... With a thud, a long-standing trace of the past behind him silently dissolved. Qin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. The third realm, "Return to Emanation," had never stopped.
The previous rounds of probing, though revealing the rules, also allowed the Evolution-Devouring Beast to absorb more of its own Dao roots. At this moment, those swallowed foundations of its Dao are being digested and completely assimilated deep within its chest cavity.
His past was fading, and the possibilities for his future were becoming increasingly uncertain. Qin Yu no longer acted rashly. His gaze passed over the colossal maw that seemed to swallow the heavens and the earth, and fell directly into the deepest part of the beast's chest cavity.
There, an eternal, bottomless void hangs suspended, neither overflowing nor full, neither filling nor consuming, swallowing Wanyan and encompassing all heavens, yet remaining unchanged in the slightest. Qin Yu's gaze froze, and old memories resurfaced in his heart.
The Evolution-Devouring Beast once said, "I swallow everything, but I can never swallow 'emptiness'." His brows furrowed slowly, revealing an Ultimate contradiction. No, all the ancient cultivators who had proven their Dao through emptiness and established themselves on nothingness had been swallowed and assimilated by it.
Even if Qin Yu were to actively refine emptiness and uphold the Dao of Emptiness, transforming it into a method of combat, it would still be completely swallowed up by the creature along its Dao root. So what exactly is that "emptiness" that it speaks of, which it can never swallow?
The gaze returns to the bottomless void in the behemoth's chest, which has swallowed Wanyan Ones, yet remains empty; it has swallowed all the fragmented Evolution Name, yet remains empty; it has swallowed all the possibilities of fate, yet remains empty; it has swallowed all brute force, reversal of the Dao, derivation, nothingness, and emptiness, yet remains empty.
Countless powerful beings who took emptiness as their path perished here, yet the ancient hunger in its heart never diminished in the slightest. Qin Yu's mind gradually cleared, and the first level of Ultimate difference suddenly became clear.
All the "emptiness" that was swallowed in the past was not a vacuum; it was given meaning, defined in form, and established Dao Path. I realize the nature of emptiness, I prove the Tao through emptiness, I achieve liberation from emptiness, I break through the impasse through emptiness, and I use emptiness to bear all things.
As long as emptiness is defined by thought, interpreted by the Tao, and used as a resource for cultivation and defeating enemies, then there will be traces to follow, principles to rely on, and flavors to discern.
It became food that could be swallowed, eaten, and assimilated, and could Evolution-Devouring Beast. It was completely different; it never actively defined itself as empty, and never established itself as a path, a law, or a principle.
It is simply a void, Ultimate lack, which, though it devours all "tangible ways," cannot fill this "No Definition void."
Hunger has endured for millennia precisely because it has always attempted to fill a vacuum—a vacuum that has never been established, never taken form, and never left a trace—with countless "methods and principles."
Qin Yu's breathing gradually slowed down, and his mind became completely clear. The Ultimate contradiction had already manifested: the Evolution-Devouring Beast could devour all those who "established their Dao through emptiness," but it could never devour the void in its own origin.
It can devour all the defined, interpreted, and applied principles of emptiness in the world, but it can never incorporate this "empty void of no thought, no attachment, Wudao, and No Definition" into the realm of Dao Devouring.
Because once it is regarded as something that can be swallowed or a deficiency that can be filled, it has already established its righteousness and attained its enlightenment. Then it is no longer the Ultimate vacuum that it cannot swallow. For the first time, a true glimmer of breaking the deadlock appeared in Qin Yu's eyes.
But in that instant when his Dao heart was clear— the Evolution-Devouring Beast moved. It seemed to sense that Qin Yu had touched upon the eternal mystery and deciphered the origin of the Dao Devouring. Its colossal maw, which pierced through the top of the skull and tore through the chest cavity, suddenly opened to its eternal Limit.
During the previous rounds of probing, all of Qin Yu's Dao Roots that it had swallowed surged out!
The Silent Origin Sword, the Root of Judgment, the Meaning of Interpretation, the Origin of Proposition, the Dao Path to Zero, the Point of Existence Zero Point, and even that fleeting moment of incomplete formation, that instantaneous thought of Ultimate annihilation...
All the original essences that were swallowed gathered together in the depths of the giant maw. They devoured each other, merged with each other, and Return to One, discarding their chaotic forms and shedding their scattered characteristics.
Ultimately, it condensed into a single, completely and perfectly aligned with Qin Yu's fundamental principles— the Return to Emanation Absolute Kill!
Qin Yu's expression changed drastically. He had no time to think or deduce. The "Silent Origin Stainless Sword" instantly blocked his chest! Clang--!!!
The first layer of sword intent from the same source collided with a deafening roar, causing a violent tremor in the arm and an instant split in the tiger's mouth, hot blood trickling down the hilt of the sword. The second layer, Judgment of Law, followed immediately. Twelve dark mirrors barely appeared, before they could fully form—
Crack! Everything shattered and annihilated the void. Qin Yu's figure was forced back several feet uncontrollably. The third attack arrived instantly! The Dao intent of returning to zero, originating from "Void Source · Dream Stillness", penetrated through layers of defense and landed silently on Qin Yu's chest.
There was no earth-shattering roar, no magnificent phenomenon, but the next moment, Qin Yu's pupils suddenly contracted. Bang!!! His body arched backward abruptly, and a mouthful of hot blood gushed out. Pfft--!
Before the blood could drip into the Sea of Tastelessness, the wounded flesh on his chest had already begun to fade and blur. It wasn't that the wound was healing; rather, the traces of this injury were being Return to Emanation by the process of attrition.
Immediately following, his Fate Soul trembled violently! Boom!!! Deep within his sea of consciousness, the Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel instantly shifted and began to tremble violently. Qin Yu's face turned deathly pale in an instant.
This strike didn't stop at the physical body; it followed the very foundation of his being, striking directly into the very source of his Fate Soul! A fine crack silently spread from the depths of his Fate Soul. Crack...
The sound was extremely faint, yet it clearly resonated throughout his consciousness, piercing to the bone and soul, damaging his Fate Soul. The attack was not yet over. The final layer of Return to Emanation power penetrated deeper into the crack in his Fate Soul, and in the tasteless void behind Qin Yu, the traces of his name's Evolution Name were clearly manifested for the first time.
This was not written words, but his sole identifier and fundamental reference within the Wanyan Great Dao. In the next instant, one of the Evolution Name slowly faded away.
Qin Yu's eyes narrowed sharply, his heart trembling. His Evolution Name was blurring, his physical body was becoming ethereal, his Fate Soul was cracking, and his Evolution Name was dimming. All three of his existences were simultaneously entering the ultimate state of Return to Emanation the origin. Qin Yu slammed his right foot into the Sea of Tastelessness.
Boom!!! A large area of the sea collapsed with a deafening roar, and the space shook violently. He forced himself to steady his staggering body, his right hand, which was gripping the sword, was stained with blood, and his fingertips trembled. The wound on his chest had stopped bleeding, and that piece of flesh, along with the traces of the injury, was gradually and completely disappearing.
The most dangerous thing is still the crack in his Fate Soul, which is constantly spreading towards the Nine-Wheel Dharma Wheel. With each inch it spreads, a trace of his past existence fades a little more, into the distant void.
One future possibility, fractured; the second, fractured; the third, all collapsed! The Evolution-Devouring Beast slowly raised its foot, approaching again. Thud. Behind it, the Evolution Name faded once more.
At this moment, Qin Yu truly stood on the edge of the precipice where the Wanyan would fall away and the cycle of Return to Emanation. Continuing to use his supernatural powers to resist would only mean continuing to expose his own path and continuing to feed the giant beast.
The deeper it swallows, the fiercer the backlash; the more it fights, the stronger its opponent becomes.
In the end, he will personally feed all his Dao roots, all his legal principles, and all the foundations of his Dao to the giant beast, and then watch helplessly as his Dao transforms into the Ultimate blade that annihilates him.
Qin Yu's chest heaved violently, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. The excruciating pain from the cracks in his Fate Soul spread throughout his sea of consciousness, eroding every inch of his essence. Yet he neither raised his sword nor cast another spell.
The Silent Origin Longsword fell completely, all supernatural powers subsided, and all principles of law were concealed. The path of conventional combat—using the Dao to break the Dao, and using law to overcome law—remained.
With that, the connection was completely severed. Qin Yu raised his hand and gently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his fingertips trembling slightly. He stared at the remaining blood on his fingertips, then looked up and once again looked past the gaping maw, landing on the bottomless void deep within the beast's chest cavity.
That void still exists, devouring his sword intent, Dao root, legal principles, and obsessions, yet it remains incomplete, inadequate, and hungry.
Qin Yu's pale face gradually regained its composure, calmness, and clarity. Since trying to break the deadlock with his own path would ultimately only feed his own enemy, he would completely abandon his own path.
No longer will it be supplied with any new roots of the Tao, any new obsessions, or any new paths to devour it. It will no longer contend with it for strength or weakness, for superiority or inferiority, or for fighting over laws and principles. Nor will it condense "emptiness" into the Tao, interpret it as principle, or transform it into a method to defeat the enemy.
What he seeks is that true vacuum of no thought, no attachment, No Definition, and no affiliation. What he wants to do is to make this Ultimate behemoth, which devours all paths and consumes everything, confront the primordial void that it can never swallow or fill.
Let it fall into the Ultimate contradiction created by its own hunger, let it, which Dao Devouring the Dao for eternity, personally experience the despair of having nothing to devour and Wudao to eat. Qin Yu slowly loosened his grip on the sword hilt.
In the distance, the giant maw of the Evolution-Devouring Beast opened again, and the Realm of Return to Emanation Origin continued to spread. All the struggles based on one's own path had come to an end. The Ultimate breakthrough—transcending all paths and using emptiness to break through and devour—was quietly approaching from this moment on.