Midnight in Returning Light Heavenly City had not yet truly fallen into darkness. Nine hundred and ninety-nine fragments of the crystal wall of the dead universe hung from the dome, and the refracted afterglow of the dying sun pierced through the sea of clouds and the eaves, casting a colorful interplay of light and shadow on this remote residence.
The branches and leaves of several old trees in the courtyard swayed slightly. Hua Jingyun stood in front of the door, his white hair falling behind his shoulders. The Fate Soul origin of the True Annihilation Realm · Supreme had slowly awakened from his body. Hua Yin stood dozens of feet away, the mockery on his face had not yet faded. His gloomy eyes had already passed over Hua Jingyun's physical body and fell directly into the deepest part of his Fate Soul and the foundation of the Great Dao.
Hua Yin didn't say anything more. Since he had personally come here tonight, he had no intention of leaving any future trouble. "With your current crippled body, you dare to mention eliminating the root of trouble in front of this elder?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hua Yin lowered his eyelids slightly, slowly raised his right hand, and gently pinched two fingers together in front of his chest. In an instant, all the colors in the entire courtyard faded away.
There was no earth-shattering roar, no violent force sweeping across the area; the courtyard walls, ancient trees, houses, stone steps, and even the afterglow of the crystal wall hanging high in the sky all faded away at the same moment.
The crimson gold receded, the azure faded, and the silver-white fell silent, leaving only pure black and white in all things. The sound of the wind in the world Annihilation in an instant, the swaying leaves froze in mid-air, and the dewdrops hanging from the eaves remained suspended. In the distance, the Returning Light Heavenly City still shimmered with countless lights, but this courtyard, hundreds of feet in size, had been stripped from its bustling prosperity and fallen into an absolutely desolate and isolated world.
Hua Jingyun's expression suddenly turned serious. He immediately recognized the terrifying level of this move. A gray-white flame silently ignited on Hua Yin's fingertip.
This cluster of flames was only the size of a fingernail, without warmth or heat, and without any flickering light, completely unlike ordinary fire-based supernatural powers. Yet, the moment it appeared, the surrounding laws of nature curled up in layers, and several primordial patterns that maintained the stability of space approached the gray-white flames, then curled inward like rotten ancient scrolls, instantly shattering into countless fine ash.
"Myriad Beginnings Return to Ash!" A top-tier killing technique of the Eternal Silence Realm. Hua Yin's eyes were icy cold. He lightly raised two fingers and casually extended them forward. "Once these ashes are burned out, eternity will return to its beginning." "Your origins have no Return Path."
A soft hum resonated—that tiny, grayish-white Annihilation Source Fire did not follow the distance between the two as it flew through the air. In the instant it appeared in the world, it precisely touched the very foundation of Hua Jingyun's existence.
Beneath Hua Jingyun's feet, thin gray-white lines suddenly appeared. These lines did not bind his limbs or invade his flesh; they traced the Fate Soul accumulated throughout his life, tracing back through the years. In an instant, countless ancient scenes appeared layer by layer around the courtyard: his present white hair and twilight years, his long seclusion after his Fate Soul was severely damaged, the demeanor of an elder who led the Hua Lineage, his glorious past of cultivation in his youth... His entire life trajectory, from the present to the past, was fully unfolded.
The grayish-white flames then ignited.
Swoosh—The first image of bygone eras turned to ashes, followed by the second and third, which vanished in succession.
The flames of Annihilation surged backward, causing the traces of the Great Dao that Hua Jingyun had painstakingly cultivated throughout his life to curl up layer by layer, and the causal threads attached to them to dim and wither in sync. Strange gaps appeared in the surrounding space. The courtyard was intact, but all traces of his decades of residence, cultivation, and existence were being completely stripped away and erased from the root by "The Myriad Beginnings Return to Ash".
Hua Jingyun's expression suddenly darkened. He knew perfectly well that if he allowed this wisp of embers to continue tracing its source, once it touched the very origin of his own Fate Soul foundation, what would perish would not only be his physical body, but his entire existence and his entire origin.
Decades of silence and forbearance have all faded away. A sharp, piercing light suddenly burst forth from the depths of those aged eyes.
Hua Jingyun suddenly raised his hand! "Open!" Boom!!! The essence of his Fate Soul, which was at the True Annihilation Realm · Supreme, erupted from the depths of his aged body.
Although the power he unleashed at this moment was far inferior to Hua Yin's Eternal Silence Realm cultivation, as Hua Jingyun clasped his hands together, the Dao foundation that had been dormant within him for decades was fully awakened. Layer upon layer of powerful and ancient Dao traces rose from the depths of his Fate Soul. Even though his Fate Soul's origin was severely damaged and his cultivation had plummeted back then, these Dao foundations that had been tempered over countless ages had never dissipated with the decline of his realm.
"The Hua Lineage Ancient Dao— " Hua Jingyun suddenly stretched his palms outward with all his might. "Eternal Wall of Truth's Guard!" Thud!!!
A thick, ancient barrier rose from the ground before him. The barrier had no ornate features, its entire body was a deep, dark gold, without any intricate or chaotic Dao patterns, only the rugged texture tempered by time.
Every texture and every mark is closely connected to Hua Jingyun's lifelong path of cultivation, interlocking and taking root layer by layer, extending from his Fate Soul to his foundation, anchoring the years from his foundation, firmly protecting all the remaining foundations of his existence at his core.
The grayish-white flames crashed against the ancient wall with a deafening roar, without a tremendous explosion or a powerful impact, only a faint, sharp sound that sent shivers down the spine and tightened the nerves.
With a hiss, the first layer of dark gold Dao traces instantly turned white, curled, weathered, and turned to ash.
"The Myriad Beginnings Return to Ash" doesn't directly compete with "The Eternal Wall of Truth's Guard" in terms of brute force. Instead, it traces the Great Dao's origins inward to destroy the defensive barrier. Hua Jingyun's lifelong cultivation of Dao insights, the foundation of the Great Dao, and the origin of defense all become targets of the Annihilation fire.
The first ancient wall collapsed, and the second ancient wall lit up in response, forcibly continuing the defense. Swoosh! The second barrier crumbled and weathered once more.
Hua Jingyun's palms trembled violently, and the color drained from his aged face instantly. He did not retreat even half a step, his five fingers tightly gripping the hand seal, and the profound Dao essence accumulated deep within his Fate Soul surged forth continuously, forcibly maintaining his defense.
The third, fourth, and fifth layers! The intense sarcasm in Hua Yin's eyes faded slightly.
Hua Jingyun's cultivation level did indeed fall to the True Annihilation Realm · Supreme, but although his realm had declined, the ancient Dao foundation he had accumulated in his youth, when he reached the pinnacle and took charge of his clan, had never completely dissipated. In particular, the Source Dao traces at the deepest part of the "Eternal Wall of Truth's Guard" no longer relied on cultivation to maintain, but were deeply engraved in the Fate Soul Nucleus, unyielding to the passage of time and impervious to severe injuries.
As the sixth layer of the ancient wall crumbled, the raging gray-white embers finally paused briefly for the first time. Hua Jingyun's eyes suddenly sharpened. "Suppress!" He pressed down heavily with both palms simultaneously! Boom!!!
The final three layers of dark gold ancient walls suddenly overlapped and intertwined, transforming into a massive, incomparably thick wall of the Great Dao that stretched across the front of him. In the center of the wall, an ancient Fate Soul mark belonging to the former Great Elder of the Hua Lineage slowly lit up, carrying his lifelong Dao heart and perseverance.
The greyish-white flames continued to burn, and the dark gold ancient wall continued to crumble. After a few breaths of Ultimate stalemate—crack!!! A fine crack instantly pierced through the entire "Eternal Wall of Truth's Guard," Hua Jingyun's pupils suddenly contracted. The next instant, bang!!!
The entire dark gold ancient wall shattered and collapsed completely. Countless fragments of the Great Dao scattered and flew in all directions, while the gray-white embers pierced through the last layer of defense and went straight into Hua Jingyun's chest.
Hua Jingyun's body suddenly trembled violently. "Pfft!" A mouthful of scarlet blood gushed out.
He retreated seven steps, each step leaving a deep crack in the bluestone slab beneath his feet. On the seventh step, he slammed his right foot into the ground, locking his strength. The True Annihilation Realm · Supreme Fate Soul essence forcefully suppressed the surging injuries within his body, barely managing to stabilize his swaying figure.
His face was ashen, blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and his gray robe was stained with large gray-white burn marks. Several core Fate Soul Dao patterns were destroyed by the embers, and his very foundation was superficially eroded, leaving him severely injured.
That's all. Hua Jingyun did not fall, his Fate Soul did not collapse, and his foundation of Dao was not destroyed. The fundamental source of his existence in the world was not dragged into Eternal Silence and completely erased by "The Myriad Beginnings Return to Ash".
The first round of confrontation came to an end. The black and white silence in the courtyard slowly faded, and the colorful afterglow of the Annihilation universe on the dome of Returning Light Heavenly City once again shone down, illuminating Hua Jingyun's blood-stained, aged face.
At the other end of the courtyard, Hua Yin stood silently, his eyebrows slightly raised, a faint look of surprise flashing in his eyes. Beneath his calm exterior, his heart was already churning with turbulent emotions.
He launched a surprise attack on this place tonight, never intending to linger with the weakened Hua Jingyun. In his eyes, the crippled body, with its severely damaged Fate Soul and plummeting cultivation, could not possibly withstand his Eternal Silence Realm ultimate killing technique, "Myriad Beginnings Return to Ash."
This attack was intended to kill instantly, but Hua Jingyun managed to catch it, and not only that, he only suffered minor injuries. The surprise in his eyes quickly disappeared, completely covered by a coldness.
"How is this possible..." His gaze swept over Hua Jingyun, his expression grave. "How could this old bastard withstand my divine power?"
Hua Yin frowned slightly, not daring to approach rashly based on his cultivation advantage. He quietly extended his full-domain perception, carefully examining the entire courtyard, meticulously investigating the remnants of the "Eternal Wall of Truth's Guard" that had just collapsed, the fluctuations of Hua Jingyun's Fate Soul aura, and the state of his Dao foundation, not missing a single abnormality.
Hua Yin was Ultimate cautious by nature, and this unexpected battle situation instantly raised his vigilance to its peak. His previous arrogance, which had given him a sure chance of victory, vanished completely, leaving only a meticulous, cold scrutiny and assessment in his eyes.
The more unusually resilient Hua Jingyun, the less he dared to act rashly.
As the last rays of sunlight bathed him, Hua Yin slowly closed his fingers, his mind tense, weighing every word and step with caution, his gaze fixed on Hua Jingyun, without the slightest relaxation.