Deep within the Domain of Emberfire, the still-unsettled power of reforging suddenly twisted once more. The surging fire veins instantly collapsed inward, and extremely fine cracks appeared on the ashes.
Those cracks are not damage, but rather "undefined" boundaries from which nothingness slowly seeps out, like an invisible undercurrent devouring the forged outline.
Immediately afterwards, the primordial embers hidden deep within the rules suddenly dimmed, not extinguished, but fell into the deeper realm of "nothingness".
In the next instant, countless grayish-white specks of light emerged from the void. They had no temperature, no flame-like form, yet carried an Ultimate sense of erosion. These specks of light slowly elongated and twisted, eventually coalescing into "Void Ember Aperture."
Like miniature voids suspended in space, the surrounding flames vanish the instant they approach, leaving not even a trace of burning.
The Void Ember Aperture, their outlines shattered, descended, and in the next instant, those Ember Holes simultaneously shot out without trajectory or sound.
But the moment it touched space, it tore apart the outline of existence.
The area that Su Qingyuan had just stabilized with the power of nothingness vanished the moment it was touched by a hole in the embers. The entire boundary disappeared as if an ink stroke had been erased, and the nothingness rolled back out from within, instantly expanding into a deeper crack.
The rules and patterns that Qin Yu had just forged under his feet were also hit by another ash hole at this moment. The outline that was not yet fully stable disappeared directly, as if it had never existed. The Ancient God Clan cultivator was even more embarrassed. The protection that he had forcibly constructed with the Mystic Void Origin appeared in a large blank area the moment it came into contact with the ash hole. It was as if an invisible hand had wiped away a corner of the protective layer, and the void energy surged in.
This non-flammable material directly ignites.
Qin Yu's pupils narrowed slightly. The deductions in his sea of consciousness completely converged at this moment, and the answer emerged. Without further hesitation, an extremely subtle transmission of voice instantly entered Su Qingyuan's sea of consciousness. The voice was steady but carried a strong guiding meaning. "Miss Su, do not fill the crack. Use your divine soul to ignite the Dao Foundation Kindling Flame, weld it to the edge of the crack, melt the rules on both sides with high temperature, and then reconnect them with your own Dao rhythm, making the crack the connecting point."
His voice didn't pause; cause and effect, order and Order Adjudication, unfolded naturally in his words: "Welding, not filling. Cracks are blank spaces in this world; forcibly filling them will be swallowed by nothingness, while leaving them unattended will burn through. Grasp the edge and let the rules close on their own."
Su Qingyuan's eyes cleared completely in that instant, and she did not hesitate.
Within her Fate Soul, the "deficiency" of the Sheathless Blade was suppressed to its deepest level. Instead, she actively drew upon the newly formed embers within her body. The flames no longer emanated outwards but condensed into an extremely fine "firewood." Using her divine soul as a guide, she sent that firewood directly to the edge of a widening void rift beneath her feet.
When flames touch a crack, they don't fight it off, they melt it.
The regular boundaries on both sides of the crack softened rapidly under the high temperature, and her Daoist aura blended into it, filling the molten connection point like solder. When the flames subsided, the crack was no longer a breach, but a closed "line", even more stable than before.
The next Void Ember Aperture struck; she didn't dodge, and the welding, connection, and repair process repeated itself once more.
Her movements became increasingly fluid, and the resonance between her Dao Foundation and the Ember Flame within her body rapidly deepened. Those originally deadly Ember Holes began to lose their threat in front of her, and were even absorbed into the rules when they touched the boundaries of her reconstruction.
On the other side, Qin Yu had already completely entered the same rhythm.
The Dao Rhyme Ink Mass and the power of embers within his body circulated simultaneously, creating a strange balance between black and fire. With a wave of his hand, a wisp of embers and a wisp of ink fell into the crack at the same time. The ink was responsible for bearing the flames, while the fire was responsible for melting them. The cause and effect automatically closed within this process.
The power of nothingness was absorbed, and the outline of the rules became even clearer. His movements were not fast, but Ultimate precise. Each landing point was precisely at the most critical node of the crack.
Void Ember Aperture flashed around him, but each one missed its mark, either being rewritten or absorbed. The Ancient God Clan cultivator, however, was in a completely different situation.
He failed to grasp this logic; he continued to "resist."
The Mystic Void Origin was running wildly within his body, constantly pushing open layers of protection, only to have them erased the moment they touched the Ember Hole. He forcibly filled the cracks, but the power of nothingness rebounded from where he filled them, causing large cracks to appear in his Dao Foundation. He roared and forcibly activated the Origin again to suppress the cracks, but in the next instant, he was struck by even more Ember Holes.
With a sudden crash, he was thrown out and slammed heavily into the ashes. His Fate Soul trembled violently, his internal energy became chaotic, and there was even a brief break in his flow.
He struggled to sit up, his face pale, a look of horror flashing in his eyes. He dared not be careless any longer, and suddenly took out a deep purple pill from his storage crystal core and swallowed it in one gulp. At the same time, he grabbed several Supreme Transformation Source Crystal and crushed them directly. The power of the Origin Crystals transformed into a stabilizing current and forcibly pressed into his body, barely managing to stabilize his almost collapsing Dao Foundation.
Before he could catch his breath, he looked up at Qin Yu and Su Qingyuan in front of him. One was a fusion of ink and fire, while the other was a welding of nothingness.
Two figures moved gracefully between the embers and the void, their movements calm and their auras stable, even their injuries appearing extremely minor.
At that moment, the look in his eyes completely changed, and he stared at the two of them with murderous intent.
The ancient Ancient God Clan cultivator slowly rose from the ashes. His internal energy had not yet fully recovered, and his chest was still heaving violently. However, his gaze had become gloomy and sharp. The shockwaves left by the impact of the ashes still echoed deep within his Fate Soul, but what truly made him unable to suppress his emotions was...
But the composure and stability of the two people before him, their almost unscathed state, formed a stark contrast to his own disheveled state. He stared at Qin Yu and Su Qingyuan, his anger surging in his eyes. Finally, he couldn't help but speak, his voice low but carrying an undisguised chill. "Have you figured out the underlying logic?"
The heat in the air momentarily faltered.
Qin Yu looked up at him, a faint smile slowly curving his lips. The smile held no sarcasm, yet it was impossible to discern any true intention from it. His tone was calm, as if stating something utterly ordinary. "Who told you we figured out any logical rules? We were just lucky; we avoided it a step early."
Standing slightly in front of him, Su Qingyuan's eyes flashed with even greater coldness upon hearing these words. Her aura still resonated faintly with the Sheathless Blade, and an ethereal aura gently flowed around her. She coldly swept her gaze over the cultivator, her voice sharp and merciless. "You can't avoid it yourself, so you start blaming others. With such poor judgment, you dare to step into a place like this?"
The Ancient God Clan cultivator's face darkened completely at that moment. He didn't speak again, but just stared at the two of them.
His gaze was as cold as a venomous snake, and his thoughts slowly surged deep within his mind, a killing intent silently taking shape. "Hmph... In a moment, you will pay the price."
His thoughts were never revealed, but they condensed into a cold causal mark deep within his Fate Soul, quietly lying dormant.
At that very moment, the entire Domain of Emberfire suddenly trembled violently, and the ashes no longer merely breathed slowly, but boiled over completely.
Countless sparks erupted from the depths of the ground, so dense they almost obscured the view. They were no longer scattered, but rapidly converged, intertwined, and overlapped, with crimson and gold weaving in the air. A semi-transparent humanoid silhouette slowly coalesced from the center of the sparks.
The manifested form of the Emberfire Dao Foundation - Rule Kindling Flame was over ten feet tall, its entire body a crimson gold, seemingly composed of flowing lava and solidified rules intertwined. The patterns on its surface constantly changed, with blazing fire surging within, while the cooled, grayish-black ash was embedded within, like segments of completed "forging records."
It was surrounded by tiny, never-ending flames. The flames were not violent, but as they burned quietly, they gradually "defined" the space. Within each flame, extremely fine lines of cause and effect could be faintly seen flowing, as if constantly calibrating the existence structure of this area.
Its head had no facial features, only a ball of pure white flame that burned quietly without any fluctuation in temperature.
Yet it carries an irresistible sense of scrutiny.
When the flame flickered slightly, Qin Yu felt a certain force sweep across the depths of his Fate Soul. It wasn't a probe, but a direct comparison, as if his existence was being measured within some kind of standard.
The next instant, the figure slightly raised its hand, and the flames in its palm rapidly stretched, transforming into a blazing fire whip.
Before the whip could fall, the earth began to change. Wherever it stepped, the ashes instantly melted, turning into a nearly transparent crystalline surface, which then rapidly cooled, leaving behind complex and mysterious patterns. These patterns were interconnected, like a structure of rules that was being constantly perfected.
Fire here is both forging and judging; all three simultaneously felt a deeper pressure descend upon them.
At that moment Domain of Emberfire entered its Limit stage of high-temperature reshaping. The ashes were no longer merely burning, but had transformed into an invisible furnace, with fire veins surging and raging underground, each pulse like a heavy hammer striking the skeleton of the world.
The air was compressed into a blazing white fluid layer, and the spatial boundaries were constantly tightening and rewriting. The crimson-gold figure of rules slowly raised his hand, and the fire in his palm condensed into a heavy forging hammer. At the same time, with a gentle pull of his other hand, a huge anvil phantom crashed down in the void.
The next instant, the anvil expanded, and the entire space was dragged into a furnace for Dao Foundation Smelting, Assimilation and Forging.
The three were simultaneously pulled into the massive phantom of the furnace. The surroundings were no longer simply flames, but countless interwoven and overlapping runes, each glowing, each flash accompanied by a heavy "forging strike."
Qin Yu felt his Dao Foundation suddenly tighten, as if his Fate Soul was being directly gripped by some force. Immediately afterward, a terrifying compressive force surged from all directions, dragging his meridians, bones, and soul into the same direction, as if they were being forcibly compressed into some fixed shape.
At this moment, the flames cease burning on the surface and directly enter the source.
His Dao Rhyme Ink Mass was forcibly stretched and flattened in his dantian, then contracted again. Each change was accompanied by a hammer blow of rules. That power was not destructive, but rather "shaping," as if to forge his existence into a square and stable foundation, embedding it into the structure of this world.
Su Qingyuan's situation was equally severe. The power of nothingness within her body had just been unleashed when it was enveloped in a fiery red shell by flames. The "flaw" of the Sheathless Blade vibrated violently deep within her Fate Soul. The boundary of nothingness was compressed inch by inch. That power attempted to transform her "emptiness" into "form," forging her entire being into a stable node of rules. Her breath hitched slightly, and cold sweat began to seep from her forehead.
The Ancient God Clan cultivator fared even worse. Already severely injured and not yet healed, he was dragged into the furnace again. His Mystic Void Origin was repeatedly compressed and torn apart, and his Fate Soul trembled violently. He gritted his teeth and roared, forcibly urging his remaining power, but in the next instant, he was forced back into his body by an even stronger forging attack, and his aura instantly became chaotic.
Within the entire furnace, the phantom of the forging hammer struck again and again, as if the rules were beating down on their very existence.
At that very moment, Qin Yu's gaze suddenly hardened, and all the deductions in his mind converged into one point in an instant. The logic that had run through the previous layers was now completely unblocked— the Realm of Fire was not about destruction or suppression, but about selecting those who could "bear the rules".
He no longer resisted the forging force, but instead actively drew upon the power of the embers within his body.
Within his dantian, the Dao Rhyme Ink Mass suddenly changed. The black color was no longer independent but merged with the flames. A wisp of extremely pure "Dao Foundation Kindling Flame" was born at the core. The flame did not emanate outwards but was extremely stable, like a cluster of protected primordial flames.
With a thought, Qin Yu instantly spread the cluster of firewood, enveloping his own Dao foundation. As the forging strike landed, the firewood bore the brunt.
The force of compression no longer acts directly on the source, but is absorbed and transformed by the flame.
At the same time, he raised his hand and pressed down, and a wisp of firewood escaped from his palm and fell into a void crack at the edge of the furnace phantom. The flames spread instantly, but did not fill the crack. Instead, they melted the rules on both sides of the crack, and then his Daoist aura smoothly merged in, reconnecting them.
The crack closed and the fire pulse stabilized, but the forging frequency inside the furnace experienced a momentary, extremely subtle disturbance.
Su Qingyuan caught that slight change at that moment. Without hesitation, she followed Qin Yu's guidance and activated her own primordial flame. Her power of nothingness no longer resisted. She retreated to the deepest layer, leaving space for the flame to form a stable cycle within her body. Using her divine soul as a guide, she compressed the primordial flame into the Fate Soul Nucleus, and then expanded it outward inch by inch, enveloping her entire existence.
The next blow landed, but she wasn't crushed; instead, she used the force to reverse the situation.
She raised her hand, and a wisp of blazing fire fell directly into the edge of another crack, melting and connecting it, reforming the rules, and her aura actually stabilized at this moment.
The Ancient God Clan cultivator's eyes flashed with shock and resentment upon seeing this scene. He tried to imitate it, but he could never truly grasp the rhythm of that "transformation". His movements were still filled with resistance, and the primordial flame was shattered by the forging before it could take shape. He roared and once again urged his source to forcefully support his body.
Inside the furnace, the three figures were constantly being forged, but differences gradually emerged between them.
Qin Yu and Su Qingyuan's movements became increasingly fluid. Every strike was transformed, every crack was reconnected, and the fire veins beneath their feet gradually stabilized, even beginning to actively converge towards them.
The Ancient God Clan cultivator continued to retreat, his aura becoming increasingly chaotic, and fine cracks appearing on his Fate Soul.
As the next forging strike landed, his body jolted violently, and he was sent flying, crashing heavily into the edge of the furnace. A trickle of dark blood spilled from his mouth, and his Fate Soul nearly shattered. He barely managed to lift his head, his eyes no longer filled with anger, but with a hint of fear.
Meanwhile, at the center of the furnace, Qin Yu and Su Qingyuan had stabilized. The fire no longer suppressed them but began to flow around them, and they were becoming the " kindling" of this Realm of Fire.