Above the misty ruins, withered leaves, like ashes from an old era, swirled in the wind. The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian stood before the withered tree, its sword intent spreading out like layers of a shattered sky. Above, a crack was pried open in the void by the eerie incantation, and the shadow of the Age Devourer slowly "fell" from the crevice—it resembled a wolf, yet also seemed like the very end of time itself, crouching and sniffing, its gray fur trembling slightly.
The surrounding light and sound seemed to have been erased beforehand, even the falling dust hesitated. Qin Yu gripped the Silent Origin Stainless Sword, the Stainless cold gleam of the blade flowing along his finger bones, as if even his breath had been sharpened into a piercing stillness. Suddenly, Xiao Yue leaped from his shoulder, her star-blue skirt billowing out a crescent-shaped ripple.
She turned her head and smiled at Qin Yu, her eyes narrowing, but her tone unusually deep. "Little Qinzi, I'll help you. You deal with the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian, and I'll deal with this ancient divine beast." Qin Yu didn't say much, only managing a "okay" in his throat, before taking a step forward, his figure sliding across the ground as if his weight had been shrunk by the power of Stainless.
The two figures separated at the same instant.
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian's black robe billowed, and his longsword was once again held horizontally. This time, what rose from the blade was not Wind of Realm Breaking, but layers of flowing illusions of time. Time seemed to be in his grasp. He sighed softly, and his longsword thrust straight forward—"The Time Reversal Sword".
Facing head-on the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian's sword, the Time Reversal Sword —the instant the sword was drawn, "illusory patterns" of flowing time appeared in the air, like countless tiny hourglasses turning simultaneously in the same breath. Immediately, numerous afterimages appeared around Qin Yu. These were not afterimages of his movement, but rather all his possible evasion trajectories from the past three breaths and the future three breaths were forcibly drawn out and placed before the sword's edge.
The sword of the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian did not pursue Qin Yu's current position, but instead traced back along those afterimages, slashing towards the starting point where his move had not yet taken shape, as if to cut off the "cause of raising the wrist" before he could even raise it; a chill crept into Qin Yu's eyes.
The second form of the Silent Origin Stainless Sword, the Causeless Disillusionment Sword, was suddenly unleashed. He didn't directly clash with the Time Reversal Sword, but instead allowed the sword's momentum to momentarily "empty"—the trajectory of the sword's edge was clearly in front of him, yet it seemed as if he had detached himself from the causal threads, causing the tracing sword intent to momentarily lose its "starting point" to engage with. The next moment...
The ephemeral light of Causeless Illusory Destruction spread out before him like an extremely thin, Stainless mirror. There were no reflections on the mirror, only the lines of time shattered into fragments of grayish-white light. When the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian pierced the mirror with its sword, there was no explosion, only a muffled sound like an ancient bell cracking, emanating from the "past."
--Qin Yu seized this fleeting opening, his left hand forming a brush shape with his fingers. The Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence, Six Severances Seal, and the Logic Abyss Core of the Fate Cause Sealing Mirror descended from his fingertips. One by one, cold golden patterns emerged from the depths of his Fate Soul, instantly weaving a causal outline of "Sealed Mirror" beneath the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian. He forcefully folded the cyclical path upon which the Time Reversal Sword relied into a closed core.
When its sword intent tried to return, it could only crash back against itself; the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian roared angrily, its sword blade swirling back, forcibly tearing open the edge of the sealed mirror with the Wind of Realm Breaking. Qin Yu, however, did not retreat. The Silent Origin Stainless Sword shifted to the side, and the second move, Silent Light, suddenly changed from "emptiness" to "slash," like a line of inevitable coldness arising from nowhere, directly cutting into the wind that Realm Breaking, erasing a portion of its "cause of the wind."
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian was momentarily stunned by this blank space. The fiery patterns on its chest dimmed for a second, as if someone were choking it. Taking advantage of this, Qin Yu slammed down with his sword. The sword light was neither explosive nor fierce, but it still sent the remnant soul flying backward, smashing through dozens of withered leaves and decaying rocks. The remnant soul's body left a broken gray line in mid-air, as if it would be completely swallowed back into "never existed" by this ruin at any moment.
At the same time, the Age Devourer had already pounced on Xiao Yue, its footsteps silently causing the void to collapse. The moment it opened its mouth, no fangs gleamed, only rings of "twilight vortexes" swirled within. Xiao Yue, however, raised her hand first, silently unleashing the Blue Ring technique [Sever Thought and Extinguish Consciousness]. Star-blue moonlight fell from her palm, transforming into layers of extremely fine "Shi Lian," spreading along the ground. Wherever the ripples passed, the mist and dust seemed to suddenly forget how to drift.
Even the oppressive aura of the Age Devourer, which seemed to devour the very fabric of time, was forced to pause—but the Age Devourer did not stop. Its supernatural powers manifested at this moment, as if they were born specifically to hunt "intentions": the supernatural power "Years' Bite Reversal Wheel," defined as "using the years as teeth to bite back the enemy's present moment, causing all their actions to return to the moment before they even began." When unleashed, there was no dazzling light; only the sudden appearance of inverted "annular rings" in the space around Xiao Yue.
The rings of her hair, like transparent bone rings, seemed to encircle her limbs and the tips of her hair, attempting to drag her every raised hand and every breath back to a state of "not yet happened"; Xiao Yue's eyes turned cold, and the Blue Ring Second Form [Logic Chain Severance], which she had only recently comprehended, suddenly bloomed at her fingertips—
It wasn't an explosion, but rather the sudden appearance of countless transparent logical symbols and thin chains throughout the entire space. Arrows, rings, and broken infinity symbols spun around her, forming a blue void ring. She didn't confront the rings of time, but instead directly "scanned" the fulcrum upon which her supernatural power rested:
The cycle of reincarnation relies on the connection between the "present and the past," on the causal nail of "action occurring," and on the lock of time onto the subject. Xiao Yue raised her finger and gently drew a line, as if cutting an invisible thread in the air. The snapping sound did not come from her ears, but rather seemed to emanate from the very crack of logic itself. The illusory rings of time suddenly paused, and then Years' Bite Reversal Wheel appeared one after another. The cycle of time, Age Devourer, could no longer "hold onto the present" on her.
Instead, it dragged itself into an absurd paradox: it tried to rewind her movements, only to find that the "fulcrum of movement" had been severed, and the rewind had no object. The rings of time could only rewind themselves, and so the transparent bone rings suddenly twisted into impossible geometry, self-entangled like a Möbius strip, and finally exploded into pieces of blue fragments that silently dissipated in the void;
The Age Devourer let out a silent roar, its gray fur bristling, and the ripples in the surrounding spacetime suddenly expanded. Xiao Yue, however, had already used the momentum from the broken chain to get close to its front paws. The moonlight, Sever Thought and Extinguish Consciousness, pressed down again, suppressing its aura of "making all things forget" into a sluggish gray mist. She turned back and raised her chin at Qin Yu, as if to say, "I've stabilized things here."
Qin Yu, on the other side, shattered the withered stones and caught up with the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian. Just as the remnant soul was about to unleash another sword attack, Qin Yu suppressed it with the Causeless Disillusionment Sword, while simultaneously forcing the Abyss Core of the Fate Cause Sealing Mirror inch by inch closer to the remnant soul's heart fire.
Forced to withdraw its sword and defend, the battle raged on between the withered trees and ruins, forming two taut lines.
One was Qin Yu's clash with the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian, a battle of Timeless and Causeless slashes; the other was Xiao Yue's struggle against the Year- Age Devourer Bite and Broken Chain. The sea of withered yellow leaves trembled between the two lines, as if the true main hall was still hidden in one of the leaf veins, waiting for them to reveal the moment of breaking the deadlock in this life-or-death struggle.
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian was forced back by the intent of Causeless Illusory Destruction. His black robe billowed as he crashed into the trunk of the withered tree. The roots of the ancient, yellowed tree shattered layer by layer upon impact, and grayish-white dust drifted away like ashes from an ancient era. The remnant soul, however, did not fall. Instead, he used the momentum to stand firmly against the tree roots, reversed the sword, and plunged the tip heavily into the ground.
In an instant, the entire ancient tree trembled violently, and countless withered leaves on its branches simultaneously lit up with a very faint gray light. Fine dark patterns appeared in the veins of the leaves, and those patterns echoed each other, as if a huge seal was forcibly lit up inside the tree.
The third supernatural power – Leaf Vein Hall Sealing.
It's not a direct attack, but rather forcing a choice.
Among the myriad leaves, each vein transforms into a miniature "palace gate outline" at this moment. The true entrance to the sealed main hall is forcibly split and projected into thousands of withered leaves. Any leaf could be real; any leaf could also be a deadly phantom. If the wrong choice is made, the seal will backfire; if there is hesitation, the Age Devourer Maw has already bitten into the deeper source of time.
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian suddenly raised the sword's edge, gray light climbing along the blade. His voice was deep and ancient, as if it came from the abyss where the laws had collapsed.
The Dao Fall Sword.
Breaking the "Boundary of Laws". With a single sword strike, all the rules of heaven and earth within the domain temporarily collapsed. The laws that support the spells and the laws that maintain all things became ineffective.
The moment the sword touched the ground, an invisible sword intent swept in all directions.
The colors of the ruins faded rapidly, the sky lost its layers, and the ancient tree branches turned into dull gray shadows. Gravity began to malfunction, and the stones beneath Qin Yu's feet suddenly floated upwards before crashing down into fragments in the next instant; in the distance, embers of fire lingered in mid-air, unable to burn; the spatial rifts that had previously torn in the void stopped spreading, but also ceased to heal.
All "rules" temporarily failed under this sword strike.
The flow of energy within Qin Yu's body suddenly became sluggish, and the silent light he unleashed with his sword collapsed halfway through, because the framework of laws supporting the formation of his sword intent had been severed by the intent of the Dao's Demise.
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian, his black robes fluttering, pointed his longsword directly at Qin Yu. At this moment, only the primordial chaos remained within the domain.
But Qin Yu's gaze grew increasingly calm.
The Dao Fall Sword did indeed sever the laws, but it still relied on a premise—the logic of the act of "severing the laws" still existed.
Breaking the rules does not equate to breaking the "origin".
In the gray realm where the laws were collapsing, Qin Yu suddenly held the Silent Origin Stainless Sword horizontally in front of him and closed his eyes for a moment. He no longer tried to invoke the spells formed by the rules, but directly awakened the most essential Seal of Order Adjudication deep within his Fate Soul.
Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence: Six Severances Seal
This time, he did not use the Sealing Mirror or the Abyss Core, but directly activated [Final Order Interrogation - World Silent Judgment].
It is not magic, nor does it rely on rules; rather, it is a judgment on the "order of existence".
A thin, silvery-white line extended from his palm, pierced through the gray mist of the Dao Fall Domain, and reached the feet of the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian. That line was not energy, but a question posed to "who is qualified to continue existing in this sequence."
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian suddenly trembled.
The Dao Fall Sword severed the rules, but failed to sever the "order".
Qin Yu opened his eyes, and the sword suddenly shot forward.
The second form of the Silent Origin Stainless Sword – the Causeless Disillusionment Sword.
The sword light no longer tried to conform to the rules, but instead directly slashed at the core fire pattern on the hilt of the longsword of the remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian.
"You break the rules, yet you still wield the sword as your anchor."
The silver-white sword light pierced through the gray area, heading straight for the remnant soul's chest.
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian let out a low hiss, its black robe was instantly torn open with a long gash, and the fire patterns on its remnant soul suddenly dimmed. The Dao Fall Domain trembled violently, gravity returned, the flames reignited, and the spatial rifts spread again.
The light from the Leaf Vein Hall Sealing began to flicker chaotically.
At the same time, the other side of the Age Devourer suddenly raised its head, and its gray-white vortex-like eyes spun around at an abruptly faster speed.
The signs of the Bite of Retroactive Erasure reappeared.
A deeper, darker crack appeared in its mouth, and a reverse channel was forcibly opened in the river of time, causing Qin Yu's causal lines to tremble silently.
Xiao Yue felt that power intensifying. Her star-blue eyes narrowed, and Blue Ring - First Form - Sever Thought and Extinguish Consciousness was unleashed once more.
The moonlight spread out like a tide, directly pressing down on the reverse causal current of the Age Devourer.
The Sever Thought and Extinguish Consciousness is not about cutting off time, but rather about stripping the clarity of the "devouring thought".
The Devouring Maw of Age Devourer paused slightly under the suppression of the moonlight, but its instinct for ending did not dissipate; it was merely slowed down.
Xiao Yue turned around and shouted, "Little Qinzi, you won't last long!" Qin Yu's gaze remained calm.
The remnant soul of the Leaf Guardian was severely injured, but not extinguished.
If it is not completely ended within a few breaths, its dual suppression from the Age Devourer will inevitably overlap again.
The silvery-white sword light condensed once more in his palm. The next strike must sever the root.