the base of the feathers. Before it fell, it was greedily absorbed by the branches below and turned into wriggling streams of light.
Countless branches of the void pierced through from all directions, some wrapping around its neck like chains, some piercing directly into its chest and abdomen, and dozens of thick branches like pillars deeply embedded themselves in its spine and tailbone, suspending its entire body in mid-air.
Each time the branches tightened, the body of the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix would convulse violently.
Fine runes appeared on the surface of the tree branches. These were not array patterns, but the devouring logic of Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins and Ruins itself in operation. As the runes lit up, the primordial fire within the body of the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix was forcibly extracted, turning into strands of flame that were pulled out and forcibly stripped away from the depths of its core, bones, and bloodline.
The essence and blood intertwined, leaving a mournful trail of light in the void before finally disappearing into the tree branches.
A shrill, distorted phoenix cry rang out again, but it had lost all its previous power and dignity, leaving only a agonizing wail that nearly tore at the soul. The sound echoed in the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins, but received no response, as if the whole world was indifferently watching this devouring.
The head of the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix drooped limply, and the golden flames in its pupils no longer reflected the proud sky, but rather endless, slowly approaching tree shadows. It struggled to vibrate its tattered wings, trying to ignite the last of its phoenix flames, but as soon as the flames appeared, they were instantly extinguished by the gray-white patterns surging on the surface of the branches, as if even the concept of "burning" had been denied.
Another low, mournful cry escaped its throat, filled with resentment, fear, and the despair of being utterly plundered.
At this moment, Qin Yu understood
The Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins are not merely forbidden zones, but a living "land of the end." It does not kill, but reclaims; it does not judge, but devours. And the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix is just another loser dragged into this place.
Qin Yu in the distant void, his gaze calm and profound, as the Fate Soul and the Power of World Construction within his body slowly receded. He did not make a move immediately, but quietly watched as the Divine Phoenix that had once shaken the Void Obliteration Domain was gradually drained of its existence in the shadows of the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins.
In that instant of deathly silence and wailing, deep within the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins, it seemed that some ancient will was quietly approaching Qin Yu.