The world fell silent once more. Qin Yu stood there quietly, his eyes flickering slightly. Now, he finally had a clearer understanding of the foundation of the top forces in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain. The Lineage, the Source Dao Ultimate Beast Huang, the Ancient Clan, the Chaos Beast Ancestor, and the Myriad Beasts Dao Lord —these beings were gradually unveiling the true face of the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain.
Just then, Xiao Yue blinked, as if she had thought of something. Then she leaned close to Qin Yu's ear and whispered, "Little Qinzi, if what this old man said is true, then those trillions of Supreme Transformation Source Crystal... wouldn't that be enough to support several Myriad Beasts Dao Lords?" Qin Yu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and then couldn't help but laugh.
The elder of the Holy Clan knelt in the void. The surrounding world still bore the marks of the Annihilation swords left by the previous battle. The sky was cracked and the earth was sinking. Fragments of Fate Soul that had not yet dissipated floated everywhere in the air. But at this moment, he did not dare to raise his head at all.
His hands gripped the ground tightly, cold sweat dripping from his forehead. After a long while, he cautiously spoke, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "Senior..." he said, "I have answered all your questions truthfully, without uttering a single lie. So... may I leave?"
After saying this, he even slowed his breathing, as if awaiting final judgment from fate. Qin Yu looked at him quietly, and after a moment, suddenly smiled. "Okay." His body immediately relaxed, and a surge of joy at surviving a calamity rose in his heart. However, the next moment, Qin Yu's voice came again.
"However," he continued, "I need you to be my soul puppet." Boom! He was struck dumb, the joy that had just appeared on his face instantly freezing, his face turning deathly pale. He abruptly looked up, his lips trembling. "Senior! You... you just promised to let me leave! I've already told you everything I know!" "This..." "This is too much..."
His voice trailed off as he finished speaking, for Qin Yu was looking at him calmly, his eyes devoid of emotion, yet sending a chill down Fate Soul. He froze, rooted to the spot. Qin Yu stood with his hands behind his back in the air, his gaze calmly fixed on Ye Ting kneeling on the ground. "I agreed to let you leave." "But—"
Qin Yu's voice slowly faded. "I never said you could leave under any identity." Ye Ting trembled. Qin Yu walked forward step by step, and with each step, the lingering Annihilation sword intent in the void slowly rose and fell. "Become my soul puppet, and not only will I not kill you, I will also bestow upon you an immense fortune."
Ye Ting suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with shock. Qin Yu slowly said, "I will reward you with one million Supreme Transformation Source Crystal." Boom— Ye Ting's mind instantly exploded. One million Supreme Transformation Source Crystal! Even with the Holy Clan's resources, they simply couldn't come up with that amount. Let alone one million, even one hundred thousand would be enough to convene an elders' meeting within the clan.
However, when Qin Yu said this, his expression was as calm as if he were merely giving away an insignificant little gift. Qin Yu continued, "Besides, within three years, I want you to take the position of patriarch of the Holy Clan." Ye Ting's pupils shrank. "Patriarch...?" Qin Yu nodded. "That's right." "I don't want just an elder, but the entire Holy Clan." "From today onwards, you will keep an eye on the Hua Lineage and the Shangguan Lineage, and their every move."
"You must report to me immediately who they've contacted, what they're plotting, and what's happening within their clan, "Qin Yu said, his gaze turning slightly cold. "Especially Hua Jingmeng; I need to know everything about her at all times."
Ye Ting's breathing became increasingly rapid. He realized that what the person before him was plotting far exceeded his imagination. Just then, Qin Yu uttered another sentence that completely stunned him, "If you do well, the day you take control of the Holy Clan, I will make the Holy Clan a direct descendant of the Chi Lineage!" Boom!!!
This sentence had an even greater impact than the million Supreme Transformation Source Crystal. Ye Ting's body trembled violently, his eyes filled with disbelief, because he knew all too well what this sentence meant. Only now did he realize that behind him stood the Chi Lineage, and that they were no ordinary Chi Lineage disciples. While Ye Ting was still in shock, Qin Yu slowly raised his right hand.
A purple-gold light appeared, causing the void to tremble. Dao inscriptions flowed, and chaos and Hongmeng Origin intertwined and rose. A purple-gold token floated silently in his palm. The moment Ye Ting saw the token, his expression completely changed. "The Chi Lineage..." "The Purple-Gold Access Token..." His voice trembled. Qin Yu slowly said, "I think you know what this is!"
Because this thing is not something that ordinary Chi Lineage disciples can possess. Those who can hold this token must have an extremely high status in the Chi Lineage. At this moment, the last bit of struggle in his heart completely dissipated. After a long time, he sighed deeply, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
"Alas... it seems this is my fate. However... what you said is right, senior. A million Supreme Transformation Source Crystal is a foundation that my Holy Clan might not be able to accumulate even in thousands of years. If we can truly become a direct descendant of the Chi Lineage, it would certainly be an opportunity for my Holy Clan."
He slowly raised his head, his gaze hardening, then bowed respectfully. "Senior." "I am willing." He then took out an ancient token. Sacred runes flowed across the token, and two ancient characters were engraved in the center: --Ye Ting. "Senior, I am Ye Ting, one of the four elders of the Holy Clan, ranked third."
Qin Yu accepted the token and nodded slightly. "Very good. Work well for me. Following me will not let you suffer." Ye Ting bowed deeply. "Yes, sir." Qin Yu slowly took a step forward, his voice calm, "Release your consciousness. I am about to begin the Soul Forging." Ye Ting did not hesitate at all, immediately sat down cross-legged, and formed hand seals.
He fully opened his sea of consciousness, because he knew that from the moment he nodded, there was no turning back. Boom! In the next instant, a gray-gold light slowly cracked open between Qin Yu's brows, and an extremely faint Fate Soul source rose from the depths of his sea of consciousness. The light was very faint, so faint that it seemed as if it would dissipate at any moment.
But the moment it appeared, the cause and effect of heaven and earth trembled simultaneously. In the depths of Ye Ting's sea of consciousness, billions of causal lines began to appear, each of which recorded his choices over the long years.
His grudges, his killings, his opportunities, his fears, his obsessions—all manifested at this moment, like countless transparent threads spanning the long river of time. Qin Yu's wisp of Fate Soul essence slowly transformed into a thread of cause and effect, silently merging into it, the first layer: Returning to the Source of Cause and Effect.
Billions of causal threads began to converge in the same direction. They did not break or change, but silently changed their course, like countless rivers flowing into the sea. Finally, they all converged at Qin Yu's fingertip. Ye Ting's body suddenly trembled, but he did not notice anything. Then...
In the second layer, the soul resonated, and that wisp of Fate Soul essence suddenly differentiated into three thousand six hundred silver life threads, which directly entered the depths of Ye Ting's Primordial Spirit without touching the core of his soul. Instead, they merged into his understanding of "who I am." A silver life net slowly unfolded, covering his entire Primordial Spirit, Ye Ting's eyes glazed over for a moment.
Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable connection between himself and the young man before him. Third level. Shared Spiritual Source Vein. Qin Yu flicked his fingertip. A golden spiritual source core entered Ye Ting's dantian, merging with the intersection of his Spirit Root and divine sea. A new secondary vein began to emerge, like golden vines.
Entangled beside the original spiritual source, yet without affecting its operation, in the fourth layer, countless Daoist runes emerged within Ye Ting's body, representing the inheritance of the Holy Clan. The Dao of Slaughter, the Dao of Protection, and the Dao of Cultivation were all revealed, while Qin Yu's Fate Soul essence transformed into an order carving knife.
Beside each law, a fainter rune was inscribed, one primary and one secondary, existing in parallel, yet forever superior to the original order. Finally, the fifth layer. Symbiosis of Will, also the most crucial step, Qin Yu slowly closed his eyes, and the last ray of light from his Fate Soul's origin began to condense, transforming into an almost imperceptible seed of cause and effect.
It traversed cause and effect, the soul, the spiritual source, and order, finally arriving at the deepest part of Ye Ting's consciousness—a place even Ye Ting himself was unaware of. The source of the self, the origin of who I am, the seed slowly fell, without taking root or sprouting. It simply existed there quietly.
Buzz—In an instant, an unbreakable primal connection seemed to be established between Qin Yu and Ye Ting. It wasn't control, nor enslavement, but a deeper definition. Ye Ting was still Ye Ting, possessing his own consciousness, his own thoughts, and his own judgment, but from that moment on...
His existence, his will, his truth—all shared the same fundamental anchor point as Qin Yu. After a long while, Qin Yu slowly opened his eyes, and Ye Ting opened his eyes at the same time. He sat there blankly, as if nothing had changed.
Yet everything seemed to have changed. He slowly rose and bowed deeply to Qin Yu. This bow was more respectful, more natural, and more as if it were the most fitting thing in the world. "Ye Ting." "Greetings, Master."