Hong Xiuxiang gently raised her eyes. The light in her eyes at this moment was no longer the holy, cold sharpness of the Dawn Cloud First Hall, but rather a mixture of softness and stubbornness. Her voice was very soft, as if afraid to disturb the rare tranquility, yet it carried a kind of heart-wrenching sorrow:
"Qin Yu... you're always like this, keeping everything to yourself. Even if you don't want to tell me the truth, even if you have to bear the burden of this 'Phantom Demonic Spirit' that came from across dimensions alone, even if you'd rather change your name to Mo Chen and wander alone... I don't want to see you all alone anymore."
She reached out her hand, trembling slightly, yet stubbornly pressing it against Qin Yu's sleeve. "Let me stay with you, okay? Even if the road ahead is one of life and death, I'm willing to walk it with you."
In that instant, the clamor of heaven and earth seemed to fall silent, with only the faint light flowing from the distant, broken spatial rift flickering slightly.
Qin Yu's heart skipped a beat, his gaze deep and unfathomable. He understood Hong Xiuxiang's feelings, but he also knew his own predicament. He gently reached out and smoothed the blood-stained strands of hair from her forehead, his voice low and warm:
"Miss Hong, I understand your feelings. But you must know that the path I've walked is far darker and more dangerous than you can imagine. I don't want you to be drawn into it. No matter how strong your cultivation is, facing that thing... your Dawn Cloud First Hall, and even the entire Source of Epochless · Middle Layer, cannot withstand it."
A flicker of pain flashed in Hong Xiuxiang's eyes, but she did not back down. She stared at Qin Yu, biting her lip, her voice low but firm:
"So what? Even if I'm reduced to ashes, I'll still stand by your side."
At this moment, all the broken energy in the world seemed to lose its weight, except for her eyes, which held an almost desperate light, so intense that they seemed to pierce through all darkness.
Qin Yu was stunned. What he saw was not the calm, collected, and strategic core disciple of the Dawn Cloud First Hall, but a woman who was determined to walk with him regardless of everything. There was no hesitation or way out in her eyes, only an absolute obsession and belief—whether it was the Phantom Demonic Spirit or the unknown threats that stretched across the heavens, she would walk side by side with him.
A long-lost warmth suddenly welled up in Qin Yu's heart. It had been too long. Ever since he embarked on this path of no return, he had almost become accustomed to being alone, accustomed to fighting alone on the edge of life and death, never expecting anyone to share this burden with him. But at this moment, Hong Xiuxiang's firm eyes seemed to illuminate the deepest darkness in his heart.
He exhaled softly, his gaze slowly deepening in the night.
"Good."
His voice no longer rejected or pushed away, but was as steady as a mountain, carrying a solemn promise, "Since you are willing to stand by my side, from this day forward, we will be together, sharing life and death, glory and decline."
Hong Xiuxiang was stunned, her eyes instantly welling up with tears, but a relieved smile appeared on her lips.
Qin Yu reached out and gently grasped her cold hand. He could feel her trembling, and he could also feel the stubborn flame burning in her heart.
In that instant, the surrounding silence seemed to part to make way for the two of them, and the shattered starlight in the distant void shone upon them, as if witnessing this unshakable vow.
Deep within Qin Yu's consciousness, Azure Ring's figure quietly emerged. Her gaze softened as she looked at Hong Xiuxiang's figure and whispered in Qin Yu's ear:
"She's truly made up her mind... unlike others who just talk the talk. Qin Yu, if you push her away, it will probably cause her more pain than dying in battle."
Azure Ring's voice wasn't cold at all; instead, it carried a rare tenderness, as if she too was moved by the scene. She paused, then winked playfully. "But you must remember, no matter who's by your side, I'll always be there. I won't let you walk alone."
These words were like a clear spring, slowly flowing into Qin Yu's heart, making him hold Hong Xiuxiang's hand even more firmly.
Hong Xiuxiang spoke solemnly to Qin Yu in a soft voice:
"Qin Yu... A few days ago, I received news that the aura of the second fragment of the map had appeared in an ancient place. That area is called -- [Annihilation Bone Wasteland]."
She paused slightly, a hint of solemnity flashing in her eyes. "That place was once a battlefield countless eons ago, said to be the site of a great battle between Annihilation Dawn Realm · Supreme and a powerhouse of the Chaos Realm, where countless remains and fragments of annihilated cause and effect are buried beneath the wasteland. Space is perpetually distorted, and logic and order are unstable. A slight misstep can tear one into a rift in the void, never to be reborn."
"And in the deepest part of the Annihilation Bone Wasteland lies a Blood Bone Divine Altar, the very place where the fragmented map was first revealed."
Qin Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. The Azure Ring vibrated gently in his sea of consciousness, seemingly responding to the dangerous aura of that wasteland.
Qin Yu nodded, saying nothing more, only responding in a low voice, "Okay."
The two exchanged a glance, then their figures transformed into two streaks of light, soaring into the sky and heading straight towards the Annihilation Bone Wasteland.
The sky was illuminated by long streaks of light, and their silhouettes appeared and disappeared amidst the endless chaotic sea of clouds, as if they had embarked on a deeper adventure.
The two sped along, traversing continuous vortex storms and fragmented void faults, until the sky ahead finally slowly opened up.
What came into view was an endless desert.
This desert is not yellow sand, but a collection of billions of bones. Giant bones, some withered white, some charred black, and permeated with cracks of annihilation, stretch across the heavens and earth. Some tower like mountains reaching into the clouds, while others have become seas of bones, extending to an unseen end. Each bone is imprinted with broken chains of cause and effect, like golden runes forcibly severed, still shimmering with their last rays of light, softly chanting a shattered war song.
The sky was shrouded in a gray-blood-red mist that lingered year after year. It was not a cloud, but a "blood mist" formed from the annihilation of souls and the lingering fighting spirit. It surged in the wind, sometimes condensing into human figures whispering, and sometimes cracking into ferocious beast heads roaring. In one's ears, one could almost hear the roars and battles from millions of years ago still echoing.
The ground no longer contains intact soil; instead, countless fissures crisscross, within which flow streams of light, a mixture of crimson gold and pitch black—these are "fragments of cause and effect." If any cultivator approaches, at best their memories will be torn apart, and at worst, their very existence will be erased.
In the distance, in the center of the wasteland, a majestic [Blood Bone Divine Altar] could be vaguely seen standing atop millions of skeletons. The entire altar was pieced together from the bones of giant beasts and the broken bodies of gods, and dark red liquid flowed across its surface, as if the blood had not dried even after billions of epochs. A faint aura of a fragmented map floated above the altar, extremely subtle, yet it made Qin Yu and Hong Xiuxiang's hearts tremble simultaneously.
The wind howled, swirling bone fragments across the sky, like countless ghosts opening their mouths and groaning. The oppressive atmosphere made it seem as if any living being that stepped into this place was destined to be torn apart and annihilated.
As Qin Yu and Hong Xiuxiang took their first step into the Annihilation Bone Wasteland, the earth seemed to let out an extremely deep groan. The sea of bones beneath their feet suddenly trembled, countless cracks instantly spread, and bone fragments and causal dust exploded in the wind, turning into billions of tiny rays of light, dyeing the world with a strange crimson-gold color.
Boom--!
The massive white bone beneath their feet suddenly shattered, and a "causal aftershock" erupted from the abyss's fissure. It was not a simple energy shock, but rather the causal echoes left over from the fall of gods and powerful beings millions of years ago. The aftershock transformed into golden chains, weaving together dozens of illusory mirror walls, trapping Qin Yu and Hong Xiuxiang within them.
The mirror reflected in the wall did not show their figures, but rather their respective "past and future".
Hong Xiuxiang saw in the mirror the scene of her leading her junior sisters into the secret realm—the five junior sisters were completely Annihilation by the Phantom Demonic Spirit, and the moment when she herself was seriously injured and isolated was replayed, as if countless sharp blades pierced her heart and soul. On the other side of the mirror, she saw a future moment where she knelt alone in a sea of blood, her eyes Emptiness.
The scene in Qin Yu's mirror was even more terrifying. In the mirror, he stood amidst the ruins of a collapsed universe, all the familiar figures around him— Chi Ning, Shen Yuzhi, Hong Xiuxiang, Yan Yue, and even Azure Ring —were reduced to fragments, completely dissipating in the vortex of annihilation. He reached out, but could only grasp at nothingness. The next instant, a scene appeared on the mirror showing his identity as "Mo Chen" being hunted down by countless temples and clans. The entire Source of Epochless · Middle Layer regarded him as a "traitor" and wanted to erase him.
Click--click--!
The golden chains surrounding the mirror wall began to contract, attempting to completely seal off their presence, so oppressive that even breathing became impossible.
Hong Xiuxiang's face turned deathly pale. She gritted her teeth, her voice trembling, "Qin... Qin Yu... what is this...?"
Qin Yu's gaze was extremely cold and sharp. He instantly understood that this was a "causal aftershock trap" left over from the Annihilation Bone Wasteland. If one's will was not firm enough, one would be swallowed up by the mirror wall and trapped forever in the illusion of one's past and future.
The next moment, he suddenly raised his hand, and a faint light flashed from the Azure Ring between his brows, his deep voice echoing from his sea of consciousness:
"Realm Abyss Reverse Evolution!"
In an instant, the future scene in the mirror reversed, and all the illusory images traced back from the end of cause and effect to the beginning. The mirror shattered like glass, turning into countless fragments of light.
Hong Xiuxiang also woke up from the illusion, her body drenched in cold sweat, but her eyes were even more determined. She looked at Qin Yu, her eyes filled with complex gratitude and heartache.
However, at the very moment the mirror wall shattered completely, a deep rumble came from the depths of the sea of bones. Billions of bones trembled simultaneously, and a power even more terrifying than before slowly awakened, like a sleeping behemoth being disturbed and preparing to fully awaken.
The roar of the sea of bones grew heavier, as if billions of souls were awakening at the same moment. Just as Qin Yu and Hong Xiuxiang's gazes were fixed on the center of the abyss, a golden light burst forth from the ground like a raging flame, instantly illuminating the dark wasteland.
Immediately afterwards, a towering figure, almost reaching the sky, slowly rose from the sea of bones.
She was not human, but a being beyond mortal comprehension. Her entire body was covered in a sacred armor interwoven with gold and white, every pattern of which seemed to be drawn from ancient runes and lines of cause and effect, so complex that it was beyond description. The breastplate was embossed with patterns like a vast starry river, which seemed to burn with stars as they flowed with the light.
Her head had no facial features, only a flowing, crimson-gold veil of light, mysterious and impossible to look directly at. Behind her head emerged a huge golden ring, engraved with countless intricate, vine-like runes, seemingly depicting the eternal cycle of "life, death, reincarnation, and rebirth." The ring continued to expand, eventually almost completely obscuring the sky.
Her arms slowly opened, her arms like pillars of a temple, each movement causing the surrounding space to tremble. A white-gold gauze cloak draped from her shoulder armor, extending into the depths of the void, as if embracing the heavens and earth. Countless tiny specks of light shimmered within the gauze, like fragments of stars falling to earth.
In that instant, both Qin Yu and Hong Xiuxiang felt an unparalleled pressure. She was not like a living being, but more like the embodiment of an ancient law, a combination of cause and effect, order and annihilation.
Azure Ring's voice resonated within Qin Yu's sea of consciousness, extremely solemn:
"This is the 'Eternal Prohibition Guardian Soul' of the Annihilation Bone Wasteland, created specifically to guard the fragmented map. It does not belong to any realm classification; it is neither human nor soul, but rather an embodiment of order. To obtain the fragmented map, it must be completely Annihilation."
As Azure Ring finished speaking, the starry river pattern on the chest of the Soul Guardian suddenly lit up, and beams of golden light shot out from the ring behind her, like an apocalypse, illuminating the entire wasteland.
Above the sea of bones, billions of remains were ignited in golden light, transforming into chains of causal flames that coiled around the guardian spirit, making her presence even more solemn, like an empress judging all things.