A soft rustling sound emanated from the source of the Eternal Silence Long River. Ancient Daoist auras slowly rose from around the traces, then intertwined, extended, and closed, ultimately outlining a gate so vast that it could not be measured by ordinary standards in that silence that even Annihilation could not reach.
There were no words on the door, only the myriad laws and principles of Tao. One path, a hundred paths, ten thousand paths, endless traces of Tao intertwined along the door, each with its own unique path of birth and death, and each returning to stillness before reaching the center of the door.
Then the doors opened, without a roar, without a burst of light. Two ancient doors, imbued with the essence of all laws, slowly opened to the sides, perceived by countless powerful beings throughout the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain. One crack. Two cracks. Growing wider and wider.
Above the Hua Lineage land, Hua Jingyi's eyes narrowed slightly. Above the Shangguan Lineage, Ju Lineage, and Chi Lineage, the powerful figures suspended in the night sky also focused their gazes at the same moment. In other areas of the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain, powerful senses crossed distant multidimensional universes, attempting to peek at the scene behind the door.
However, there was nothing there.
Behind the door was only emptiness. There was no precious light, no mountains and rivers, no ancient palace, and no discernible traces of the Dao. Powerful divine senses traversed endless distances to reach the door, attempting to penetrate it, but the moment they touched the emptiness behind the door, all their senses lost the ability to continue.
Impenetrable. Impenetrable. Unknowable what lies behind the door. In the dead of night, countless powerful beings in the five great end-times multidimensional universes gazed at that place. And at the end of all gazes—the source of the Eternal Silence Long River — the Gate of Myriad Daos, which had been silent for countless epochs, slowly opened. Behind the door, there was only emptiness and silence.
In the deep of night, the powerful beings of the five great multidimensional universes of the end times gazed from afar at that ancient forbidden land that had endured for countless eons. The Gate of Myriad Daos stood silently open at the source of the Eternal Silence Long River, behind which lay nothing but an ancient void, silent and still, awaiting the changing winds of the heavens.
The following day, the Second Multidimensional Universe: The Destruction Labyrinth.
The sky here has never been truly whole. Countless crisscrossing, broken layers hang in the deep space, some stretching for millions of miles, some leaving only a faint, dark trace, and in the distance, the remnants of a collapsed world can be seen slowly drifting in the depths of the labyrinth.
The fragmented spaces intertwine, forming ancient pathways with no fixed end. Occasionally, two fragments of the world brush past each other, creating a ripple of dull Daoist energy that pushes the surrounding floating fragments of land further away.
In one of the relatively calm areas—
With a hiss, a thin, long crack suddenly tore open from the center of the void. The crack was initially only a few feet long, but then it quickly extended upwards and downwards, and the surrounding space separated layer by layer. Instead of violent turbulent currents surging out from within, a faint gray-white barrier gradually appeared. The surface of the barrier had no intricate Dao patterns, only a very faint radiance slowly flowing along its edges.
The next moment, a black boot stepped out from the barrier. Then, a tall and slender figure in black appeared— Qin Yu.
After two years of travel to the Wanyan Ancestral Land, he finally stepped back into the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain. His black robe draped naturally over his slender figure, the hem of which fluttered gently with the void turbulence blowing from the Destruction Labyrinth. His long, jet-black hair was draped behind him, with a few strands brushing against his pale face from his temples.
He had sharp brow bones, long and slender eyebrows, a straight nose, and thin lips. His face was exquisite but not weak. His dark eyes were deep and profound. Since returning from the Six Sense Roots Emanation Domain, all his former sharpness had been concealed. When he gazed quietly, his eyes held a vast and distant world that seemed to have no end.
Two years of trials in the ancestral lands had not etched the marks of time on his face; instead, they had added a profound and serene quality. When his brows and eyes were relaxed, he was still a handsome young man, but when his gaze sharpened, it was covered with the deep gravitas of life and death. Clad in black robes and with ink-black hair, his pale face stood out sharply against the backdrop of the Destruction Labyrinth world, his features distinct and unforgettable at first glance.
Qin Yu took a few steps forward. The gray-white barrier behind him began to shrink. Rustling... the edges gradually faded, and the spatial rift closed itself. A few breaths later, the barrier connecting the Wanyan Ancestral Land completely disappeared, leaving only the remnants of the original overlapping layers of the Destruction Labyrinth.
Qin Yu glanced back, his gaze lingering for a moment before returning to his original position. Just as he was about to determine his exact location, his brow twitched slightly. There were people. And—a lot of them.
Qin Yu raised his head. His senses naturally spread out in all directions, and the next moment he discovered that countless cultivators were rushing through the void in the distance. Hundreds of figures were flashing across the shattered space in the southeast direction.
Further to the west was an even larger group of cultivators, along with a large number of lone travelers constantly converging from different areas of the Destruction Labyrinth. Their numbers had reached tens of thousands. Strangely enough, these people were heading in almost the same direction.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Strands of light continuously streaked across the distant sky.
Qin Yu's brows furrowed involuntarily. He had stayed in the Wanyan Ancestral Land for two whole years and knew nothing about what had happened in the outside world during that time. Such a large-scale migration of cultivators could not have been without reason, but he had just left the ancestral land and had not even had time to find out what had happened in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain in the past two years.
"What's going on?" Qin Yu's eyes flashed with doubt. Tens of thousands of people were heading in the same direction, and the number was still increasing.
He didn't linger. With a swift movement, his black-clad figure shot out, chasing after the group of cultivators closest to him. Whoosh! The distance between them rapidly closed.
Qin Yu quickly noticed a cultivator walking alone ahead. The cultivator's aura had already reached the Eternal Silence Realm Initial Stage, and his speed was not slow, but he was not traveling in groups like the others. Qin Yu sped up slightly and arrived behind the person a few breaths later.
"Hey, fellow cultivator." The cultivator turned around subconsciously. Qin Yu also slowed down to keep pace with him. "Has something happened here?"
The man was initially quite impatient, since everyone was in a hurry, but when he finally saw Qin Yu's face clearly, his gaze suddenly froze. His flight speed even slowed down. He stared at Qin Yu for a few moments, his eyes first filled with doubt, then as if he suddenly remembered something, his pupils contracted sharply, and the expression on his face quickly changed from doubt to undisguised shock.
"You..." Qin Yu's brows twitched slightly. The Eternal Silence Realm Initial Stage cultivator finally recognized him completely. "You're Qin Yu, the outside helper in the Chi Lineage's martial arts tournament?" His voice rose a few decibels, "The champion of that tournament?!"
Qin Yu nodded slightly. "Yes, it's me."
The cultivator's shock deepened. Two years ago, after Qin Yu won the championship, he suddenly disappeared without a trace, and there had been no news of him in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain for a long time. He never expected to meet him in person in the Destruction Labyrinth today. The cultivator subconsciously straightened his clothes, and his slightly casual demeanor during the journey quickly became dignified. He cupped his hands in greeting to Qin Yu.
"Fellow Daoist Qin, don't you know?" Qin Yu looked at him. "Know what?" The cultivator was clearly taken aback for a moment, then, remembering Qin Yu's disappearance for two years, the doubt in his eyes dissipated considerably.
"The entire Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain trembled last night." He said, pointing in the direction where many cultivators were rushing towards, "At the source of the Eternal Silence Long River, the sealed gate that had been sealed for countless years—has opened."
Qin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. The cultivator continued, "That gate, it is said, was personally sealed by an extremely ancient being. His title—" His voice noticeably lowered, "The Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit. Ancient records also refer to him as— the Lord of Ontology, Being As It Is, Because and Therefore."
Qin Yu remained silent. The cultivator's expression also became serious.
"Regarding this being, very few records have been passed down in the Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain. Ancient texts say that what is commonly called history ultimately requires events to occur before leaving a past and traces; but the level touched by the Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit is even before 'occurrence'." The cultivator raised a hand and slowly clenched it in front of him, "What He touches is the foundation upon which all things exist, the original 'why' behind all phenomena."
"Why are there things? Why is there a Dao? Why can all things appear? Why is it not an eternal void?" Qin Yu's gaze gradually darkened.
The monk continued, "It is said that He never cared what happened afterward, because everything that followed was based on the premise of 'being able to exist.' And His most terrifying power—" the monk paused, "Was the ability to revoke existence."
A subtle flicker of emotion finally appeared in Qin Yu's eyes. The cultivator, oblivious, continued, "If He wishes to make something disappear, He doesn't need to sever its physical body, Fate Soul, or causality; He only needs to remove the foundation that supports its existence. Once the root is lost, no matter how flourishing the branches and leaves were, it will lose its very foundation. At that point..." the cultivator slowly uttered, "Even 'nothingness' might not be sufficient to describe its final destination."
The turbulent currents of the Destruction Labyrinth swept between the two. Qin Yu remained silent. He had personally severed the "qualification for existence" with his sword, so the weight these four words carried upon hearing them was far greater than anyone else could imagine.
The cultivator, however, had already turned his gaze back to the gathering cultivators in the distance. "Now that the seal left by the Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit has been broken, the entire Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain has been alarmed." His tone held an barely suppressed fervor. "Who knows what's inside? Unparalleled opportunities. Primordial Dao Supreme Treasure. Even—" He took a deep breath, "Primordial Origin Supreme Treasure."
The streams of light from the surrounding cultivators continued to converge in the same direction. Qin Yu, however, suddenly froze after listening. His gaze passed over the shattered labyrinth ahead, landing on an extremely distant place, and he remained motionless for a moment. Information about the "Venerable of the Great Dao's Root and Fruit," the Sealed Gate, the cancellation of existence qualifications, and the Primordial Origin Supreme Treasure rapidly swirled in his mind. After two years of complete isolation from the outside world, he had just emerged and immediately encountered such a tremendous change. Even he needed a moment to suppress all this information.
The cultivator saw Qin Yu suddenly freeze in place and was clearly more anxious than him. After all, countless people from the entire Eternal Nonexistence Limitless Domain were already heading there. Arriving a moment earlier might mean a greater chance of success.
"Fellow Daoist Qin," he hurriedly cupped his hands, his speech involuntarily quickening, "The source of the Eternal Silence Long River is within the Fifth Multidimensional Universe — the Primordial Grave. You'll find out once you arrive. I have to continue my journey, so I'll take my leave now. Fellow Daoist Qin, Fellow Daoist Qin!"
Qin Yu snapped out of his daze and nodded slightly to him. "Thank you for informing me."
Without further delay, the cultivator's Daoist aura suddenly surged forth. Whoosh! His figure vanished in an instant, quickly merging back into the streams of light from the cultivators heading towards the Primordial Grave.
Qin Yu didn't follow. He remained suspended above the Destruction Labyrinth, where tens of thousands of cultivators were rushing in the same direction. News of the sealed gate had clearly spread far and wide, and if he changed his route now, he could go directly to the Primordial Grave. But Qin Yu remained silent for a moment, then lowered his head.
He still kept the "Primordial Reversal" intact. It was something that Wanyan had entrusted to him, and it was also the inheritance that he had to bring back personally after entering the Wanyan Ancestral Land and undergoing the life-and-death trials of the Six Roots. The fluctuations in Qin Yu's eyes gradually calmed down.
"Let's hand over the Inheritance Book to Senior Wanyan first."
With his mind made up, he stopped looking at the cultivators heading towards the Primordial Grave. Swoosh! The void ahead was suddenly torn open. Qin Yu, his black robes billowing, stepped into the spatial rift, his figure quickly disappearing within. The next moment, the rift closed. He was already flying rapidly towards the direction of the Chi Lineage.