The heavens and earth suddenly trembled.
The sky of the Heavenly Emanation Treasure Realm was as if torn apart by an invisible giant hand. Ten thousand star fields simultaneously burst forth with billions of rays of light. The pillars of light that flowed with myriad runes and condensed the Heavenly Emanation Era suddenly surged up, sweeping across the entire world like a heaven-defying waterfall of light.
"Hiss--"
Accompanied by a crisp sound like space shattering, countless figures were forcibly teleported out within the pillar of light.
--The entire Heavenly Emanation Treasure Realm was completely sealed off.
Meanwhile, in the floating space of the Source of Epochless - Epoch Eastern Void Realm of Nothingness, the void suddenly trembled, and streams of light descended upon the platform in front. Elder Feng Wujin turned around abruptly and saw that the solidified light and shadow were none other than the group of disciples they had been rescued by Qin Yu in the inner layer!
"You... you're finally back!" Feng Wujin's eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed forward to check on everyone's safety.
Before he could even catch his breath, the last stream of teleportation light fell, and a figure slowly materialized—it was Qin Yu.
"Qin Yu!"
Feng Wujin hurried to greet him, about to ask, "You're finally out! How was your journey to the inner layers? And what about the Source-Cause Construct Heart...?"
Before he could finish speaking, his expression changed, and he abruptly stopped.
--Yan Yue has not yet appeared.
"Qin Yu... Where Yan Yue?" Feng Wujin voice, a hint of anxiety flashing in his eyes. The dozen or so disciples around him immediately looked around, revealing the same question.
At this moment, Qin Yu, dressed in a long, ashen gray robe, stood tall yet exuded a chilling aura of stillness. He slowly raised his head, his gaze like a deep abyss, so calm that even time and space dared not disturb it. He spoke softly:
"Elder Feng, Yan Yue has been taken away by a mysterious powerful figure."
"Take him away?" Feng Wujin's expression changed drastically.
"She's not in danger," Qin Yu continued. "That powerful figure is far beyond the All-Returning Realm, and may not even belong to this dimension. After saving Yan Yue, she vanished into a dimensional world... one I cannot yet comprehend."
Hearing this, the disciples were still worried, but they could sense from Qin Yu's tone that Yan Yue was safe.
"And that treasure..." Qin Yu changed the subject, slowly opening his right palm. The dormant [Source-Cause Construct Heart] in his sea of consciousness appeared slightly like a starlight phantom, and a silver-white thread of cause and effect quietly flashed across his fingertips.
"Although it has already acknowledged its master," he said calmly, "But... to truly master it, one must reach the thirty-second realm— the Supreme Nonexistence Realm."
"Too... too... Supreme Nonexistence Realm..." Feng Wujin speechless for a moment, staring wide-eyed at that wisp of causal light, "Isn't that... isn't that even more unattainable than... more than any 'ascending to heaven' realm we know of!"
The disciples nearby also gasped and whispered among themselves:
"My God, this isn't just any ordinary Supreme Being, it's the legendary Ultimate..."
"Senior Brother Qin Yu was able to obtain even that kind of thing... That's true fortune!"
"Stop talking, we all know he fought that dark creature in the inner layers... It's a miracle he came back alive."
"Yes, I heard he also fought the guardian beings of the boundary single-handedly..."
Whispers rippled through the crowd, but more than anything, there was envy, awe, and wonder, all intertwined in the vast, returning light.
After a Feng Wujin finally let out a long sigh:
"Well, although this trip to the Heavenly Emanation Treasure Realm was a great loss, you obtained this item, so the trip was not in vain."
"As for Yan Yue... if it is truly Fate-Cause, then we should believe in destiny."
He patted Qin Yu on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Now that you have obtained this treasure, you should understand that your future battles are no longer something we can participate in... I only hope that you will not forget your original aspirations."
Qin Yu's gaze sharpened as he silently looked at the Annihilation radiance of the Heavenly Emanation on the horizon, and replied in a low voice:
"Elder Feng, this disciple understands."
The light behind them slowly faded, and the final chapter of the Heavenly Emanation Treasure Realm quietly came to an end.
But the true meaning of this catastrophe and its transformative power is far from over.
In the Radiant Palace Eastern Region, the clouds were lightly tinged with blue, and the sunlight painted the entire "Conradiance Halls" with a layer of mournful golden radiance. Under the slanting rays of the setting sun, flowers and leaves fell one after another, as if heaven and earth already knew that today's return should not be a time of joy, but rather a time of silence.
A figure slowly stepped into the courtyard, dressed in black robes with gray patterns, his expression calm yet bearing the vicissitudes of a life without return.
Qin Yu —returns alone.
A woman had been waiting quietly in the courtyard for a long time. She stood under the jade plum tree, her hair hanging down, her eyes fixed on the door.
Zi Xue.
The moment Qin Yu stepped across the threshold, she rushed forward like a blizzard bursting with joy:
"Senior Qin Yu —you're finally back!" Her eyes shone brightly for a moment, pure as the morning star.
But as she ran closer, she suddenly stopped, her eyes narrowing.
All she saw was Qin Yu. The familiar figures she had longed for to return were nowhere to be found.
"How come... you're all alone?" Zi Xue's voice was urgent, her breath trembling. "Where's Sister Yunyi? Where's Sister Extinguished Light? And... and Master Yan Yue?! Where... where are they?"
Her voice grew softer and softer until it became trembling and fragmented.
Qin Yu remained silent for a long time before slowly reaching out to touch her shoulder. His palm was heavy as a mountain, not for comfort, but for bearing the weight of the past.
"Zi Xue... Yunyi and Extinguished Light were seriously injured in the mid-level battle. Although they are not in serious condition, they are currently recuperating in my sea of consciousness."
"Yan Yue..."
As he spoke, his eyes lowered slightly, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he finally revealed the truth.
"She was... taken away by my Fate Soul. She's not in danger, but she was sent to a dimension I can't reach now— the Eternal Record Epoch."
She's doing well, but right now, I'm not in a position to see her again.
Upon hearing this, Zi Xue's expression gradually froze, and the light in her eyes seemed to be slowly drained away, leaving only a misty haze. She staggered back a step, gently shook her head, and tears silently streamed down her face.
"No... no... it's not like that..." she murmured to herself.
"Didn't we agree to come back together...?"
"Didn't we agree that she would come back and see the Starry Tea I made for her...? Didn't Sister Yunyi say that she would personally accompany me to test the effects of the Purple Radiance Soul Pill after I refined it...?"
"Sister Extinguished Light also said she would give me a Golden Soul Tuo as a gift for breaking through the formation..."
"... They've all said it."
Qin Yu stood before her, gazing at her slender figure as if his entire soul trembled with sorrow. His eyes surged with pity and regret, yet he was powerless to help.
"Zi Xue."
His voice was deep and resonant, like falling stars. "I'm back, but I can't bring everyone back."
"This trip... we lost too much."
He turned and looked into the courtyard, where the stone steps still bore the marks of fallen petals, as if the echo of Wang Long's hearty laughter had not yet faded.
Wang Long... has passed away.
"He died in a battle against Annihilation Contemplation and the Blazing Ashen Radiance One in the middle level while protecting us. Lin Yun also perished from exhaustion within the Primordial Void Annihilation Seal Formation."
"I... can only bring back this body you see before you, and this regret."
Zi Xue could no longer contain her emotions and threw herself into Qin Yu, her tears falling like broken beads and soaking his clothes.
She is not a fragile person.
She once cleaved through the Primordial Void with her True Immortal body in the Eternal Evolution Mystic Realm, but at this moment, she sobbed softly like a fragile child.
She wasn't crying for one person, but for all the memories and vows she cherished.
"Senior, you're right..." she said in a trembling voice, "You returned with regrets, but we... will continue on with hope."
Qin Yu slowly closed his eyes, gently patting her shoulder and back. He had long been accustomed to burying life and death deep in his heart, but at this moment, he finally understood:
During this Heavenly Emanation, they not only lost their comrades-in-arms.
They lost their carefree childhood.
And all of that, he alone will remember to the very end.
In the courtyard, the setting sun casts a deep shadow, the wind blows through the shimmering light, and withered flowers fall like offerings.
Qin Yu gazed at Zi Xue, whose tears were gradually ceasing in his arms, and his expression softened. He reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes and whispered:
"Zi Xue, this is a gift that your teacher's wife Yan Yue, and I brought back for you."
As he finished speaking, a mysterious light gathered in his palm, and a flowing blade interwoven with starlight and wreathed in feather flames slowly emerged in the void.
Before the sword was even drawn, countless sparks swirled in the void like a reversed Milky Way.
The next instant, the light in the entire Conradiance Halls dimmed, and all sounds seemed to be suppressed into absolute silence by the [Xing Ji Phoenix Breath] on the sword.
"This is... the Star-Silence Phoenix Sovereign Sword."
Around the sword, rings of Annihilation star feathers materialized, like wings unfolding in the sky. It was a sword spirit artifact forged from the source of the chaotic star core and the essence blood of the Star-Commanding Mystic Phoenix, the master of annihilation, order control, and cause burning.
"She only recognizes the true 'Star Guardian Soul'." Qin Yu slowly pushed her towards Zi Xue.
Right now--
A faint purple-gold ripple appeared in Zi Xue's eyes.
The phoenix pattern on her brow shone brightly!
The Star-Silence Phoenix Sovereign Sword emitted a long and resonant phoenix cry that could shake the entire Nine Heavens!
Boom!
Starlight exploded, and the shadow of Nine-Winged Mystic Phoenix rose from the sword. Purple-gold starlight burned throughout the entire Radiant Palace Eastern Region. In an instant, all the magic arrays in the entire Eternal Evolution Realm Hall were cleansed by starlight, and all living beings were shocked!
The black phoenix's eyes gazed at the Zi Xue.
Behind Zi Xue, a purple-gold star palace appeared and slowly unfolded!
The Star-Silence Phoenix Sovereign Sword trembled silently, then flew to her on its own, circling three times in the air and emitting a whispered phoenix cry.
That is a call to acknowledge the Lord.
Zi Xue was stunned, and slowly reached out her hand.
The instant her five fingers touched the sword hilt, a scorching, vast, all-consuming Annihilation star flame shot into the sky!
Boom!!!
Phoenix Feather arrived with a long cry, and the Nine-Winged Mystic Phoenix appeared behind her. Its phoenix eyes burned with the blazing light of cause and effect, and its long Zi Xue hair danced without wind. The whole person was like a true phoenix returning to its rightful place, ruling the starry sky.
In an instant, no other color appeared in the entire sky; only her purple-gold shone brightly!
At this moment, she--
It has completely resonated with the [Star-Silence Phoenix Sovereign Sword] and completed the recognition of its master!
Within her sea of consciousness, a star-shaped inscription appeared on her Fate Soul, and the Phoenix Emperor's will entered the depths of her sea of consciousness:
"Since you are destined to be the star's initiator, I will burn everything to guide the star order for you."
Zi Xue slowly opened her eyes, a flicker of burning fire within her phoenix pupils. She looked at Qin Yu, her voice trembling slightly, yet filled with boundless solemnity:
"Senior... this is far too precious."
Qin Yu gently shook his head, his eyes filled with the tenderness of an elder brother or a mentor.
"She... was originally yours."
"If you can resonate with her, then your destiny has been fulfilled."
"This sword will accompany you through the Annihilation Abyss Epoch, protecting all things for me."
Zi Xue gripped the Phoenix Emperor Sword tightly, her expression no longer that of an innocent girl, but that of a "Future Soul Master" who had just received the power of a divine weapon.
The starlight shone again, and all was silent. From this moment on, Zi Xue's fate was completely rewritten.