After the chains of "Hearing Attachment" broke, that Endless echo never returned.
Qin Yu stood in the colorless deep space after the Sound Wall collapsed, and the billions of solidified sound patterns around him were slowly disintegrating. The chimes, whispers, weeping, chanting and roaring that had carried the weight of countless ages all turned into circles of clear ripples, silently passing through his robes, shoulders and hair.
As each ripple swept into the distance, it gradually shed its original form. The magnificent soundscape that once formed the heavens and the earth, and spread out into mountains and seas, collapsed layer by layer, and the ancient and vast depths of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain were revealed to Qin Yu for the first time without any concealment.
He had not deliberately pursued the Hearing-Derivation Beast, but at the very moment the last fragment of the Sound Wall fell from the path ahead, the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain was suddenly stirred up by a primal upheaval that could not be defined by any vibration.
Silent and still, Qin Yu heard it clearly. It was a primordial echo far more ancient than the Sea of Sound of Eternity, without origin, without propagation, and without arrival. From the moment Qin Yu became aware of its existence, this echo had been eternally entrenched within his "hearing" origin.
The colorless void ahead slowly stretched out to both sides, and the first crystal-clear ripple appeared out of nowhere.
Its immense size, with no visible boundaries, stretched across the Ultimate reaches of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain, passing over Qin Yu's figure and continuing to extend into the endless deep space. The second, third, and fourth giant ripples followed one after another, crisscrossing from countless dimensions. The waves did not collide or interfere with each other, but at the moment of their convergence, they condensed into countless fleeting primordial voids.
The voids gathered more and more, layer upon layer, gradually outlining a vast and magnificent supreme silhouette that was difficult to fathom at a glance. Qin Yu slowly raised his eyes. Hearing-Derivation Beast —its true form manifested; it had no mortal body made of flesh and bones.
From afar, it appears as an ancient behemoth perched in the center of the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain; but when Qin Yu focused his mind and examined it closely, the origins that constitute this magnificent "body" were revealed layer by layer.
It is an echo, countless ancient echoes, intertwined and solidified.
Its spine is constructed from an ancient sonic spine that stretches across the endless void. This sonic spine has no physical texture; tens of thousands of transparent rings are nested and connected to each other, extending from the back of the head all the way to the deep space beyond the domain.
Within each ring, a trace of a voice that has endured for millennia is sealed. Within one giant ring, the Wanyan Ones stand before the temple, chanting aloud without ceasing; within another ring, an ancient world, destroyed for countless ages, is left only with the lingering echo of a final, resounding bell.
In the distant rings, a world collapsed and overturned, and billions of living beings cried out in anguish at the same time. But all the sounds froze and remained in time the instant they reached the boundary of the rings.
On either side of its body, there were no limbs, no claws, no wings; instead, there were twelve giant "listening wings" that stretched across the void.
Each wing of hearing is composed of billions of layers of translucent acoustic membranes. These membranes, layer upon layer, gradually extend from the vast arc close to the original body into a slender line traversing the Milky Way. When the wings of hearing open, all the remaining echoes in the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain are stirred, and countless ripples flow inward along the acoustic membranes; when the wings of hearing close, the settled sounds disperse back into the heavens and earth, covering the entire domain.
It has no ears, no auricles, no pores, and no physical structure to receive sound, simply because it never needs ordinary ears to hear anything. Every echo that makes up its body is itself an Ultimate pure act of "listening."
The head of the Hearing-Derivation Beast was even more mysterious and unparalleled.
It was a vast outline formed by countless concentric rings overlapping and stacking. The skull had no face, no eyes, no mouth, and no other living form. Nine giant transparent rings were staggered and slowly swirling around it.
The outermost layer contains all the sounds of the world, the second layer flows with the sounds of the natural world, and the third layer carries the hidden echoes of the Fate Soul of all things. As you move inward, the sound and form become increasingly faint and closer to the origin. Until the very center of the ninth layer, there is only an Ultimate pure and absolutely silent Space Silence.
This Space Silence, occupying the core of his head, is profound, boundless, Nameless, and shapeless. As Qin Yu gazes at this Emptiness, the ancient vicissitudes of the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain resound in his ears and in his heart.
The last breath of the Great Wanyan Grand Progenitor Thousand Generations before his fall, the magnificent chanting of the ancient Wanyan Ancient Clan at its peak, the Ultimate lament of hundreds of millions of lives at the moment of world collapse and clan extinction. The primordial awakening before the creation of heaven and earth and the birth of the first sound.
Even after all sounds have faded into silence, a wisp of "audible" Dao foundation remains in the origin, never completely annihilated. All the past events and traces of countless ages are hidden within this Space Silence.
An even more breathtaking spectacle lurked behind the Hearing-Derivation Beast's body.
Billions of transparent sound rings extended endlessly outward from its origin, layer upon layer, ring upon ring, covering the entire Emanation Domain Qin Yu's divine sense. Nearby, the sound rings were vast like a sea of stars, while in the distance, they were as fine as dust and indistinguishable.
Thousands of sound rings rose and fell in sync, their rhythms varied and distinct. Each primordial tremor gave the entire space a vast and layered Daoist charm. The ancient sounds returned to silence in their Ultimate depths, while new sounds were reborn and recurred in the outer void.
The birth of sound, the evolution of sound, the silence of sound, the return of sound—all the cyclical principles of sound in the world converge on the Formless and shapeless body of this ancient behemoth. Qin Yu stood quietly before it, his figure as small as a firefly, a faint outline before the vast ancient true body. The Hearing-Derivation Beast neither bowed its head, nor approached, nor made a move.
The moment its true form manifested, Qin Yu had already realized that this magnificent and imposing beast was merely an illusory form conjured by the origin to enlighten those who came after it and to facilitate the awareness of the world.
Its true essence is the last vestige of original resonance left in the world before the Great Ancestor ascended to the Silent Form Realm. This resonance never truly "speaks," because the act of "speaking" itself had already embarked on the path of Return to Emanation when it was born.
It was merely the last lingering echo of heaven and earth after all sounds Annihilation, a lingering echo of the origin that hung between sound and silence, having gone through countless cycles of reincarnation and never found a perfect answer. Deep in Qin Yu's pupils, the colorless glimpse left by "Seeing Stillness Return to Evolution" trembled slightly.
At the same time, the nine layers of sound rings within Hearing-Derivation Beast's skull slowly ceased their eternal swirling. The next instant, within Qin Yu's heart, the Ultimate question left behind by the Great Ancestor resounded for millennia, "If I return to stillness..." The myriad sound rings simultaneously contracted inward, layer upon layer Return to One. "Can Ting regenerate?"
The first layer of the ancient Sea of Sound suddenly Annihilation, and the second Heavenly Question arose in response. "If all sound returns to nothingness..." The twelve wings of the Hearing-Derivation Beast fully unfurled, covering the void. Countless echoes of eternity simultaneously returned to Ultimate silence. "Can the echoes rise again?"
Qin Yu gazed silently, quietly comprehending the truth. At this moment, he finally saw through the Ultimate source of the eternal cycle of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain.
Why was the initial opening of the Emanation Domain Ultimate silent? Why did Sea of Sound erupt after the silence? Why did countless sounds endlessly generate and thrive? And why will all the clamor eventually wither and Annihilation?
These two unanswered questions from the founding emperor are the very source of the Dao in the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain.
The Ultimate echo left by the founding emperor was never answered, and it transformed into a boundless Sea of Sound; the Sea of Sound gave rise to countless sound phenomena, and countless sounds condensed into endless echoes, and all kinds of echoes eventually Return to One, forming the Hearing-Derivation Beast that guards the Emanation Domain.
Throughout the ages, countless practitioners have entered this place, hearing sounds, seeking sounds, pursuing sounds, and responding to sounds, only to ultimately become deeply entangled in the shackles of "attachment to Hearing Attachment," endlessly reincarnating, and once again facing the Great Dao questions that the Great Ancestor had not yet fully resolved.
The Hearing-Derivation Beast has existed since ancient times, and what it protects is not the myriad sounds or the Emanation Domain, but this unfinished "Wendao" (the Way of Hearing). The true meaning of hearing is never about capturing the sounds of external things.
Hearing itself—is itself the origin of hearing. At this moment, the Hearing-Derivation Beast spoke. Its skull had no mouth, its wings no tremor, Emptiness ripple. The entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain was devoid of any sound wave vibration. Yet, a clear, penetrating Daoist voice, reaching straight to the heart, steadily landed in Qin Yu's sea of consciousness. "You have passed."
This sound transcends ordinary sounds; it is no longer an external sound "heard by people." It is hearing itself, within the true words of the Dao. "You understand the trial of the ear." Hearing-Derivation Beast's vast true form slowly rose and fell, and the billions of layers of sound rings behind him faded away and slowly returned to silence.
"You didn't come to hear the fragments." "You came to hear 'the sound' itself." "You heard it." Brief Ultimate silence. "So, you no longer need to hear."
Qin Yu gazed at this ancient Shadow of Origin, standing silently for a long time. After a long while, he spoke for the first time since stepping into the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain.
All previous chants, all illusory responses, and all "Qin Yu's voice" arising from the Sea of Sound were all illusory echoes Emanation Domain by his own thoughts and possibilities, not what he truly desired.
This was his own, authentic, and unique Dao sound. His eyes reflected the endless layers of transparent sound rings behind Hearing-Derivation Beast. Qin Yu's tone was calm, but his words were resounding, and the Dao sound gently fell into the void.
"If hearing returns to silence, how can it be called hearing?" The words fell to the ground, without ripples, without lingering echoes. The entire world was completely silent. The Hearing-Derivation Beast suddenly froze. The twelve Hearing Wings were frozen in the void, motionless, and the billions of sound rings were simultaneously frozen, utterly Ji Ran.
The last breath of the founding emperor, the magnificent chanting of the Wanyan Ancient Clan, the weeping of hundreds of millions of beings, the lingering echoes of the ancient bell, and the myriad reverberations of the Fate Soul all stagnated deep within the origin.
The entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain fell into an unprecedented and Ultimate long period of silent Annihilation. Qin Yu did not urge, wait, cling, or hope; he simply stood quietly in his true self, returning to the origin of the Dao. The Hearing-Derivation Beast remained silent for a long time, speechless since time immemorial. After a long while, countless remnants of the Dao echoed back to the Return to Emanation, all Return to One.
Giant sound rings, stretching across the heavens and earth, began to dissipate layer by layer from the outermost layer: the first ring, the second ring, tens of thousands of rings, billions of rings...
The once translucent ripples that filled the entire Emanation Domain rapidly receded inward and vanished without a trace, with the Hearing-Derivation Beast at its core. The twelve giant listening wings, layer upon layer, became translucent and slowly blurred, and the majestic outline of the vast beast gradually shed its illusory form in silence, revealing the most core, the most primordial, and the purest ancient echo.
At the final moment, Hearing-Derivation Beast spoke again. "You asked a question that the Great Ancestor didn't finish asking." Qin Yu's brows furrowed slightly, his mind stirred. "The Great Ancestor only asked—'May it be continued?'"
Within the silent Space Silence of the Hearing-Derivation Beast's skull, a gentle primal ripple stirred. "You asked—after the evolution, why is Wen?" As the words fell, the Hearing-Derivation Beast's primal energy stirred once more. It slowly activated all of its abilities—"Hearing." Eyes neither opened nor closed, power neither surged nor faltered.
Suddenly, countless faint primordial ripples appeared in the entire void, and every echo that had ever existed in the world transformed into an Ultimate pure "hearing". Above Qin Yu's head, beneath his feet, in all directions, in the far reaches of space, at the bottom of the Sea of Sound, and within the true body of the giant beast, endless primordial "hearing" all turned towards Qin Yu.
Without scrutiny, without prying, without investigation, without tracing the source, without prediction, without expectation, it is purely listening, nothing more. Without purpose, without attachment, without distinction, without opposition. There is no obsession with "I want to hear about Qin Yu," nor the distinction of "Qin Yu is being heard by me."
Between heaven and earth, only the true essence of hearing remained. Qin Yu stood at the center of countless hearings, his expression Anran, his heart clear. Hearing-Derivation Beast, which slowly echoed through the void of the Emanation Domain. "This question—ask me again after you have completed the Six Roots."
... In the next instant, the Hearing-Derivation Beast's origin Return to Emanation, and its form gradually disappeared. This magnificent true body, which spanned the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain, began to fade away layer by layer from the tips of its twelve listening wings and slowly dissipated.
It does not collapse, shatter, destroy, or scatter; it simply sheds all illusory forms and returns to its origin. The wings of hearing become ethereal and return to the sound membrane, the sound membrane gathers its breath and returns to the echo, and the echo fades into silence.
All the ancient sound traces on his back fell away: the tolling of bells, chanting, breathing, wailing, the first cries of living beings, and the last words of ages, all sank into the origin of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain and returned to the cycle of reincarnation.
The nine layers of sound rings in the skull dissipated one by one, gradually disappearing, until finally, only the Ultimate pure, silent emptiness Space Silence in the center of the skull.
This Space Silence slowly shrank and condensed, growing from ten thousand feet to a hundred feet, then to a foot... finally transforming into a barely perceptible, almost nonexistent, silent lingering echo that drifted slowly to Qin Yu's front.
It did not enter the ears, the mind, the Fate Soul, or the body; it directly merged into Qin Yu's innate "hearing." Buzz—a sound wave without substance arose, and the void trembled and spread.
But in that instant of fusion, Qin Yu completely understood the origins of both ends of the sound channel. A wisp of residual echo swept across the sky in the distance. He could hear its initial state and also its final state of Annihilation.
Sound and image are born from nothingness, take shape, evolve, become sound, return to silence, and enter nothingness. The entire process of birth, death, reincarnation, and evolution is completely contained and observed without omission by this newborn source, "hearing the Way".
Qin Yu neither pursued, nor argued, nor lingered, nor clung to anything, simply because in the deepest part of the Dao's origin, there was nothing to grasp, nothing to cling to. Only Space Silence and true nature remained.
The Ultimate fragment of the ear root—"Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution"—is not in the ear, not in the consciousness, not in the physical body, not in the Fate Soul. It exists solely within the origin of hearing. From this point onward, every time Qin Yu hears the sounds of all things, he can simultaneously perceive the generation and Annihilation, rise and fall, and return to nothingness of that sound.
How a sound originates, how it extends, how it forms a rhythm, how it echoes, and how it returns to nothing—all these leave complete traces of hearing, clearly and distinctly, within the "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution." All kinds of sounds are vividly present, yet there is no longer any constraint or restraint.
Because the Ultimate essence of "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution" is emptiness, Qin Yu slowly closed his eyes, focused his mind and returned to the origin. When he opened his eyes again, the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain returned to its original Ultimate silence. The Hearing-Derivation Beast's magnificent true body was completely annihilated and returned to its origin. Only the Great Dao Question that spanned countless ages and was not yet perfect remained quietly at the Ultimate end of the Six Faculties Trial.
If hearing returns to silence, how can one hear? There is also the promise of Hearing-Derivation Beast, waiting since ancient times, to complete the journey of the six senses, and then ask again.