As the void gradually stabilized and the aftershocks subsided, over a hundred figures hovered in the shattered void. No one made a move, their breaths settled, and the vibrations of their Fate Soul flowed back within their bodies, gradually gathering together. Their light aura subsided, and their blood energy ceased its surge.
Some people sat cross-legged on the broken spacetime rift, palms pressed against their chests, their Fate Soul essence slowly swirling, their dim soul light rekindling; others simply closed their eyes and hovered in the air, fine soul patterns appearing around their bodies, converging inwards in circles, as if piecing their shattered existence back together into a skeleton.
Some people let out low hums, their breaths creating faint ripples, like the last gentle tremor on the surface of water before it calms. The entire space fell silent, with only the soft sounds of breathing and the return of Fate Soul intertwining, like a battlefield slowly healing.
Suddenly, a golden scale appeared in the distant void, stretching across the sky, followed by a second, a third, and hundreds and thousands more.
Countless translucent golden scales unfolded, crisscrossing and overlapping, cutting the entire void into countless distinct layers of latitude and longitude. Fine symbols floated slowly above the scales.
Birth and death are in flux, yin and yang are in opposition, and the past and present are in alternation. Time is like being dissected into tangible fragments, sliding back and forth between these scales. Light is cut by these scales, space is remarked, and the entire world is like being recalibrated by an invisible hand.
The next instant, specks of light fell—one, ten, a hundred, thousands upon thousands.
God-Level Resonance Crystal appeared between the scales, suspending, pulsating, and diffusing. Each crystal breathed, light surging from within and then being absorbed back, its rhythm irregular yet resonant with one another. Deep within the crystal's core, a chaotic nebula slowly rotated, its golden-red and blue-purple hues alternating and shimmering.
Like power and the Dao repeatedly merging within the same core, the surface radiance constantly rises, like a burning flame or flowing liquid crystals, its boundaries ever-changing. With each pulsation, a visible ripple spreads through the surrounding space.
Fine, thread-like Dao patterns spontaneously emerged, generating, breaking, and recombining, as if interpreting the underlying structure of heaven and earth.
Someone opened their eyes and stared intently at the "God-Level Resonance Crystal..." The voice was very low, but it spread out in an instant.
"This number—" "My goodness..." In the next instant, more than a hundred figures moved at the same time, without orders or hesitation.
A figure suddenly leaped up, tearing through space and rushing straight into the space between the scales. A palm reached out, soul power swept out, and one after another God-Level Resonance Crystal were forcibly taken into the palm, their light being stretched into long trails.
Someone grabbed three crystals, only to be knocked away by another aura, the crystals flying out of their hands; someone else had just collected them when a burst of soul light erupted behind them, directly knocking them back, the crystals flipping in mid-air before being snatched away by a third person. The space rippled again, the scale was shaken out by the impact, the golden lines slightly distorted, and then quickly returned to their original positions.
Just as the struggle erupted, the void cracked open again, and dozens of beams of light slowly descended—these were jade boxes.
The box is small, yet its weight seems to press down on the surrounding space. Its outer shell is like warm, ancient jade, yet it subtly reveals layers of flowing textures, as if time is slowly flowing within it. The surface of the box is uncarved, yet fine lines constantly emerge, appearing and disappearing, each revelation causing the surrounding air to stagnate slightly.
The edges gleamed with a faint, eerie light that did not spread but hovered around the box, like some kind of primordial energy that had been forcibly suppressed.
Even before the jade box was opened, wisps of aura emanated from it, then suddenly spread out, and an extremely dense aura of a supreme Dao treasure pressed down.
The space seemed to sink, and everyone holding their breath paused. Those vying for the God-Level Resonance Crystal stopped simultaneously, and in the next instant, their direction changed.
Dozens of figures simultaneously turned towards the jade box, moving faster and with heavier auras.
Someone tore open space and leaped to the jade box. The moment their palm touched the surface, the entire void trembled, the Dao marks on the box's surface lit up instantly, and the recoil exploded, sending them flying.
Another person followed closely behind, using their soul power to forcefully grab the box, causing light patterns to explode at their fingertips and blood to spurt out, yet they still held on tightly to the edge of the box. More people rushed up, their auras overlapping, and the space began to show obvious signs of tearing.
The struggle for upgrades caused the light band to distort and vibrate, pulling the entire space back to the brink of chaos, and beyond all of this...
Qin Yu sat quietly in a corner, neither getting up nor making a move.
His breathing was extremely light, almost imperceptible, and his Fate Soul flowed slowly back into his body, sinking deeper and deeper layer by layer. The breath of Silent Origin circulated in his sea of consciousness, without light or energy leaking out. All fluctuations were suppressed into the innermost layer, like a deep well that swallowed all external disturbances.
His presence seemed to be stripped away from this struggle, the surrounding space automatically parted to make way for him, and even the surging scales shifted slightly to his side.
At that very moment—boom! A muffled sound came from the depths of space, and a new barrier was revealed as the void was torn open.
Pure white, without boundaries, without structure.
At that moment, the entire space was flattened into a giant sheet of paper. Light was absorbed, sound was suppressed, and all three-dimensional structures rapidly lost their thickness. Mountains, rivers, scales, and bands of light all became flat, as if forcibly pressed into a page of paper that had not yet been written on.
The second page, the Primordial Chaos Paper Embryo, has no words or symbols, only a blank space, but that blank space is flowing, breathing, like some primordial entity yet to be named.
The moment you step onto its edge, existence begins to lighten, outlines begin to blur, and even the boundaries of the "self" are weakened, as if everything is to be returned to the state before it was written.
The entrance fully opened, and the entire space fell silent for a moment. The next instant, all those vying for it stopped simultaneously, their gazes turning to the empty space, their breathing becoming heavy once more.
The scale continued to turn, the light band stretched across the sky, the God-Level Resonance Crystal pulsated continuously in the void, and the light patterns spread out in circles. However, the entire space became slow after the appearance of that pure white barrier, as if the rhythm had been suppressed by an invisible hand.
Someone spoke first, their voice soft but clear, "This is how it is on the very first page..."
He looked up at the pure white expanse, his throat bobbing slightly, but his palm gripped a newly acquired God-Level Resonance Crystal tightly, light seeping through his fingers.
"I think I'll just collect more God-Level Resonance Crystal." With that, he turned around and didn't look at the second page again.
With a flash, he rushed back into the space between the scales, his hands moving rapidly, his soul power sweeping out, collecting the scattered crystals one by one, his movements faster and more urgent than before.
On the other side, someone slowly backed away, their gaze fixed on the piece of white paper. "Survival is the most important thing."
His voice trembled uncontrollably, his chest heaving noticeably, "This... I can't bear it."
After he finished speaking, he immediately suppressed his aura, moved away from the entrance, sat cross-legged, and stopped fighting and advancing. He simply guarded himself and began to stabilize his Fate Soul.
Some choose to start splitting apart, while others stop.
Some continued their frantic struggle for the crystal, light and shadow weaving back and forth between the markings, their attacks becoming even more swift and fierce.
Some people immediately retreated to the edge, concealing all their aura and withdrawing themselves from this struggle.
Some people stood still, staring at the white expanse without moving or retreating. The next moment, someone stepped forward, becoming the first person to enter.
The moment his foot landed, his body felt lighter, and faint, ethereal ripples appeared around his feet, but he didn't stop.
The second person followed the third and fourth, their breaths tightening layer by layer, their will pushing upwards inch by inch.
More than thirty figures emerged from the chaos and walked towards the pure white expanse.
The sounds of fighting continued behind them, and light exploded behind them, but no one turned around. Qin Yu opened his eyes and slowly stood up.
His breath was steady Fate Soul was contained, making him appear like a line sinking into deep water, without the slightest ripple.
His gaze swept over the markings, over the struggle, over those who had stopped, and finally settled on the blank sheet of paper.
His footsteps landed without pausing as he walked forward, each step light yet steady. The void beneath his feet seemed to level itself, and the markings beside him shifted slightly, as if making way for him.
He walked into the line of about thirty people. No one argued with him, no one spoke to him; everyone's attention was drawn to what was ahead.
As Bai drew closer, just before stepping onto the edge, Qin Yu's gaze paused slightly as a stroke emerged from the pure white.
It's very faint, but there is a word "wood" with no color or light, as if it has never been written down, but it is already there.
The strokes are simple, yet they grow slowly: a left-falling stroke extends and a vertical stroke sinks down, like roots and branches.
Like some unformed structure, it attempts to take root on this boundless blank canvas.
Qin Yu's gaze lingered for a moment without stopping as he stepped inside, and the space was flattened the next instant.
At the same time, all thirty-odd figures entered and landed on that white expanse.
There was no sound, no feeling of landing, the body became lighter and the boundaries blurred. The ground beneath my feet was no longer "ground," yet I could stand.
There was no direction or up and down in any direction.
Only a vast expanse of pure white paper stretches into the distance, its edges directly connecting with nothingness. Darkness slowly engulfs the outer perimeter, approaching inch by inch, only to be constantly pushed back by this white expanse.
As soon as someone steadied himself, his figure swayed and his outline instantly faded as if a stroke had been erased. He quickly regained his balance, released his soul power, and his outline solidified again.
But a faint blank mark has been left on the white paper; someone tried to lift their body but was pulled back onto the paper.
Height and distance disappear; all sense of three-dimensionality is compressed, and existence is unfolded, like a painting being written on, yet potentially erased at any moment.
In the distance, the character for "wood" slowly extends, a second stroke emerges, and a third stroke appears. The entire white paper begins to show subtle changes, as if some kind of rule is being generated.
The space behind them closed, the entrance disappeared, and the markings vanished; the boundary between the first and second floors was completely erased.
The entire Primordial Chaos Paper World was reduced to a single blank page. A voice descended from nowhere, yet simultaneously pressed into everyone's consciousness.
"Core challenge." The white face rippled slightly. "Using my own foundation, I'll carve out a world within this small space." The white paper beneath his feet sank an inch. "Resisting the erosion of nothingness." Darkness drew closer at the edge.
"Cannot be assimilated by chaos." The air thins. "Leaving a mark upon the blank." "White face awaits." "Learn to lay the foundation for the world." The sound dissipates, and white returns to stillness.
Someone unleashed a palm strike, pressing down with soul power into the white-faced figure. The white-faced figure rippled outwards, leaving no trace.
The second palm strike was even heavier, the soul power solidified, and the light fell, leaving the white surface still smooth. Darkness adhered to the edges, and his palm began to fade.
His skin lightened, bone patterns appeared, and the next moment his hand disappeared. He took a step back, and the white surface beneath his feet swallowed his shadow.
The shadow disappeared, the body began to fade, the chest became transparent, and the breath became intermittent. The whole person was erased layer by layer.
Finally, the outline disappeared, and the white surface returned to its original state without any trace.
Five beings at the Realm Breaking Realm simultaneously attacked, their Dao Foundations unfolding, and a piece of land appeared beneath their feet.
The edge of darkness covered the entire landmass and vanished instantly. He was pulled into the white expanse and began to sink from his feet.
It went down to the waist, then the chest, then the neck, and finally the whole person was swallowed up.
The second person's flow of time unfolded around him, lighting up in segments, not yet forming a continuous line.
Each segment extinguished simultaneously, and his body disappeared without a trace.
The third Fate Soul imprint fell, leaving a very faint mark on the white face. As darkness pressed in, the Trace Vanishing.
His Fate Soul Nucleus extinguished on the spot, and his body, which had been standing, vanished in an instant.
The fourth person leaped up, his body leaving the white surface by an inch. As the height disappeared, he was pressed flat onto the white surface, his outline unfolding before being erased in the next instant.
The fifth person stood still, his aura condensed to its Ultimate, and the white surface beneath his feet sank slightly. Just as an inch of space was expanded, darkness enveloped him, and he vanished completely.
Without any fluctuation or trace, all five people vanished; Bai Mian remained unchanged, and there was no record of their whereabouts.
The rest of the people all stopped, no one took action anymore. They lowered their breath and tightened their grip in the distance. The stroke of "wood" regenerated into a horizontal line.