The incomplete question mark on the chest of the Touch Emanation Beast slowly flowed. "If all returns to silence, may we...?" Half of the character "Derivation" trembled slightly. The next instant, the projection of the Touch Abyss behind the Touch Emanation Beast fully opened, and Qin Yu's expression changed drastically. The third stage had arrived, "Return to Emanation."
There was no roar. The entire world simply seemed to have lost a layer, and behind Qin Yu, a fragment of the past appeared. Then—it was touched, but that past didn't shatter. It merely touched its own boundary. The boundary closed. It vanished.
The second segment is past. Touch. Return to Emanation, the third segment. The fourth segment. The fifth segment: the traces of Qin Yu's existence begin to fade with time. Now, things are also changing.
A corner of his robe faded. Not from damage, but from the erosion of the boundary between that corner and "Qin Yu," followed by the future. Countless possibilities yet to come appeared on the distant Touch Wall.
The Touch Emanation Beast didn't even approach. Each future has its own boundary. So—each one can be touched, thud. A future breaks. Thud. The second one, thud, ten, a hundred, a thousand, swathes of futures begin to extinguish.
Qin Yu's attachment was touched. His letting go was touched. His awareness was touched. His "self" was touched. Even the thought of "I am not attached to myself" would immediately create a new boundary—a Qin Yu who is "not attached to myself." It could still be touched.
Qin Yu's eyes underwent a truly dramatic change for the first time. "The Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch" was sealing off all avenues of retreat. Attachment has its limits. Letting go also has its limits. Existence has its limits. Even nothingness, if established as the Dao, has its limits.
"I" has boundaries. Even if "no-self" becomes a self-definition, it still has boundaries. As long as you can still say, "This is a certain state," it has already separated from "not this state." Boundaries are thus created, Touch Emanation Beast —is there.
The Sea of Touch began to recede. One by one, the islands sank. The Touch Threads Return to Emanation. The Touch Dust vanished, and the Evolution Name of Qin Yu behind him gradually blurred. A corner of his physical body began to become transparent. The edges of his Fate Soul began to fade.
The past is breaking. The present is thinning. The future is extinguishing; the third stage has not stopped. It will continue to touch until all boundaries are exhausted. At that time—"Qin Yu" will completely Return to Emanation from the Wanyan.
There are no stone tablets recording anything. No traces of ancestral land remain. No being can remember that anyone ever came here, not even the fact that "Qin Yu was killed by the Touch Emanation Beast," because "having existed" itself has its limits. It can be exhausted, and ultimately, it never existed.
But within this ever- Return to Emanation Sea of Touch, Qin Yu suddenly sensed an extremely subtle anomaly: something was still evolving within the Touch Emanation Beast. It was very faint, yet undeniably present.
Qin Yu did not immediately pursue. Because in that instant, he thought of Wanyan. He also thought of the fundamental scene he had seen along the way in the ancestral land: Yan—it is always happening.
One derivative is touched. A new derivative has already appeared from the contact, because the act of "touching a derivative" itself is also a new occurrence. If the Touch Emanation Beast touches it once, another derivative is created. If it touches it again, yet another derivative is created.
Thus, it could never complete its final touch. Deep within Qin Yu's eyes, a faint light slowly condensed, which was the only place that the "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch" could not truly seal off.
The true Wanyan Ones of Wanyan Ones does not rely on a pre-established boundary to exist; origination is the source before the boundary Unborn. The boundary is a product that appears only after origination.
The Touch Emanation Beast can touch "me," touch "the Dao," touch "existence," touch "will," touch "rules," touch "cause and effect," and even touch "nothingness."
Because once these are established, they are already distinct from other things, yet they cannot reach the very moment Unborn. Because when they do reach that moment—the contact itself brings about a new derivative, and the derivative is reborn. Contact again. Derivation again. Endless.
Qin Yu did not relax because of this. Because he was not Wanyan. At least for now, he had not yet mastered the way of existence of Wanyan Ones, which involves endless derivation and continues to move forward even before its boundaries Unborn.
But he finally saw the only gap in this Ultimate divine power: on the chest of the Touch Emanation Beast, the half-incomplete character "Derivation" was trembling slightly. A touch. A very thin trace of Derivation appeared. The Touch Emanation Beast immediately touched it.
A second strand grows. Then a third strand, a fourth, a fifth... and more and more. Within the Touch Emanation Beast, they give rise to new sights, new hearings, new smells, new tastes, new touches, and new knowledge.
It was touched the moment it was born. Touched the moment it was touched—and then it continued to Touch Emanation Beast. For the first time, something that could not be completely extinguished appeared within the Beast of Evolution. The faster it touched, the more it evolved. The deeper it touched, the more new evolutions arose from the deeper within.
Because the boundary is a product of evolution, Touch Emanation Beast can touch all of the products. However, it cannot cross the products to touch the source that has not yet formed a boundary. Qin Yu stood before the fading Evolution Name, blood slowly spilling from the corner of his mouth.
But for the first time, his eyes were completely fixed on the half of the word "yan" on the chest of the Touching Beast, and there was no sound in his ears. There was no one in his heart to artificially complete Taizu's remaining question. Only the deepest ancient root of the fifth root slowly unfolded in the entire bodyless root realm.
Evolution is emptiness. Emptiness is stillness. Stillness is evolution. And that Ultimate contradiction, belonging to the Touch Emanation Beast itself and permeating its long existence, was truly presented to Qin Yu for the first time at this moment—
It can touch everything that already has boundaries, but it can never touch—the moment Unborn, because when the "touch" arrives there, a new "evolution" has already begun, and the "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch" continues. Qin Yu's past is still extinguished. The future is still broken. The Evolution Name is still blurred, and he has already seen the only thing this divine power cannot complete—the final touch.
On the chest of the Touch Emanation Beast, the half-incomplete character "Derivation" was still trembling slightly. With each tremor, a new trace of Derivation would quietly emerge from the incomplete part; the thousands of contact surfaces within the Touch Emanation Beast's body would then press down, instantly extinguishing this newly formed trace of Derivation.
The moment the object falls, it is itself a new contact, and the new contact in turn gives rise to the next trace of evolution. Arise, touch and extinguish, regenerate, touch again, repeating countless times in just a few breaths, but that half of the word "evolution" can never completely return to Space Silence.
Qin Yu stood in the center of the receding Sea of Touch, the Evolution Name " behind him gradually fading, the bloodstains on his chest slowly spreading. Deep within his Fate Soul, the cracks left by the devouring of the Evolution-Devouring Beast and the continuous erosion of the " Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch " surged with intense pain. He did not rush to draw his sword, nor did he activate any offensive divine power; his mind and gaze were entirely focused on that half of the character "Yan".
He knew perfectly well that his most fatal flaw at this moment was his eagerness to break the deadlock.
The mere thought of "I want to break the deadlock" creates a clear boundary. There is a predicament that one wants to break, a person who will break the deadlock, an independent Qin Yu, and an opposing Touch Emanation Beast. Once the positions of the two sides are separated, a barrier is formed, and "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch" can follow this artificially drawn boundary, drive straight in, and completely annihilate it.
Qin Yu slowly closed his eyes, and the first fragment of Daoist rhyme trembled gently deep within the origin of "Seeing." "Seeing Stillness Return to Evolution." Without brilliance or light, Formless or rhyme. Qin Yu was simply touching the Ultimate truth left behind by the Eye Faculty Trial once again.
The process of seeing arises, returns to stillness, and then evolves again. When he first broke through the Eye Faculty Trial, he cultivated a state of "seeing without seeing," which was not a state of deathly stillness. If one clings to not seeing or not observing, then "not seeing" itself will become a new form of Attachment to Seeing, trapping oneself.
The true meaning of the eye can be summed up in just four words: seeing without seeing.
The myriad things in existence can enter the eye and fall into the gaze. Qin Yu can observe, see, and perceive all things, but he never treats each sight and hearing as a fixed piece of evidence that "I have seen it."
When a thought arises, let it be; when Thought Stillness, do not cling to it or hold onto it. Returning to stillness is not severance; the next time you see or hear something, it can still arise naturally and according to your mind.
Qin Yu neither clings to past views nor resists future perspectives. Thus, the essence of "seeing" has returned to stillness countless times, yet its roots have never truly been severed.
The second fragment then vibrated. "Hearing Stillness Return to Evolution." The ancient Daoist rhyme carried by the ear slowly rose from the depths of the silent and Formless origin. Hearing arose, then silence, then hearing again.
The sounds of nature can reach one's ears, and the sense of hearing can be born and preserved. But Qin Yu never clings to the obsession of "I have heard it," and leaves no auditory traces as proof of himself.
When a sound fades into silence, it does not mean the auditory essence has vanished. When the next sound arrives, the auditory sensation will naturally arise again.
Hearing without hearing, hearing without hearing, the cycle repeats endlessly, the tight constraints that had been weighing on Qin Yu's brows gradually eased, and the third fragment awakened one by one.
"Smelling Stillness Return to Evolution." This fundamental nature is the most subtle and profound. The energy of heaven and earth can gather and disperse, can be born and die. Qin Yu can bear the energy of the physical body, the energy of the Fate Soul, the energy of experience, and the energy of the Evolution Name. He can be perceived by all paths and peered into by all spirits, but he never relies on any energy to prove his existence.
When there is breath, I do not use breath to prove myself; when there is no breath, I do not use the absence of breath to conceal myself. When the sense of smell first arises, let it follow its natural course; when the sense of smell returns to stillness, do not cling to it or become stagnant. After each period of Annihilation, the origin of the sense of smell can still be generated again and continue to thrive. There is no need to cling to a wisp of breath that is exclusive to oneself as an anchor point for one's existence Wanyan.
The three fragments of Daoist essence resonated synchronously and slowly converged in the depths of Qin Yu's mind for the first time. Seeing, hearing, and smelling, the three roots of essence did not merge or interfere with each other, forming a closed loop, yet they jointly confirmed the same ancient truth.
Qin Yu's mind, which had been pressed down to its Ultimate by the layers of "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch," suddenly relaxed a little, and he gained complete clarity. Silence is never the end. The true key to the Great Dao is not in the moment of Annihilation, but in what comes after Annihilation —whether life can be reborn and restart.
Seeing the return to stillness, one sees rebirth; hearing the return to stillness, one hears rebirth; smelling the return to stillness, one smells rebirth. Therefore, the true meaning of transcending the shackles of the Touch Emanation Beast is never about forcibly erasing one's own boundaries. One should know that the very thought of "I want to eliminate boundaries" is itself a brand new barrier, a completely new boundary.
It is not about deliberately cultivating a so-called "selfless" state.
As long as Qin Yu firmly believes in his heart that "Inscribe the Self without self," this thought will instantly sever the heavens and earth, separating them into two ends. One side is the state of no self, and the other side is the body with self. Barriers and boundaries are formed by themselves, and the Touch Emanation Beast can still enter through the gaps and destroy its body.