Before the aftershocks of that will had completely subsided, Chi Ninghua's figure suddenly became ethereal. Without any hesitation, she directly detached herself from her current level and appeared beside Qin Yu in the next instant. The aura of the Eternal Silence Realm lingered around her. She didn't speak, but her voice transformed into an extremely calm thought that pierced through the void on the other side, "Junior Sister Wanning, come quickly."
The thought remained unwavering, yet carried an unyielding resolve. Ju Wanning's eyes widened in shock. Without hesitation, she shifted the chaotic power beneath her feet, instantly transforming herself into an unformed trajectory. She collapsed directly into nothingness from her original position, reappearing alongside the two. The three auras subtly merged into one at that moment, unintentionally yet forming a unified whole.
The man remained rooted to the spot, his gaze slowly sweeping over the three. A faint smile played on his lips, a smile devoid of emotion, yet sending a chill down one's spine. He exhaled softly, as if even this gesture was merely a formality, a "simulation." "Hmph, I was planning to hide forever."
His voice was no longer gentle; instead, it carried an unclassifiable coldness, as if something unnamed was borrowing language. "But unexpectedly, this sword could see through it."
As he spoke, he slightly raised his gaze, landing on the distant silence as if observing a piece of history long since dead. "So be it." He slowly raised his hand; the hand emanated no power, yet it caused a barely perceptible shift in the surrounding space.
"Since that's the case, let's keep it simple." His gaze returned to the three of them, and at that moment, his eyes no longer held any human emotion, only a pure logic of devouring flowed within them. "Devour you, then refine this sword."
Chi Ninghua's expression turned completely cold at that moment. She didn't retreat a single step, but instead took a step forward. The power of Eternal Silence slowly sank into her body. She stared at the man, her voice low but extremely clear, "What exactly are you?"
"Dao Source Demonic Spirit." The four words were spoken without any probing; each word was a firm confirmation. The moment Chi Ninghua's voice fell, even the depths of her own Fate Soul involuntarily trembled slightly. It was not fear, but an innate rejection at the source level, an instinctive resistance of the laws of heaven and earth to something different.
Her brows furrowed slightly, her eyes swirling with a cold, unfathomable depth, and her tone betrayed an undisguised gravity and doubt. "Why would such a thing appear in this ancient castle?"
Ju Wanning's gaze was equally solemn. Her aura had not fully recovered, but she had already suppressed all her instability. Her voice slowly unfolded in their minds, an explanation imbued with ancient understanding, yet devoid of any superfluous emotion. "The Dao Source —is not a living being."
A deep-seated apprehension flashed in her eyes. Her voice was low, yet each word was clear and forceful. "Its origin lies in the beginning of creation." She paused slightly, then raised her fingertips.
As if tracing the invisible trajectory of the origin, it continued, "When the origin was not yet stable, when chaos first opened, and the laws of heaven and earth had not yet taken shape, the first conflict between the principles of the Plane of Hongmeng and the Face of Skills gave birth to it—not created, but derived from 'nothingness,' an existence that naturally grew from the rift of the origin, unrelated to good or evil, yet possessing a chilling desolation that devours everything."
Her gaze grew increasingly solemn, and the movements of her fingertips slowed, as if she were tracing back to that primordial chaos. "When the origin had no clear boundaries, the laws of primordial chaos and skills collided, and that's how it came into being."
It depends on no vessel, follows no trajectory, can make all light avoid its sharpness, and make all order yield to it—this is its essence, born of chaos, returning to nothingness, able to transcend everything.
Then, she changed the subject, her tone becoming more resolute. "That Narrative Stripping, unrelated to external interference, was due to its own inherent logic, unable to withstand the crushing force of the dual laws. That is the root of all the imbalance."
Her voice trailed off slightly, a deep-seated, unspoken taboo lingering in her heart, one she herself was unwilling to delve into. The remnants left after the tearing were unrelated to the gathering and dispersing of energy, unrelated to the shattering of laws; only the remnants of concepts denied by heaven and earth remained. Her gaze returned to the man, the surging vigilance in her heart almost impossible to suppress. Those remnants spontaneously coalesced in the depths of chaos, and the Dao Source Demonic Spirit was born.
She exhaled softly, a hint of heaviness creeping into her voice for the first time. "It is not a cultivator, not a demon beast, nor a vessel for any Dao principle; it is 'an existence that arises after relationships have been negated.'" Her voice lowered slightly. "The meaning of its existence is to devour all 'defined connections,' returning all things to utter isolation."
Chi Ninghua's gaze froze completely at that moment. She understood what this meant. She spoke slowly, her voice so low it barely wavered, "That's why it's eyeing everything here."
The man chuckled softly, a laugh devoid of emotion, yet it caused a subtle distortion in the space around him. "You're half right." His gaze fell on Ju Wanning, as if reassessing her. "At least one of you so-called cultivators has seen through something."
He slowly took a step forward, a step that didn't move the distance, yet caused a slight collapse in the "relationship" between the three of them. "The world you understand is built on 'connection'," his voice became slow and clear, "And my purpose in existence is to make all these connections... fail."
Qin Yu remained silent throughout, his gaze fixed on the man. He made no attempt to identify or analyze him, but rather sought to discern a deeper "logic" within the constantly shifting aura. Deep within his Fate Soul, the Seal of Return to the Abyss trembled slightly.
A faint trace of the law was slowly unfolding, and his voice finally rang out at this moment, devoid of emotion, yet carrying a calmness that had long been confirmed. "You are not devouring."
The man's gaze paused slightly. Qin Yu continued, his voice low but like words etched into reality, "You are peeling away."
In that instant, all the remaining fluctuations in the space froze for a moment, and for the first time, the man's smile showed a genuine change.
The Dao Source Demonic Spirit's expression had become utterly cold and indifferent. Its gaze swept over the three of them, as if making a final confirmation of a trivial procedure. Then it spoke softly, its tone so calm it was almost hollow. "Alright, I still have many things to do."
Its foot shifted slightly, and space gently parted beneath its feet. "I won't waste time with you." As its words fell, its eyes slowly closed, and a gray-white vertical line quietly appeared between its brows.
The vertical line was neither a crack nor a play of light and shadow, but a manifestation of "silence being seen." The moment the vertical line gently opened, the entire space seemed to have lost some of its most basic operating rules.
There was no wind, no ripples; even "thought" itself was submerged in this moment. "Eternal Silence, Thought Stoppage."
At that moment, the attack did not come in the form of a shockwave. It did not enter the three people's bodies, nor did it tear apart their Fate Soul. It simply landed gently in the deepest part of their consciousness, directly severing the fundamental path of "thought generation".
Chi Ninghua was the first to change. Her Eternal Silence Power was still circulating within her body, her laws had not dissipated, and her aura was not disordered. She could clearly see the Dao Source Demonic Spirit in front of her, and she could also sense that Qin Yu and Ju Wanning were right beside her. But just as she was trying to make a judgment, her consciousness stopped in place.
She knew she should act, but she couldn't take that step. It wasn't hesitation, nor fear; it was a more complete rupture—the thought had never even been born.
Her eyes gradually went blank, all emotions frozen before they arose. Her body remained standing, breathing and heartbeat still present, yet she was like an empty shell devoid of power.
Ju Wanning's condition was even more severe. Her chaotic power was driven by her thoughts, and at this moment, that power was still surging within her body, but it had lost its direction. Her hands stopped at the starting position of the hand seal, and the runes had only condensed halfway before completely solidifying. Her pupils trembled slightly before returning to a calm without focus.
She remained conscious, but unable to continue "thinking," while the entire space continued to function.
The shattered laws of law slowly dissipated in the distance, the lingering power of the Silent Void Sword resonated faintly in deeper dimensions, and even the oppressive feeling that had not yet dissipated in the air still remained.
Only the consciousness of the three remained frozen.
Dao Source Demonic Spirit slowly opened its eyes. Its gaze lingered on the three of them for a moment, a look that confirmed the outcome completely. It made no further move, nor did it show any wariness, as if everything was over. It turned around, ready to leave.
In that instant, Qin Yu's fingertips twitched extremely slightly. It wasn't a "thought-driven" movement; it was a deeper "existential response."
There was no thought, no language, no deduction process in his sea of consciousness. All cognition was also stagnant under the cover of Thought Stoppage. However, in the deepest part of his Fate Soul, a structure that had long been engraved was still in operation.
It is not the underlying logic of the Seal of Return to the Abyss or the Book of Fate Law; it is a pre-existing "propositional structure" that can be triggered without conscious thought.
His existence had been programmed into the logic of "dealing with unknown interference" countless times before he entered this place, and at that moment, these logics operated on their own.
Qin Yu raised his right hand slightly, the movement was extremely slow but incredibly steady. No light condensed in the void, but a very faint rune structure appeared around him. Those runes did not unfold or spread, but simply quietly embedded themselves into the foundation of reality.
"The Book of Fate Law - The Realm Severing Origin Brush - Master Book Seal Severance - Naming Reconstruction"
This supernatural power did not erupt or impact; it acted directly on "Thought Stoppage."
The name was rewritten; the state of "Thought Stoppage" was rewritten in Qin Yu's Fate Soul logic as "transient freeze."
The sea of consciousness was not completely severed, but only fell into a stagnant state that could be traced back on its own. In an instant, a few imperceptible cracks quietly appeared in the originally still and silent sea of consciousness.
A very faint ripple appeared in Chi Ninghua's eyes, and Ju Wanning's fingertips trembled slightly.
The thought hadn't fully recovered, yet it began to "generate."
At that moment, Qin Yu's other divine ability activated in quick succession. His aura deepened slightly, and a subtle fluctuation slowly unfolded from the depths of his consciousness, "Void Source - Dream Stillness - Consciousness Realm Gradual Opening."
Without external forces to invade or shake it, all that remains is the fundamental reconstruction of the consciousness framework.
Under the influence of Dream Stillness, thoughts no longer rely on the original path for generation, but are re-established through another, deeper "Void Source path".
Within Chi Ninghua's sea of consciousness, a Shi Lian slowly spread out, her gaze refocused, and her first true thought emerged.
Ju Wanning was suddenly jolted, and the chaotic power within her body was once again activated. She took a deep breath, and her eyes regained their clarity.
The three people's consciousnesses were formed in a very short time. The Dao Source Demonic Spirit stopped and slowly turned around.
At that moment, the look in its eyes truly changed for the first time. It shed its indifference and aloofness, cast aside its arrogant condescension, and transformed into a focused and attentive gaze.
It gazed at Qin Yu, its tone deepening, subtly revealing a hidden sharpness. "Interesting." The surrounding air instantly tensed again, an invisible pressure spreading in all directions.