Qin Yu crossed the fourth boundary, but the True Evolution Divine Hall behind him did not immediately disappear.
As he walked forward a few steps, he could still look back and see the colorless rift suspended in the far distance. The "Seeing Stillness Return to Evolution," "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution," and "Smelling Stillness Return to Evolution" he had obtained from the first three trials had all returned to their respective root natures and no longer interfered with the world of Emanation Domain that was exclusively for the tongue root.
Qin Yu walked slowly forward, the sound of his footsteps hitting the ground clearly echoing, his robes fluttering and making a soft, rustling sound. The ancient, lingering scent of the distant heavens and earth could still be clearly detected by his nose. His senses of sight, hearing, and smell were all perfectly intact, clear and transparent, but the moment his tongue lightly touched the still-damp blood at the corner of his mouth, it remained empty, without a trace of taste.
Qin Yu raised his eyes and looked straight ahead. Only now did he truly glimpse the full extent of the fourth Tongue Faculty Emanation Domain.
This place lacks the iconic Sea of Form, Sound Wall, and air wall of the previous three Emanation Domain. At first glance, the layout of heaven and earth appears exceptionally complete and perfect. Above, a vast Wuji transparent sky hangs, without the rotation of the sun and moon or the adornment of stars. Only layers of huge semi-transparent textures traverse the heavens, slowly flowing and overlapping, condensing into a vast celestial phenomenon like thousands of wisps of clouds.
But if you look closely, you will see that deep within the textures are sealed countless things that have lost their flavor: broken spiritual fruits, dried bloodstains, broken mountains and rivers, shattered stars, and many ancient remains whose origins are impossible to identify. All things are intact in form, color, and aroma, but they have been stripped of the last layer of flavor differences that can be distinguished, appreciated, and defined by the tongue.
The ground beneath their feet appeared even more eerie and mysterious.
It was not formed from rock, nor was it a figment of the void, but rather a translucent plane that stretched to the horizon. With each step Qin Yu took, a faint ripple spread out from the soles of his feet. The ripples vanished in an instant, briefly revealing countless different shapes and forms: some like solidified droplets, some like countless fine threads, and some like layers of transparent petals falling.
It has form, trace, pattern, sound, and breath, but no taste. Qin Yu can see its shape, hear the ripples and echoes, and smell the lingering charm of time, but once it reaches the Knowing Layer at the root of the tongue, all the scenes return to blankness.
Looking further into the distance, the landscape unfolds in layers, with majestic mountains rising abruptly from the ground.
The entire mountain is formed by the solidification of flavors. At its foot, the bland aftertaste of ordinary food is preserved, while gradually rising, the myriad flavors of the withering and flourishing of plants, the birth and death of flesh and blood, and the origin of heaven and earth emerge. At the summit, the flavors have long transcended the realm of ordinary tastes, containing the sweetness of the prosperity of civilization, the bitterness of the destruction of a people, the astringency of the alternation of life and death, and the tranquility of waiting for eternity.
This world seems to have been repeatedly licked and cleansed by the power of antiquity, all the true flavors have been sucked away, leaving only the transparent shell that once held all flavors, standing quietly for eternity.
Between the mountains, there lies a vast, boundless sea. Qin Yu paused and gazed intently. This sea had no water, no waves, no tides; all that flowed was the incomplete trace of "the taste that once existed."
Amidst the surging waves, countless flavors intertwine and rise and fall within their heart. The five human flavors—sweet, bitter, sour, spicy, and salty—are but a tiny fraction of it. Furthermore, there are wondrous flavors that only beings from other realms, ancient progenitors, and extraordinary beings can perceive, all interwoven within.
Some flavors, in a fleeting moment, evoke memories of bygone ages; some flavors encapsulate the final, desperate clinging of a dying being; and many more possess a mystical charm that transcends the constraints of materiality, born only from a single choice, a lifetime's destiny, or a unique state of being.
But at this moment—all is emptiness. Qin Yu can see the surging waves, hear the roar of the tides, and smell the ancient aura that has settled in the sea, but he cannot taste even a trace of the sea.
This is a truly Sea of Tastelessness. Further into the distance, towering, boundless walls stand between heaven and earth, their surfaces translucent and densely packed, sealing away flavors solidified over millennia.
One corner was stained with golden liquid, reflecting the magnificent scene of the Wanyan Ancient Clan's rise to power; another place was locked with pitch-black liquid, settling with the bone-chilling bitterness of civilization's destruction and the desolation of all living beings; deeper still was a vast expanse of pure, colorless space, formless and intangible, yet it made Qin Yu's tongue tremble, clearly knowing that this place once held the Ultimate flavor, now all gone.
Wall of Taste, Sea of Taste, and Mountain of Taste, all covering a flavorless dome, overlap and merge to form a vast, immeasurable, Rootless Emanation Domain. And the most bizarre truth of this world has always been just one point.
Everything was complete, with form, sound, breath, and state all intact, except for taste, which was completely devoid of life and utterly Annihilation. Qin Yu bent down, raised two fingers lightly, and picked up a drop of transparent liquid from the Sea of Tastelessness beneath his feet.
The droplet, suspended in mid-air, reveals its intricate and mysterious internal texture, and the ancient aura accumulated over time is clearly perceptible. He puts the droplet into his mouth and lets it melt on his tongue. The warmth, the fluidity, and the tactile sensation are all vividly present.
The next instant, everything vanished into nothingness, leaving no trace of flavor. Qin Yu's brows furrowed slightly. He raised his hand again, plucked a fragment of solidified flavor trace from the nearby Mountain of Taste, and tasted it. Still, it was tasteless, a complete blank.
For the third time, he directly pulled the Tao Yun flowing from the Fang Yan Domain and brushed it over the tip of his tongue. He felt it at the base of his tongue, but it was still empty. Qin Yu no longer tried in vain, straightened up, and slowly scanned the vast world with his eyes.
Even in the realm of "no sight" of the eye, there is still something to see; even in the realm of "no sound" of the ear, there is still something to hear; even in the realm of "no breath" of the nose, there is still something to smell. Only here, all possibilities for the generation of flavor are completely severed.
Where does the true path of "tasting," which the Tongue Faculty Trial is meant to penetrate, confront, and transcend, ultimately begin? Just as this thought arose, a deep, heavy swallowing sound fell from the sky, and Qin Yu's eyes suddenly narrowed.
The sound was extremely soft, yet it carried a vast and profound power, as if a Wanyan behemoth had just completed a swallowing that transcended heaven and earth. In the next instant, a corner of the distant, Sea of Tastelessness vanished out of thin air.
Qin Yu stood still.
The once complete and sprawling sea, stretching for thousands of miles, vanished into thin air after that swallowing sound subsided. It was not evaporation, collapse, or disintegration, but rather the lingering traces of the entire airspace, its spatial texture, and its myriad flavors were completely erased from the Wanyan, leaving not a trace.
On the surface of the sea, a huge, deep void remained, deathly silent. A second, dull swallowing sound followed.
In the distance, a mountain range, imbued with the essence of flavor, vanished from its base, a section of its entire body disappearing into thin air. No collapsed rocks, no trace of tumbling; the mountain, bearing the weight of countless ages of flavor, was utterly swallowed. The remaining portion of the mountain slid slowly down the gap, returning to silence.
A third boom echoed across the land. A towering Wall of Taste, stretching across the heavens and earth, suddenly caved in deeply, and vast layers of flavors, solidified for millennia, vanished without a trace.
Qin Yu's gaze became completely fixed as he looked into the vast distance, finally discerning the trajectory of the approaching entity. Something was slowly moving from the depths of heaven and earth.
With the first step, the entire Sea of Tastelessness receded. It wasn't just the water that retreated; the entire area of the sea that its foot touched was swallowed up and erased. With the second step, boom—the majestic Mountain of Taste in the distance vanished from its very foundation, its outline instantly becoming fragmented.
The third step was completed, and all the myriad flavors and phenomena spread across the world were swallowed up by the invisible giant maw and returned to nothingness. This thing moved silently. Even the faint sound of its footsteps shaking the void was swallowed up by it.
This thing stands there, without a trace. Before its form has fully manifested, the projection that should have settled behind it has already vanished. This thing exists without breath Smelling Stillness Return to Evolution " can capture are now just an ever-expanding, deathly emptiness. Qin Yu stands quietly by the sea, gazing silently. Finally, an unparalleled behemoth slowly emerges from behind layers of Wall of Taste.
Qin Yu's pupils slowly constricted. This thing was no ordinary guardian beast. At first glance, it was a majestic and vast, slowly writhing, desolate burial mountain. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the entire mountain was composed of the remains of Wanyan Ones from the past.
A massive dragon bone, reaching to the heavens, jutted out diagonally from the left shoulder, its broken ends riddled with layers of gnawed marks, a gruesome sight. The surface of the dragon bone was covered with fragmented Evolution Name, some only half-finished, others broken and scattered, disconnected from each other. These remaining characters never remained still, slowly flowing along the texture of the dragon bone, gently contracting and trembling with each passing broken end, as if lamenting, as if in Annihilation.
On his other shoulder, layers upon layers of ancient remains were piled up. Many of the creatures were forms that Qin Yu had never seen before; many of the traces of existence had long since transcended the comprehension of the present world. Broken hand bones, shattered chest cavities, half-broken giant heads, and countless bizarre fragments that could not be defined by physical form were all forcibly squeezed, swallowed, and blended together.
The colossal body of this beast was forged from the fusion of countless fragments. It has no original bones of its own; the remains of the Wanyan Ones are its bones. It has no original flesh and blood of its own; the countless torn fragments of existence and the shattered possibilities of fate are its flesh and blood.
As new fine lines continuously emerge on the surface of flesh, tiny cracks appear around them, swallowing the new flesh again. This cycle of swallowing, evolving, swallowing again, and evolving again continues endlessly. The "blood" flowing deep within the flesh, sustaining its existence, is even more awe-inspiring.
Those were future trajectories forcibly severed and abruptly ended. The possible destinies and trajectories that should have extended infinitely were cut off, and the remaining remnants turned into a dim liquid, slowly flowing deep within its body.
With each rise and fall of its flesh, countless future visions and unfulfilled destinies would flash by, only to be swallowed up by the myriad tiny mouths around it, returning to its original form.
The Evolution-Devouring Beast has no self, no true self, no real self. It takes on the form of whatever it devours, and its size is determined by how much it devours. What you see before you is the final aggregation of all the spirits, all the Wanyan, and all the creatures it has devoured throughout the ages—an ancient graveyard that walks the world and never ends.