Qin Yu took a step forward, without a predetermined direction, without a clear goal, without any obsession with seeking, simply moving forward. As his first step landed, the mirror surface appeared, then shattered, and the road ahead unfolded naturally.
The second step, the third step... step by step forward, step by step without attachment, he traversed the first crimson Sea of Form.
The crimson hues spread across the sky, layer upon layer, endlessly iterating, with crimson arising from crimson and crimson extending beyond crimson, creating countless complex and inexhaustible colors. Qin Yu neither grasped, discerned, clung to, nor held onto anything, letting all the crimson hues flow past him without thought or hindrance.
He traversed the second azure ocean, where the blue hues of the heavens varied in depth, temperature, and distance, and even the primordial blue hues of many other universes simultaneously invaded and pressed down upon him. Qin Yu neither named, distinguished, discerned, nor defined them, but calmly walked through and silently passed by.
The third Sea of Form descended, filling the entire world with countless strange colors that could not be described by worldly language or categorized by conventional understanding. Qin Yu remained calm and undisturbed, without clinging to any particular form or focusing on any single thought.
Then, stepping into the boundless sea of mirrors, thousands of mirrors rise one after another from the surrounding void, floating and circling, each reflecting a completely different self, a different life, and an unknown possibility.
Qin Yu moved through the center of the mirror array, unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, reality and illusion, right and wrong. He let the myriad aspects of himself and the myriad phenomena manifest, but his own mind remained clear, pure, and untainted.
Further ahead, Emptiness descended one after another, gazing down. The giant eye of the stars traversed the sky, its pupils containing the birth and death of the entire universe. Qin Yu met their gazes calmly, but did not delve into them, nor became obsessed with the myriad phenomena, nor did he investigate their origins.
A mustard seed-sized eye was close to his brow, reflecting a future branch that had never occurred. Qin Yu observed it calmly, understanding it clearly, then brushed it aside without clinging to it. More and more eyes, an increasingly complex world, and endless possibilities manifested and unfolded layer by layer before and behind him.
He saw all the phenomena of the heavens and was seen by all the phenomena of the heavens. From beginning to end, he never grasped any form, never assumed any future, never solidified any truth, and never became entangled in any relationship.
After countless years, this place had long transcended the order of worldly time and was beyond the measure of years. Qin Yu finally arrived at the deepest part of the Sea of Form, a place where there were no churning waves of color, no floating eyes, and no myriad reflections.
In the vast, empty void, only a boundless giant mirror remained, stretching across the ages and covering this secret realm. The mirror's surface was boundless and without end. Qin Yu stood before the mirror. For the first time, his eyes showed a clear and visible ripple and change.
All the mirrors before, whether reflecting obsessions, all things, or the self, would show the viewer's image and corresponding objects, but this ancient giant mirror Emptiness.
Without Qin Yu's reflection, without the forms of living beings, without the colors of heaven and earth, without any objects, Qin Yu slowly stepped forward, and finally, objects slowly emerged in the Space Silence mirror.
A pure and boundless gaze quietly took shape; it was the Sight-Derivation Beast. In the mirror, the Sight-Derivation Beast silently gazed at Qin Yu outside the mirror, while Qin Yu outside the mirror also quietly gazed at the gaze in the mirror. In the next instant, deep within the pupil of that pure gaze, a second layer of imagery slowly emerged.
A figure of Qin Yu silently appeared. It was Qin Yu gazing at and observing the Sight-Derivation Beast. Qin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly, discerning the beginning of the recursion. Immediately afterward, the gaze of the Sight-Derivation Beast reappeared in the pupils of the Qin Yu in the mirror.
And within that gaze, another image of Qin Yu was reflected. One layer, two layers, three layers... nested layer upon layer, infinitely recursive, endlessly.
Qin Yu clearly saw: he was seeing the Sight-Derivation Beast gazing at him; then he saw the Sight-Derivation Beast gazing at him who was seeing it; and on the next level, he was seeing the Sight-Derivation Beast gazing at "himself seeing it".
The cycle repeats itself endlessly, layer upon layer, without end. The observer, the observed, the observer who sees the observed, the observed who sees the observer... the relationships constantly split, constantly evolve, and constantly nest. Every layer of logic holds true, and every layer of relationship can give rise to the next layer of entanglement.
On the vast mirror surface, countless recursive patterns rapidly spread and covered the entire area. Within Qin Yu's original consciousness, countless layers of "seeing" overlapped and continuously multiplied.
If we continue to delve deeper, trace the origins, and decipher this recursion, there will be no end and we will never reach the Ultimate. At this moment, the true meaning of that supreme rule will finally be completely understood and fully revealed.
"If you see the truth, you will never see the truth."
As long as the belief that "truth can be seen, defined, and captured" remains in one's heart, and as long as one still believes that truth is an observable phenomenon independent of oneself, there will always be a barrier of "seeing" between the observer and the truth.
Seeing the truth leads to seeing "oneself seeing the truth"; then one sees "oneself seeing oneself seeing the truth," an endless recursion, an unending bond, forever unable to reach the true origin.
Qin Yu stood quietly before the mirror, without activating any supernatural powers or secret techniques. The Silent Beginning Ring Master Soul Diagram could deconstruct recursive laws, but he didn't use it. The Book of Fate Law - Realm Severing Origin Brush could sever the conceptual boundary between the visible and the seen, but he didn't use it either.
The Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence: The Six Severances Seal can sever the layers of entangled oppositions, but he did not use them, simply because all these methods still cannot escape the inherent framework of "I see the problem, I solve the problem".
As long as this thought remains, the opposition between what can be seen and what is seen will never be broken. The chains will always exist, and the shackles will always continue. Qin Yu silently gazed at the endless recursion in the mirror, for a breath, ten breaths, and a long time.
Finally, he completely let go, not by physical stagnation or loss of sight, but by the complete Annihilation and total release of that lingering obsession that pursued recursion, delved into the origin, and sought the truth.
He no longer pursues the next level of recursion, no longer investigates who comes first and who comes last, no longer traces the origin and cause and effect. He no longer deliberately closes his eyes, no longer forces himself to remain still. It has long been proven that closing one's eyes is useless, and forcing oneself to remain still is also an obsession.
He doesn't suggest to himself "I no longer watch," because the thought of "not watching" is still a persistent definition of "watching." Qin Yu simply stands here, simply existing and naturally continuing.
It does not rely on external objects to prove its existence, nor does it rely on seeing all things to confirm its reality. Existence is inherently perfect and does not need visual verification. The mind is inherently clear and does not need the definition of all things. In an instant, infinite recursion completely loses its foundation for extension and its support for existence.
Qin Yu still exists in the first layer of the mirror, Sight-Derivation Beast is still suspended in the air. However, the opposing relationship between the two, which has been entangled for thousands of years, "I am looking at it, and it is looking at me," has begun to fade and slowly dissolve.
The fainter, the more diffused, the more empty, until finally—it completely shattered. Crack! The first crack suddenly appeared in the center of the giant mirror. Qin Yu remained motionless, his resolve unwavering. The second and third cracks spread in succession, and countless fine lines instantly covered the entire giant mirror.
Crack! A clear, resounding sound echoed through the depths of the Sea of Form. The giant mirror shattered, scattering in all directions. What shattered was not the mirror's physical form, but rather the eternal, shackled mind of perception and what is seen, the lock of opposition that bound all living beings.
At this moment, the Sight-Derivation Beast was no longer simply something to be seen, nor was it the sole observer. Qin Yu was no longer simply someone to be seen, nor was he the sole observer. The visual chains and opposing bonds that sustained the entire Sight-Attachment Trial were completely broken and dissolved.
The depths of the Sea of Form suddenly Ji Ran, the shattered mirrors floating in the void, motionless; in the distance, countless floating eyes closed in unison, Ji Ran still. Qin Yu stood in the center of the shattered mirrors, his mind clear and his vision serene.
The Sight-Derivation Beast that Pre-Nonbeing formless and shapeless, existing only as pure vision, took on a form and developed an outline for the first time the moment its bonds were broken. Initially, it was just a faint, almost imperceptible hazy shadow behind the gaze.
Then, countless outlines slowly condensed and took shape layer by layer, neither complete bodies nor figurative divine forms, never fully manifested in the world, never completely descended. Yet Qin Yu clearly sensed that a vast and mighty existence, long obscured by pure gaze and hidden for countless ages, was slowly awakening and gradually approaching.
The vast Sea of Form began to sink layer by layer, shedding its superficiality; the boundless mirror sea receded to both sides, returning to its origin; above the sky, the ancient giant eye that originally covered the entire Emanation Domain and dominated all things, the "seeing" of all things, slowly closed halfway, gathering all its remaining light.
Deep within the dark, deep pupils, a vast, ancient, silent shadow, never before revealed, stirred slightly and quietly revived. Qin Yu slowly raised his eyes to gaze at it, his gaze growing increasingly solemn and profound. The one who had previously answered his questions, conducted trials, and examined him was merely a wisp of Sight-Derivation Beast gaze cast upon this Eye Faculty Emanation Domain by the Derivative Beast.
Its true essence, its true Dao body, and its true eternal divine power have only now truly broken free from their shackles, slowly awakening and about to manifest in the world.