The secret passage is like a rift forgotten on the edge of the world, with no end in front or behind, no barriers to the left or right. Even the concept of a "passage" itself seems unreal. Only a flowing silence constantly pulls everything in existence forward.
Chi Ninghua trudged along this nearly collapsed path, her figure swaying but not stopping. Her aura had shattered into countless tiny fragments; with each activation of her Fate Soul, a bloody aura surged from her chest. Yet she continued forward. She dared not stop, nor could she stop, for she knew that the moment she stopped, the being behind her would erase her from the world. Just as her consciousness was almost swallowed by excruciating pain—
Suddenly, a light appeared ahead.
The light was extremely faint, like a ray of dawn not yet fully born, quietly suspended deep within the secret passage. It was neither dazzling nor ostentatious, yet it possessed an undeniable purity. In that instant, Chi Ninghua's pupils contracted sharply. She didn't even have time to think about what the light was; she only felt that a nearly exhausted will within her was gently ignited by that single point of light.
Her breathing suddenly tightened, and her steps quickened instantly.
She squeezed out the remaining power of her Fate Soul without hesitation, her figure leaving a broken but determined streak of light in the secret passage as she desperately rushed towards that light, as if it were not an opportunity, but the only way out for her to survive.
Just as she accelerated again, the atmosphere behind her suddenly changed drastically.
Xuanling Divine Huang's figure was steadily approaching under pressure, but the moment that ray of light appeared deep within the secret passage, its movements suddenly froze, as if something within its very essence had been awakened. The next moment, its cold, desolate pupils suddenly tightened, and an extremely suppressed dragon roar exploded in the secret passage.
The roar did not echo, but it caused the entire structure of the secret passage to tremble violently.
Space collapsed inward as if crushed by a heavy object. The originally layered path was forcibly flattened at this moment. Xuanling Divine Huang spread its wings, and the spatial fragments condensed at the tips of its feathers exploded at the same time. Its figure suddenly lengthened, like a beam of light piercing through the void, and pounced directly towards Chi Ninghua.
Its speed was no longer a pursuit, but more like a lock-on; that glint of light revealed its true urgency for the first time.
Hua Yuening, who followed closely behind, also changed her expression completely at this moment.
Her originally calm and sharp gaze showed a very subtle tremor for a moment. She also noticed the difference in the light. That aura was pure and unadulterated, like some untouched source, quiet yet dangerous.
She didn't speak, nor did she hesitate.
Her inner energy instantly contracted, and her entire body seemed to "thin out" in an instant. The next moment, her figure swayed slightly and slid out of its original trajectory. Space seemed to be gently torn open, and she stepped into it. When she reappeared, she had already crossed an interval that was not normal.
Her speed suddenly increased, and she closely followed the breath behind Xuanling Divine Huang.
Her goal was clear: whatever lay ahead, she had to be at the forefront.
The secret passage began to descend into chaos under the impact of the three auras. Layers of space peeled away, and the originally faint structure was torn into fragments, rolling backward as if the entire passage was being carried along by them.
Further back, a figure appeared silently.
The moment Qin Yu stepped into the secret passage, he captured all the changes ahead: Chi Ninghua's struggle, Xuanling Divine Huang's rage, and Hua Yuening's sudden leap in trajectory—all unfolded in his perception.
His gaze fell ahead, where the light was no longer faint.
He wasn't impatient; he simply took a step forward.
The moment his footsteps landed softly, the path of the world was quietly rewritten. He didn't push himself to the limit, nor did he unleash his power, yet he silently and steadily closed the distance ahead.
Unlike an active pursuit or aggression, it was more like a steady journey along a predetermined cause-and-effect path, with everything already destined. Four distinct auras, traversing layers of dark tunnels, converged at this moment in the same depth.
At the end of the secret passage, a faint, soft light slowly diffused and expanded. The hazy halo gradually unfolded, transforming into an invisible, colossal gate suspended in the chaotic shadows, silent and timeless. The gate was half-closed, concealing profound secrets, quietly awaiting the first person to step into it.
The secret passage suddenly stopped at the end.
Like a segment of time that had been cut off, it froze here into a "point of stillness" without any distinction between before and after. Chi Ninghua's figure suddenly rushed out of that distorted and flowing space, and she staggered into an extremely quiet area. Her footsteps landed without any echo, and even her own aura became unusually thin at this moment.
She did not relax immediately. Her Fate Soul was still violently trembling and her injuries were not yet stable. However, she forcibly suppressed her surging blood and qi, raised her head, and stared straight ahead.
There, there is a pill, no—it cannot be identified as a "pill".
It hung suspended in mid-air, without height, distance, or location, yet clearly "present." At first glance, Chi Ninghua thought it was an extremely ordinary, perfectly round bead, about the size of a thumb, with a warm, jade-like luster. But when she blinked a second time, its shape had subtly changed, as if some dark gray object was slowly rising and falling in her vision. And by the third time she looked at it, the color had vanished, leaving only an unclassifiable "emptiness."
Her breath hitched slightly as she realized—she hadn't truly "seen" it; she had only been allowed a kind of "approach."
That thing occupied no space, yet it formed the sole center within space; it had no weight, yet it made everything around it seem insignificant; it had no breath, yet it gave her Fate Soul an extremely strange sense of "return" at this moment.
Chi Ninghua's mind trembled violently in that instant. It was actually an Origin-Returning Annihilation Pill.
The name surfaced from the depths of her memory, yet it began to blur as it surfaced, as if even the act of "remembering it" itself was not allowed to last long.
Her pupils slowly contracted. She had heard the name before, but had never believed it actually existed.
According to legend, this object is not an elixir, but a condensation of the "principle of returning to stillness." In the instant before all existence finally returns to Annihilation, it is captured and fixed by a certain will, thus forming this "incomplete existence."
She gazed intently at the slowly unfolding glimmer of light, and a premonition that was both Ultimate absurd and incredibly real suddenly welled up within her.
She knew perfectly well that if she reached out and touched that light now, the outcome would not be gaining an opportunity or acquiring power.
What awaited her was never a gift from fate, but an irreversible entanglement and pull. This was not annihilation or annihilation, nor was it the end of complete destruction, but rather a forced stripping away of the existing temporal order and legal principles.
Drag them into a primordial starting point where everything is uncertain, a blank slate, and never been defined before. Break free from the shackles of the past, destiny, and cause and effect, and fall into a completely new and unknown primordial land.
She slowly raised her hand, and at that moment, the space behind her suddenly shattered.
A dragon's roar tore open the final structure of the secret passage.
The figure of Xuanling Divine Huang rushed into this area almost at the same moment. Its aura was no longer suppressed, and the entire space began to distort noticeably the instant it appeared. The originally quiet "stopping point" began to fluctuate for the first time.
Its gaze swept indifferently across the surroundings, completely ignoring Chi Ninghua in front of it, and landed directly on the floating and sinking Origin-Returning Annihilation Pill.
In an instant, a rare and chillingly absolute lock-on suddenly appeared deep within those deep, cold pupils.
It has nothing to do with hostility or killing; it is a destiny-bound constraint originating from the level of origin, a fixed anchor at the level of the order of all things, precise, cold, and inescapable, firmly holding onto the very essence of that pill's existence.
The next moment, its body suddenly pressed forward.
The entire space collapsed along its trajectory, as if its very existence was forcing this area to rebuild its structure; it ceased its pursuit of Chi Ninghua.
It was vying for it. But just as it was about to touch the pill, another aura followed closely behind.
Hua Yuening's figure slid out from the spatial rift. Her appearance was silent, yet she quickly embedded herself into the space. Her gaze was also fixed on the pill, and a cold light that was almost impossible to suppress flashed in her eyes.
Without hesitation, sword intent already gathered at her fingertips; she was about to strike first. And just as these three auras converged at a single point—
The last figure slowly stepped in— Qin Yu. His step did not cause any tremors.
This caused a very subtle pause in the entire space. His gaze passed over Chi Ninghua and Hua Yuening, and over Xuanling Divine Huang, landing directly on the pill.
At that moment, he didn't see "form"; he only saw one thing. "Existence was not yet complete."
His gaze subtly narrowed, and the entire space became even quieter at that moment, as if all the struggle had not yet truly begun, but had already reached a point of no return.