Above the Questioning Realm Floating Gate, the two masters of the Five Laws Palace exchanged glances for a moment, their voices resounding through the heavens as they spoke in unison:
"Once the proposition is established, it should be answered with the soul."
The heavens and earth trembled slightly as a halo-like floating realm slowly descended from the center of the sky. A gate of light unfurled, revealing the Soul Consciousness True Realm. This realm had no physical form, but was forged from the interwoven principles of destiny, soul veins, sea of consciousness, and Fate-Cause. Every inch the floating realm extended, it reflected a projection of the Fate Soul; with each step a person took, they had to confront the echoes of the soul path triggered by their own destiny.
The Palace Master slowly emerged amidst the five musical notes, his voice echoing across the surrounding fields:
"This is the first Soul Stage. Ten challengers will each enter this realm to battle against the projection of their Fate-Cause Soul Structure. Those who defeat three will enter the core of the sect's order of advancement."
As soon as the words were spoken, an ancient, round seal appeared deep within everyone's Fate Soul, which was the Soul Consciousness Stabilizing Ring.
The battle begins here. In the first match, Cang Li faces off against the Black-and-White Mirror Serpent Soul Construct.
The pale gray domain of destiny slowly unfolded, with countless soul threads intertwining and interwoven. Black-and-White Mirror Serpent emerged from the domain, their two-colored light patterns flowing around them. At a glance, they could directly penetrate the depths of a person's consciousness and soul.
Cang Li stood in the center of the scene, motionless and silent.
The mirror serpent suddenly coiled and rose, a beam of mirror light piercing through the air, aiming to penetrate the foundation of the sea of consciousness. Just as its sharp edge was about to strike, a silent seal slowly emerged between Cang Li's brows, its voice soft and gentle:
"A thousand voices of the soul cannot compare to my stillness."
He held two fingers together and gently touched the core of his life domain. A serene life light spread around him, covering the projection of the soul structure. The mirror snake pounced, but found no trace of hostility or hostility. All the restless soul frequencies returned to Silent Void, and the massive soul structure slowly dissipated in tranquility.
Sighs rose from the spectators. Only then did they realize that this kind of soul pressure did not lie in killing or attacking, but in seizing the enemy's soul and form without moving.
In the second battle, He Yanxiao faced off against Mirror Soul Breaking Slash Beast.
He Yanxiao stepped into the Soul Domain, and three soul beasts burst forth from the void. The mirror perfectly reflected his true form, and they simultaneously raised their hands, unleashing a strike that severed his consciousness. The principle behind this formation was that to kill me was to kill you.
He Yanxiao burst into loud laughter, the Soul-Slaying Blade behind him was drawn, and his soul consciousness was like a taut string, about to break.
"Since it imitates my form, then shatter this illusion in the mirror to see your true self!"
He confronted the mirror image with his True Soul, and a question echoed in his mind: If the undefinable is the enemy, should the source of definition be severed?
The longsword crashed down, shattering the Soul Mirror into pieces. Both friend and foe were annihilated in the mirror, but his resolute soul intent remained steadfast.
The Five Laws Hall Master whispered among himself. He Yanxiao had not severed the beast's body, but rather the very principles governing this battle. This Dao Path was far too perilous; if one's mind faltered even slightly, one would end up severing one's own soul.
In the third match, Xi He Fate Vortex Rebuttal Entity.
Xi He stepped into the formation, which hovered in the air and slowly rotated. Each time the Fate Vortex Rebuttal Entity was struck, it would throw out a question of reverse logic. If it could not answer, its own soul would suffer the pain of backlash.
The body launched the first attack, and a faint echo resounded from the void:
"If your logic can be challenged ten times, can it be judged as false?"
Xi He smiled slightly and answered calmly:
"If, after ten rounds of questioning, my doctrine still stands, then I will be the master of its formation."
With a flick of his sleeve, the Fate Law Mirror Ring floated up, and a thought was quietly implanted into the ring array: all doubts can only be established if they rely on a predetermined premise; if the premise has not been established, then the questioning has no basis.
The ring formation suddenly paused, then collapsed on its own. The very foundation of questioning upon which the counter-argument relied for its existence thus became ineffective.
The Palace Master of Wenyin slowly spoke, "This child has already glimpsed the path to the Reversal of Origin."
In the fourth match, Ji Jiyan faced off against Constructed Script Soul Wolf.
The soul wolf was covered with thousands of soul patterns. With each pounce, it would condense a soul phrase and forcibly engrave it into the opponent's sea of consciousness.
Upon Ji Jiyan instead let out a cold laugh, "You wish to inscribe it upon my soul? Let's see how I reconstruct it for you with my soul."
A black-gold soul pen shot out from his shoulder, slashing three words in the void of the Fate Domain: "Not up to you."
The wolf's attack was abruptly halted, its structure forcibly reversed, and its soul frequency became chaotic. Ji Jiyan had used was the Counter-Soul Arts Calligraphic Configuration that could actually alter the very foundation of the soul's structure.
The onlookers held their breath in silence, sensing within this soul technique an arrogance that could shake the entire system of soul construction principles. The Five Laws Palace Master remained silent, yet all kept this young man firmly in their hearts.
In the fifth battle, Ning Yao faced off against Fate Sound Echo Bird.
This battle, from beginning to end, lacked any fierce or bloody fighting.
Ning Yao and the Fate Sound Echo Bird gazed at each other from afar, locked in a long standoff, neither attacking nor defending. After a long while, she raised her hand and sent out a strand of resonant thread of destiny, which slowly merged into the returning bird's soul core.
The bird cried out once, its will to fight gone, its voice fading into the vast sky.
Ning Yao said softly, "I do not control fate, but seek resonance. There is no victory or defeat in this battle."
This is an extremely rare way of coexistence in the Soul Wars.
The gazes of the five Law Masters all fell upon her. The Lord of the Law Hall slowly uttered a comment. "Ning Yao does not follow the path of conquest, but rather the path of coexistence of destiny and will, which is truly rare."
Beneath the floating palace, the Domain of Fate opened once more, and five brand-new Soul Rings spiraled and rose into the sky from the array formed by the Soul Consciousness.
After the initial round of questioning and seeking solutions, in this round, some are obsessed with war, some use war as a strategic tool, and some secretly set up the battlefield to ignite the flames of war in Qin Yu.
In the first battle, Yan Guici faced off against Thought-Breaking Abyss Crow.
The Soul Realm was as still as an eternal night, Thought-Breaking Abyss Crow air from the deepest depths. This creature was not good at direct attacks; its cries were all signs of battles yet to occur, deliberately dragging people into illusions of slaughter that had not yet taken place.
The Yan Guici, their black plumage like mist, standing silently like a solitary cliff.
The third crow's cry rang out, and countless thoughts began to distort her consciousness, unfolding the tragic end of countless souls before her eyes. Finally, she moved. With a flick of her finger, a soul thread rose into the air, forcefully pulling back the source of that cry.
His cold voice rang out. "If the future war has not yet taken shape, I will use my rebellion to cut off its root cause."
She didn't kill the Soul Raven, but simply severed its authority to plan future battles. The Abyss Raven flapped its wings several times, but could no longer utter a single cry, and its soul core shattered on its own.
The entire audience was shaken. While others fought against spirit beasts, she directly severed the source of her Fate-Cause force.
The Palace Master sighed softly, "This woman's path is likely destined for fate."
In the second battle, Li Wenyan faced off against the Fate-Mimicking Ghost Rope Beast.
The Fate-Mimicking Ghost Rope is a rare and unique soul beast in the Annihilation Epoch Realm. It is based on imitating the opponent's soul skills and uses the echo of logic to injure the enemy in return.
Li Wenyan, dressed in white robes, appeared calm, but a shadow of gloom flickered in his eyes. He released a Soul Seal, a fragmented chain of fragments, a technique of frequency conversion.
The ghost rope was immediately drawn by it, and its triple chains stretched out, swallowing and imitating the technique, ready to retaliate. All eyes were on it; if Li Wenyan's plan failed, he would be defeated on the spot.
But a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he said softly, "What you used Non-Self true magic, but merely a residual backlash I left behind."
Within the rope chain, the soul frequency suddenly went berserk, the ghost rope emitted a shrill scream, and its three senses were burned from within by the residual frequency poison ring. The rope twisted into a ball and was annihilated.
Everyone was astonished; it turned out that he had deliberately lured the enemy into a trap, intending to destroy himself through his opponent's actions.
The Palace Master remained calm, offering no praise whatsoever, "The technique is ingenious, but the heart is crooked. I will leave the commentary blank."
In the third battle, Yuchi Liuyan Calamity Flame Art Disciple Effigy.
An ancient, illusory image of a sorcerer slowly stepped out. It was formed from thousands of ancient soul techniques, with a thousand layers of fire patterns swirling around its back. The technique it was performing was the Ancient Blazing Flame - Life-Burning Legacy.
Yuchi Liuyan's chest surged with fighting spirit, his right fist blazing with fire, and a low roar echoed throughout the Soul Domain:
"If flames can truly burn things beyond life, then today you will not be able to burn even a fraction of me."
Without dodging or retreating, he charged straight forward. Just as the illusory image of the sorcerer erupted in flames, he transformed himself into a nuclear explosion of the Flame Realm, using his own soul consciousness to forcefully push the entire battlefield into a state of soul pressure and collapse.
This is a battle where one's own soul and life are at stake.
As the flames subsided, the image of the sorcerer did not completely die out. Yuchi Liuyan knelt on the ground, vomiting blood, but his face was filled with a wild smile.
Even though I have been defeated, you have not been able to burn me to ashes.
The Palace Master Wen Yin solemnly assessed, "Though his body is defeated, his spirit remains intact. This child has already stepped into the threshold of the Blazing Soul Fate Realm."
In the fourth match, Gou Chenshen faced off against the Mirror Puppet Group.
Countless mirror puppets shift and change, instantly mimicking various soul skills on the field, using their ever-changing forms to pressure the opponent's consciousness.
When Gou Chenshen stepped onto the stage, his mind was in turmoil, and he staggered slightly in his first move. He used the Imitation Technique twice, but both times it was reshaped and rebounded by the mirror image. However, he refused to give up. He bit his soul tongue and summoned his Soul Arts.
"Soul Returns in Two Steps, Skill Reflects Three Shadows!"
The soul field suddenly rippled as three overlapping soul shadows were forcibly drawn out from the mirror structure. The illusory wheel spun, disrupting the puppets' ability to distinguish targets and causing them to mistake one another for the other, their internal structures turning against each other. After several crisp cracking sounds of disintegration, most of the puppets collapsed with a bang.
Although it was a narrow victory, some of the onlookers remarked, "This person's techniques, though varied and complex, have touched upon the true meaning of the Soul's Path."
In the fifth battle, Fu Chengzhao Law-Shattering Silent Roar Demon against Lu Suijihoumo.
The atmosphere of this battle was extremely strange. The Law-Shattering Silent Roar Demon was originally sealed, and it only had one method: to seize the flaws in the opponent's proposition and attack with soul sounds.
Before Fu Chengzhao could make a move, the demonic roar had already sounded:
"If your proposition has no inherent rules, how can you find a solution?"
Fu Chengzhao's expression was cold and solemn, and he did not utter a single word of rebuttal. The Soul Seal Chain suddenly unfolded:
"Things that cannot answer questions about the law should not exist in the world."
He infused his own Fate Soul into the demon's mouth, directly erasing the soul beast's power to question. He didn't rely on magical attacks, but simply severed the very foundation of its existence.
A Ji Ran fell over the surroundings, and even among the Five Laws Hall Masters, a moment of silence ensued. The Law Book Hall Master gazed at the man for a long time, but ultimately uttered no words, only recording his name in the Hidden Rules Register—a register specifically for those with potential for unrest within the sect.
The battle of the ten souls has now come to an end.
There is still an eleventh person left, Qin Yu.
His undefinable proposition still hangs high in the sky, unrecognized, and his own destiny and soul domain remain unopened.
The fifth battle concluded, and the entire floating palace fell silent. The wheel of fate slowly came to a stop turning, and countless gazes were cast upon that empty battleground.
It was as if this battle was outside all the established rules, outside the arrangement of the prologue.
The five law masters exchanged glances. Finally, the Lord of Wenyin Temple slowly spoke, his voice resounding throughout the entire hall:
"Now that the question has been set, it is time to answer it. Qin Yu, please enter the Floating Soul Realm and prove your worth with your soul."
As soon as he finished speaking, the floating platform beneath his feet shattered like a mirror, and a gray-blue circular soul domain slowly rose from below.
Within this soul realm, there are no soul structures, no magical artifacts, and no external enemies.
Only a massive, pitch-black Fate Cause Master Seal of destiny floated in the center, with nine brushstrokes swirling back and forth at its core, posing the question that no one dared to easily answer: If I cannot be defined, is there still a need for a proposition?
Qin Yu slowly stepped into the domain, the Azure Ring behind him humming softly, everything was so quiet it was almost nonexistent.
The situation within the Soul Realm changed drastically.
The main seal was shrouded in darkness, and the nine brushstrokes suddenly overlapped and merged into one, transforming into a pen that questioned, its tip pointing directly at Qin Yu's own soul consciousness.
This struggle is not a battle against external things. Rather, it is a proposition set by oneself, which is then transformed into an enemy. It is a concrete counterattack derived from self-questioning.
Nine illusory figures appeared one after another around him, each one representing himself under different possibilities of destiny.
Qin Yu, who wields the Fate Authority and death yet remains as indifferent as a prime minister;
There was Qin Yu, who had not yet stepped into the Questioning Derivation Eternal Palace and was all alone;
There was Qin Yu, who never rose up in resistance and remained an ordinary disciple;
Even more so, there was Qin Yu, whose soul was crushed by endless logic and left to wander aimlessly.
The person I once was, with all sorts of possibilities, has now become the enemy before me.
Qin Yu looked up at the myriad phantoms filling the sky, his voice low and slow:
"Everything can be shaped, but my indefinability is precisely what makes me an existence you cannot construct."
He did not strike first, but his soul consciousness was already fully extended. The Azure Ring shone brightly, and the six soul skill imprints lit up one after another on the outer ring of his life domain.
The nine illusory selves attacked simultaneously, each replicating the trajectory of his spells from different stages in the past. Their soul principles and soul frequencies were all very similar to his own, except for the most crucial element—the core of definition.
As the ruler, I initiated the simulated Silent Origin Wheel Prison, causing the laws of law to surge.
Qin Yu spoke calmly, "Although you resemble me, you have never held the power to define yourself."
With a flick of his finger, the Spirit Edge Piercing the Realm pierced through the layers of technical structures, shattering the logic of the three illusory bodies, which then dissipated into specks of light.
Immediately afterwards, the timid phantom unleashed a fragmented Flame of the Broken Boundary; its soul fire was not yet complete, and its foundation was already incomplete. Qin Yu remained unmoved, neither sad nor angry, and stepped forward. The Azure Ring spun, and the Realm-Severing Silent Light poured down, causing the countless soul fires to vanish into nothingness before they could even Annihilation.
The five illusory figures then vanished.
The remaining four remain standing: the self that never attained enlightenment, the self that was annihilated, the self burdened with hatred and accusations, and the self from the future.
These four are not external enemies, but rather echoes of his Fate Soul that he must accept or understand.
Above the Azure Ring, the sixth mark slowly rose, marking the final chapter of the Dao, where the Silent Realm Returns to the Beginning its origin and all propositions were reduced to zero.
Qin Yu reached out and pressed his palm against the soul of his future self:
"You can be conceived and depicted, but ultimately you are not your true self."
A burst of light erupted from his palm, and the phantom from the future vanished without a trace.
The Fate Soul Floating Domain trembled violently, and all the disciples below the stage paled.
The remaining three phantoms did not attack. They did not seek to defeat Qin Yu, but only awaited his choice: to accept or to completely reject him.
Qin Yu approached the figure who had not yet attained enlightenment and said softly, "You are still somewhat ignorant, but the path you have walked is absolutely true."
As the light swirled, this illusory image was absorbed into the soul's heart, not to be destroyed.
Then I looked at my annihilated self, my fingertip touching its forehead. "You never truly perished, but were merely abandoned by the old world. Your existence serves as a constant reminder of the denial I once endured."
The phantom transformed into a wisp of black flame, sinking to the bottom of the Azure Ring and solidifying into the Annihilated Soul Unextinguished Seal.
Finally, he stood before me, the one who had questioned him, and remained silent for a long time. That was the self he had once been, fighting for revenge and falling into darkness, the past he found hardest to confront.
After a long silence, he slowly spoke:
"I did nothing wrong in the past, but I am no longer the person I am today."
The light burst forth, the shadow of accusation shattered into pieces, but a wisp of soul did not disappear. It quietly sank into the core of the main life seal, transforming into new bone and blood within his soul path.
I have seen through all nine layers of illusion. The entire realm of destiny begins to crumble.
Above the sky, the Fate Cause Master Seal slowly descended, and all the Soul Consciousness Rings lit up. The five Law Masters stood together, none of them uttering a sound, only seeing lines of judgments slowly floating on the surface of the seal.
"This child's proposition transcends the limitations of examination questions." "His soul consciousness is already capable of self-questioning." "Permission granted to bypass the ranks and enter the Soul Hall to inquire about the next level."
The entire audience erupted in uproar.
Qin Yu never defeated any external opponents, nor did he annihilate any foreign enemies. He simply explored all possibilities within the illusion created by his own self-determination, and personally established his own existence.
This is not a victory in the worldly sense, but a complete affirmation of one's own Fate Soul.