Fate and Cause Unbound · Forging the Soul in True Combat

The Star Abyss Palace Hall, one of the core areas of the inner gate of the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall 'Annihilation Star Hall Palace, is built with countless floating steps, its architecture resembling Annihilation Radiance from the heavens. At this moment, starlight spills throughout the palace, and a silent celestial canopy covers the entire palace, shielding it from all external detection.

Qin Yu and Chi Ning, having returned from the Fate Authority Mission Hall, stood beneath the main seat of Star Abyss. Shen Yuzhi, Luo Huan, Mu Xun, Du Linglin, Mo Zhiyan were also present, sitting around an antique stone seat.

Shen Yuzhi spoke first, her eyes filled with undisguised astonishment. "Junior Brother Qin, Junior Sister Chi, you... you actually completed that Annihilation Ranking mission? The Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm! For billions of years, no one has returned from that Mist Soul Severed Realm. How did you manage to do it?"

Luo Huan grinned and exclaimed, "That's right! Mission number 4319 is a forbidden zone that we all assumed would end in death. Not only did you two come back alive, but you also handed over the original imprint of the Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm. This... this is simply not something a living person could accomplish."

Mu Xun's eyes burned with intensity, as if he were re-examining Qin Yu: "Confess honestly! Did you use some heaven-defying technique to suppress the core there?"

Du Linglin frowned and said in a low voice, "But that is the real 'Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm'... Even elders at the Severed Observation Realm dare not act rashly."

Mo Zhiyan unusually silent, but his eyes were fixed on Qin Yu, as if he had already deduced some startling possibilities from various intelligence reports.

At this moment, all five eyes focused on each other, anticipating an incredible answer.

At this moment, Qin Yu merely smiled and did not speak immediately. He glanced at Chi Ning Chi Ning, who understood, smiled, sat back down beside the main seat, straightened her clothes, and said:

"What we've been through is something you probably wouldn't believe if I told you."

She paused, as if still immersed in that nightmarish journey through the realms, before speaking softly:

"We encountered a constantly shifting Misty Soul Realm, traversed Great River of Cause and Effect from which we could not fly, were dragged into a sacrificial array in a dream... and were even nearly completely erased by the Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm."

Upon hearing this, the five people in the hall all changed color.

Qin Yu then slowly stood up, his steps steady, his gaze unfathomable. "We have met the true ruler of that Mist Soul Severed Realm —He is not some being you imagine, but the 'heart' of the entire Realm. It all began the moment we first met that 'Xiaotong'."

Shen Yuzhi was taken aback. "Xiaotong?"

"Yes," Chi Ning replied, his expression grave, "He disguised himself as a child searching for his sister in the Mist Soul Severed Realm, leading us step by step into his trap. From the very first step, we entered the structural maze set up by the Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm."

Qin Yu's voice was steady and powerful:

"The sacrifice in the dream, the illusory soul in the illusion, and the three dark beings in the Severed Observation Realm were all merely shells and false forms constructed by Him—until the final battle, the Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm finally revealed its true form."

"He was too strong," Chi Ning said, her voice still tinged with lingering fear. "If it weren't for the Azure Ring Soul Beast's intervention, we... we probably wouldn't even have been reduced to ashes."

Upon hearing this, the five people finally fell completely silent, and the air seemed to freeze because of these words.

Mo Zhiyan muttered to himself, "Just as I thought... Even the 'Mist Soul Severed Realm' has become a tangible consciousness... No wonder no one has returned in billions of years."

Mu Xun suddenly stood up. "Qin Yu, you... who exactly are you?!"

This statement, though tinged with surprise, also carried an unprecedented level of respect.

Qin Yu simply replied calmly, "I am merely an inner disciple of the Annihilation Star Hall of the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall."

Chi Ning chuckled softly, her voice tinged with a hint of playfulness. "But he is the 'only' among all our inner disciples to emerge unscathed from the Annihilation Ranking mission."

Inside the Star Abyss Palace Hall, after a moment of silence, the atmosphere suddenly became relaxed and enthusiastic.

Mu Xun stood up first, grinning and waving a long, slender finger. "Hehe, now you two are completely set for life."

His tone was slightly teasing, but he couldn't hide his envy. "One complete Limitless Resonance Crystal per person! That's a resource that ordinary people can't even dream of."

With that, he plopped back down on the stone seat, made a gesture in the air with his hand, and virtual currency jumped between her fingertips:

"One Limitless Resonance Crystal can be exchanged for 100,000 Annihilation Starlight Crystal! What does that mean? Even if all of us were to cultivate in seclusion for ten years, we might not be able to earn such a huge amount of resources... Your mission has directly crossed the Heavenly Rank."

"Don't forget the points." Luo Huan grinned and continued, "Three thousand points, three thousand per person. Tell me, among us, who has ever gained that many points in a single mission?"

Mo Zhiyan rarely smiled, and nodded, saying, "The missions on the Annihilation Ranking are extremely dangerous, and very few can complete them... But the higher the risk, the more astonishing the reward."

His gaze fell on the [Limitless Resonance Crystal] that Qin Yu had just acquired. The crystal swayed slightly, like flowing stars, and the surrounding space seemed to vibrate slightly.

"This time, the two of you have truly gotten excellent value for your money."

"Great value for money?" Chi Ning chuckled twice, as if recalling those moments of narrow escape from death in the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm.

She rubbed her temples. "It wasn't for nothing that I was trapped in the illusion and sacrificed, had my consciousness shaken by the dark soul mist, and was finally ambushed and knocked unconscious by that so-called 'Xiaotong'... That trip probably cost me ten years of my lifespan."

"However—" she paused, then patted Qin Yu on the shoulder, "Luckily, I went with Junior Brother Qin, otherwise I probably would have been blown to pieces by now."

Shen Yuzhi chuckled softly, "Qin Yu survived that kind of mission... now the entire Annihilation Star Hall will probably have to re-evaluate you."

"It's not just the Annihilation Star Hall." Du Linglin raised his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Once a mission of this level is recorded in the Annihilation Ranking, soon all the high-ranking elders of the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall will know your name."

"Perhaps—" his gaze deepened, "Even the Grand Elder of the Hall... will turn his attention to this."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall fell silent.

Because they all knew that there were no more than five disciples in the entire Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall who could receive the Grand Elder's attention. And Qin Yu was now very likely to become the sixth.

Within the Star Abyss Palace Hall, a surge of azure light flowed and a serene glow surrounded it. The Limitless Resonance Crystal, which had just been delivered, was still slowly shimmering, like the brightest glimmer of future light in the abyss of the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall.

As Chi Ning spoke, she patted her shoulder, seemingly still feeling a bit tired.

"Alright, alright, we won't bother Junior Brother Qin any longer." She waved to everyone, her smile barely concealing a hint of weariness. "Junior Brother Qin and I fought our way back from the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm, facing the Dark Sacrifice, three Supreme Severed Observation Realm, and that... the Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm..."

She paused slightly, as if recalling that near-death struggle, and gently shook her head.

"I'm so tired."

She looked at Qin Yu, her eyes filled with genuine concern. "Junior Brother Qin, we'll be going now. You should get some rest too."

After saying that, she turned and walked outside, her long hair fluttering gently in the starlight.

Mo Zhiyan, Du Linglin, Mu Xun, Luo Huan, Shen Yuzhi, and others also stood up, nodded to Qin Yu, or cast admiring glances, or smiled.

"Let's get together another day," Shen Yuzhi said softly.

"I'm so proud of your achievement this time." Mu Xun blinked. "When I write this into 'The Annihilation Epoch Strange Volume,' don't forget to draw a handsome portrait of me for the cover."

Luo Huan simply shrugged and didn't say anything, but he gently punched Qin Yu's shoulder with his fist, representing the tacit understanding and admiration between comrades.

Together they walked out of the Star Abyss Palace Hall, gradually disappearing into the distance amidst the Wuji starlight and the Annihilation Realm winds.

The hall fell silent once more, with only the stone walls, cleansed by the fading light, and the Azure Ring throne, still bearing the lingering echoes of the previous fervor and reverence.

Qin Yu slowly rose, looked at the sunlight outside the hall, and smiled slightly:

"It's time to take a break."

He took a step and slowly walked towards the meditation chamber deep within the Star Abyss Hall.

Deep within the Star Abyss Palace Hall, in a quiet cultivation chamber, Qin Yu sat cross-legged, his body radiating subtle fluctuations of the Limitless Evolving True Flow. He seemed to be completely integrated with the palace space, as if he had sunk into the Primordial realm where all things were silent.

A clear and distant azure light flickered between his brows, and the next moment, his consciousness quietly sank into his sea of consciousness.

Within the sea of consciousness, the sky was vast and shrouded in azure light. The Azure Void Tree, which extended from the logic of Fate-Cause, floated silently above the abyss of consciousness, its branches spreading like a stream of logic that continued through billions of dimensions, lingering in the heavens.

At this moment, atop the tree branch in the void, a delicate and lovely green figure was gently swinging her feet, sitting on a hanging green branch and leisurely swinging, as if she were a celestial being transformed.

Azure Ring looked at him with a smile, her eyes full of mischief and amusement:

"Little Qinzi, Little Qinzi —you're holding a complete [Limitless Resonance Crystal] right now. In the entire Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall, apart from those old, immortal core disciples, you can count the number of young people who can get their hands on one hand."

She gently swung the swing, and the branches rippled with starlight, rising into the sky with her figure in Azure Ring, before slowly falling back down.

"However..." She tilted her head and blinked, "This crystal is nothing special for you. You are the regulator of the Evolving True Flow, so there's no bottleneck in absorbing energy; it's much faster than using a crystal. The problem now is—"

She paused slightly, hugged her knees, and looked at Qin Yu:

"Are you planning to exchange them directly for Annihilation Starlight Crystal? That's a full 100,000 crystals, equivalent to the amount needed for a mid-tier resource tower. Or... do you want to save them for later when you're refining Martial Soul components or Realm-level Reversal Arrays?"

Qin Yu did not answer immediately, but silently gazed at the azure waves in his sea of consciousness. After a moment, he spoke softly, his voice as steady as flowing sand:

"Of course I know the value of this Limitless Resonance Crystal."

He closed his eyes, exhaled softly, and the aura belonging to the Peak Annihilation Source Realm rose and fell slowly within his body, like thunderclouds about to rise.

"But I also know that I am able to absorb the Limitless Evolving True Flow because of the combination of your regulation and my own Fate-Cause characteristics."

"This crystal can elevate my cultivation level to another step, perhaps even allowing me to touch the Logic Realm Realm."

But... I'm not in a hurry.

He opened his eyes, his gaze as deep as the universe:

"The path I want to take is the path of advancing through battle."

"Breakthroughs awakened in actual combat are the most stable and authentic way to ascend to a higher dimension, whether in terms of constructing soul diagrams, cultivation techniques, and logical nodes, or in terms of the stability of Fate-Cause structures."

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips:

"True powerhouses of the Silent Origin do not rely on accumulating energy, but on—'uniqueness'."

Azure Ring looked at him, smiled gently, and slowly leaped down from the branch, landing silently on her bare feet, as if stepping into the intersection of countless rules and logics.

"... Hehe, Little Qinzi, not bad." She blinked. "You're becoming more and more like a Ring Master."

She suddenly turned around, her back to Qin Yu, but her voice carried a gentle seriousness:

"Since you've made your decision, I'll lock this resonance crystal into the Star Abyss Soul Repository for you. You can take it out whenever you want to use it."

"However, you must remember that this kind of reverse growth method carries correspondingly higher risks."

"Next time you encounter something like the Heart of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm, I might not be able to show up and cover for you."

Qin Yu nodded slightly, his gaze calm and firm:

"I know."

As his consciousness gradually returned to tranquility, Azure Ring's figure transformed into azure light once more, merging into Qin Yu's brow.

He slowly opened his eyes, a wisp of invisible light flowing in his pupils, as if a new realm was quietly surging within him.