In the deepest part of the Star Abyss Forecourt, beneath that dark, distorted, and gray-gloomy world, Liu Qing slowly raised his hand and pointed to the void.
A faint golden Soul Seal emanated from her palm, a miniature soul image drawn from the burning life force deep within her sea of consciousness.
The entire Soul Map presents an aerial microcosm of the Star Abyss Forecourt, and within that distorted terrain resembling the turning pages of a book, three deep points of light slowly flicker, located respectively within the Abyss of the Riven Prison, the Annihilation Ring Tomb Realm, and the most bizarre and unpredictable Reverse Dream Trace Domain of the Star Abyss Forecourt.
Liu Qing said solemnly:
"The three major power points are the [Three Soul Halls] incarnation domains left behind by the Dawn Soul Book Prison, each guarded by a Soul Slave expert at the Annihilation Source Realm of Supreme."
"These are the three decomposition sites of the Dawn Soul Book Prison - Fate-Annihilating Heaven-Sealer refining the three Eternal Causality Crystals, each with a causal layer seal and a logical lock."
Qin Yu gazed at the soul diagram and spoke calmly:
"In that case, we would be grateful if Miss Liu could point out the detailed paths to the three regions for us, so that we... can defeat them one by one."
Liu Qing nodded. "Alright, let's start with the nearest Abyss of the Riven Prison."
She lightly tapped the topmost soul map dot, and a winding rift valley immediately appeared in the surrounding void, as if the timeline underground had been artificially twisted, forming a fault space. At the end of that rift valley, a Severed Prison Palace, suspended by countless soul chains, floated in the air, shining with an interplay of annihilating gold and dark purple divine light.
"That is the Abyss of the Riven Prison, guarded by the 'Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator,' whose mastery of causal sealing power and mental control logic constitutes the earliest 'consciousness-based trial core' constructed by the Dawn Soul Book Prison. If you don't go all out... you might not even be able to preserve your sea of consciousness."
Qin Yu had already turned around calmly. The Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword hummed as it was unsheathed, a streak of azure light tearing through the void, its sword intent piercing through the Soul Diagram and pointing towards the Abyss of the Riven Prison.
His tone was as steady as steel:
"We will not be prisoners of our souls."
"Let's begin with what you called— the Riven Prison."
Yao Zhiyan followed closely behind, a faint purple flame appearing in her phoenix eyes. "Senior Brother Mo, I am with you."
Liu Qing bowed slightly, watching the two figures gradually sink into the twisted and layered Star Abyss path, her eyes filled with an indescribable anticipation.
"If you can truly break this Book of Prisons... perhaps, I too can... truly return to my soul."
The world suddenly darkened, with only ashes and crimson remnants of light intertwining in the air. Layer upon layer of void cracks hung down, as if the dome had been torn apart. The moment Qin Yu and Yao Zhiyan stepped into the Abyss of the Riven Prison, they felt that the ground beneath their feet was not solid, but rather composed of fragments of souls solidified by the power of Soul Annihilation —it trembled slightly when they stepped on it, as if millions of dead souls were wailing, crying, and struggling beneath their feet.
The air was thick with the pungent smell of decaying fire and dense, severable dust, while the sky shone with a pale golden deathly light, as if the sun had set and the apocalypse was upon us.
As far as the eye could see, there was a boundless, shattered soul realm, littered with corpses.
Those corpses were not ordinary beings, but cultivators and otherworldly souls from various Epoch Realm. Their bodies were torn into strips of fragments by a rule-based force, yet they were as neat as cut specimens. Their faces all maintained the same state before death—extreme terror and disbelief, as if they were not facing an enemy, but an inescapable fate.
The entire surface of the Abyss of the Riven Prison presents the structural appearance of an ancient judicial organ: stones like a court, deep ravines like a soul abyss, and rifts like logical fissures, all pointing to the impending Soul Annihilation.
Just as Qin Yu and his companion slowly stepped into the ruins of the Central Soul Hall, a sound of chains, more terrifying than thunder, suddenly resounded from the ground.
"Clang--!"
In an instant, the ground in all directions shattered, and ten thousand Soul Annihilation chains shot straight up from the abyss to the sky, each one wrapped with twisted soul afterimages, leaving trails of mournful cries in the air.
The sky turned black, countless souls wailed, and their soul power surged like a waterfall, converging with a deafening roar into the scorched core of a collapsed palace.
Then, that figure appeared.
He slowly rose from the deathly scars in the void, his entire body composed of flowing chains and burning soul pages. Six soul rings slowly unfolded behind him, each sealing a roaring dead soul.
His face was blurred, only his one crimson soul-flame eye—like a judgmental gaze fixed upon the sorrow of millions of souls—scanned Qin Yu and Yao Zhiyan without emotion.
He wore a robe of broken souls, the runes on the robe dancing like the traces of ten thousand souls sentenced to death; in his right hand he held an extremely sharp [Soul-Imprisoning Writing Brush], and in his left hand he held a floating soul page [Spirit Judgment Page Wheel]. With each page he turned, a Nameless soul turned to ashes in the air.
Suddenly, a phantom image of a "Soul-Annihilating Adjudication Diagram" appeared in the sky, covering the entire Abyss Domain and illuminating the whole land of broken souls.
His voice, as if awakening from a broken dream, was deep, solemn, and seemed to come from the abyss of fate:
"Those Fate Reverser shall have their souls buried in the pages of judgment."
--[The Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator] has arrived!
The spirit ring vibrated, the soul lock resounded, Qin Yu's pupils narrowed slightly, Yao Zhiyan's spiritual energy locked onto the sword hilt in an instant. The battle intent of heaven and earth boiled at this moment!
The air seemed to be sucked out, and the space around Qin Yu and Yao Zhiyan suddenly shrank, suppressing all their senses to their Limit in an instant.
Under this oppressive pressure, the Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator slowly raised his hand, his right arm, bound in chains, stretched straight forward—
"The page of silence is opened."
Boom!!
Suddenly, the six soul rings on his back vibrated violently, and rings of burning soul chains surged up like a raging ocean, transforming into a [Soul Domain Adjudication Diagram] that blotted out the sky and appeared in the air!
This soul painting is not a static object, but is composed of billions of wailing, remnant souls that are constantly repeating the cycle of being judged, imprisoned, sentenced, and burned within it!
As the trial diagram unfolded, the ground beneath Qin Yu and Yao Zhiyan's feet rapidly transformed into a soul-severing array. Soul locks extended from the void, each chain ending in a glowing "soul trial nail mark"—clearly intended to seal the two within this trial domain for a so-called "soul trial"!
[Skill Release - Annihilation Lock Adjudication Diagram]
Effect: Constructs a spiritual realm composed of remnant souls and broken logic. All those who enter will have their souls evaluated by a judgment mechanism. Once judged as "logically deviant" or "contrary to the destiny path," they will be ruled "unfit for existence," and their souls will be forcibly sealed, their consciousness locked, and their lives extinguished.
Yao Zhiyan's gaze sharpened, her purple robes fluttered in the wind, and with a stomp of her foot, her spiritual feathers surged.
[Skill Release - Nether Breath Frost Blossom Array]
She suddenly waved her right hand, and frost blades emerged from the void, forming a rotating frost array that blocked the first wave of soul nail chains surging from the self-judgment diagram!
A series of ear-piercing cracking sounds rang out as the Soul Lock and Frost Array collided repeatedly, but neither could penetrate the other.
She whispered, "Senior Brother Mo, this Soul Domain is constructed with the Law of Judgment; we must break it using reverse logic!"
Qin Yu's expression was as cold as a star. He took a step forward, and the entire battlefield suddenly trembled.
The [Book of Fate Law - Realm Severing Origin Brush] in his hand rose into the air, its pages automatically turning to the sixth page.
He whispered, "You wish to dictate my fate? Then first bear the consequences of writing one part of my destiny."
[Skill Release - Fate Cause Master Seal - Fate Trajectory Profiling]
In an instant, a streak of starlight blue emerged from the void, rewriting the entire Soul Domain's logic to "Qin Yu is the controller."
A distorted, piercing sound rang out!
The center of the "Soul Domain Adjudication Diagram" that originally covered the sky suddenly twisted and cracked. The soul trial mechanism in the chart was rewritten, and a blue anti-trial light shot straight up along the fate track inscription chain, tearing the center of the chart apart!
Immediately following, Qin Yu flipped his left hand, and the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword reappeared!
[Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword - Sever the Soul in Nine Silences]
With a single sword strike, nine layers of silent light shot out, each sealing the nine layers of the enemy's consciousness.
"Whoosh--Boom!!"
The overwhelming chains of souls were Annihilation layer by layer by this sword, turning into dust!
The Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator suddenly raised his head, and his only crimson soul flame eye throbbed violently, bursting forth with a surge of anger from the deathly silence for the first time!
A deep incantation exploded within him, the distant soul wall reignited, and the chains coalesced once more.
Phase One of the Battle – Qin Yu and Yao Zhiyan Join Forces to Break Through the [Annihilation Lock Adjudication Diagram]!
After Qin Yu shattered the Soul Domain Adjudication Diagram with a single sword strike, the six soul rings behind the Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator did not retreat but instead advanced, merging together to form a "Soul-Annihilating Ash-Sealing Wheel"!
This planet resembles a shattered planet, surrounded by countless collapsed soul surfaces. Within each crack flows soul fire and the ash of cause and effect, as if the consciousness of billions of dead beings who never returned has been cast into it.
He raised his left palm, pointed to the sky, and whispered an ancient incantation that could not be deciphered:
"In the name of judging souls, the reversal of fate's course is decreed; all nine senses are extinguished, and the soul is Eternal Silence."
Boom!!
The next moment, nine Soul-Locking Flames erupted from the Soul-Annihilating Ash-Sealing Wheel, each one like a remnant of light bursting forth Time Splitting!
These soul flames formed a huge incantation seal, which slowly pressed down, directly covering Qin Yu and Yao Zhiyan.
This move is precisely:
[Skill Name: Ninefold Severed Consciousness Spirit-Burning Art]
Effect: Summons the Soul Judgment Seal of the Underworld, which imposes a ruptured blockade on the nine logical channels of the enemy's sea of consciousness, burning away the source track of thought, trapping them in an eternal island of consciousness, unable to construct the concept of "self", thus turning them into slaves of the soul fire.
"This is an attempt to completely burn away our thought processes!" Yao Zhiyan said solemnly.
She lightly brushed her slender fingers, and a purple light appeared in her hair. A wisp of consciousness unfolded between her brows!
[Skill Release: Purple Cosmos Soul-Purifying Ring]
A halo of soul feathers, resembling the rotation of a star, surged forth from her sea of consciousness, blocking the first three impacts of the Burning Spirit Curse Seal!
"I will defend the first three levels, but you will break through their foundation!" she said softly.
Qin Yu's gaze was fixed on the still sky, his body motionless. As the Book of Fate Law appeared in his sea of consciousness, a star map shimmering with azure light immediately appeared behind him!
That is precisely the seventh form of the Fate Cause Master Seal!
[Skill Release - Fate-Track Seal - Eternal Order Structure-Severing Lock]
With a flick of his finger, the star map rotated, completely locking down the main logic chain of the Burning Spirit Curse Seal—the judgment rune suspended in the center of the nine senses!
Boom!!!
The chains snapped instantly, and the Ninefold Burning Spirit Curse disintegrated like heavenly fire, backfiring back into the Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator's true form!
The chains around him burst open, his soul fire surged, and the Soul-Annihilating Ash-Sealing Wheel showed violent cracks, its soul thoughts roaring and dancing wildly, as if in a frenzy!
At this moment, Qin Yu's right hand clasped together with his five fingers—
The Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword was unleashed!
"Your judgment curse is based on consciousness and the soul; then taste the true silence of severing consciousness."
[Skill Release - Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword - Sever the Soul in Nine Silences] - Second Burst
This sword strike aimed Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator's consciousness, piercing straight through the chains of fate.
The next moment, the Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator's only soul eye dissipated in the blue light, and the entire Soul Consciousness System was severed into nine shattered Soul Mirrors!
He finally collapsed to his knees amidst a violent roar, his breath fading completely.
The countless death curses turned into shattered dust, the black iron chains crumbled inch by inch, scattering into silent fragments of light in the void. And that enormous Soul Annihilation body, too, was reduced to an unfinished nightmare amidst the star-like annihilation particles, completely erased from the long night beneath the Abyss of the Riven Prison.
But just as the Soul-Annihilating Binding Adjudicator had not completely dissipated—
Beneath the collapsed earth where his body lay, golden patterns inlaid with ancient causal runes gradually emerged, like the awakened core of logic. A circular array with a diameter of a hundred feet slowly rose into the air, inscribed with a three-ring structure, each ring composed of billions of causal threads. At the center was a blurry crystal core wheel, silently suspended, not yet fully formed, yet already pressing down on the surrounding Void Realm.
That is precisely the Eternal Cause Crystal Activation Array!
Qin Yu frowned slightly, holding the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword horizontally. He slowly stepped forward, his gaze deep and cold. "This is... the activation point for the first Eternal Causality Crystals."
Yao Zhiyan followed closely behind, her gaze lingering on the causal wheel of light. "Senior Brother Mo, this activation array... seems not to have been artificially created, but rather a logical seal that naturally arose in the entire Star Abyss Forecourt after the mourning period."
"That's right." Qin Yu nodded slowly. "And that Dawn Soul Book Prison - Fate-Annihilating Heaven-Sealer... must have deliberately used these three activation arrays to draw the Eternal Causality Crystals into its own Fate Soul, waiting to seize it in one fell swoop during the final refinement."
Azure Ring's voice echoed softly in her mind, "This formation requires all three points to be activated simultaneously to truly connect to the 'Gate of Return.' You have completed one. Next... prepare to face the second storm of the Death Realm."
Qin Yu and Yao Zhiyan stood amidst the ruins of the Riven Prison, littered with corpses and curse marks. The dazzling yet chilling light of the Eternal Influence Activation Array shone behind them, as if the gears of fate were beginning to turn slowly.