Qin Yu gazed at the Heart-Questioning Road, which stretched ever deeper into the ancient forest, his expression calm and composed, as if the countless gazes and ancient inquiries he had just received had had no effect on him whatsoever.
He slowly stepped forward and said calmly, "Let's go in." Xiao Yue sat on his shoulder and gently nodded her little head, but her sapphire-like eyes remained alert. "Hmm, but this place gives me a very strange feeling." Qin Yu didn't speak and stepped directly into the Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest.
The moment his feet touched the ground, a strange change suddenly occurred. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth that had been clearly surrounding him vanished without warning. It wasn't that the energy of heaven and earth had faded away, but rather that Qin Yu suddenly realized that he had completely lost all perception of his own body and even his own existence.
At this moment, his Fate Soul was still fluctuating, his cultivation was still there, his consciousness was still there—everything was still there—yet he couldn't clearly perceive his own existence as usual. It was as if some invisible force was slowly pulling away the most basic concept of "who I am." At the same time, Xiao Yue suddenly opened her eyes wide. "Little Qinzi!" "Did you notice?" Qin Yu slowly stopped. "I noticed."
The ancient forest ahead remained silent, but this silence was chilling, for an extremely eerie aura permeated all the ancient trees, rocks, soil, and air around them—a kind of "cognitive stripping," as if the entire Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest did not attack the physical body or the Fate Soul, but rather "self-awareness."
He hadn't forgotten the past, but the images in his mind could no longer stir any emotion; they slowly faded into nothingness. The memories remained, but everything from the past gradually lost its weight and value.
Like a once-precious book suddenly becoming a roadside stone, you still remember its existence, but no longer consider it important. Qin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. "Xiao Yue." "Do you remember why we came here?" Xiao Yue paused for a moment, then immediately replied, "To search for trillions of Supreme Transformation Source Crystal."
But after she finished speaking, she suddenly fell silent, because just a moment ago, she realized that she needed to think before she could answer. This kind of thing should never have happened to her. Qin Yu slowly raised his head and looked into the depths of the Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest. At this moment, he finally understood why countless cultivators had died here.
The most terrifying thing about Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest is not the so-called "self." It is that from the very first step one takes here, it begins to silently weaken the "anchor point" of the entrant. When a person even begins to forget what their goal is...
Then, he was only one step away from getting lost. Just then, the Heart-Questioning Road ahead suddenly began to twist. A figure slowly walked out from the end of the path. The person was dressed in black, with long hair, and his face was exactly the same as Qin Yu's, even the fluctuations of his Fate Soul were no different.
The only difference was that there was no emotion in those eyes, as calm as a stagnant pool. She slowly raised her head to look at Qin Yu. Her voice rang out softly, "Why have you come?" "If you cannot even be certain of the answer," she said, "Then you are not qualified to continue." The entire Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest began to tremble gently, and countless ancient trees simultaneously emitted a low hum.
The figure that looked exactly like Qin Yu stood quietly in the center of the Heart-Questioning Road. The mist from the ancient forest around him continued to gather and eventually turned into countless gray-white threads that wrapped around his body.
He didn't unleash any supernatural powers or exert any pressure; he simply looked calmly at Qin Yu. His eyes held no emotion, no good or evil, no joy or anger, as if they were merely a mirror reflecting one's true nature. After a long while, he slowly spoke, "Qin Yu, why do you cultivate?" The moment his voice fell, the entire Heart-Questioning Road began to tremble slightly.
Countless faces on the ancient trees around them opened their eyes simultaneously, and countless gazes converged upon them. The figure continued, "For power? For survival? For protection? Or for transcending everything?" With each question, images appeared in the surrounding space: the struggles of childhood, countless life-or-death battles, and those people and events that had vanished forever.
"You think you're always moving forward, but have you ever considered what would happen if you gained all the power? If all enemies have vanished, all karmic ties have been severed, and all goals have been achieved, what would you have left?"
The figure slowly walked forward. With each step, a different Qin Yu would appear on the ground: some roaring angrily, some walking alone, some covered in blood, some with bewildered eyes. "In the end, it's about who controls the power."
Or is it power that controls you? You keep slaying enemies and going to higher places, but do you remember why you first embarked on this path?" The voice grew closer and closer, and the entire Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest seemed to resonate with it, even the air became heavy.
But at that very moment, Xiao Yue suddenly snorted coldly, her small figure taking a step forward. The crescent-shaped silver ornament on her forehead suddenly lit up with dazzling starlight, and her sapphire-like eyes instantly transformed into a deep sea of stars. She raised her fair little hand and pointed it directly at the projection of the Heart-Questioning Technique: "Playing tricks."
The next instant, the blue starlight suddenly spread out, and countless star and moon patterns filled the sky and earth. The Blue Ring Divine Power, Blue Ring - First Form: Sever Thought and Extinguish Consciousness, was activated with a roar. An Ultimate pure beam of starlight and moonlight swept across the ancient forest. The projection of the Heart-Questioning Mirror did not even have time to continue speaking before its body began to crack. Countless gray-white Heart-Questioning Mirror mists were directly evaporated by the starlight and finally turned into fragments that dissipated into the sky.
Xiao Yue then settled back onto Qin Yu's shoulder, her little face unusually serious. "This place is different from the previous secret realms. It doesn't attack the Fate Soul or the physical body, but rather it gradually dismantles the entrant's self-awareness."
"Qin Yu, you must not let it lead you astray. No matter what it asks, no matter what it appears, don't get caught up in it." After saying this, Xiao Yue formed a hand seal, and countless blue star patterns slowly spread around her, forming a light blue light screen that enveloped both her and Qin Yu.
Within the light curtain, countless star and moon symbols rotated continuously, isolating the faint whispers and mental erosion from the outside world. "This will be much better, but it can only block part of it. This place is very strange; you must be careful yourself."
Then, the person and the ring continued to walk deeper into the Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest. As they went deeper, the surrounding scenery began to change. The originally intact Heart-Questioning Road gradually showed a lot of broken traces. Broken weapons, shattered magic treasures, broken Fate Soul Crystal Core, and some long-weathered skeletons were scattered on the ground.
Most strangely, the skeletons showed no pain on their faces, but rather an almost serene expression, as if they had completely forgotten who they were in their final moments. Qin Yu slowly stopped, his brows furrowing slightly.
He understood that the skeletons here were not ancient relics, but rather those of recently deceased cultivators. Wisps of translucent Fate Soul floated around them, their intelligence long since extinguished, and they had no trace of malevolence. They simply murmured incessantly in this world.
"Who am I...?" "Where am I going...?" "Why am I here...?" "Why... I can't remember anything..."
Hundreds of lingering Fate Soul drifted through the ancient forest, creating an extremely eerie scene. Xiao Yue couldn't help but shudder. "These must be the group of cultivators who entered the Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest a month ago."
Qin Yu slowly crouched down and picked up a broken Fate Soul Crystal Core from the ground. The residual aura within the crystal core had not completely dissipated, clearly belonging to the True Annihilation Realm cultivator. Further away, numerous fragmented footprints stretched into the depths of the ancient forest, as if someone had desperately tried to escape but ultimately fell here.
Qin Yu slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed on the deeper part of the Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest. There, a grayish-white mist had appeared at some point, and deep within the mist, an ancient stone gate could be vaguely seen, as if it were waiting for newcomers to approach.
Qin Yu slowly squatted down, holding the incomplete Fate Soul Crystal Core in his palm. His brow trembled slightly, and a wisp of soul thought slowly seeped into the crystal core along the remaining Fate Soul trajectory.
He originally just wanted to see what had happened to the group of cultivators who entered the Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest a month ago, but the moment his soul touched the remnant Fate Soul, a sudden change occurred, and the remnant soul contained no complete memories.
There was no battle, no death, no fear, not even a glimpse of the last moments before death; there was only an endless blank space.
Just as Qin Yu was trying to delve deeper, the blank space suddenly came to life. Countless gray-white mists surged out from the depths of the remnant soul, transforming into billions of blurry human faces, while simultaneously emitting mournful whispers.
"Who are you..." "Why do you need to remember..." "Isn't it better to forget..." "Forget yourself... and you won't suffer..." In an instant, countless whispers rushed back from his soul, causing Qin Yu's sea of consciousness to tremble violently. In that instant, he even felt that his understanding of his name, identity, and memories had become somewhat blurred.
Xiao Yue's expression changed drastically. "Qin Yu!" Boom—Blue starlight erupted instantly, and a moon rose from behind Xiao Yue, forcefully severing that strange power. Qin Yu's eyes suddenly regained their clarity, and he severed the connection between their souls without hesitation. Crack! The remnant Soul Crystal Core in his palm exploded into ashes.
The wandering remnants of Fate Soul around them simultaneously let out a shrill scream, then returned to their dazed state. Qin Yu slowly stood up, his gaze becoming solemn. "These remnant souls weren't erased." "They were completely wiped out." Xiao Yue's smile also faded. "Moreover, there's some kind of power guarding their secret."
"It can prevent the dead from even leaving behind the details of their death." Qin Yu slowly raised his head and looked at the thick white mist in the distance. "Since we can't find the answer in the remnant soul," "then let's go in and take a look." As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Yu took a step forward, and the Limitless Evolving True Flow within his body surged and flowed. The next moment, the Silent Origin Stainless Sword suddenly appeared in his palm. The pitch-black sword body reflected the entire Heart-Questioning Ancient Forest.
The sword suddenly rose, and a chilling sword light instantly pierced the heavens and earth. "The Historyless Void Severance Sword." Whoosh
The entire space trembled violently. The sword light bypassed all living beings around it and slashed straight at the gray-white mist that covered the sky and earth. In an instant, the ten-mile-long thick fog was torn apart by the sword, and a sword mark ten thousand feet long was crisscrossed and imprinted on the sky above the ancient forest.
The thick fog receded and dissipated to both sides, finally revealing the sky and earth that had been swallowed by the mist. The moment the white fog dissipated, Qin Yu and Xiao Yue froze on the spot, their breaths catching in their throats. What they saw was not the scenery deep in the ancient forest, but a majestic mountain.
This mountain is about ten miles away from the two of them. Its peak is ten thousand feet high, standing proudly between heaven and earth. The entire mountain is covered with a layer of dreamlike silver-white, with countless Supreme Transformation Source Crystal densely packed and layered in every part of the mountain. Each crystal is filled with the purest Taihua Origin, and silver light flows slowly along the rock wall, like billions of silver rivers hanging down between the mountains.
The dense, unyielding Taihua Origin condensed into a sea of clouds, swirling above the mountain peaks. Drops of crystalline light fell, transforming into a continuous rain of Origin Crystals. On the ground, fist-sized Supreme Transformation Source Crystal were scattered everywhere, stretching to the horizon, as inconspicuous as ordinary sand and gravel.
Even Qin Yu, who had seen countless rare treasures, couldn't hide his shock at this sight. Xiao Yue immediately stood up from his shoulder, her sapphire-like eyes wide with disbelief, her small mouth slightly agape, unable to close for a long time. "I... I didn't see wrong, did I?" "Th-those are all Supreme Transformation Source Crystal?!"
She hurriedly rubbed her eyes, and looked again. The silver crystal Divine Mountain still stood clearly, unchanged in its reality. Xiao Yue gasped, her voice filled with disbelief. "Qin Yu, its size cannot be measured in trillions. The entire mountain is constructed of Supreme Transformation Source Crystal. Its value is so immense that even the treasure troves of the top clans in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain are far inferior."
Just then, Qin Yu's eyes narrowed slowly, his expression becoming more wary. His gaze pierced through ten miles, looking towards the summit of the Divine Mountain, where a hazy figure stood silently.
The man stood atop the mountain with his back to all living beings, seemingly having waited there for countless ages. Qin Yu focused his mind, trying to make out the man's features, when the figure slowly turned his head. Ten miles away, the man turned to Qin Yu and gave him a chilling, eerie smile.