A Borrowed Dao Must Eventually Be Returned

Yuan Xuangu's axe fell slowly without causing any upheavals, landslides, or even a wisp of wind. However, just as the "Wuji background" slowly covered Qin Yu did not immediately make a move.

He simply watched the battle axe slowly descend, the Ring Master Soul Diagram silently operating, the Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel slowly rotating, and the Fate Soul trajectories that only Qin Yu could see began to extend continuously from Yuan Xuangu's body. At this moment, what Qin Yu saw was no longer the battle axe, but the essence of the entire divine power's operation.

A moment later, Qin Yu's lips curled up slightly. "So that's how it is." "No wonder you were able to step into the Wuji Realm." "That axe strike was indeed impressive." Yuan Xuangu's expression remained calm. The battle axe continued to slowly descend, and just as that "Wuji Realm" was about to touch Qin Yu's body, Qin Yu finally moved.

He did not retreat, nor did he raise his sword to meet the attack head-on. Instead, he slowly raised the tip of the Silent Origin Stainless Sword and gently touched the void. "Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence." "Fate Cause Sealing Mirror - Logic Abyss Core." Buzz—A grayish-white life seal instantly appeared between heaven and earth. However, this time, the life seal did not meet the battle axe.

Instead, it struck directly at the battle axe in Yuan Xuangu's hand, the only connection between him and the Dao of Fate Soul. Seeing this, Yuan Xuangu's pupils constricted sharply. "What?!" Qin Yu calmly said, "Your Return to Origin Cleave isn't truly without moves." "It still needs a starting point." "That is—" "Your understanding of 'Returning Origin'."

"What you call making all things lose their existence isn't really the absence of logic, but rather covering the other party with your own Dao logic." "But as long as there is logic," "there is a source." Qin Yu's sword tip gently touched the gray-white life seal again, instantly covering that Dao Source.

"Your first weakness is the battle axe. You claim that this axe strike ignores distance and dimension, but in reality, it was never you who truly achieved the return to origin. Rather, it was this natal divine weapon that bore the brunt of the Great Dao for you. Therefore, it is the sole logical anchor of the entire divine power."

As soon as he finished speaking, a crack appeared on the surface of the battle axe—an ancient Dao pattern. Yuan Xuangu's expression changed for the first time. However, Qin Yu's words were not yet finished. "The second flaw is your Wuji. You burned a million epochs of Dao foundation..."

"Forcing yourself to stand at the Wuji Realm doesn't mean you're truly at the Wuji." Therefore, every time you unleash the Returning Return to Origin Cleave, you must re-stabilize your own Great Dao balance. This isn't a limitation, it's a vulnerability. Because this very moment is when your entire divine power is at its weakest.

Qin Yu slowly raised his head, gazing at the approaching axe, his voice remaining calm. "The third point." "And the biggest flaw." "You want to return all things to their origin." But you yourself have not returned to their origin. Your heart is still fixated on victory and defeat, still fixated on the Ancient God Clan, still fixated on the legacy of millions of epochs. Since you still have these obsessions, how can you speak of true Wuji?"

As the last sentence fell, Qin Yu slowly raised the Silent Origin Stainless Sword. Without any fancy movements, he simply swung the sword lightly. "Silent Origin Stainless Sword." "First Form." "No-Thought Absolute Silence Sword." Buzz—A gray-white sword light swept past. It did not collide with the battle axe. It did not clash with the power of returning to the origin, but instead landed with perfect precision on the logical source point that had been frozen by the Fate Cause Sealing Mirror.

The next moment, crack! The transparent "Wuji background" suddenly stopped, and then cracks spread rapidly. The entire Dao trajectory formed by the Return to Origin Cleave was as if its foundation had been removed. It began to collapse from the core. One breath, two breaths, and the third breath arrived. The divine power that was originally enough to bring all laws back to their origin slowly dissipated like morning mist.

There was no explosion, no aftershocks; it simply vanished silently, as if it had never existed... Yuan Xuangu stood frozen in place, his hands gripping the battle axe trembling slightly. The previous calm was gone from his eyes, replaced by disbelief.

"It's actually..." "Really..." "It's broken..." He looked down at his battle axe, then slowly looked up at Qin Yu, his eyes filled with shock. The Return to Origin Cleave was a divine power he could only unleash after transforming into a demon and reaching the Wuji Realm. Normally, even when facing a supreme expert in the Eternal Silence Realm · Supreme, the opponent could only withstand it head-on.

Even if one could catch it, their Fate Soul essence would inevitably suffer severe damage. But this young man in front of them was not only unharmed, but also, in his strongest state, he effortlessly dissected the entire divine power from its source, even... clearly pointing out every deficiency and every flaw.

In the distance, Yuan Zhanxiao had already stopped meditating. He sat blankly amidst the ruins, his mouth agape, his eyes fixed on Qin Yu, unable to utter a single word for a long time. Only now did he finally understand why the Supreme Elder had been so wary of this young man before him. The Return to Origin Cleave had not been used for countless epochs.

Moreover... even after transforming into a demon, using the Wuji Realm Return to Origin Cleave, Qin Yu still managed to break through it so easily. At this moment, the last trace of unwillingness in Yuan Zhanxiao's heart began to waver. Yuan Xuangu slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was no longer any contempt in his eyes.

Instead, a hint of solemnity, even... a touch of respect, crept into his eyes. His pupils contracted slightly, and a fine layer of cold sweat had appeared on his back. His hands, gripping the battle axe, were more steady than before. He took a deep breath, looked at Qin Yu, and slowly spoke, "Senior..." "The second move."

Yuan Xuangu slowly closed his eyes. Instead of immediately swinging the battle axe, he gently put the ancient battle axe into his body. As the battle axe disappeared, the Primordial Demon Transformation True Body behind him suddenly became more and more illusory. There was no longer any trace of war or killing between heaven and earth.

Qin Yu slowly narrowed his eyes, because he could clearly sense that he was about to use the ancient divine power of the Ancient God Clan. Yuan Xuangu slowly put his hands together in front of his chest, his fingertips gently touching. There was no fluctuation of divine power, no roar of the Great Dao, but deep in the ancestral land, all the dilapidated altars suddenly lit up.

One, ten, a hundred, a thousand—in an instant, countless ancient divine runes appeared simultaneously on all the altars of the entire Ancient God Clan, spanning millions of epochs. These runes did not attack Qin Yu; instead, they continuously flew towards Yuan Xuangu. At the same time...

Countless ancient gods and ancestors, whose images had long since vanished into the river of time, slowly emerged from the altar one after another. Some were clad in ancient armor, some held divine weapons, some stood with their hands behind their backs between heaven and earth, and some sat cross-legged by the Great Dao River. They did not exchange any words with each other, but simply looked at Yuan Xuangu and then simultaneously extended their right hands.

Boom—One after another, the Great Dao imprints slowly merged into Yuan Xuangu's body. At this moment, it was not Yuan Xuangu alone casting a spell, but the Fate Soul essence accumulated by the entire Ancient God Clan over millions of eras responding to this Supreme Elder. Suddenly, countless ancient chants resounded between heaven and earth. They were not words, but more like the echoes of the Great Dao left behind by generations of the Ancient God Clan cultivators.

The sounds intertwined, eventually transforming into a vast and boundless Dao of Fate Soul. Yuan Xuangu slowly opened his eyes. In those dark golden pupils, there were no longer any personal emotions, as if reflecting the entire Ancient God Clan's millions of epochs. He slowly spoke, but his voice no longer belonged to him alone; it was as if countless ancestors were speaking simultaneously. "Second move." "Ancient God Fate Source." "Myriad Ancestors Returning Together." As his voice fell.

Boom! Behind Yuan Xuangu, countless illusory figures of ancient gods and ancestors simultaneously raised their palms. They did not release supernatural powers or condense spiritual energy, but instead looked at Qin Yu. The next moment, all the Fate Soul, inheritances, cultivation experiences, and wills of the Fate Soul gods throughout millions of eras... were like an endless torrent of the Great Dao.

It slowly pressed down on Qin Yu's sea of consciousness. It wasn't attacking his Fate Soul, but rather making Qin Yu bear the weight of the Great Dao of the entire Ancient God Clan for millions of epochs. If he couldn't bear it, his Fate Soul would collapse on its own. If he tried to resist, he would be constantly eroded by the Dao essence of his Fate Soul for millions of epochs. This move was more terrifying than any divine weapon.

However, Qin Yu still did not draw his sword. He simply watched the slowly descending Dao of Fate Soul. The Ring Master Soul Diagram behind him slowly reappeared, and the Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel continued to rotate. Traces of Fate Soul continuously reflected the entire torrent of the Dao. After a moment, Qin Yu gently shook his head.

"I see." No wonder this move could carry the Dao essence of millions of epochs. Yuan Xuangu's expression remained calm. "Please enlighten me." Qin Yu did not respond immediately, but slowly took a step forward, letting the countless Daos of Fate Soul continue to approach, until that torrent of Daos was less than ten feet away from him.

He slowly said, "Your path has still strayed off course." These words caused Yuan Xuangu's gaze to slightly sharpen. Qin Yu slowly raised his right hand, not unleashing any offensive techniques, but gently pointing at the countless illusory figures of ancient gods and ancestors. "The true power of your move lies not in the accumulation of millions of eras, but in allowing future generations to learn from the ways of their predecessors."

"That point is not wrong." Qin Yu's gaze was calm. "Unfortunately, you treat all the ancestral Fate Soul as the same Great Dao." This is the first shortcoming. "Each person's Great Dao should be different." "A million epochs" should have given birth to a million different Daos, instead of forcibly converging them into one source."

As the words fell, the Ring Master Soul Diagram trembled slightly. Within that torrent of Fate Soul, dozens of extremely subtle Dao trajectories began to deviate. Qin Yu continued, "Secondly, you borrowed the Fate Soul of your ancestor, but the one truly fighting is yourself. In other words, this power always needs to pass through your Fate Soul. You are the sole point of contact for this attack. If your Fate Soul shows even the slightest hesitation, the Dao of millions of epochs cannot truly Return to One." Yuan Xuangu's pupils contracted slightly again.

Because this was precisely the problem he had been unable to solve even after hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation, Qin Yu slowly looked at the countless ancient gods and ancestors, his voice growing increasingly calm. "The third point." "And the most fundamental point. You asked your ancestors to protect their descendants, but you forgot that true inheritance is never about bearing burdens, but about transcending them." If future generations forever live under the ancestral Dao, then the Ancient God Clan will never see a new Dao emerge.

"Your Myriad Ancestors Returning Together." He preserved the past, but sealed the future. With the final words, Qin Yu slowly raised his right hand, "Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence." "Master Book Seal Severance Reconstruction— Naming Reconstruction." In an instant, an ancient life seal slowly emerged, but instead of striking Yuan Xuangu, it gently fell into the torrent of Fate Soul spanning millions of eras. Buzz—

Countless illusory figures of ancient gods and ancestors suddenly trembled slightly. Then, the Dao trajectories that had been forcibly connected between them began to separate naturally, one by one. There was no collapse or destruction, but they simply returned to their original Dao. The next moment, the entire torrent of Fate Soul spanning millions of eras slowly dissipated like spring snow melting away.

Countless ancient god and ancestor phantoms glanced at Qin Yu at the same time, and a hint of relief appeared in their eyes. Then, one by one, the figures transformed back into streams of light from the Great Dao and slowly dissipated into the world. The entire Second Divine Power was thus completely dismantled.

In the distance, Yuan Zhanxiao watched this scene silently for a long time without speaking. He lowered his head and looked down at the ruins of the Ancient God Clan, then slowly looked up at Qin Yu. The words from earlier kept echoing in his mind. "True inheritance is never about bearing burdens, but about transcending them." At this moment, he began to think for the first time.

Was everything the Ancient God Clan upheld for millions of epochs truly... right? If the Ancient God Clan were to change their name to the Annihilation God Clan, would they... usher in a new future unlike any they've ever known?