Qin Yu watched as Hong Xiuxiang slowly departed into the night. Her figure disappeared into the void outside Gloomshadow Source Village with the morning clouds and gentle breeze, her long hair flying like a dream. Only after that beautiful figure completely disappeared into the horizon did he slightly withdraw his gaze and turn to look at the village behind him, which was ravaged by war and time.
At this moment, the night was as still as ink, and the world Ji Ran.
Suddenly, from the depths of his consciousness, a clear yet slightly uneasy voice quietly resounded:
"Little Qinzi, don't rush to leave this place."
Qin Yu raised an eyebrow, his mind instantly Return to One. Azure Ring had already appeared in his sea of consciousness, still dressed in a Qingyi, petite and pretty, with her hands behind her back, but her gaze had become unusually solemn.
"Just now, the moment you inscribed that fragment of the map, I sensed... deep within the village, an unusual 'dark matter disturbance.' That fluctuation wasn't from an ordinary spatial rift, nor was it generated by natural annihilation; rather, it seemed more like—"
She looked up at the nearly collapsed but still standing ancient well ruins deep in the village, a deep contemplation appearing in her eyes.
It is Dark Evolving Undercurrent within the 'logic external state'.
"You should remember, right? In the [Limitless Evolving True Flow] structure above the middle level, the Dark Evolving Undercurrent is the fifth core substance that maintains the manifest and hidden universes. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for it to leak naturally—unless some kind of 'dimensional reversal' or 'component crossing' has occurred there."
Qin Yu's gaze was solemn as he slowly placed his right hand on the hilt of the [Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword] at his waist, sensing a slight movement of annihilation energy within it.
"So you're saying that deep within that village... it's highly likely that it harbors secrets unknown to anyone, secrets even those three people weren't aware of."
Azure Ring nodded, her tone unusually serious:
"I can't determine what it is, but one thing is certain—it's slowly and steadily consuming the 'existence record' itself. If left unchecked, the entire Gloomshadow Source Village, along with the surrounding spatial memories, will likely collapse completely."
She turned her head, a barely perceptible smile playing at the corners of her lips:
"If you don't mind the trouble, we can explore further. Perhaps we'll unearth some unexpected treasures on this trip?"
Qin Yu smiled calmly, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. He stepped into the deepest part of the village, and Azure Ring leaped into the void, transforming into a stream of green that swirled around him. Amidst the swirling leaves, a deep mystery yet to be revealed was slowly unfolding.
Deep within the Gloomshadow Source Village, a faint silence reigned, like an ancient dream slumbering for a thousand years. Qin Yu stepped slowly in, and the surrounding world suddenly seemed to detach from the main world. Time and space stood still, and the air currents stagnated. Only wisps of golden-white light, visible to the naked eye, resembled the threads of destiny woven by stars, circling in the air and drawing mysterious arcs, like time runes drawn by ancient gods, dancing lightly in the night.
It was an extremely ancient palace gate, silently hidden in the center of a courtyard surrounded by silver light. The gate was embedded in the mountain rock, and flowers hung all around, as if decorating the entire ruins into a dreamlike sanctuary that was forever frozen in time.
Amidst the weathered stone pillars, rose vines twined quietly, their faint glow shimmering in the firelight, as if imbued with sentience, softly chanting an ancient language. Three guardians, clad in white, stood before the gate, their expressions solemn as monuments, immovable as mountains. Their faces were veiled by hoods, their figures as still as rocks, yet every inch of their presence exuded an unspoken "guardianship of rules."
Above the door is a circular mirror covered with deep gold inscriptions, its edges engraved with unknown symbols, like logical markings seeping from a boundary wall, while at its center is a pitch-black abyss eye, seemingly capable of devouring the cognition of the soul. The entire door is like a sleeping colossal structure of thought, waiting only for some rule to activate so that it can awaken.
Qin Yu stood quietly at the edge of the path where the silver light flowed, his gaze fixed on the portal that did not belong to the mortal world. Azure Ring said softly:
"That's not an ordinary spatial node, but... a high-dimensional fragmentary portal that has been forcibly sealed and stripped of its main logic."
Surrounded by starlight and utterly silent, a truly hidden mystery seems about to be reopened in this forgotten, nighttime ruin.
Qin Yu at the deepest part of Gloomshadow Source Village, his gaze slowly falling on the seemingly dilapidated stone wall. It was an extremely secluded corner of the village, covered by moss and withered vines year-round, as if no one cared about it. However, the moment he approached, the Azure Ring between his brows twitched slightly, and a wisp of Annihilation Origin -level fluctuation quietly echoed.
"This place... is not simple." He murmured, forming a hand seal, and then summoned the [Book of Fate Law - Realm Severing Origin Brush] - with a stroke, the brush tip was like a sword, drawing a pale blue stream of light, sweeping straight towards the stone gate.
"Silent Origin - Wheel-Breaking Seal"
Buzz!!
A ring of Annihilation exploded from the ground, and an ancient array of runes instantly appeared in the center of the stone gate. Under the analysis of the power of the Azure Ring Logic, it quickly collapsed. Then, the entire stone wall made a low rumble and slowly cracked inward, revealing a deep crevice.
And at the very moment the stone gate fully opened—
Boom!
Space suddenly distorted! A gale exploded out like a raging tide. Before Qin Yu could take a step, he was suddenly pulled into it by an irresistible spatial suction force, and his body was instantly dragged into a void realm!
The moment he regained consciousness and his feet touched the ground again, the scene before him utterly shocked him—
It was a colossal palace hidden in the cracks of the world!
Above, as if a rift had opened in the sky, a massive dome forged from flowing gold patterns and azure Xingyun slowly rotated. Radiant inscriptions, like divine pronouncements, intertwined and flowed across the dome, seemingly reciting eternity. Palaces stood all around, with winding bridges and corridors between pavilions, and clear waters reflected a river of illusory light, like a dreamlike vision of the heavens.
A giant arc structure surrounds the central palace, which floats atop the sea of clouds, like a divine relic adrift between the heavens and a dreamlike realm; the azure and golden arcade curves encircle it, as if sealing off all dimensions of space and time, just to conceal the existence of this otherworldly wonder.
Beneath the night sky, countless stars fall like rain from the Milky Way; amidst the jade-paved ground, streams meander, spirit trees are like brocade, and flower shadows are like paintings, with strands of starlight hanging from the trees, as if time itself has stood still. Countless colorful spirit flowers bloom by the pool, each one seemingly leading to a dreamlike dimension.
The main hall at the deepest part of the palace has a sky that is thousands of feet high, like an inverted starry sky. At its center is a celestial pool made of meteorite fragments, in which the spiritual water ripples and reflects an ancient statue—as if it were a god whose history has been forgotten.
Qin Yu stepped inside, his Recognition Annihilation trembling, his gaze complex:
"This place... is hidden beneath that dilapidated village? Who built it...?"
Azure Ring also appeared, whispering, "This is not a realm that can be constructed in the mortal world. It integrates the logic of the Annihilation Origin Severed Realm, the core of the Sole Book of Words, and even remnants of the lost 'Primordial Void Syntax Array'... This palace itself is a forbidden realm, capable of concealing cause and effect, logic, and the sea of consciousness..."
Qin Yu murmured to himself, gazing up at the divine runes and starlight on the dome. In the flowing light, he seemed to see countless obliterated past events and unexplored futures.
Only now did he truly realize that this palace, hidden beneath the dilapidated village, might be the beginning of another Source of Epochless · Deep Layer...
Qin Yu slowly stepped into the main staircase of the magnificent palace. The surrounding silence was still chilling. High above, the dome surface, composed of billions of stars, floated. The star pool in the center of the palace was clear and bright, reflecting the interwoven light of gold and blue. However, as he released his divine sense, he suddenly noticed something extremely unusual.
"... There is no Limitless Evolving True Flow."
There wasn't a single Limitless Evolving True Flow flowing around us!
It was as if the entire space was forcibly isolated from the logical energy flow of the Source of Epochless, and even the aura of cause and effect became blurred. Qin Yu's Azure Ring trembled slightly, as if it was also trying to calibrate the logical boundaries of this strange space, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, without any response.
"A palace of such scale, yet it seems as if its life force has been drained..." he murmured.
However, at this moment--
A faint, Kong Ling song quietly rose from the depths of the palace.
At first, it was like a gentle breeze rustling leaves, like moonlight stirring the Milky Way, faint and elusive. Then, the song became clearer, like a woman's chant, yet not of this world, more like the murmur of a divine soul from an ancient Star Abyss, melodious and mysterious.
The tone begins very slowly, melodious like gentle ripples on water:
"Ah--... If dreams are silent, if the heart Nameless... Ah--... The moon rises from the abyss, the first realm is stained with stars..."
As the song began, the entire palace space seemed to be ignited. The golden-blue palace walls trembled slightly, and the divine runes on the dome pulsed with rhythm, emitting a faint glow, like the soft murmur of resonating stars being awakened. The spiritual flowers that had long since withered in the corners of the walls bloomed again, and swirling waves appeared in the pool, like the eyes of the stars opening.
Qin Yu stopped in his tracks. The Azure Ring between his brows slowly appeared on its own, emitting a very faint fluorescent response. Even his own sea of consciousness began to be affected by a certain rhythmic vibration.
"This is no ordinary singing," Azure Ring said softly. "It's a kind of... Soul Realm level 'Sound Abyss Construct Language,' using soul consciousness as the axis and sound as the medium, capable of conveying messages across cause and effect."
"Someone... is calling me?" Qin Yu looked in the direction from which the singing came. It was a closed golden door deeper in the main hall. The door was inscribed with broken characters in the Primordial language, which could no longer be read, but its aura conveyed a kind of ancient Beginningless calling.
And at that moment, the song became even clearer and more moving, like the mournful cry of stars falling from the clouds, or like a lament from a distant era:
"If life has ended, the soul may still return... Who... are you...?"
Starlight spilled, and swirling mists of light enveloped the palace, making it seem as if it had entered a dreamlike cycle of Fate Soul. Qin Yu felt the voice slowly guiding him towards the deepest part of this Forgotten Palace—behind that song, perhaps lay a piece of history from the Source of Epochless that had never been revealed...
Following the Kong Ling chanting, Qin Yu slowly traversed the layers of palaces until he reached the deepest part of the palace.
There are no golden ornaments or carved pillars and statues here, only a peculiar space that resembles a natural "abyss spring". The surrounding area is filled with silver-blue mist like a nebula, which seems to be formed by star fragments and soul dust. The entire space seems to be suspended in the heart of the endless night sky.
And the source of that song—
It was a strange spirit that had appeared above the spring, hovering there.
It was a strange object, as if it had appeared out of a dream.
Its form resembles a transparent, shimmering blue Star Abyss Jellyfish, with each floating tentacle like a slender starband, surrounded by countless tiny stardust and the faint light of the soul, gently floating in the air, each movement seemingly stirring ripples in the very space itself.
It had no eyes or mouthparts, but from the core of that starlight, a celestial chant slowly emanated:
"Ah... I see dreams in the abyss, the old world is silent... Who will leave a trace for me?"
The sound was like the flowing Milky Way, like the first snow falling on the sea, and like moonlight shining into the Emptiness. It did not shock people's hearts, but quietly and directly affected the sea of consciousness and the depths of the soul. Every syllable seemed to be rewriting the structure of the soul and shaking the causal logic of destiny.
Qin Yu's body trembled slightly as he stepped into the edge of the spring. Instantly, countless particles of starlight rippled through the entire space, like dust and sand of Fate Soul refracted in a vacuum. He felt that the song had actually pierced through Azure Ring's logical control, directly tearing apart his soul consciousness dimension!
"This... is a soul song, a primordial composition originating from the 'Abyss Soul Spirit Language.'" Azure Ring's voice faltered. "Very few life forms can produce this kind of melody. It is not a living being; it is an 'echo' of a certain history—an unrecorded memory of a realm soul!"
Qin Yu forced himself to stay focused, a faint light of annihilation emanating from his eyes, trying to resist the logical disintegration effect hidden in the song, but he was still unable to extricate himself.
He gazed at the Star Abyss Jellyfish floating in the air—the creature seemed to belong to another world. Its body was like flowing cosmic dream crystal, and its drooping filamentous tentacles were like dream-weaving threads, each one trailing a ripple of emptiness, swaying with the song, as if playing some kind of melody from the depths of the abyss.
"Who are you..." Qin Yu asked in a low voice, his voice seemingly swallowed up by the melody, turning into ripples in the void.
The Star Abyss Jellyfish did not answer; instead, under his gaze, its song abruptly changed.
The song suddenly became heavy and slow, like some kind of sacrifice, like a mourning, or like the whispers of thousands of years of history. A streak of blood red emerged from its body, as if it had experienced some terrible disaster and was using the song as a record to erect a monument for its own broken soul.
And Qin Yu--
He was already deeply involved.
Within the sea of consciousness, the old outlines shattered one by one, and some of the soul's textures were subtly rewritten in the song, as if the logic of one's entire existence was being "reshaped" by the song.
"I can't listen anymore... but... it's so beautiful..." His mind was torn apart by the beauty, and he knew that if he went any deeper, he might fall into the danger of "miswriting his soul consciousness," but he could not resist the charm of the whispers from the dream spirit outside the realm.
At that moment, the Star Abyss Jellyfish seemed to sense Qin Yu's gaze. It slowly turned its floating body, and the core of its body—a crystal shaped like a "Soul Crystal Core"—sparkled with a faint golden light. It even extended a tendril-like filament of light towards Qin Yu, attempting to make contact with him.
It seems to want to "share memories" with Qin Yu.