He looked up and gazed at the Sound Wall. It had no bricks or stones, no physical structure, and no ordinary form or texture of a wall. Supporting this ancient wall was only one thing—sound, solidified and immortal sound. For the first time, Qin Yu truly "saw" that sound could also solidify into form and its lingering resonance could last forever.
An ancient bell tolled, condensing into a ten-thousand-foot-wide circular ripple, silently suspended deep within the Sound Wall. The bell's sound had long since faded into eternity, but the ripple was forever frozen in its final outward expansion, capturing that fleeting moment of Daoist essence and sealing away its eternal echoes.
A savage, ancient roar transformed into a thick, heavy crease, piercing from the bottom of the Sound Wall to the vast sky. Every turn and undulation was etched with the Ultimate emotions and fighting spirit of the one who uttered the roar back then.
A single wisp of sorrowful weeping from all living beings gave rise to countless delicate ripples, intertwining and lingering endlessly. In addition, the sounds of swords clashing, footsteps, panting, ancient chants, wailing, and laughter all solidified and remained in the world.
The unfinished last words and fleeting thoughts of millions of living beings are all preserved here, their echoes forever standing in the walls. Some of these echoes are colorful, while others carry a profound weight.
A sigh, vast and ancient, pressed heavily on the very center of the Sound Wall. This single, solidified sound pattern, of immense primordial weight, caused all the surrounding tens of thousands of subtle sound traces to bend inward and bow into silence.
Furthermore, many sounds have long transcended worldly cognition, lacking pitch, timbre, and propagation trajectory. They remain firmly solidified within the Sound Wall, preserving the sole trace of "once heard, once existing in the world."
This Sound Wall that stretches across the Emanation Domain is the most original and authentic landscape of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain. There are no mountains or rivers, no earth to support it, and no stars to rotate. Only when billions of solidified sound images are stacked and interwoven layer by layer can there be the height of heaven and earth, the distance of space, and the depth of Dao rhythm.
Just as Qin Yu was gazing intently, a brand new sound slowly emanated from the depths of the Sound Wall's origin. "Qin Yu..." was his name. Before the voice could fully spread or even leave the barrier, an invisible Daoist aura rippled across the surface of the Sound Wall. It was immediately absorbed and solidified again, Return to Emanation stillness.
On the other side, a primordial war cry seemed to break through the air, only to be swallowed up by the barrier and vanish into Silent Void in an instant.
Then came the cries of infants, the tolling of ancient bells, laughter and whispers from the world, one sound after another arising and blossoming from the depths of the barrier, before all returning, condensing, and Return to Emanation.
Birth, sound, return, rebirth, sound again, return again—the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain, in this cycle of birth and death, sound and silence, extends eternally and without ceasing. Qin Yu did not approach rashly, but quietly gazed at the vast Sound Wall, and soon discovered a fatal anomaly.
All sounds and phenomena in the world have their origins.
Crying originates from all living beings, the sound of swords originates from divine weapons, the ringing of bells originates from ancient bells, and chanting originates from practitioners. Even those ancient sounds whose origins are untraceable retain traces of the Dao that "once happened, once existed."
Only a faint echo remained—without source or origin. Qin Yu's gaze slowly shifted, landing on the very center of the Sound Wall, where that eerie echo appeared for the first time. It was made of nothing, without cause, arising out of thin air and vanishing in an instant.
The second sound quietly echoed from another part of the Sound Wall, then vanished. The third sound appeared, already silently landing behind Qin Yu did not turn around. He had already realized that all his pursuit was in vain.
This echo has no beginning and Endless, no one to hear it, and nothing to be heard. It arises from the void, wanders in the void, and returns to the void. It has no body, no face, no ears, no nose, no mouth, and no place in the world can definitively point to its existence. Yet Qin Yu cannot deny its reality.
Because he truly heard it, and the "it" he heard was essentially his own hearing itself.
The previously earless and Formless humanoid phantom briefly solidified and appeared on the surface of the Sound Wall, then slowly dissipated and returned to complete silence, like an old sound pattern that had successfully retired.
Without any remains or afterimages, it was merely a temporary, illusory form that this sourceless echo temporarily condensed to awaken Qin Yu's awareness and manifest the state of being "heard."
The true guardian of the Ear Root has appeared in the world, the Hearing-Derivation Beast. "You come from the Sight-Derivation Beast." The voice suddenly arose. Neither in front, nor behind, nor to the left, nor to the right. This sentence was directly generated, formed, and echoed from Qin Yu's own "hearing" origin.
His bones felt no vibration, his eardrums felt no pressure, the Emptiness undisturbed, and the heavens and earth seemed still, yet Qin Yu's true nature clearly heard every word and every meaning. "You have learned to see, but not to cling to what you see."
Within the Sound Wall, billions of solidified sound waves gently undulated and trembled. "Very good." "But here—" The ethereal echo paused briefly, then deepened in tone. "The problem is quite the opposite."
Qin Yu stood silently, neither answering nor speaking. But in that moment of silence, a constraint far more hidden, deeper, and more unsolvable than the gaze of the Sight-Derivation Beast quietly settled over his heart.
He is being heard; the "contemplation" of the Sight-Derivation Beast is to unfold his past, present, and future, exhausting all possibilities, completely defining and revealing him. The Hearing-Derivation Beast is completely different.
It does not listen to his words, does not discern his actions, and does not concern itself with the causes and effects of the world. It is completely indifferent to all external "content." What it listens to is Qin Yu's "listening" itself. Qin Yu's thought of gazing at the Sound Wall was heard.
Qin Yu's thought of discerning the source of the echo was heard; Qin Yu's thought of sensing the Hearing-Derivation Beast was heard; even his current silent and calm confrontational state was transformed into an incomparably clear echo of his true self, all of which were captured.
Qin Yu's gaze slowly hardened, his mind tightening layer by layer, Hearing-Derivation Beast would not invade his Fate Soul, enter his consciousness, disturb cause and effect, or touch his origin.
It connects solely through the most basic and fundamental path of "hearing," receiving and fully comprehending all the hidden thoughts and subtle obsessions concealed behind his hearing.
Deep within the Sound Wall, countless tiny ripples emerged one after another, each thought tied to a fragment, a thought to the founding emperor, a thought to a way out, and a thought to the newly born vigilance and preparedness.
All these hidden thoughts, unspoken and unexpressed, remained silent, yet were thoroughly Hearing-Derivation Beast of Hearing. "At the root of your eyes," a faint echo rose again in your heart. "You are fixated on 'seeing.'" "Therefore, the Sight-Derivation Beast lets you see everything." "Ultimately, nothing is seen."
Above the Sound Wall, billions of static sound patterns rose and fell slowly, resonating. "It can reach the ear." "Your obsession is not just about 'listening'." Heaven and earth fell silent briefly. The next instant, that invisible echo struck the deepest part of Qin Yu's Fate Soul for the first time, breaking through the shackles of the origin.
"And it lies in—" "being heard." Qin Yu remained silent, but the vast Sound Wall in front of him suddenly trembled slightly, and an extremely fine and mysterious sound pattern slowly rose from the depths of the barrier's origin.
This voiceprint emitted no sound, yet the Dao intent it carried was crystal clear, pointing directly to the heart. "I have come to find the fragment." The second voiceprint followed. "I must reach the Name of Primal Evolution." The third arose in succession. "I must know what the Wanyan Grand Progenitor left behind." The fourth, the most profound and secretive, was deeply imprinted on the Sound Wall. "I must receive a response."
Qin Yu's brows furrowed slightly, his mind growing increasingly heavy. This last obsession was far more deeply rooted and harder to fathom than the previous three. Hearing-Derivation Beast gave him no time to think, its echoes resounding one after another, each sentence pointing directly to the root of the problem.
"You enter the ancestral land." "Search for the fragments." "Remembering the Great Ancestor." "Step into the True Evolution Divine Hall." "Everything you do—" "is speaking." The colorless void behind Qin Yu quietly and slowly rippled outwards. There was no sound in the world, but invisible sound patterns unique to him were quietly spreading and proliferating in all directions.
Stepping into the ancestral land leaves a trace of sound; exploring the temple leaves a trace of sound; venturing into the Six Sense Roots Emanation Domain leaves a trace of sound; seeking the "Name of Primal Evolution" leaves a trace of sound. Every choice, every step forward, transforms into a faint ripple of origin, endlessly expanding outward.
As if from the very beginning of its existence, it had been sending signals to this eternal world, seeking to prove itself and find answers. "I am here." The second followed closely. "I am searching." The third extended layer by layer. "I want to know." The fourth pressed down on the void. "I await the answer."
The fifth, continuous, ever-growing invisible sound traces filled the void, all originating from the unspoken obsession in his heart. The invisible echo of the Hearing-Derivation Beast, traversing among the thousands of sound patterns, revealed the ultimate obsession.
"You are waiting for someone to 'hear' you." "You are waiting for the world to respond to you." "You are waiting for the ancestral land to respond to you." "You are waiting for the fragments to respond to you." "You are waiting for the traces left by the Great Ancestor to tell you—you have found it." The vast Sound Wall slowly moved forward, step by step approaching.
The millions of solidified sound patterns on the wall grew clearer, more vivid, and more compelling. "You thought you were always listening to Wanyan's voice." "But your ears—" "were always turned outwards." Qin Yu's gaze hardened completely, his mind penetrating the mystery.
The words of the Hearing-Derivation Beast quietly arose once again from his own hearing source. "You want to hear—" "A voice is responding to you." The entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain fell into Ultimate Annihilation. Qin Yu neither argued, acknowledged, nor spoke. He had already discerned the most unsolvable danger of the Hearing-Derivation Beast trial.
To speak in response is to create a sound, to fall into the shackles of being heard; to deny it is to expect the other party to hear and deny it, remaining deeply entrenched in obsession. Even if one thinks, "I don't need to respond," this statement itself is a declaration to heaven and earth, a request for verification from the Great Dao, still retaining the potential entanglement of "being heard."
As long as there is still a trace of the thought of "waiting for others to receive it, waiting for heaven and earth to respond," the opposition between "the listener" and "the heard" can never be severed. The Hearing-Derivation Beast has no fixed form, Formless, and no substance, but this ethereal echo Endless has already spread throughout the entire Sound Wall and permeated the entire Wenyan Emanation Domain.
"This is the trial of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain." As the words fell, all the ancient sound patterns within the Sound Wall simultaneously froze and became completely still. The next instant, an Ultimate formless, material, and waveless Dao fluctuation directly pierced through Qin Yu's body and origin.
Without impact, without shock, without pressure, without fluttering clothes, without retreating, without harming his Fate Soul, without disturbing his origin, the moment this wave passed through him, all the hidden thoughts in Qin Yu's heart that had not yet taken shape or been uttered began to resonate with layers upon layers of his own inner voice.
"What is it listening to?" The first echo appeared. "How to cut it off?" The echo regenerated. "It has no physical form." The echo repeated three times. "Is the echo its true form?" The echo continued four times. "If we don't respond to it—" The echo repeated five times. Qin Yu's eyes suddenly darkened. Before this thought could fully take shape and land, it had already been completely captured by Hearing-Derivation Beast.
From the depths of the Sound Wall, an identical, ethereal echo immediately returned. "If I don't respond to it," the second layer of recursion superimposed. "It heard me; it doesn't want to respond to it."
The third layer progresses step by step. "I know it heard me." The fourth layer repeats endlessly. "It heard me again, and I know it heard me." The endless recursion, the layering, the ceaseless echo of the original mind, takes shape completely in an instant, firmly locking the original mind.
Qin Yu stood still, his mind unwavering, Hearing-Derivation Beast, slowly rising from the myriad overlapping inner voices, resonating throughout his very being. "If you cling to being heard—"
The vast Sound Wall pressed forward an inch, and countless sound patterns trembled in unison. All the thoughts in Qin Yu's heart were suddenly amplified infinitely and echoed completely. "You will never hear it again." In the next instant, the billions of solidified sound patterns on the Sound Wall all turned around and aimed at Qin Yu. Ancient bells tolled, all living beings wept, wild beasts roared, creatures gasped, the heartbeat of one's true self beat, ancient chants were recited, and whispers mingled.