Only Qin Yu and Qian Wenwan remained. Qian Wenwan gazed in the direction where Yuan Weizhi had disappeared, then turned to look at Qin Yu. Her gentle eyes held a hint of seriousness. "Fellow Daoist Qin, please be careful. I have a feeling this place isn't as simple as it seems," she said, her usual composed smile gone.
Clearly, she had also sensed something. Qin Yu nodded slightly. "I understand. Fellow Daoist Yuan went south, so I'll go north." Qian Wenwan chuckled upon hearing this. "Hmm." "Then I'll go east." As she spoke, she looked up at the west, where countless overlapping worlds obscured the view, making it impossible to see the end. As for the west, let's decide after we contact each other again."
As she finished speaking, she gently clasped her hands in a fist salute to Qin Yu. "Take care." Then she took a step forward, transforming into a flowing silver ribbon of light and flying towards the eastern horizon. She quickly disappeared into countless dimensions, and finally, only Qin Yu remained in the world. The surroundings quieted down, with only the distant dimensional river flowing slowly.
Countless worlds rose and fell within it. Just then, a blue light flew out from between Qin Yu's eyebrows. Xiao Yue sat in mid-air, her two slender legs gently swinging. She nibbled on a fruit she had somehow produced, while looking around. Her sapphire-like eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Wow--" "Little Qinzi, this place is amazing! I can feel so many fluctuations of Fate Soul essence, and so many sealed treasures." "Hehe." "If we find them all, we'll be rich." Qin Yu just smiled faintly upon hearing this, then looked up at the north, where an endless mountain range stretched across the sky and earth.
Countless dimensional rifts hung in the sky like a galaxy. Qin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. Without further hesitation, he took a step forward. Boom! The void trembled, and he instantly transformed into a black-gold rainbow, flying towards the depths of the northern part of the Layered Realm Void.
Yuan Weizhi headed south, Qian Wenwan headed east, and Qin Yu headed north. The three streaks of light quickly disappeared into the vast and boundless Layered Realm Void world. However, right after the three left, the area around the original floating platform returned to calm. The river of space continued to flow slowly, and billions of dimensions continued to fold and unfold.
Everything seemed as if nothing had happened, but if a powerful enough Fate Soul were to investigate carefully, it would discover that about a hundred miles behind the platform, in a dimensional crevice folded dozens of times, something moved slightly. It was neither a living being nor Fate Soul, but rather something that had been dormant for a long time and was slowly opening its eyes.
A dark silhouette appeared, then disappeared. Then, a second pair, a third pair, a fourth pair... One after another, gazes slowly lit up from the depths of countless dimensional layers. They had no aura, no fluctuations, and not even cause and effect could be detected, as if they Does Not Exist in reality.
But those gazes remained fixed on the direction the three had left. After a moment, one pair of eyes gently closed, and then all the gazes vanished simultaneously. The entire area returned to silence, as if nothing had ever happened.
... At the same time, in the Northern Region the Layered Realm Void, boom— Qin Yu took a step forward, traversing countless spatial layers. The scene before him suddenly opened up. In the distance, at the end of the world, countless suspended mountains overlapped one another, with giant peaks hanging upside down in the sky, and countless spatial bridges connecting the mountains.
The space beneath their feet kept receding backward. The Northern Region of the Layered Realm Void was completely different from what they had seen before. There were no countless folded fragments of the world here, nor were there long rivers of dimensions that stretched across the heavens and earth. The further they flew north, the more complete the world became, as if they had returned to a truly existing great world from among countless overlapping spatial layers.
Just a few dozen breaths later, Qin Yu's figure suddenly stopped in mid-air. Even he had a strange look in his eyes at this moment. Before him was a vast expanse of ice and snow mountains and rivers covering hundreds of millions of miles, with towering snow-capped peaks piercing into the sea of clouds and endless, undulating mountain ranges.
Amidst the vast mountains, wisps of cold mist rise slowly from the deep valleys, like clouds and waves, resembling thousands of white dragons roaming the boundless world, tranquil and timeless. Yet, this magnificent snow-capped mountain scenery pales in comparison to even a fraction of the awe-inspiring view from a corner of the sky.
At the very center of heaven and earth, a colossal ring, spanning mountains and rivers and piercing the sky, hangs in the void, suppressing the eight directions. This ring is neither gold nor iron, neither an artifact nor a treasure, and bears no trace of human craftsmanship.
It is more like an ancient tree rooted in eternity and growing through countless ages, with countless gnarled and twisted branches intertwined and coiled, spreading and stretching along the circular outline, carrying its own ancient and boundless Daoist charm.
Ultimately, an ancient celestial ring spanning heaven and earth was formed, covered with ancient green vines, with countless Dao patterns appearing and disappearing. From a distance, it seemed as if some supreme being had torn the heavens and earth apart with their hands and then stitched the entire world into a circle. In the center of that huge ring, an ancient palace stood quietly.
The palace was built against the mountain, with its layered pavilions reaching into the clouds. A faint silver light flowed between the eaves and brackets. The surrounding sea of clouds surged, making the entire palace appear as if it were suspended in the heavens. If the distant snow-capped mountains were the skeleton of heaven and earth, then this palace was the Fate Soul Nucleus of the entire region. And further away, there was another scene altogether.
Countless enormous celestial rings intertwined and hung in the void, some complete, some incomplete, and some even broken, resembling the skeletons left behind by ancient behemoths. Within each celestial ring, spatial rifts could be faintly seen, as if connecting to another world.
Between heaven and earth, there permeated extremely ancient and distant fluctuations of Fate Soul, not just one, nor ten, but tens of thousands, all originating from the distant floating temple.
These fluctuations vary; some are as vast as the sea, some as silent as an abyss, and some are on the verge of extinction, yet they still retain a primordial pressure that shakes the soul. There, an entire bygone era lies dormant.
Or perhaps, slumbering through an era, Qin Yu slowly narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling into the depths of the palace. Just then, within his sea of consciousness, Xiao Yue, who had been sitting on the swing, suddenly stood up, her delicate little face showing shock for the first time. "Wait! Little Qinzi!" she exclaimed, turning sharply towards the palace.
Her sapphire-like eyes narrowed slightly. "These auras are wrong! Absolutely wrong!" Qin Yu's gaze sharpened. "What did you discover?" Xiao Yue remained silent for a few moments, then slowly said, "Some of the Fate Soul essences there are of the same origin as the entire Layered Realm Void." "And at an extremely high level." "Like..." She paused.
Then, he spoke slowly and deliberately, "The direct bloodline of the Layered Realm Void Great Emperor." "Or rather, "The one who truly inherited his Fate Soul essence."Qin Yu's expression finally changed slightly. A direct descendant? If that were the case, what was buried there was not just an opportunity, but might even be the true secret of the Layered Realm Void.
Just then, an extremely ancient resonance suddenly emanated from the depths of the palace. Buzz—Qin Yu's Fate Soul trembled slightly. Something was calling to him. Xiao Yue also looked up sharply. "It's there!" "Those auras are inside the palace!"
Boom! Without further hesitation, Qin Yu took a step forward, transforming into a streak of light and flying straight towards the palace. However, just as he approached the area, the world suddenly fell silent. The wind stopped, the clouds dispersed, and all the fluctuations of Fate Soul around him froze simultaneously. Then, a voice slowly rang out. The voice was not loud, but it seemed to come from between the mountains.
A call came from the surging sea of clouds and the depths of countless ancient rings, "Please wait." Boom—The void trembled slightly, dozens of snow-capped mountains simultaneously shimmered with silver-white Dao patterns, and countless ancient runes emerged from beneath the rock layers, awakening the protective power that had slumbered for billions of years. Qin Yu paused slightly, slowly raised his head, and saw the sea of clouds in front of him tear open from the center to both sides.
One by one, figures slowly emerged. They did not appear out of thin air, but seemed to have always existed between heaven and earth, only revealing their true forms at this moment.
They had pale, bluish skin, thin and slender figures, and always stood slightly to the side, as if ready to avoid something at any moment. Their eyes were always slightly red and would well up with tears when exposed to the wind. There was a vertical line between their brows, and they always had a worried look on their faces.
Their clothing was sewn together from fragments of two discarded flags, with a white inner layer and a somber outer layer. The collars were half-open and never tied tightly. Their hair was mottled with black and white, dry and unkempt, and there were faded old brand marks on the inside of their wrists. The most obvious thing about them was their eyes—when they looked at someone, they would first raise their eyelids and then slowly turn their heads, as if checking if there was an ambush behind you.
The leading man's gaze slowly fell on Qin Yu, and he said very respectfully, "Senior, may I ask whether you are from the Blazing Erosion Clan or the Shade-Guarding Clan? May I ask to show myself and come to our clan? Your presence is an honor to grace the Duckweed Clan Ancestral Land; please forgive us for not welcoming you properly."