Sea of Touch, Qin Yu remained standing. His physical body had not vanished, his Fate Soul had not dissipated, and his Daoist name remained Qin Yu. He had never denied his own existence, nor had he abandoned even the slightest foundation of himself.
But when "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch" once again crushed along the boundaries of his own origin, he did not firmly establish that eternal "This is me" deep within his heart. Thump.
The first sensation crashed down. In the past, to protect his own foundation, his Daoist conviction of "I am who I am" would have spontaneously become firm and indestructible.
But this time, he neither used this thought to hold fast to it, nor did he go against the Daoist heart and presumptuously say "I Non-Self." The thought of having a self passed by in an instant; the thought of not having a self also passed by in an instant.
With neither obsession nor grounding, Qin Yu simply existed, without using existence to prove himself or relying on reality to establish his self. In the next instant, the five fingers of the Touch Emanation Beast that had been hanging down suddenly stopped.
The pause was extremely brief, less than a breath, fleeting, yet Qin Yu clearly captured this subtle change. The boundary line that stretched across himself and the heavens and earth, originally Ultimate clear, blurred for a moment.
The five fingers of the Touch Emanation Beast had clearly landed, yet it couldn't find the slightest precise point of contact. It felt empty and without support. Qin Yu's mind trembled, and he realized—this method was effective.
But he quickly let go of this joy, never seizing this achievement, because once he became certain that "I have entered the realm of no boundaries," a new obsession would take root, a new boundary would instantly form, and everything would ultimately be in vain.
Therefore, this thought, too, arises and ceases, and is completely let go. Seeing, arising, ceasing, and then repeating; hearing, arising, ceasing, and then repeating; smelling, arising, ceasing, and then repeating.
Qin Yu fully integrated the perfect essence of the first three Great Daos into his current state of being. He neither forcibly maintained it nor deliberately denied it, nor did he define any momentary state as the Ultimate answer or an eternal Dao fruit.
A strange sight then appeared: the "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch" swept over, touching the boundary of the physical body. Only then did the boundary take shape, before instantly returning to Annihilation.
The Touch Emanation Beast then invaded further inward, but a completely new boundary naturally arose and continued to emerge from the Annihilation, touching again, remaining still again, and evolving again, in an endless cycle.
This was the first time Qin Yu had not used his fixed and unchanging self-boundaries to withstand the crushing force of "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch". His boundaries still existed, but there were no longer any boundaries that he defined as his eternal and unchanging self-origin.
Touch Emanation Beast can touch and Annihilation is only itself from the previous moment. In the next moment, Qin Yu has already been renewed and reborn along with the Derived.
Qin Yu slowly opened his eyes, his eyes devoid of any joy. He knew in his heart that this was only a narrow escape from the locked-down situation, far from the point of breaking the deadlock. The real root of the problem still lingered within the Touch Emanation Beast's body, on that half of the "Devouring" character that was floating uncertainly.
His gaze returned firmly to the incomplete inscription, and in the next instant, a deep and powerful hum resounded from the depths of his consciousness. Buzz—the first True Evolution Dharma Wheel slowly turned, the second, the third... until the ninth wheel was fully awakened.
The "Silent Beginning: The Ring Master Soul Diagram" slowly unfolds.
This time, the Nine-Wheel Dharma Wheel did not target the Touch Emanation Beast's body, nor did it read its skin, dismantle its bones, trace its tendons, or explore its deep-seated Touch Abyss.
Qin Yu had long understood that anyone who used the Soul Map to probe and analyze the Touch Emanation Beast was essentially establishing a boundary between the "observer and the observed," which was tantamount to providing the "Wanyan Return to Stillness Touch" with the clearest and safest path for invasion.
The nine wheels of Falun all avoid the beast's body, and the only thing they revolve around is a naturally existing Dao phenomenon - the half-broken word "Yan".
More precisely, it involves observing how the "evolutionary" trace Annihilation, reborn, and endlessly repeated each time it is triggered.
The first round of the Dharma Wheel records the trajectory of the initial contact. The contact surface inside the Touch Emanation Beast was pressed down, and the remaining traces of the newly formed "Derivation" Annihilation in an instant.
The second round followed closely, reflecting the true essence of the Great Dao: at the same instant the old traces Annihilation, a completely new "touch" had already been completed between the Touch Emanation Beast and the Trace. And the fact that "the act of touch has already occurred" itself is a completely new origin of the Great Dao.
The third round inherits this new beginning, witnessing the enduring nature of the origin and the rebirth of new life; the fourth round records the encounter once again.
In the fifth round, we witness the touch transforming into a new origin; in the sixth round, it evolves again; in the seventh round, we touch again; in the eighth round, it is reborn; and in the ninth round, Return to One, returning to the first round.
Buzz!!! The Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel formed a complete closed loop for the first time. Qin Yu's pupils suddenly contracted, and he saw through the essence of this unsolvable cycle of reincarnation.
It wasn't that the "Evolution" mark deliberately avoided the Touch Emanation Beast; it never dodged or fled. Every touch from the Touch Emanation Beast landed squarely on the Evolution mark, and each time it completely destroyed the already formed Evolution mark with its own boundaries.
But that is the fatal flaw.
For an event to end, there must first be a "touch". And this touch that ends everything is itself the occurrence of a completely new Great Dao, the origin of a completely new Great Dao.
Once a cause arises, its derivatives will follow.
The true structure of the entire cycle of reincarnation suddenly becomes clear: contact, evolution, cessation of contact, the cessation of contact becomes new contact, the new contact evolves again, cessation of contact again, and new life is born again... the cycle repeats Endless, without a final time.
The Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel spun faster and faster, their hum reverberating through his sea of consciousness. Buzz—buzz—buzz— Qin Yu didn't unleash even a fraction of his power; he simply used his mental Ultimate to dissect this cycle of reincarnation, exploring every crevice within it.
Is there a gap between the initial touch and the initial evolution? The answer is yes, but once the Touch Emanation Beast attempts to touch that void gap, the act of "touching the gap" is still a completely new occurrence, and a new evolution immediately arises to fill the void.
Going back further, before the boundary was even born, if the Touch Emanation Beast remained still, it could not extinguish the hidden potential for future development; but if the Touch Emanation Beast moved, it would immediately create a new beginning and give birth to a new potential.
It is always one step behind, not because of insufficient speed, but because of the absolute suppression of fundamental nature and the order of the great principles. Where there is contact, something will happen; where something happens, something will continue to develop.
Qin Yu's eyes grew brighter, and he understood the entire path of the Great Dao. He no longer limited himself to observing a single cycle of reincarnation, but instead deduced the results after Ultimate magnification. Touch once, derive once; touch ten times, derive ten times; touch ten thousand times, derive ten thousand times; touch infinitely many times, and derive infinitely.
The more the Touch Emanation Beast wanted to completely sever all traces of reincarnation and end the cycle of rebirth, the more it needed to continuously activate the power of touch. But each additional touch meant creating a new opportunity for reincarnation with its own hands.
This is no longer a simple matter of Daoist restraint; it is a never-ending vicious cycle, forged by the very Daoist principles of the Touch Emanation Beast itself, trapping itself and its Dao, with no way to break free.
An Ultimate and fundamental solution to break the deadlock slowly took shape in Qin Yu's mind.
Since each touch forcibly generates a new trace, why allow these traces to linger around the fragmented character?
If we follow the Dao Path Touch Emanation Beast itself, and channel all the infinite transformative power generated after each period of Annihilation back into its body...
The first path, the second path, countless paths, billions of paths, endless...
The force of evolution arises from within the skin, from the gaps between bones, from the junctions of tendons, from every boundary muscle, and even from the crevices between the Touch Abyss and the abyss.
If the Touch Emanation Beast wish to completely eradicate them, they can only keep touching and Annihilation. But the more they are touched, the more abundant they become, endlessly multiplying.
One day, all the boundaries upon which it stands will be completely torn apart and collapsed from within by this endless, ever-growing force of evolution.
For the first time, a sharp and fierce killing intent flashed in Qin Yu's eyes.
This is the only true way to kill the Touch Emanation Beast, and it is by no means an external attack. This is because all external attacks will actively establish the opposing boundary between "attacker and receiver". The real way to kill it is to let its own laws backfire on it, and be shattered and destroyed from the inside by the endless Derivation Power.
Just as the Nine-Wheel Dharma Wheel were about to complete the deduction of the complete pathway of "reverse infusion of evolutionary power", a sudden change occurred, and the Touch Emanation Beast abruptly stopped all its movements.
All the opening and closing of the tentacles around his body froze, the millions of tentacles stood straight and stiff, the remaining incomplete patterns on the tentacles remained motionless, the cracks in his head stopped opening and closing, and the deep projection of the Touch Abyss behind him was also completely still for the first time in his life.
The entire Body-Facultyless Emanation Domain instantly fell into a deathly silence, devoid of wind, Wudao. An unprecedented and deadly crisis suddenly rose from the depths of Qin Yu's heart, piercing to the bone and soul.
The next instant, the formless, eyeless, faceless, and shapeless Touch Emanation Beast slowly "raised its head," and Qin Yu felt a chill run down his spine—it had seen through him.
It saw through this vicious cycle of self-retribution, saw through the method of reverse infusion of evolutionary power being deduced by the Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel, and saw through its own impending annihilation by its own Dao principles.
Therefore, it abruptly changed tactics and completely abandoned the gradual erosion.
No longer touching Qin Yu's past, no longer intruding on Qin Yu's present, no longer severing Qin Yu's future. Those future branches that were constantly Annihilation and breaking down have all come to a halt.
But this calm was not peaceful at all; it only concealed the Ultimate danger of an impending storm.
Qin Yu's expression suddenly changed drastically.
The five fingers of the Touch Emanation Beast did not vanish without a trace, but rather crossed all outer boundaries of the world, bypassed all surface obstacles, and fell into the deepest and most fundamental part of Qin Yu's existence.
There stood Qin Yu's Ultimate Dao thought, rooted in the myriad Daos and having endured countless perilous situations. "I am who I am." Thump! Qin Yu's body suddenly stiffened, his Dao energy, meridians, and mind all freezing.
There were no injuries, no blood, and no cracks on the body surface, but the sea of consciousness, the Fate Soul, the foundation of the Dao, Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel all froze and stopped operating at that moment, as if touched.
The Touch Emanation Beast finally touched Qin Yu's deepest, most solid, and most unbreakable essence—"I am who I am." Qin Yu's pupils contracted violently, and a warning screamed in his heart.
"Danger! Far exceeding the tribulation of Evolution-Devouring Beast of the past and establishing one's foundation!" "I am who I am" is not an ordinary supernatural power or technique, but Qin Yu's Ultimate nature that allows him to Wanyan among all beings and survive alone.
The reason why "Return to Origin and Sever Retracing" can extinguish the qualification of existence without cost lies in this absolutely self-consistent self-Dao thought; in the past, when the eyes directly faced the illusion of "Seeing Oneself", it was this thought that stabilized the mind and prevented confusion; when countless illusory "possible selves" appeared in the world, it was this thought that anchored the true body and prevented it from being disturbed.
Along the way, this Daoist thought has long been integrated into every inch of his being, penetrating deep into the source of the Dao, inseparable from it. Precisely because of this, the boundaries of this Daoist thought are clear, solid, absolute, and unparalleled since ancient times.
I am who I am, and there is no other self-boundary in the world as pure, as Ultimate, and as clear as this. The Touch Emanation Beast no longer needs to search for any flaws or boundaries; it only needs to completely Touch Return and annihilate this Ultimate boundary.
Thump!!! The second sensation crashed down, causing Qin Yu's body to tremble violently. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and then—pfft!
A mouthful of blood suddenly spurted out. The Nine-Wheel True Evolution Dharma Wheel in his sea of consciousness instantly became misaligned and malfunctioned, and the newly formed closed loop of reincarnation observation collapsed in response. The Evolution Name floating behind him suddenly dimmed and lost its light.
The Daoist concept of "I am who I am" gave birth to an Ultimate terrifying tactile sensation, and an Ultimate boundary was forcibly split in two. Both sides were Qin Yu, both were the true self, one side was the original self, and the other side was the self reflected in the boundary.
The Touch Emanation Beast stood at the center of the two poles, forcefully urging its two true selves to touch and annihilate each other. Thump!!! The third layer of touch crushed down, and Qin Yu's chest was invisibly dented. There was no external force invading, but rather the boundary of his own existence was forcibly closed inward and squeezed against itself.
Flesh and blood touch flesh and blood, Fate Soul touch Fate Soul, the foundation of the Dao touches the foundation of the Dao. The past self, the present self, and the future self touch and close layer by layer. The name of the Dao touches reality, attachment touches letting go.
"I" and "I" are devouring and destroying each other. Qin Yu's face turned ashen instantly. The two characters "Qin Yu" behind him flickered violently. The first stroke of the character faded and disappeared. He was in a desperate situation. There was no way to advance or retreat.