This is no ordinary darkness, nor is it worldly darkness; it still falls into the category of forms and colors that are "visible and definable." But this darkness deep within the pupils is fundamentally dissolving, erasing, and subverting the very meaning of the act of "seeing."
A deep and solemn look appeared in Qin Yu's eyes. This was the afterglow of the Silent Form Realm, the only original projection left by the "indescribable" supreme existence in the visual dimension. If one stares at it for too long and insists on delving into it, even one's own instinct to "see all things" will eventually be completely dragged into nothingness and returned to Silent Void.
Qin Yu withdrew his gaze at the opportune moment, no longer staring directly into the depths of his pupils, but instead surveying the entire Emanation Domain. Only now did he fully see the true nature of the world beyond the mirror: this world was an endless Sea of Form.
Calling it a "sea" is not entirely accurate. There is no flowing water, no seabed, no tides, and no waves. What supports this vast expanse of space is the myriad forms and visual possibilities that have been seen, are visible, and have yet to be defined throughout history.
Each wave in the Sea of Form is an independent form, an independent principle, and an independent scene. Some are as majestic as mountains, some are transformed into human forms, some manifest the prototypes of ancient mythical beasts, and many more are strange formations that transcend common sense: a line can bend into three directions at the same time, a circle can carry thousands of centers, and a touch of color can fold space and distort dimensions on its own.
As waves rise, shapes and colors manifest and come to life; as waves fall, all things return to their source and are swallowed by the Sea of Form. Every tiny ripple represents a new visual possibility, which is derived, divided, and expanded.
A ripple swept across the gray-white barren mountain, and the mountain instantly differentiated into thousands of original colors; the thousands of colors were further subdivided and layered, eventually becoming so complex that they could not be distinguished by the naked eye or defined by ordinary perception.
Qin Yu stood on the mirror, gazing into the distance.
The towering mountains in the distance are not merely piles of earth and stone, nor are they creations of nature; rather, they are the solidified gazes of countless living beings. One line of sight overlaps another: some observe from afar, some stand close, some climb to the summit and look down, and some gaze upon them on their deathbeds. Countless gazes, layered and accumulated, ultimately give rise to this ancient and enduring "mountain."
Nearby, the ancient trees, though seemingly robust, lack any real woody branches, textures, or leaves. The entire ancient tree is merely an unfinished, unconcluded spectacle. Some wish to see the tree in its entirety and explore its origins, yet they never finish, never fully comprehend it. Thus, its branches are half-formed, its leaves half-revealed, and its root system hazy, forever remaining in an incomplete state of evolution, eternally incomplete, eternally enduring.
In the far distance, the colors completely transcended Qin Yu's familiar worldly understanding. The various hues were neither the shades of red, blue, cyan, and purple, nor the ordinary colors of day and night, black and white. They were primordial phenomena that completely transcended the existing color spectrum, could not be classified, and could not be named. They could be captured by the eyes, but could not be defined by words or interpreted by cognition.
Further afield, unique visual colors remain from various realms. Some colors can only be seen by living beings who simultaneously perceive two dimensions of space and time; others require three or more visual dimensions to be discerned; the oldest strands even originated in the primordial chaos before the concept of "color" had even taken shape.
Qin Yu gazed intently at a primordial color, which appeared colorless, yet was clearer and more real than any other vibrant hue. It was neither black nor white nor transparent, but rather resembled the primitive state before the visual system was born and the rules of observation were formed.
Just a moment of gazing at it can forcibly broaden and passively reshape one's inherent visual cognition and observation system. This thing has no attack or defense, no intention or thought, but simply being "seen" can subtly change the observer's original cognition and reshape the observer's fundamental understanding.
Qin Yu stepped forward, taking a light step. Thump! The smooth, waveless surface of the endless mirror beneath his feet suddenly rippled with a faint, primordial wave.
Wherever a footstep lands, a new piece of land appears out of thin air. At first, it is only the size of a footprint, but then it expands rapidly, spreading layer by layer, from a few feet to ten feet, a hundred feet... the territory steadily unfolds.
The land first reveals its color, then regenerates its texture, and finally solidifies into stone, forming a landscape. Qin Yu stops, and the newly formed land also stops expanding and stabilizes. He turns his gaze to the Emptiness void beside him.
Where the gaze is fixed, faint lines first outline the shape, then coalesce into low hills, and upon closer inspection, a winding valley and a vast landscape emerge behind the hills. Qin Yu's expression subtly changes as he fully comprehends the first layer of the fundamental laws Emanation Domain this domain.
The Eye Faculty Emanation Domain determines the potential for growth, formation, and realization. The deeper the gaze, the more realistic the scene, the more stable the landscape, and the more complete the myriad phenomena.
Qin Yu blinked slowly, and in the blink of an eye—a deafening roar—the entire world was completely transformed, everything was renewed.
The newly formed land created by my footsteps has vanished without a trace; the thousands of mountains in the distance, formed by my gaze, have shifted and reshaped; the unfinished ancient tree has split into dozens of new trees with different shapes and branches;
The iris crystals of the giant eye in the sky rearrange and rotate the image; the myriad hues in the Sea of Form complete a new round of splitting, merging, and succession.
A single glance reveals a world, a fleeting moment reveals myriad phenomena. In the blink of an eye, this Emanation Domain completed a complete shift in order, with all phenomena Return to Emanation. Qin Yu stood motionless for a long time, without moving again.
The Eye Faculty Emanation Domain has no clear adversaries, no ferocious beasts guarding it, no trials or prohibitions, and no sacred chants for teaching. But it is precisely because it is completely unrestrained, completely unbound, and completely without guidance that it is most mysterious, unpredictable, and fraught with danger at every turn.
All existence, evolution, birth, and death in this world depend on a single glance. Opening the eye creates all phenomena, gazing creates new appearances, and blinking changes the world. The ancient giant eye above silently overlooks, illuminating all directions, unmoved and unshakable. The Ultimate darkness of the Silent Form Realm deep within the pupil always hangs in the sky, lying dormant and waiting for its chance.
Qin Yu slowly raised his eyes, his gaze falling again on the endless, recursive mirror reflections at his feet, countless layers of infinite possibilities, all raising their heads in unison and looking at each other.
One layer, a hundred layers, ten thousand layers, infinite layers... countless "he"s look up at their true selves, while Qin Yu, at the top, silently looks back at the myriad selves and countless possibilities throughout the ages.
Qin Yu stood silently above the endless mirror sea. The ancient giant eye that covered the entire Emanation Domain above his head still stood silently, its iris fragments rotating endlessly, reflecting the myriad realms of heaven and earth, their birth, death, rise and fall; beneath his feet, the countless reflections continued to extend infinitely into the depths of nothingness, endlessly generating new possibilities.
The Eye Faculty Emanation Domain has never revealed the way forward, never given birth to enemies, nor pointed out the end. The only eternal and ceaseless fundamental operation in this world is the word "seeing".
Qin Yu suppressed his emotions and did not dare to take a step rashly. He first calmed his mind and focused all his observations and deliberate gazes to the lowest possible level, and then slowly closed his eyes. Normally, when the eyelids are lowered, everything should be dark and everything should be silent.
Yet the surrounding scenery remained unchanged; the mirror-like sea was still flat, the giant eye in the sky still shone silently, and the distant Sea of Form still surged and ebbed. In fact, compared to when I opened my eyes, the texture of heaven and earth and the patterns of all things were clearer and more distinct on the level of consciousness.
Qin Yu's brows furrowed slightly, and his expression gradually became more composed. Although he had already closed his eyes, every wisp of mirror pattern flowing beneath his feet, every wave of color rising and falling in the distance, and every arrangement and rotation of the crystal fragments in the giant eye of the sky were still clearly and completely engraved in his original consciousness, without the slightest omission or blurring.
He once again focused his mind, sealing off his senses layer by layer, not observing, not thinking, not discerning, not recognizing. But as soon as this thought arose, the outline of a mountain range suddenly appeared in the void ahead.
This mountain is not a scene of the new life of the current Emanation Domain, but rather an old mountain landscape that Qin Yu personally witnessed and set foot on in the past.
The moment the mountains appeared, a series of outlines followed: a vast ancient city, a winding river, a boundless starry sea... Countless scenes of heaven and earth that he had seen before were forcibly projected, solidified, and manifested from the depths of his dusty memories.
At first, it was a magnificent and complete landscape, but in the blink of an eye, countless subtle details that had been overlooked by the world and forgotten by ourselves came to light one after another.
There are fine, mottled cracks on the surface of ancient stone walls, mottled rust marks left on the eaves of ancient palaces over the years, the slightest twitch of eyebrows when people talk, and the fleeting brilliance of sword light in the ancient battles.
These visual remnants, buried deep in our consciousness and never actively recalled in daily life, are all precisely captured, magnified layer by layer, and solidified into reality by the Eye Faculty Emanation Domain.
Qin Yu understood completely. He closed his eyes, but it was useless. What drove the birth and death of all things in this Emanation Domain was never the naked eye, nor was it active observation. As long as the Dao body existed and the consciousness did not perish, as long as even a fraction of the cognition of "form" and "color" remained in the origin, "seeing" would continue eternally and endlessly.
The more one forcibly closes their eyes and deliberately blocks out certain thoughts, the easier it is for the visual remnants hidden deep in memory to be captured, magnified infinitely, and manifested in all forms by the Emanation Domain.
Qin Yu slowly opened his eyes. He had failed in the first trial, but this failure had cleared away the fog and pointed him straight to the core, laying bare the real challenge before him.
How to break free from the shackles of vision and not let the myriad phenomena lead one's true nature is not a question of "how to stop seeing," because within the Eye Faculty Emanation Domain, there is no way to not see...