The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix stood silently at the center of the Annihilation Starflame. Its humanoid body appeared exceptionally clear under the illumination of the domain, yet it seemed as if its outline could be erased at any moment.
He slowly raised his hand, his five fingers spread wide. At the same time, the nine layers of misaligned "shadows of existence" behind him vibrated. The shadows did not unfold into wings, but instead collapsed and compressed layer by layer, finally converging at his chest.
There, as if an invisible rift had been forcibly torn open, something more primal and ruthless than the Annihilation Starflame began to emerge. It was not the outpouring of power, but the exposure of the "Dao," the very foundation upon which the Logic-Extinguishing Divine Phoenix truly existed.
"The starlight you see is merely its outward appearance." The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix's voice was deep and calm, yet carried an undeniable pressure. "My essence has never been the form of destruction, but rather—the principle of annihilation."
As the last word fell, all the structures in the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins that had not yet completely collapsed simultaneously emitted a silent lament. Logic began to break itself, and the chain of cause and effect seemed to be pulled away from its load-bearing nodes by an invisible hand. The world no longer moved forward, nor backward, but fell into a state of stagnation that was forcibly "negated".
The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix took a step forward. The void beneath its feet did not shatter, but instead lost the meaning of being "trodden upon." It raised its hand and pointed at Qin Yu. From the crack in its chest, a nearly transparent yet instinctively terrifying wave suddenly spread out.
He raised his hand, and a tiny black-gold fire core slowly emerged from his palm. The fire core had no temperature, yet it caused Qin Yu's Fate Soul to instinctively feel a slight stinging pain, as if someone were using the concept of "rationality of existence" as a piece of paper, slowly crushing it with their fingertips.
The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix's voice was deep and clear, carrying an Adjudicator indifference. "You think you can sever my karma with a sword? You're wrong. I never contend with karma; I only deny everything outside of it."
He clenched his five fingers, and the black-gold fire core suddenly shattered into nine almost invisible threads of light. Each thread split into three, then into nine, and then into nine again, instantly filling the void around Qin Yu. Each thread of light resembled a tiny line of judgment.
It "froze" Qin Yu's shadow, breath, heartbeat, and even the light in his eyes. In that instant, the branches of the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins all stopped moving, and even the devouring seemed to be forcibly suppressed.
Only the whisper of the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix echoed through the heavens and earth, "Principle-Extinguishing Origin, the Nine Laws Deny the Name." As the words fell, all the light threads tightened simultaneously, and the space where Qin Yu was located was compressed into an invisible coffin. The coffin walls were not hard, but rather "negated," not compressing the physical body.
It directly negates your existence at this moment: your hand shouldn't be raised, your sword shouldn't be held, you shouldn't be here, you shouldn't even be able to think; even the idea of "counterattack" is pre-defined as invalid. When the black-gold light threads converge...
Fine, empty cracks appeared around Qin Yu, as if a mirror had been wiped clean from the inside. Within the cracks, there was no darkness, only a more utter "meaninglessness." The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix said calmly, "I won't kill you. I'll only leave you nameless, without definition, without any reason for the world to recognize you."
Qin Yu's gaze grew even colder at that moment. He didn't struggle, nor did he try to tear it apart with brute force, because he understood clearly that this wasn't restraint, but "Definition Deprivation." The harder you tried, the more it proved that you were still within the framework of being "defined."
He slowly exhaled, the Silent Origin Stainless Sword in his hand turning slightly. The blade remained dull, yet it seemed to draw the silence of the entire Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins to its edge. He raised his eyes to look at the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix, his voice calm to the point of being cold. "You're playing with 'negation'."
He paused, the tip of his sword lightly touching the air, like a drop of ink falling on an invisible page. "Then I'll show you what true 'No Definition' really means."
The next instant, Qin Yu drew his sword.
It wasn't a rainbow cleaving the heavens and earth, but rather, as the sword fell, nine chaotic annihilation marks simultaneously bloomed from behind the blade, like nine silent cracks opening into the abyss. Within these cracks lay no light, no wind, only an Ultimate void that shattered all "essential elements" and "self-definition" into fragments.
The Silent Origin Stainless Sword Form – Soulless Annihilation Abyss Sword– unfolded its sword intent. The moment the black-gold light threads of the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix emitted an extremely subtle "humming," like a harp string being forcibly plucked from its anchor point. This was because the Soulless Annihilation Abyss Sword wasn't striking restraints, space, or even the physical form of the divine power.
Rather, it is the very act of being bound "as a goal with a self, a soul, and a definition." When the goal's "self-definition" begins to crumble, the so-called "Nine Laws Deny the Name" lose their anchor point.
The black-gold light threads suddenly showed intermittent gaps, like a rope net stripped of its logical support. The entire "Coffin of Rejection" trembled violently, and the blank cracks on the coffin walls were swallowed up by the nine annihilation marks, not repaired.
Instead, they were dragged into the deeper abyss of souls and disappeared completely. The void origin of Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins began to writhe again at this moment, but was forced to retreat by the nine annihilation marks, as if even they instinctively feared the emptiness of "the existence of even the soul being denied".
For the first time, the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix's expression changed. He took a step back, his nine wings of shattering light simultaneously unfurling, starlight exploding into galaxy-like scorching debris to protect him. His voice was low and furious. "You dare use such sword intent to touch my Principle-Extinguishing Origin?!"
Qin Yu's shoulders and back trembled slightly, his Fate Soul still throbbing faintly, but he did not retreat. He held the Silent Origin Stainless Sword horizontally in his palm, its blade pointing at the throat of the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix, his tone as cold as stating a fact. "You deny the 'name,' so I'll make sure you can't even grasp the premise that 'the soul can be denied.'"
His gaze hardened, and he suddenly closed in, his footsteps creating silent ripples in the air. "Come on, continue."
The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix stared intently at him, a look of disbelief and shock appearing in its eyes for the first time, as if it had finally realized that the human before it was Stainless Realm · Initial Stage.
He managed to escalate the battle to the level of "adjudication and veto," which he excelled at, and even managed to force him to take a half-step back.
The humanoid form of the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix stood in the center of the Annihilation Starflame Domain, a cold smile slowly curving its lips. Its voice was deep and clear, as if coming from behind a broken boundary. "Good, very good. I haven't encountered such a powerful human in a long time. Since you dare to stand before me, then I'll let you see for yourself the true difference between us."
The moment he finished speaking, he stopped projecting his supernatural powers and instead sank the "Principle-Extinguishing Origin" into the Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins beneath his feet.
At that moment, the entire forbidden zone seemed to be ignited, but there were no flames; only a "denial" more thorough than fire awakened. The darkness in the void was no longer a backdrop, but a breath rising and falling like the lungs, and countless previously silent void branches trembled in unison.
Dark red veins, like starlight, shone through the branches, as if forcibly infused with a will. Devouring was no longer instinct, but a command. The ground began to collapse, not as a fall, but as if its very existence had been "erased."
What was left behind by the collapse was not an abyss, but an undefinable blank space. For the first time Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins revealed its full hostility. The entire forbidden zone was like an ancient beast slowly awakening, turning the "battlefield" itself into the second body of the Divine Phoenix.
The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix spread its arms, and the Boundary-Severing Wings behind it transformed into nine pillars of annihilation that pierced through heaven and earth, directly plunging into the depths of the Return to the Ruins. Its voice resounded simultaneously from all directions, transcending any sense of location. "All the spaces, devouring, and Annihilation here are extensions of me. Every step you take will be rejected."
Qin Yu at the edge of that turbulent void, his robes torn by the invisible annihilation currents. The pressure on his Fate Soul felt as if the entire forbidden zone was watching him, yet his gaze grew ever calmer. He did not rush to draw his sword.
Instead, in that instant, it became clear that the Divine Phoenix's Principle-Extinguishing Origin did not expand out of thin air, but rather used the "establishment chain" as an anchor to bind its own judgment power to the domain. Once the domain was established, the origin could extend infinitely; conversely, as long as the "establishment" was severed, even the largest veto would instantly lose its fulcrum.
He moved.
Instead of retreating, he took a step forward to meet the surging devouring will of the Return to the Ruins. The void beneath his feet shattered like a mirror, but was steadily supported by an even calmer force at the edge of the shattering.
Qin Yu pressed down slightly on the Silent Origin Stainless Sword in his hand. The sword's edge was devoid of light, yet it caused an unnatural pause in the surrounding Extinction Meridians. He raised his eyes to look at the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix, his voice not loud, but clearly penetrating the entire forbidden zone. "You handed over 'Establishment' to the Domain." Before his words had even finished, he had already drawn his sword.
The Causeless Disillusionment Sword.
This sword strike was not aimed at the Divine Phoenix's physical body, nor at the nine pillars of annihilation, but rather precisely cut into the invisible "chain of formation" between the two.
When the sword fell, the world felt as if a thin thread had been pulled from its roots. There was no explosion, no roar, only an almost inaudible cracking sound echoing from the depths of logic.
The starlight on the pillar of annihilation suddenly lost its color, and the originally surging will to devour the Return to the Ruins paused for a very short time, like a net whose warp and weft were suddenly pulled out, and all the power lost its direction at the same time.
Immediately afterwards, the stagnation turned into disintegration, a large area of blank space collapsed in reverse, and the devouring tide surged back, slamming hard into the Divine Phoenix itself. The Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix was forced to take half a step back, its Boundary-Severing Wings vibrated violently, and for the first time, irregular tears appeared on its blade-like edges.
He roared, his voice finally filled with genuine rage. "Impossible... you... you actually directly executed 'Chengli'?!"
Qin Yu did not pursue. He stood steadily on the edge of the collapse, the Silent Origin Stainless Sword held horizontally in front of him. The sword intent was like a calm and restrained boundary, separating the surging Return to the Ruins from himself.
He looked at the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix, his tone still calm, yet carrying an undeniable sharpness. "Your gap isn't in your cultivation level." He paused, his gaze sharp as a blade, "Just when you thought your domain could bear everything for you..."
The devouring will of Eternal Silence Return to the Ruins was still restless, but it was no longer completely obedient. A low and unstable rumble came from the depths of the forbidden zone, like some kind of out-of-control breathing.
Standing amidst the surging dark red veins, the Nine-Winged Divine Phoenix's gaze turned truly solemn for the first time. He finally realized that this battle was no longer the crushing judgment he was familiar with, but a life-or-death struggle over "establishment itself."