Qin Yu let go completely, without hiding, concealing, or resisting. Boom! The purest and most primal scent suddenly pierced through Qin Yu's entire being and penetrated to the deepest part of his Dao heart.
His entire life experiences, the changes of his Fate Soul, his hidden thoughts, and his unfulfilled ambitions were all thoroughly examined and understood, without the slightest omission or concealment.
Qin Yu's Dao heart remained unmoved, and his true self did not deviate. He did not define himself because his secrets were fully exposed, nor did he confirm his true self because his past was investigated. He did not become stubborn and try to retain the last bit of his essence because he was completely exposed.
This state of mind caused the indistinguishable, primordial sense of smell to fall into a strange stagnation for the first time, as it sensed all of Qin Yu's traces, his foundation, and his possibilities.
But what they failed to detect was that Qin Yu needed to rely on any form or trace to prove himself and confirm his true self. In the second trial, he completely lost his footing and had no way to restrain his true nature.
In the void, the hazy outline of the Smell-Derivation Beast slowly reappeared, faint and illusory. Just when Qin Yu thought the second trial had come to an end, the entire Nose Root Emanation Domain suddenly fell into Ultimate silence.
Without the obscuring black mist or the arising of any unusual phenomena, all possibilities in the world that could generate aura or leave traces suddenly ceased and were completely reduced to zero. Qin Yu's pupils constricted sharply. The third trial descended with a roar, Smell Stillness.
A faint, almost nonexistent lingering aura quietly emerged, so faint and Ultimate that the moment Qin Yu touched it, his whole body stiffened abruptly, and his Dao heart trembled violently. This was the last wisp of primordial aura left in the world by the Great Ancestor before he stepped into the Silent Form Realm.
There was no fragrance or odor, no life or death, no breath or inhalation, no gas or substance. Even the "smell" that had permeated the previous trials had vanished completely. The second trial still had the origin of "smell" remaining, but in this trial, there was absolutely Emptiness.
Without the sense of smell, without an object to smell, without the dynamic of "smelling," without a subject to be "smelled," Qin Yu stood at the center of this wisp of lingering, silent energy. The next moment, his existence began to slowly fade into silence and gradually dissolve.
It wasn't that his physical body was shattered or his Fate Soul was destroyed, but rather that the entire Nose Root Emanation Domain was gradually erasing all traces of Qin Yu's existence. Starting from his feet, the footprints he had just left behind were completely erased, leaving no trace.
Then, all the aura, all the traces of Dao, and all the remnants left behind after the two trials of "Smell the Self" and "Smell Smelling others" disappeared completely. Finally, Qin Yu's own figure began to fade away layer by layer.
Hands, arms, shoulders, chest... not merely becoming transparent and ethereal, but completely losing their traceable and verifiable existence. The Wanyan Great Dao is gradually absorbing everything about him.
Once something exists, its origins are thoroughly explored, all possibilities are fully investigated, and all traces are exhausted, it will no longer possess any new vitality, any space for evolution, any unknown residual energy, any traces of new life, or any future possibilities.
Such an existence would be fully defined and completely fixed by the Wanyan Great Dao, ultimately detaching itself from the evolution of time and returning to Annihilation. Qin Yu suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.
Pfft! A mouthful of hot blood suddenly spurted out, scattering into the void. The blood light flew several feet away, but in an instant, strange phenomena arose. This mouthful of blood had no trace of bloodiness.
Even the moment he flew away from his body, the last trace of the fact that "Qin Yu once spat out a mouthful of hot blood" quickly dissipated and returned to Emptiness. His face turned pale rapidly, most of his figure faded away from his shoulder, and his left hand had almost completely lost the traceability evidence of the Nose Root Emanation Domain.
In the distant void, the enormous true form of the Smell-Derivation Beast solidified completely and reappeared in the world. Its twelve layers of aura were all aimed at Qin Yu, and its six aura whiskers crisscrossed the past, present, and future, locking down the four directions and eight extremes.
It no longer needs to hunt or restrain, because Qin Yu is being gradually exhausted and reduced to silence. "Wanyan Return to Stillness Smell," and the final, decisive battle has begun.
The lingering, timeless aura of the founding emperor silently surrounded Qin Yu, conveying no meaning in words and questioning with Wudao principles, yet giving rise to the Ultimate mystery that had hung over Qin Yu's heart for millennia.
If all auras return to silence—can the essence of smell still be derived? Qin Yu remained silent, offering no answer. The outlines of his legs continued to fade, and the traces of primordial energy remaining in his Fate Soul also gradually dissipated.
Although the "Silent Beginning · Ring Master Soul Diagram" has survived and has not collapsed, it can no longer leave any trace of Qin Yu in the Nose Root Emanation Domain. At this moment, he has truly almost completely fallen out of the Wanyan and returned to Annihilation.
But just as all the remaining aura was about to be completely exhausted and reduced to nothingness— Qin Yu's mind suddenly awoke, recalling the fundamental question he had posed at the beginning of his involvement: If there is not a trace of aura in the world, who is smelling it? Who is being smelled?
When he first entered the trial, "Smell the Self" was able to lock him down because he still had the obsession that "I need to prove my existence." Then, "Smell Smelling Sniff" explored his true self, and he let go completely, open and honest, breaking through the shackles of "concealment is obsession."
At this moment, "Smell Stillness" was forcing him to take the final step towards transcendence. Qin Yu had gained complete clarity, seeing through the Ultimate flaw. The Smell-Derivation Beast could smell all things and return to silence all forms, but all its methods and principles relied on a single foundation—
The existence of what is being smelled still sees itself as "an object that needs to be smelled and verified." The desire to smell itself will take root; the fear of being wiped out will leave a trace. Even if it tries to prove itself by saying "I still exist even without a trace," it is still relying on the rules of "smelling" to verify itself, and has never stepped out of the game.
The true Ultimate breakthrough is to let go of even this last layer of proof and the last trace of obsession. Qin Yu slowly closed his eyes, without concealing his aura, without erasing his form, without resisting supernatural powers, and without avoiding returning to stillness.
I no longer silently repeat "I still exist" in my heart. My existence is authentic, needing no words to define it, no thoughts to prove it. Let it smell all the myriad things, I will not cling to a single breath; let it return to stillness and form, I will not linger on a single smell. If there is breath, I will not use breath to prove myself; if there is no breath, I will not use the absence of breath to prove myself.
Being smelled, yet not reduced to being the one being smelled; not being smelled, yet not considering oneself unsmelly— Qin Yu's last shred of obsession with self-affirmation and self-verification completely dissipated and vanished.
The void suddenly fell silent. The twelve-layered rotating qi rings of the Smell-Derivation Beast abruptly stopped, and the six qi whiskers that pierced through the sequence of time froze in the void. Qin Yu's figure, which had faded by more than half, was frozen in time and no longer dissolved.
The next instant, an extremely strange Dao image suddenly appeared, and the Smell-Derivation Beast was still able to clearly smell everything about Qin Yu.
Flesh and blood, the origin of Fate Soul, all past experiences, present form and spirit, future myriad opportunities, worldly titles, life experiences... all traces are clearly preserved and nowhere is hidden.
But none of this could serve as the foundation or evidence of Qin Yu's existence. "Wanyan Return to Stillness Smell" had completely lost its last point of leverage and its last source of constraint.
This supernatural power can smell all the myriad energies in the world and return all forms to stillness, but ultimately it cannot rely on the way of "smelling" to define a true existence that requires no verification or evidence.
Qin Yu was not attached to any one Qi, yet he was at ease among all Qi; he was not attached to any one trace, yet he existed in all traces. The last trace of silent remnant left by the Great Ancestor suddenly trembled slightly, and the Daoist rhyme was revived.
Qin Yu's fading left hand, shoulder, chest, and legs gradually solidified and were fully restored. The hot blood that had just been spilled into the void quietly fell. He raised his hand to wipe away the remaining blood from the corner of his mouth. His face was pale, but his mind was clear and his eyes were calm.
Looking up, Qin Yu saw the enormous true form of the Smell-Derivation Beast still standing in front of him. He knew that he had completely overcome all three trials and transcended them. However, the divine power of "Wanyan Return to Stillness Smell" had not yet dissipated.
The six streams of energy suddenly surged up again, their power overwhelming! Boom!!! The residual energy of billions of beings in the entire Nose Root Emanation Domain rose into the air, gathering and layering across the sky.
The enormous head of the Smell-Derivation Beast was raised high, and the twelve layers of aura spun wildly. The aura of all time, past, present, and future surged in, condensing into a magnificent tide that covered the heavens and the earth and suppressed all ages.
Qin Yu did not retreat a single step, facing the situation calmly. He quickly examined his own supernatural abilities, identifying the ultimate power that was most suitable for the current battle situation and most in line with the principles of the Great Dao.
"Return to Origin and Sever Retracing" can forcibly erase the qualification of existence and sever all traces of the origin, but it is too ruthless. Once this technique is used, the Emanation Guardian, the laws of the root of the nose, and the remaining traces of the ancestor will all be annihilated, which is not the best outcome.
"The Void Source · Dream Stillness" can return all phenomena to zero and all things to stillness, but it ends up being erased by external forces, failing to break the deadlock along the way.
"Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence - Six Severances Seal" excels at Sever Karma and regulating time sequence, but at this moment, the Smell-Derivation Beast has already transformed into the origin of "sniffness". Simply severing the cause and effect of the energy traces is no longer enough to end its path.
After the identification was completed, Qin Yu slowly raised his right hand, his two fingers naturally joined together, Ultimate purest sword intent was fully awakened and quietly appeared in the world for the first time. At this moment, the Smell-Derivation Beast had lost its obsession as its root and its qi trace as its handle. The only thing it relied on to manifest and continue to exist was the last layer of the Great Dao concept - the opposition and distinction between "sniffer" and "sniffed" still existed in the world.