The Annihilating Forest Draws Them into the Trap

Amidst the Annihilation, heavy gray shadows, Qin Yu slowly stepped into a hidden area of the Epoch Origin Ash Ruins Secret Realm.

It was an ancient Soul Forest, seemingly forgotten from before the dawn of time. Wisps of gray soul energy, like veins, floated between heaven and earth, lingering and never dissipating. The entire forest was woven from layers of soul light and withered branches, forming a rugged and twisted outline. From a distance, it resembled an ancient tower of fallen souls built by billions of remnant souls, with the vast darkness pressing down upon it.

This place is called "Ancient Soul-Annihilating Forest".

The trees here are not ordinary plants, but rather are formed from individual [Soul-Annihilating Blood Tree]. Their branches are like overflowing blood vessels of the soul, and their roots are deeply embedded in the soil, drawing upon the remaining will of those who have fallen. The trunk of each tree is engraved with patterns that resemble the wails of living beings, as if they were inscriptions formed from eternal pain.

There is never daylight in the forest; only the gray, ghostly starlight hanging high above illuminates the ground, revealing ancient paths that are broken yet still bear traces of spirits. With each step, the soil beneath one's feet seems to devour one's very being, silent and oppressive.

--Amidst this silent oppression, Qin Yu's steps never faltered.

His expression was cold and somber. The Ring Master Soul Diagram vibrated slightly, as if he could sense a strange fluctuation of soul intent deep within. Ahead lay a forest area shrouded in blood mist, the core forbidden zone of the "Ancient Soul-Annihilating Forest," where, according to legend, the remnants of soul beasts from the ancient era and... a "Annihilating Thought Spirit Wielder" that had never been recorded.

Qin Yu's gaze slowly turned cold.

"The true entrance to the Epoch Origin Ash Ruins... lies at the deepest part of this Soul Forest."

From the moment he entered the Soul Forest, countless whispers of "old souls" were surging beneath the dust.

Just as Qin Yu was walking his nineteenth step through the Soul Forest, he heard a very faint rustling sound of branches and leaves coming from ahead, as if someone were tearing open a crack at the very edge of the world.

He stopped abruptly, the Ring Master Soul Diagram retracted from his sea of consciousness and became still, his soul energy condensed in a single thought. His entire aura instantly fell into a state of No Observation, not even causing the fallen leaves on the ground to ripple.

He slowly approached the source of the sound, passing through clusters of twisted and gnarled branches of Soul Annihilation. With each step, he avoided the nodes in the tangled web that could potentially trigger the soul array.

Finally, through a gap in the branches and leaves, his gaze settled on the center of an open space a hundred miles away.

--It was an overwhelming vision that overwhelmed all perception.

A divine beast, entirely black with a radiant crown on its back, lay quietly on gray broken rocks. Its divine body was ten feet tall, its four hooves pounding the Soul Rend ground, and it was covered with a layer of annihilation armor patterns that resembled the armor of a chaotic emperor. Its breath was like the trembling of the Dao, and with each exhale, the soul energy of the Soul Forest was silently devoured.

It is exactly what is recorded in the Compendium of Mythical Beasts: [Annihilation Crown Emperor An - All Daos Lost]

"Four decades of withered life, all paths ultimately annihilated, with a single roar, all enemies return to nothingness."

What's even more alarming is that three dark figures are slumbering beside the divine beast. They seem unaware of Qin Yu's approach, their forms a blur of reality and illusion, all clad in tattered black-gold armor, their soul energy as heavy as a surging tide.

--Their soul pressure was actually at the mid-stage of the No Consciousness Realm!

One of them possessed an aura imbued with profound soul-binding fluctuations, subtly resonating with the Annihilation Crown Emperor An, as if guarding the core of some unopened "Epoch Origin Key".

Qin Yu's pupils narrowed slightly.

The deep mark in his right pupil that reflected the "Severed Ring Cause" seemed to ripple, as if it had caught some extremely slight, yet indescribable, disturbance in the structure of the universe. He did not act immediately. If he actively suppressed it now, it was very likely that the other party would realize that the scanning of the logic layer behind him had been locked. So, he forcibly sealed that annihilation intention into the deepest part of his sea of consciousness.

His turning motion was slow, yet precise, as if he had avoided all factors that might cause spatial perception to tremble. The few strands of gray-gold patterned silk at the end of his robe seemed to be gently lifted by the wind, then remained still in mid-air. The entire Silent Abyss seemed to return to silence because of his single movement, and even the ripples of time quietly returned to calm.

He didn't look back, but simply and steadily withdrew from this spatial logic domain. The void, as if inscribed by the Fate Cause Master Seal, left no trace. His aura faded away layer by layer in the three logical layers until it returned to nothingness.

"It's not the right time to act." His thoughts were sharp as a blade, engraving a key deduction.

--Just before he completely disappeared into the "unidentifiable" blind spot of fate, a corner of the "Return to the Abyss Diagram" deep in his left eye suddenly trembled slightly.

It was as if... he had sensed a "wrong proposition" that was destined to fall into his hands.

Qin Yu retreated to the edge of the desolate forest, his steps unhurried, while his divine soul secretly unfolded—circumventing the main axis of the pseudo-soul fluctuations, reconstructing a Wuhen path under the logic of subtle disturbances. He knew that the enemy had not yet fully revealed himself, but he did not expect that the other party would make a move ahead of time.

Just as he was about to cross a logical fold, the entire void silently collapsed—

Twelve dark figures emerged from the spatial rift, their robes entirely black, devoid of any light. They stood in mid-air, their auras pressing down like an abyss, all being cultivators at the Supreme of the Primordial Void Realm!

They didn't utter a word, but instead condensed the oppressive weight of the battlefield, as heavy as the apocalypse, into invisible streams of energy, locking onto every inch of Qin Yu's consciousness.

However, the next moment, a low murmur, even more weighty than deathly silence, echoed from the depths of the void—

Buzz--

A figure dressed in black, wearing a dark obsidian robe and a silver-white patterned mask, descended from the sky.

In that instant, all five senses of heaven and earth seemed to sink.

Before he even landed, space itself began to twist and turn, as if it had voluntarily handed over even the "spatial authority" to him.

At that moment, Qin Yu's gaze suddenly sharpened.

The man in black slowly raised his head. His voice was extremely low, yet it seemed to carve a verdict directly onto the core of Qin Yu's destiny:

"You are not simple, and you are also mysterious... but no matter how many decipherments of Fate-Cause you have mastered, or how many world-related questions you have written—"

"Today, no matter how mysterious you are, you will surely Annihilation here."

His aura wasn't released, but the pressure of removing Qin Yu's legitimate status from the "World Observation Mechanism" was almost equivalent to deleting names before the battle!

Qin Yu's brows did not twitch, but the "Source Realm Master Cause Woven Garment" on his body had already automatically activated its defensive logic.

He rarely encountered an enemy personally attacked by someone at the "Ultimate No Consciousness Realm," and he never once fought against thirteen enemies in a single battle.

However, at this moment, he had no intention of backing down.

Because the Silent Origin Heart-Annihilating Key within his body was trembling slightly.

And that trembling key seemed to be whispering:

Unborn... the truth has already faded away.

Qin Yu stood in the void, facing the thirteen black-clad men exuding murderous intent. His eyes showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, a cold, clear intention flashed in the silence that seemed to indicate that life and death were already predetermined.

He suddenly remembered that shortly before he infiltrated, the divine beast slumbering in the Ash Wasteland Valley possessed an ancient bloodline powerful enough to tear apart the very fabric of space. And the three mysterious beings sealed in a state of soul slumber seemed more like timed variables "frozen by logic."

If these people were brought into that area --

The logic of the entire battle situation may no longer belong to these thirteen people.

"... To lure them over, we must create the illusion of a 'chase'," Qin Yu murmured, his mind made up.

However, escaping from the Ultimate blockade of the No Consciousness Realm is no easy task, and it must be done in a seemingly hasty manner, while actually guiding the flow with precision.

So he slowly drew out the divine sword that suppressed the fluctuations of the Heavenly Dao—

The Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword.

The black blade did not release any killing intent, yet a crack of death had already quietly appeared in the space.

He looked indifferently at the masked man in black robes, his tone neither too light nor too heavy, yet every word was laced with deep-seated insult:

"You're nothing but a lackey, aren't you?"

"They're certainly jumping around a lot, thinking they're some big bad wolf?"

The instant the words fell—

The sword light suddenly erupted, and the Silent Origin surged!

He moved!

No more holding back, no more maneuvering—the entire battlefield was instantly covered by the "Annihilation-level Dual Skills"!

--Silent Origin, Boundless Ashes!

Qin Yu's body was like the embodiment of the primordial fire, causing the surrounding divine soul, space, time, and causality to completely collapse, and all of the enemy's "skill chain structures" suffered an annihilation impact!

Almost simultaneously, the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword reversed the trajectory of the Heavenly Cycle and unleashed another strike:

--No Sever the Epoch Without a Trace!

With a single sword strike, the record of time and space is severed, aimed at the "logic of existence" of the thirteen individuals, attempting to completely "erase their traces" from this battle!

Boom!!

The twelve Primordial Void Supreme black-clad warriors in front were instantly moved!

Although none of them were mediocre, they were still caught off guard by Qin Yu's combined attack of two skills that transcended the level of logic!

The four were blasted back three zhang (approximately 10 meters), and the phrase "fate trajectory fracture" appeared in their minds!

The seven people managed to stabilize their vital energy, but blood spilled from their mouths and noses, and their soul structures were slightly cracked!

Only the masked old man remained unmoved, making a gesture as if he had absorbed Qin Yu's two powerful techniques into some kind of invisible turbine, without revealing the slightest flaw.

Even so, a slight glint appeared in the black-robed elder's eyes:

"... That kid, that sword just now—it was deleting records."

Qin Yu's gaze shifted, and before they could regain their composure, he took a step forward!

The void collapsed instantly, and his figure transformed into a streak of flowing light, hurtling towards the distant Gray Valley, leaving behind a disdainful snort:

"You think you can interrogate me? Come on, let's see how far you can chase me!"

Just as he had anticipated, the humiliation of this sword strike and the power of this single slash not only shocked the enemy but also ensured that they would "pursue him."

And he had quietly taken them—

Leading to that place, the starting point of chaos and backlash.

The old man in black robes' eyes darkened, and his voice, hidden beneath his mask, suddenly roared, causing the surrounding Soul Breath Layer:

"Chase after him! Quickly! Today, we must utterly Annihilation him—completely erase him from this world!"

Before he finished speaking, the twelve black- Supreme Beings behind him simultaneously unleashed their soul power, each shattering the void like twelve world-destroying spears, tearing towards the direction Qin Yu had fled!

Someone growled, "That kid, he actually dared to ambush us!"

Someone roared in fury, "I was actually forced back three zhang by his sword?!"

Some people stared intently at the receding gray-black figure, gritting their teeth:

"He did it on purpose... to lure us there!"

"Whatever his schemes may be—kill him first!"

Buzz--!!

Thirteen people chased the light like rain, their creative power intertwined with their Fate Soul, and the logic of the entire battlefield seemed to be dragged out with a "chain of life-and-death pursuit mark," causing the heavens and earth to tremble and gray fragments of the structure to fall into the sky.

They no longer concealed their intentions or hesitated; instead, they pursued and killed one person with the utmost speed.

That person was named Qin Yu.

He has already lured them into the game.

Qin Yu's figure was like a streak of light piercing through the air, traversing several layers of spatial folds in an instant.

Less than ten breaths --

He then returned to his previous hiding place.

The secluded forest remained silent, the surrounding gray mist as still as sinking sand, as if the fighting spirit of the world had not disturbed this place in the slightest.

The divine beast still lay curled up beneath the giant rock, its aura deep and ancient, like a sleeping ancestor of the soul.

The three beings bound by the chains of logic remained in a state of slumber, like three forbidden seeds about to awaken, their spiritual energy chaotic yet powerful.

Qin Yu landed, but did not immediately attack. Instead, he slowly turned around.

He looked behind him.

--Those thirteen terrifying auras, like thirteen world-destroying blades, tore through the sky and earth.

He can't get far!

"His destiny is still here—he's nearby!"

"Lock on his aura!"

"Quick—don't let him escape into the Desolate Spirit Layer Zone!"

The old man in black robes stared at Qin Yu's back with eyes like blades that could cleave gold. His anger finally broke free, and his tone became chillingly cold:

"Keep flying then... let's see what other tricks you can pull!"

"All of you, charge!"

At that moment, Qin Yu smiled faintly.

He raised his hand and slowly lifted the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword, which still burned with the traces of Annihilation Origin.

Sever the Void in a Single Thought. Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!

There was no prelude, no build-up whatsoever.

That single sword strike shattered everyone's expectations.

The jet-black sword light tore through space and karma in an instant, slashing into the core of the ancient forest where the slumbering divine beast and the three slumbering beings were located!

"Boom--!!!"

It's like the very foundation of the world is fractured, like the axis of cause and effect is shattered!

The entire Ancient Soul-Annihilating Forest trembled violently in that instant!

The soul-wood in the forest collapsed, and fragments of rules exploded from the ground. Ancient soul power surged like a tidal wave, and even the roar of breaking the seal echoed in the silent sky!

The shadows of trees sway obliquely, the mountain spirit cries mournfully, a being existing in slumber—

I was startled awake.

Qin Yu has completed his first step.

And the thirteen people behind him—

I will no longer be facing anyone.