After the silent aftersound left by Hearing-Derivation Beast merged into "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution", the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain did not immediately disappear.
Qin Yu in the vast void that had lost its Sound Wall and the form of the Sea of Sound. The surroundings were so quiet that only a layer of almost transparent air remained. In the distance, the billions of sound patterns that once spanned the heavens and the earth had all loosened, and the last few residual echoes flowed slowly along the depths of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain.
They no longer called out to Qin Yu, nor waited for any response, but simply dissipated into the distance along their last lingering echoes. The first echo faded, the second returned to its Return to Emanation, followed by the third, the fourth... those chants that once belonged to the Wanyan Ones, the lamentations of an era of destruction...
The last breath of the founding emperor, and the laughter and cries of countless beings over the years, all sank deeper and deeper into silence. The Sea of Sound returned to calm, without waves or ripples. The vast void was like an invisible sea that had finally stopped breathing, waiting for all the sounds that had not yet returned to complete their final journey.
Qin Yu had reached the edge of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain. He stopped and, after a moment, looked back one last time. The Hearing-Derivation Beast was still there.
However, that magnificent true form that once spanned the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain, with twelve listening wings covering the endless void and nine layers of sound rings carrying billions of echoes, has faded to the point of being almost transparent.
The outermost wing lost its outline first, and the sound membrane that made up the wing scattered into countless thin echoes, drifting into the Sea of Sound; the rings on the back that sealed the ancient sounds went out one by one, and the chanting of the Wanyan Ones, the last bell of the ancient world, and the cries before the destruction of civilization did not sound again. They left only very faint undulations before disappearing, and then sank into complete silence.
The nine-layered enormous sound ring in the center of the Hearing-Derivation Beast was also fading away. The ninth layer, the eighth layer, the seventh layer... With each layer that disappeared, its trace as the "Hearing-Derivation Beast" faded a little more.
Ultimately, the colossal beast lost its clear head, spine, wings, and any outline that would allow later observers to point out "it was here." It was Return to Emanation.
The identity of the Emanation Guardian faded from it. The form of Echo also faded. Finally, even the meaning of "being heard" slowly detached from it. Qin Yu saw the last sound ring dissipate.
The Hearing-Derivation Beast disappeared, but the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain was not diminished as a result.
Just as it completely Return to Emanation, Qin Yu suddenly sensed a faint presence in all directions. It was not the aura left by the Hearing-Derivation Beast, nor did it have any traceable source.
When the last echo passed through the void, that void listened; when Qin Yu's robes swayed gently, the surrounding Emptiness listened; even when no sound appeared in the entire Ear Faculty Emanation Domain, in the boundless depths of silence, "listening" still existed.
Hearing-Derivation Beast has already integrated into this place.
In the future, anyone who enters the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain will not see the Twelve Listening Wings, will not find the Ninefold Sound Rings, and will not discover an Emanation Guardian waiting for them deep within the Sea of Sound.
They only listen, and in each instance of listening, there is the Hearing-Derivation Beast, which has become the nameless background layer in the deepest part of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain. It has become—"listening" itself. Just as Qin Yu was about to withdraw his gaze, a faint aftertaste, almost indistinguishable, came from the depths of the closing Ear Faculty Emanation Domain.
"Remember..." The voice was very soft, so soft that only a faint echo remained, about to Entering Stillness. "Listen, not for the sake of hearing." Qin Yu did not answer. "Listen, it is the manifestation of the Flow of Void Emanation within you."
The last few voiceprints behind him slowly faded away. "You heard it, and you've become one part empty." "You've become one part empty..." The lingering echo grew fainter and fainter. "Then you can expand tenfold."
The edges of the Ear Faculty Emanation Domain began to slowly converge towards the center. The final sentence rang out. "This is the ear-root."
As the sound subsided, Qin Yu turned around. This time, he didn't look back. The Ear Faculty Emanation Domain slowly closed behind him, the vast Sea of Sound shrinking into an invisible thin line, which eventually merged into the void. Qin Yu took a step forward, and the extremely faint sound of robes rustling returned to his ears.
The rustling sound returned, but when Qin Yu heard it, it felt completely different from before it entered his ears. "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution" was slowly flowing in his "listening".
The sound of robes rustling arose, and he heard it spread. The sound left the sleeves and carried outwards, and he heard it flow. The echo faded, and he heard it fall silent. Until the last trace of resonance disappeared into silence, he did not linger at any stage.
That "hearing" doesn't define what is heard, nor does it cling to the ability to hear. It simply hears, hears without listening, listens without clinging, clings without being stagnant, and is stagnant Bugui. Qin Yu's eyes were calm, and what truly remained in his ears finally sank completely into his being, hearing without hearing, and hearing without hearing. Hearing is emptiness, emptiness is evolution, evolution is stillness, and stillness is hearing.
Just as the final boundary of the earlobe completely closed, a colorless ripple suddenly appeared deep within Qin Yu's pupils, "Seeing Stillness Return to Evolution." The "glimpse" from the first earlobe awakened on its own, and Qin Yu's steps halted. Almost simultaneously, a very faint, silent echo appeared in his "hearing," "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution."
A glimpse. A sniff. For the first time, they appeared simultaneously. Qin Yu did not actively activate them; the two fragments, already integrated with different fundamental natures, responded on their own. Deep within his pupils, the colorless glimpse expanded outwards with a faint ripple; in his ears, the sniff also rippled inwards with a silent wave.
The instant the two met—buzz—a fleeting double image suddenly appeared before Qin Yu's eyes. He saw the Great Ancestor. He had no complete face, no figure, and could not determine when it belonged to. Qin Yu only saw a blurry outline about to completely step into the Silent Form Realm.
That instant was fleeting, so fleeting that there was no real sense of sequence—a final glance, a final sniff, both lingering from that silhouette simultaneously. The next moment, the image vanished, and Qin Yu stood rooted to the spot, his brows slightly furrowed.
"Seeing Stillness Return to Evolution" and "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution" also fell silent again, but this brief encounter made him realize a fact that had not been truly revealed before: there was a connection between the six fragments.
The "glimpse" left by the first stylus and the "smell" left by the second stylus are not six independent things that are unrelated to each other; they come from the same place. In fact, they come from the same moment, the last moment before the Great Ancestor truly stepped into the Silent Form Realm.
What his eyes left behind was "Seeing Stillness Return to Evolution." What his ears left behind was "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution." As for the other four... Qin Yu did not continue to deduce. Now there were only two fragments. This was all he could confirm.
What exactly happened in that instant, why did the six senses leave different echoes, and what complete answer will be revealed when the six senses finally converge? All of these questions are still hidden in the last four senses.
Qin Yu looked up, and before him, the True Evolution Divine Hall reappeared. The six echoing pillars once again stood in that faintly visible ancient palace domain. The first Eye Pillar had fallen silent. The second Ear Pillar also dimmed. The next moment, the third pillar— the Nose Pillar —awakened.
There was no roar. First, a very faint ripple appeared on the surface of the Nose Pillar. Then, something Qin Yu had never understood in this way before spread outward from the inside of the column. Qin Yu didn't smell the fragrance of flowers. He didn't smell blood. He didn't smell decay. He didn't even have any "odor" in the ordinary sense.
In that instant, he clearly sensed that something had passed through this place. Qin Yu's eyes changed slightly, Emptiness in front of his Nose Pillar. But a very faint "mark" was extending from the distance of the True Evolution Divine Hall. That mark had no color, no sound, and no physical form.
Qin Yu was able to trace it back to that end, where something had once passed by, lingered, and departed. Even though it was no longer there, the "qi" that once belonged to it still lingered.
Qin Yu continued to sense, and a second mark appeared, this time even more ancient.
It passed through the center of the True Evolution Divine Hall and extended into the depths of time that could no longer be discerned. As Qin Yu's attention fell upon it, some meanings belonging to that trace naturally emerged—passing through, pausing, decaying, and dissipating.
A flash of understanding crossed Qin Yu's eyes. The third sense organ pointed to "smell," which was far more fundamental than mere odor. Odor was only the surface layer; deeper still lay "qi" (vital energy).
Every being that has ever existed leaves behind its own aura. Where it has been, where it has stopped, what it has come into contact with, and what changes it has undergone.
Even after the physical body departs, the voice fades, and the form dissipates, the traces of those who once interacted with the world may still leave behind their own "qi". And the root of the nose—is sniffing these things. Before Qin Yu has even truly entered, the center of the Nose Pillar has slowly split open, revealing a colorless portal, the entrance to the third Emanation Domain. Qin Yu steps in.
The moment he crossed the boundary, his vision didn't disappear; Qin Yu could still see. There were outlines in the distance. Beneath his feet stretched a colorless earth. The next moment, a very soft sound came—a soft rustling sound... Qin Yu stopped, but the sound remained; the senses left by his eyes and ears hadn't been taken away.
But he immediately sensed a third deficiency: no Qi. There was no Qi in the heavens and earth. No Qi in the void. No Qi on the ground beneath his feet. Qin Yu looked down at his own body. He could see it. He could hear his own movements, but he couldn't smell it. There was no breath left behind. No Qi from flesh and blood. No Qi from his Fate Soul. No aura left by the long-term existence of his Dao foundation.
Even the traces that should have remained behind him, indicating that "Qin Yu just walked through here," vanished completely the moment his feet left the ground. Qin Yu turned around. There were no traces behind him; the place he had just walked through was exactly the same as before, as if he had never been there at all.
He stretched out his hand, his five fingers clearly visible, but he could sense through the bridge of his nose that this hand was gradually becoming "lifeless." Qin Yu's brows slowly furrowed. Even more subtle changes had begun.
The first thing to disappear was the aura of existence naturally emanating from the physical body. Next came the traces left by the Fate Soul. And deeper still—even the lingering aura of the fact that "Qin Yu once stood here" was gradually fading away.
He still exists, but the world has begun to lose the evidence that it could "smell his existence." In the distance, the Realm Without Qi is vast and boundless.
There was no fragrance or stench. No purity or turbidity. No life force. No lingering traces of death. No trace of age or decay. Not even the Space Silence inherent in nothingness itself.
Everything had been stripped of its own "qi." Qin Yu stood in the center of this world, able to see and hear the world. Only—he could not smell the world, and the world was gradually losing its sense of him. "Seeing Stillness Return to Evolution" quietly settled deep within his pupils. "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution" flowed silently through his ears.
Before the third one could leave its own echo, deep within the Realm Without Qi, a faint trace was gradually emerging from the world where "Does Not Exist." Qin Yu didn't chase after it; he simply looked at his hand. Just a moment ago, his last wisp of external energy had vanished.