Between heaven and earth, there was a strange and indescribable void. Every disciple of the Chi Lineage in the formation felt a chill run down their spines. There was no overwhelming pressure, no earth-shattering collision of divine powers, yet everyone's Fate Soul instinctively subsided and lay dormant.
Because that question received a response, the Realm of the Eternal Silence Realm cannot speak; the absolute "nothingness" is beyond words. It was merely reaffirming its own true nature.
Without existence, there is no need for that wisp of aberration differentiated to observe "existence"; no need for that wisp of illusory confusion; and even less need for— the Silent Abyss Last Speaker.
In an instant, the eyes of the Silent Abyss Last Speaker, still burning with rage, froze completely. For the first time in its life, it experienced utter terror. Now, what denied its existence was no longer Chi Xiyue, but the very origin upon which it depended for its survival.
Buzz--!!! A "silence" that cannot be described by light or darkness surged back along the Eternal Silence rift. No violent power erupted, but the massive demonic body of the Silent Abyss Last Speaker trembled violently.
Crack. The first crack sprouted from the depths of its chest. Within the crack, there was no blood, no origin, no darkness, only an even more thorough emptiness.
Then—click! click! click!
The cracks spread wildly, crawling across its chest, extending through its arms, sweeping across its back, covering the dragon-like wings that blotted out the sky, and finally coiling around its entire head. The Silent Abyss Last Speaker's gaping maw seemed about to unleash a furious roar, but not a sound could be produced. The Eternal Silence rift that had once given it everything was rapidly closing inward.
The "Stillness of All Existence" that had previously enveloped this region instantly lost all its support. The plants and trees on the verge of extinction ceased their process of Annihilation, and the spatial binding traces left by the "Last Word Final Chapter" largely dissipated. All the supernatural foundations rooted in the Eternal Silence rift collapsed on their own with the rejection of the original mother body.
More importantly, the "Trace the Origin to Prove Falsehood" imposed on Chi Xiyue was thus broken.
The ancient memories that had been traced back deep within Chi Xiyue's Fate Soul were re-established, and the erosion of her outline by the white void that had spread around her body slowly faded away inch by inch. She never retreated a single step from beginning to end, her right hand still calmly raised in front of her, her cold gaze piercing through the gray and deathly silence, watching the ever-shrinking form of the Silent Abyss Last Speaker.
In the first breath, the giant wing on the left side of the Silent Abyss Last Speaker began to dissolve from its outer edge, not shattering or collapsing, but its outline gradually becoming blurred and indistinguishable.
In the second breath, his feet completely vanished into nothingness; in the third breath, his chest collapsed inward; and after the fourth breath, his enormous demonic body was less than half its original size.
It has nowhere to escape. "Verify the Dao and Return to the Origin" does not seal off the space it occupies, but directly deprives it of the premise for its continued existence outside of Eternal Silence.
Its eyes were fixed on Chi Xiyue, all its previous rage vanished, leaving only the instinctive fear of facing utter annihilation. But at this moment, even fear could not hold it back.
The eighth breath: only the fragmented outline of the Silent Abyss Last Speaker remained, extending from the chest upwards. The ninth breath: that demonic face, which had existed since ancient times and which countless beings dared not look directly at, slowly faded away. The tenth breath: the last wisp of darkness sank into the now extremely narrow rift of Eternal Silence...
There was no deafening explosion, no raging aftershocks, no remains left, and not a trace remained in the world to prove that it had ever perished here. The ancient rift gently closed. The Silent Abyss Last Speaker returned to Eternal Silence.
The Azure Wood Divine Forest returned to peace. Chi Xiyue slowly lowered her raised hand. Behind her, more than ten disciples of the Chi Lineage stood frozen in place. Some remained in their hand seals, some held their divine weapons horizontally in front of their chests, and some had their lips slightly parted, unable to utter a sound for a long time.
Having just personally experienced the boundless despair brought by this Eternal Silence Realm · Middle Stage Primordial Demonic Spirit, they knew its terror better than anyone else. The "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current" nearly crushed the entire great formation, and "Stillness of All Existence" almost extinguished the last glimmer of resistance in everyone's hearts.
However, after Chi Xiyue arrived, she never engaged in a normal battle of power. She merely posed a question to the Eternal Silence Realm, and the Demonic Spirit that had roamed the ancient times was directly drawn back into the void by its own origin.
Chi Qingyue stared blankly at that figure, her clear eyes filled with lingering shock. This was the Wuji Realm. This was Chi Xiyue, the third of the Five Great Heavenly Prodigies geniuses of the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain.
When Chi Xiyue turned around, the oppressive and murderous aura that had been gripping everyone's nerves finally dissipated from her eyes. Looking at the group of fellow disciples who were still in a daze, a slight smile appeared on her lips.
"Alright." With those words, the group, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to reality. Chi Xiyue raised her hand and gently waved it—whoosh!
The "Ten Thousand Lives Return to the Wall - Ancient Fortress of Longevity" formation, which protected everyone, slowly dissipated from the top. The pale gold barrier scattered into countless tiny specks of light, and the towering pillars sank back into the ground. Only the Chi Lineage's restrictions, which had not yet been fully restored, remained, quietly spreading out in the forest.
"Continue your investigation and record all the anomalies in this area." Everyone quickly snapped back to reality and responded, "Yes, Senior Sister!"
The dozen or so disciples immediately scattered, some checking the disturbed restriction nodes, some recording the regional changes after the Demonic Spirit rampage, and others re-verifying the sealed and fragmented space and causal relationships.
"Junior Sister Qingyue, wait a moment." Chi Qingyue, who was about to follow the others, paused and turned around.
Chi Xiyue had already walked to her side. The pair of sharp and intimidating eyes that had been when confronting the ancient Demonic Spirit had now returned to a gentle and calm state, without a trace of murderous intent, and her tone had also softened.
"Take me to the area where Qingchen and Qingyuan were injured." Chi Qingyue was slightly taken aback, then nodded solemnly. In her gaze towards Chi Xiyue, there was no fear, only a deep respect that had grown stronger after this battle.
"Okay, Senior Sister." As soon as she finished speaking, Chi Qingyue recognized the direction she had been traveling and took the lead in heading towards the other side of the Divine Forest. Chi Xiyue followed closely behind. The two figures traversed through the layers of ancient trees in the Azure Wood Divine Forest and sped towards the area where Shen Qingchen and Su Qingyuan had been attacked and injured.
Deep in the northern part of the Azure Wood Divine Forest, the traces of the previous fierce battle had not yet completely disappeared. Among the towering ancient trees, branches broken by the residual power of the divine force lay scattered across the forest floor, and a large number of roots that originally extended along their inherent growth patterns were now disordered.
Some roots pierced straight into the sky, while others spread horizontally along the void. Several ancient trees had large, textureless, grayish-white erosion marks etched into their trunks. This place had been repeatedly eroded by the True Annihilation Realm · Peak, especially the area where the "Dao Tribulation Source Matchmaker" struck, which remained shrouded in a somber and deathly silence for hundreds of feet.
The space did not collapse, nor was the cause and effect completely severed, but any Fate Soul that sensed approaching would feel a momentary, almost imperceptible, detachment from its own origin.
Chi Qingyue led Chi Xiyue to a spot in the forest. As soon as their feet were firmly planted, the gentle expression that had just remained on Chi Xiyue's face slowly faded. She did not rush to speak, but walked slowly along the remaining battle scars. Her gaze swept over several places where the ground had been torn apart by supernatural powers, and finally landed back on the spot where Shen Qingchen and Su Qingyuan had fallen.
Two faint Fate Soul imprints still remained there, and around the imprints, there lingered an even colder and more eerie primordial aura. Chi Xiyue squatted down, her two fingers hovering close to the ground. Before her fingertips even touched the soil, the battle scars lurking in the gaps between the soil and space were drawn together from all directions by the Dao Foundation of the Wuji Realm.
Buzz--
Fine, dark gold patterns slowly rose from the ground. These patterns were not fully formed; some extended back to the past following cause and effect, some traced back to the source of Fate Soul, and many had just manifested before disappearing into nothingness.
Chi Xiyue's gaze narrowed slightly as she clearly saw that the severe blow had not targeted Shen Qingchen and Su Qingyuan's physical bodies. The residual power remained attached to their very foundations, continuously eroding and permeating inwards along their Dao foundation, Fate Soul, and causal origin.
No wonder the two couldn't recover on their own.
Chi Xiyue murmured to herself, and with a gentle flick of her finger, she pulled a remnant from the earth. As soon as the mark left the ground, it twisted and turned, with four completely different layers of aftereffects—the origin of existence, the root of the Dao, the origin of cause and effect, and the coordinates of nothingness—intertwining and swirling together. Finally, it condensed into a turbulent, unstable dark mark in the air above her palm.
She stared at the mark for a moment, a coldness gradually settling between her brows.
Chi Qingyue stood beside her, and seeing her remain silent for a long time, she spoke softly, "Senior Sister, this is the place. Those seven people had been lying in ambush in this area for a long time. When we first noticed that the Chi Lineage's restrictions had been triggered prematurely, we became suspicious and recorded the anomaly in our patrol jade tablets. Just as we were about to retreat, they suddenly attacked us from the forest."
Chi Xiyue turned to look at her: "Are all seven of them masked?" "Yes."
Chi Qingyue nodded, her expression turning True Annihilation Realm · Peak. Initially, they didn't reveal their identities; the leader was dressed in a golden robe. When we questioned him about his origins, he refused to answer, only issuing an order."
Chi Xiyue's eyes flickered slightly. "What are the orders?" Chi Qingyue's gaze remained calm as she replied, word by word. "Kill me, and capture Senior Brother Qingchen and Senior Sister Qingyuan alive." The forest fell silent instantly.
Above Chi Xiyue's palm, the dark mark continued to slowly rotate. The gentleness in her eyes faded little by little, and after a few breaths, she asked again, "From the very beginning, did they target Qingchen and Qingyuan specifically?"
"Exactly." "The goal wasn't changed along the way?"
"No." Chi Qingyue shook her head. "Throughout the battle, they were determined to kill me, but they always held back against Senior Brother Qingchen and Senior Sister Qingyuan. Even after the golden-robed man personally injured them severely, he didn't kill them outright."
Chi Xiyue stopped asking questions; the truth was already clear.