After traversing the chaotic flow of the Great River of Cause and Effect, the group slowly walked along a faintly glowing path. The surrounding mist gradually thinned, and a dreamlike, ethereal blue light appeared between heaven and earth. The surrounding scenery suddenly changed, as if they had stepped into a silent sanctuary forgotten by time.
What comes into view is a huge temple that looks like an ancient ruin. The entire structure soars into the sky, and the dome has long since collapsed and broken. However, it is filled with an incomparably pure azure spiritual light, which flows out from the gaps like a waterfall of light and rain, falling among the shadows, like a dream.
The temple was filled with creeping vines and ancient vines, which entwined the broken stone pillars, as if they had been sleeping here for thousands of years; the ground was covered with countless glowing blue flowers. These strange flowers seemed to be able to sense the breath, and when they bloomed slightly, they shimmered with starlight. Under the illumination of the light rain, the light intertwined and shimmered like the reflection of a galaxy.
At the very center of the temple, on the steps, stood a deep blue pool, its water crystal clear as glass. From within rose a pillar of light that seemed to reach the heavens, from which thousands of blue specks of light drifted down, fine as stardust, like a silent rain of stars. This was the very center of the spiritual energy of the entire space, its flowing aura carrying no trace of killing intent, but rather bringing a sense of peace to the mind. Even Azure Ring did not immediately become wary.
The Xiaotong stared at everything, a rare look of astonishment in his eyes. "This... I feel like I've seen this place before... in a dream I had when I was little..."
Chi Ning slowly stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the dark blue pillar of light. His voice was low as he said, "This is no ordinary spiritual realm... It doesn't seem to have formed naturally; it's more like some kind of relic—or rather, a domain deliberately preserved by someone."
Qin Yu remained silent. He closed his eyes slightly, and within his sea of consciousness, the Azure Ring flickered with a faint light, but showed no warning signs. Only a calm yet slow message arrived:
"This place... originates from the extremely ancient 'Clear Soul Relic Construct' and should not be disturbed lightly, but it may contain the guidance you need."
At this moment, Chi Ning softly called to the Xiaotong, "Does this have anything to do with your sister?"
The Xiaotong stared blankly at the pillar of light, and after a moment, slowly nodded.
For a moment, the atmosphere fell into a subtle and mysterious silence.
Qin Yu gazed at the dark blue pillar of light ahead, paused for a moment, then turned to the Xiaotong beside him and asked in a deep voice, "Xiaotong, is the Fate Soul Crystal still reacting?"
The Xiaotong was clutching the Fate Soul Crystal Core tightly, standing before the Spirit Spring platform. He closed his eyes and sensed for a long time before finally shaking his head slowly. "... Still no response... Sister, she doesn't seem to be here."
He had barely finished speaking when suddenly—
"Crack--Long--"
A deep, resounding boom, seemingly tearing through space, suddenly came from beneath their feet!
The entire ruined temple trembled in an instant!
The sea of radiant flowers beneath their feet suddenly rippled, and ancient array patterns, seemingly the very fabric of space, emerged from the surrounding water, spreading across the entire temple floor! Countless starlight blue patterns converged beneath their feet, twisting and swirling uncontrollably in an instant!
"Qin Yu, watch out--!" Chi Ning sensed something, suddenly reached out and grabbed the Xiaotong, his spiritual power instantly spreading out as he tried to take off from the ground.
But the next moment-
The heavens and earth sank.
The space beneath their feet seemed to suddenly fall into some kind of unbalanced trajectory. The entire area slid away like a floating island, with large pieces of unrecognizable floating stones violently churning, as if they had been forcibly stripped of the original structure of this space and dragged into another Knowing Layer that did not belong to this space!
"It's a spatial fault shift! The coordinates here... have been activated!" Qin Yu's eyes narrowed sharply. He pressed out a palm to protect the Xiaotong in his arms. The Azure Ring fluctuated violently in his sea of consciousness, and a wisp of azure ring appeared on his body.
Boom--!
The ground beneath the entire ruins shattered and collapsed completely. The ground beneath the three of them seemed to be pulled out of reality, and the entire space was plunged into a deep blue abyss in the blink of an eye!
The wind howled like the sea in my ears, the temple ruins receded rapidly like a collapsing sky, and the blue pillar of light disintegrated as if it were being torn apart.
And the three of them—
It felt as if they were traversing a gap between countless worlds, being hurled down at high speed through a mysterious and deep spatial passage!
"This is... a spatial teleportation technique? No, it's not man-made, it's the ruins' self-defense mechanism!" Chi Ning made a judgment instantly, forcibly deploying a protective layer with his soul power to shield the Xiaotong.
Azure Ring silently appeared on Qin Yu's right hand, its surface trembling with ethereal energy. A barely perceptible ripple expanded silently beyond the space. He spoke in a deep voice, "Azure Ring, Second Form - Realm-Severing Silent Light."
In the next instant, all causal paths and spatial connections around them were forcibly severed, and their descent was instantly halted—the entire spatial passage stood still in the silence.
But at that very moment, a stream of light, interwoven with dark blue and dark green, spread out from beneath the spatial rift, slowly opening a massive portal that seemed to be deep within a dream.
An unknown land slowly unfolded before them.
The three of them traversed the collapsed passageway. After the Azure Ring Mieyin and spatial coordinates, they seemed to pass through countless dream ripples, finally falling slowly from a layer of tranquil blue light.
The moment they landed, they were no longer in the area that was originally in the Mist Soul Severed Realm, but... a mysterious ancient realm that was almost like a dream.
Surrounded by secluded forests and blooming flowers, the air is filled with a subtle, peculiar fragrance that seems to soothe the soul. The sea of flowers meanders along stone pillars woven from pale green vines, stretching into the distance, while the surrounding walls and ancient trees intertwine to create a sacred temple that seems to have been forgotten before the dawn of time.
Starlight, like rain, poured down from the dome overhead, which was half-hidden by flowering vines.
Amidst the dim light and vibrant colors, the three people's gazes slowly converged on an open space directly in front of them.
There stood a figure in black and blue armor, silently.
He was as tall as a god, clad entirely in a dark silver armor intricately engraved with patterns, as if forged from fragments of stars, its outline flowing with the rhythm of the night. His face was shrouded in a hood-like shadow, beneath which lay an unrecognizable void, without eyes, lips, or face.
He held a jet-black scepter engraved with moon marks in his hand, and at the top of the scepter floated a hook-shaped blue moon shadow—it was no ordinary moon, but a "logic moon wheel" formed from fragments of rules and spiritual radiance.
At his feet, countless flowers swayed silently, yet not a single leaf dared to touch his armor.
He stood amidst the flowers, like a silent, eternally still Adjudicator.
At this moment, Azure Ring trembled within Qin Yu's sea of consciousness.
"Caution... You have entered [Mist Soul Severed Realm - Extreme Domain Forbidden Structure]. This area contains 'Spirit-Guarding Construct' that are not defined by any proposition--"
Chi Ning suddenly narrowed his eyes, protecting the Xiaotong as he whispered, "This is no ordinary guardian spirit... This creature has no vital energy, no soul aura... It is an existence manifested by conceptual logic."
"Don't get close," Qin Yu said in a deep voice, his eyes gleaming faintly.
At that moment, the guardian slightly raised his head, and the Star Moon Scepter pointed at Qin Yu and the other two. In the Space Silence, a ring shimmering with blue starlight appeared, enveloping the three of them.
The voice of the vigil keeper, devoid of emotion or hostility, simply rose slowly, like an ancient ritual:
"The intruder has entered the Path of the Annihilation Realm Guardian, and without the 'Moon-Weeping Seal,' a preliminary rejection will be carried out."
The next instant, the sea of flowers beneath his feet moved without wind, and the entire Flower Realm God Domain rippled with deep blue light, as the rules of heaven and earth were gradually stripped away.
"This is... Realm-Stripping Activation Art that forcibly strips away the logical adaptability of all outsiders within the area." Chi Ning's expression darkened.
Qin Yu's eyes were cold and deep, and the Azure Ring lit up.
"Let's fight."
Amidst the shimmering light and shadows, a sea of flowers surged. Just as Qin Yu and his companions stood still, the void suddenly collapsed, as if the entire spacetime had been torn apart by a distorted black moon. Deep within the flower bushes, the mysterious guardian, hunched over in obsidian armor and draped in moonlight runes, slowly strode forward. An ancient silence and oppressive aura emanated from him, and with each step, the earth trembled slightly.
He remained silent, made no move of his weapon, and only slowly raised a hand shrouded in starlight.
In a flash, a crescent-shaped blade appeared in his palm, instantly converging with the logic of night! It was no ordinary weapon, but a manifestation of an existence concept composed of "fragments of the logic of annihilation," its form hovering between reality and illusion, like a "death that has never existed but is about to arrive."
In an instant, the moon blade shot out from the guardian's palm!
Space did not shatter—it was swallowed up.
The moon blade slid silently across the sky, and wherever it passed, time seemed to flow backward, and even light seemed to be drawn into its trajectory. Qin Yu's expression darkened slightly, Azure Ring resounded loudly from his sea of consciousness!
[Azure Ring, Second Form: Realm-Severing Silent Light]!
Qin Yu raised his right palm, and the Silent Light Blade, like a rainbow severing the boundary, bloomed from his palm, instantly meeting the Annihilation Moon like an arc cleaving the sky. In an instant, the two realms of heaven and earth trembled and twisted at the intersection of the two beams of light, and a crack in the rules swept out from the sky, shattering the Myriad Flowers Domain!
BOOM!!!
Amidst the violent spatial collapse, Qin Yu was blasted back dozens of feet. The Azure Ring around his body vibrated again, automatically locking the causal threads and preventing him from suffering severe damage from the "logic erasure." Although the Annihilation Moon Blade shattered, it "completely erased" the space three feet behind Qin Yu during its disintegration. There, no longer any concepts, light, sound, or time existed, becoming a completely silent "domain."
Upon seeing this, Chi Ning's eyes sharpened, and with a flick of his palm, the Butterfly Soul Glazed Sound Mirror materialized!
She shouted angrily—
"Jing Jin: Forgotten Sequence Collapsing Shadows!"
Countless butterfly-wing sound waves surged from the mirror, transforming into continuous mirror images that reorganized the space in front, resisting the [Annihilation Gaze Continuous Breaths] attacks continuously released by the Guardian!
The Xiaotong exclaimed in surprise. In this round of battle, the entire sea of flowers had been torn apart by a thousand-foot-deep shadowy chasm. However, the guardian remained motionless, only glancing at the three of them with a single look, as if pondering whose next strike to deliver.
Night fell again, and the sea of flowers that had been filled with a faint light was now stripped of its definitions of "color" and "light" by some indescribable logic. The entire space was left with only a black and gray structural framework, like a phantom realm stripped of meaning.
The guardian slowly raised his head, and a semicircular ray of pale light condensed at his fingertips. It was an "unfulfilled" crescent moon, which spun rapidly in the air, stirring up rings of transparent ripples—as if summoning something from beyond the deeper logic.
The next instant, starlight burst forth!
What spewed from his palm was not ordinary starlight, but hundreds of "stellar core fragments"—each a miniature manifestation of causality carrying the power of annihilation. They possessed the authority to "reconstruct the battlefield" and fell from the sky like the core of a fallen god!
Qin Yu's expression darkened. Each of those falling star cores possessed the effect of "local dimensional separation." If hit by one, the entire body would be stripped out of the main logical spacetime, becoming an "external waste structure," comparable to instant kill!
Azure Ring responds!
He raised his hand and unleashed a strike:
[Azure Ring - Super Awakening Style 1 - Silent Realm Returns to the Beginning - Fate's Existence Completely Covers All - Style 1: Draw the Silent Edge to Break the Realm]!
A radiant arc of light rose from beneath his feet, as if a rift in the astral plane had been torn open. A gigantic slash of light swept across the void, cleaving hundreds of star core remnants in two!
At that moment, the entire sky was torn in two, one side still hanging with shattered starlight, while the other side was completely reduced to "colorless silence," as if the boundary of the world had been cleaved open by a sword.
Chi Ning was not to be outdone, her palms transforming into butterfly wings and spinning:
[Butterfly Soul Art: Ten Thousand Sounds Pursue Traces]!
A thousand butterflies transformed into sounds, and azure light wove together in the air to form a vast sonic totem. Each melody possessed the property of resisting logical interference, layering upon each other to complement the silent light of the Azure Ring.
With their combined skills, the two finally forced this "Xingyun Domain" back into the logic of reality.
Boom--!
Amidst the deafening explosion, countless shattered stars rained down, turning into countless dust particles upon landing. Qin Yu stood in front, his eyes cold and piercing, while the guardian remained standing in place, his dark moon in his eyes undimmed, slowly raising his right arm.