Fierce Battle Against the Nightmare Disciple Leader
Suddenly, the first-level waterfall lost its weight amidst the roar, and the billions of starlight-filled waters transformed into a reversed waterfall of light, swirling upwards and gently lifting Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi. Within the water, the starlight resembled countless shattered threads of destiny, each streak of light trailing ancient whispers, as if chanting forgotten verses of cause and effect. The three were swept into this waterfall of light, their figures rising continuously amidst the starlight-filled waters, as if sailing against the heavens, directly ascending to the second level of the celestial staircase.
As their bodies crossed the boundary of the radiant water curtain, the scene before them suddenly changed.
The second tier of celestial steps was shrouded in a grayish-white waterfall. The waterfall was not like real water, but rather woven from broken life paths and shattered threads of cause and effect. Every drop of grayish-white water that fell caused ripples in the void, as if history was being rewritten. Time and space here seemed to have been altered countless times, and even breathing exuded an eerie, oppressive feeling.
Just as the three landed, several figures slowly emerged from the gray waterfall.
That was the Karma Nightmare Disciple.
Their appearance was like a nightmare solidified, their bodies woven from countless broken threads of cause and effect, their forms shifting between reality and illusion, sometimes human, sometimes beast, sometimes a blurry mist of light. Each Nightmare Disciple's eye sockets were sunken and empty, with only a gray-white wheel of cause and effect slowly rotating, emitting a chilling light. Fragmented images of fate floated around them: some fragments flickered with scenes of Qin Yu's past battles, some eerily reflected the future that Hong Xiuxiang had never experienced, and some even showed the phantom of Yunyi's annihilated soul.
"... You are already dead..."
The whispers of the Karma Nightmare Disciple resounded simultaneously in the minds of the three, the voices seemingly coming from the depths of history.
The next instant, everything went black before Qin Yu's eyes.
He "saw" himself surrounded by Dao Shadow Soldier, blood staining the sky, the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword breaking, and the light of the Azure Ring completely extinguished. His existence was erased by the logic of the world, and the name Qin Yu no longer existed in the world.
At that moment, his heart clenched, and even the energy of the Silent Origin within his body began to malfunction. His skill chains seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand, and his soul consciousness swayed wildly on the verge of collapse.
Hong Xiuxiang and Yunyi's expressions also changed drastically. They saw Qin Yu's figure gradually blurring in their eyes, as if he were truly being erased from history!
The Nightmare Disciple all raised their hands, and gray-white chains wrapped around Qin Yu like vines, their whispers overlapping like a tide:
"Since cause and effect are already determined, you no longer need to exist..."
The heavens and earth lost their color, the gray waterfall flowed backward, and the whole world seemed to be cooperating with them to rewrite Qin Yu's destiny.
This is the initial strike of the Karma Nightmare Disciple: altering existence and erasing the present.
Beneath the gray waterfall, the world resembled a torn and rewritten scroll, Qin Yu's existence gradually dissipating, even his breath and pulse being altered to "never existed." The causal wheels of the Nightmare Disciple shone ever brighter, their gray-white threads like countless chains of fate, relentlessly strangling Qin Yu's soul.
In an instant, Qin Yu's brow twitched violently, and the Annihilation Origin Breath transformed into a silent undercurrent that surged in all directions. His eyes rekindled with a fierce light.
"My destiny is not to be altered by any external force!"
Deep within his sea of consciousness, the Azure Ring trembled violently, its surface cracking open with countless patterns of Annihilation light, transforming into a pure azure blade that severed the gray-white threads of cause and effect. The instant the azure light burst forth, the entire Gray Waterfall World seemed to ignite, and the whispers of the Nightmare Disciple turned into piercing screams.
Qin Yu raised his hand, and the Sword of Dream Silence appeared in his palm. The dream patterns and annihilation cracks on the sword flashed together, and a deep hum seemed to respond to his anger.
With a single step, his soul energy erupted, and the sounds from his sea of consciousness shattered into countless dreams:
[Sword of Dream Silence - First Form - Dream Severance - Illusory Ashes]!
The moment the sword was unleashed, heaven and earth suddenly froze, all the gray-white waterfalls flowed backward, and the wheel of cause and effect in the eyes of the Nightmare Disciple shattered simultaneously. That sword directly severed the boundary between "dream and reality," shattered the illusion, and burned the false cause and effect woven by the Nightmare Disciple into endless ashes.
Immediately afterwards, his body trembled again, and the sword intent of the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword emerged, linking with the Sword of Dream Silence. The Illusory Consciousness Ashen Blade suddenly evolved into a "Dream-Extinguishing Silent Wheel".
The Silent Wheel roared down, as if falling from the abyss of the origin of Source of Epochless, carrying an irresistible force that directly shattered the causal logic manipulated by the Nightmare Disciple.
The Nightmare Disciple roared, and the causal threads on their bodies snapped instantly, as if ignited by an invisible fire, peeling away layer by layer.
At the same time, Qin Yu's brow lit up again, and the phantom of the Silent Beginning Ring Master Soul Diagram deep within his sea of consciousness appeared, covering the sky above the Gray Waterfall World and instantly sealing the Nightmare Disciple's "Dream Location" authority.
The heavens and earth echoed, and the chains of cause and effect on the Nightmare Disciple shattered with a "crash," turning into countless dust particles that fell into the waterfall.
Hong Xiuxiang's eyes widened in shock. "He... directly rewrote cause and effect!"
Yunyi's eyes flashed, and his voice was deep and gratified. "Little Qinzi, as expected, you won't be swayed by illusions."
As the light of the Sword of Dream Silence completely extinguished the false illusion of cause and effect, Qin Yu's figure solidified once more. The Nightmare Disciple retreated, their tattered causal bodies trembling, as if they could no longer sustain their own logic of existence.
But new light began to gather within their gray-white rings, clearly indicating that they would launch an even more terrifying offensive.
The gray waterfall churned, and the gray-white wheels on the chests of the Karma Nightmare Disciple suddenly expanded, with billions of threads transforming into a vast vortex from which a violent reverse current of cause and effect surged forth. In an instant, the world was altered to the logic of "no Qin Yu exists," and even the memories of Hong Xiuxiang and Yunyi began to blur, their minds almost forgetting Qin Yu's figure.
Qin Yu's eyes narrowed, and the Azure Ring deep within his sea of consciousness trembled slightly, its light radiating a sharp, Annihilation Rhythm. He silently vowed, "This reverse logic must not be allowed to spread!"
He clasped his hands together, and ten layers of annihilation runes instantly appeared around his body, which was the form of [Silent Origin - Tribulationless Chapter].
The first move, [Silent Origin - Wheel-Breaking Seal], suddenly manifested. The cyan seal, like a ring of Annihilation, struck the wheel of cause and effect, creating the first crack.
Immediately afterwards, his figure spun rapidly in the gray waterfall, and the second move [Silent Origin - Boundless Ashes] burst forth, with billions of annihilating flames sweeping across like flowing flames, igniting the causal threads released by the Nightmare Disciple and burning them to ashes.
The Nightmare Disciple roared, forcibly rewriting the proposition of "extinguishing the annihilation fire," but Qin Yu's brow suddenly brightened, and he uttered a cold shout:
"Silent Wheel: Soul Devouring Order!"
Instantly, the eighth form of [Silent Origin - Tribulationless Chapter] unfolded, and the tenfold Annihilation Soul Wheel emerged from the sea of consciousness, blasting away the Nightmare Disciple's reversed causal flow and forcibly compressing it back into its origin. The Nightmare Disciple's body trembled, and large cracks appeared on the causal wheel.
At this moment, Qin Yu took a step forward, raised his palm, and another reconstruction diagram appeared in the void.
[Silent Ring · Return to the Abyss Diagram] First Form - Silent Ring ·Locking Abyss Seal suddenly lit up, and a grand ring diagram was projected onto the heavens and earth, reversing all the causal logic that the Nightmare Disciple had altered and Return to the Abyss. Countless gray and white lines trembled in the diagram, gradually being dragged into the ring abyss, and completely returned to silence.
Before the ring diagram could stop, the second move, [Silent Ring - Chain of Cause and Effect], followed immediately. A thousand chains of cause and effect descended from the void, tracing back the Nightmare Disciple's fate and directly severing the logical roots they had fabricated. The Nightmare Disciple let out a deafening shriek, and the gray-white wheel shattered completely!
Qin Yu slashed down with his sword, the sword intent of [Sword of Dream Silence - Severing Dream - Illusory Consciousness Ashes] and the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword linked together, the silent light and dream flames converged, transforming into a "Dream-Extinguishing Silent Wheel", which directly pierced through the Nightmare Disciple's remaining body.
Boom--!
The entire second-tier waterfall exploded and reversed in an instant, the gray-white cascade transforming into countless fragments reversing cause and effect, swallowed by the ring diagram and burned by the Wheel of Annihilation. The Nightmare Disciple, along with their fabricated causal logic, were utterly shattered under this series of coordinated attacks.
The void returned to silence.
Hong Xiuxiang gripped the Brocade Ink Soul Brush tightly, her eyes flashing with shock and awe. She whispered, "His technique is no longer a simple confrontation... but a perfect combination of the Silent Origin, the Ring Map, and the Sword Intent."
Yunyi's eyes were deep, and he chuckled softly, "Little Qinzi, you're still as fierce as ever. Hahahaha."
But just then, deep within the second waterfall, new shadows quietly stirred, as if a higher-ranking Nightmare Disciple was awakening.
The sky and earth suddenly darkened, and the radiance of the entire second-level waterfall abruptly went out, leaving only a depressing gray-white expanse. The water seemed to freeze, transforming into a deathly silent curtain. Immediately afterward, a huge gray wheel appeared in the center of the waterfall, a hundred times larger than the gray-white causal wheel of the Nightmare Disciple. As it rotated, it actually affected the time and causality of the entire space.
Boom--
As a roar resounded, a Nightmare Disciple leader slowly emerged from the gray wheel.
Its body was over a hundred feet tall, formed entirely from gray mist, its limbs dragged by countless chains of cause and effect, and broken life trajectories extending from its back like the remnants of a fallen galaxy. Its head had no facial features, only a turning void scroll, the pages of which constantly spontaneously combusted, each page burning to ashes representing the complete erasure of a piece of history.
As it took its first step, the entire waterfall trembled violently. Hong Xiuxiang's face turned pale instantly, and her hand holding the Brocade Ink Soul Brush trembled slightly. She even felt that several lines of her own memory had been instantly altered, as if her first encounter with Qin Yu and Yunyi had never happened.
Yunyi suddenly looked up, her dragon eyes flashing with cold light, the space around her distorting, and she gritted her teeth and whispered, "Little Qinzi, this Nightmare Disciple leader... possesses at least the power of the Annihilation Dawn Realm's Supreme!"
The leader of the Nightmare Disciple Disciples raised his hand, and the Void Scroll turned to a new page. Gray flames engulfed it, and it spoke silently, not in words, but in the "Sound of Cause and Effect" that altered the course of fate. As soon as that sound rang out, Hong Xiuxiang's figure blurred instantly in Qin Yu's eyes, as if she should never have existed.
Qin Yu's heart skipped a beat. The power of the Silent Origin and the radiance of the Azure Ring resonated within his body simultaneously. He uttered coldly:
"This time, cause and effect have been altered—I will sever them!"
The waterfall roared, the gray wheel spun, and the aura of the Nightmare Disciple leader gradually spread. Every lifeline in the world trembled, as if this battle was destined to push the entire second level of the Heavenly Rank to its Ultimate.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Nightmare Disciple Leader's Karmic Gray Wheel expanded dramatically, transforming the entire second level of the Heavenly Staircase into an inverted abyss of destiny. Countless broken lines of cause and effect hung down like a gray waterfall, enveloping Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi. Each gray line that touched their bodies would alter a memory in their sea of consciousness— Hong Xiuxiang instantly saw herself already dead in battle, while Yunyi saw the image of Qin Yu turning to ashes.
"This is a lie!" Qin Yu roared, and the Azure Ring trembled violently in his sea of consciousness, emitting a light of annihilation.
He raised his hand, his right arm surging with the flames of Annihilation Origin, first using [Silent Origin - Wheel-Breaking Seal] to suppress the trajectory of fate! Hundreds of millions of gray wheels appeared around him, then exploded all at once, crashing into the gray waterfall and tearing a gap in its path.
Taking advantage of this brief moment, Yunyi suddenly took a step forward, and a dark dragon shadow roared up from behind her, its cry shattering space and time.
[Dark Abyss Roaring Soul]!
A silent dragon's roar spread out, instantly tearing the battlefield apart, and the first crack appeared in the Nightmare Disciple leader's life-or-death chains.
Hong Xiuxiang's eyes sharpened, and she swung her Brocade Ink Soul Brush, unleashing a long, sweeping stroke that transformed the sea of ink into a surging wave, instantly engulfing the void.
[The Book Annihilation Ink Waves!]
Countless ink-black pages, like a sea of stars, spread out towards the Nightmare Disciple Leader, forcefully blocking its continued act of writing cause and effect.
The Nightmare Disciple Leader suddenly let out a piercing roar of cause and effect, the entire Void Scroll flipped violently, and a gray flame suddenly slashed down! That was its ultimate technique—Rewriting Cause and Effect, Zeroing Out Fate! Wherever the gray flame passed, the principles of heaven and earth were erased, and even the definition of existence vanished instantly.
Qin Yu's eyes suddenly turned cold, a circular map appeared beneath his feet, and the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword behind him roared.
[Silent Ring - Initial Realm Resonance]!
Countless halos of Annihilation vibrated and spread, linking with the Azure Ring of annihilation, freezing the patch of gray flames. The sword then swung down—
[Sword of Dream Silence - Broken Dream - Ashes of Illusion]!
The sword light tore through the void, shattering the boundary between dream and reality. The gray flames instantly lost their logic and turned to ashes.
The combined power of the three instantly shattered the entire celestial staircase, the gray waterfall reversed direction, and the Nightmare Disciple leader's massive figure staggered backward for the first time, with cracks igniting on the void scroll.
"A good opportunity!" Yunyi shouted, her wings suddenly unfurling, and billions of butterflies flew out from her body, covering the entire void of cause and effect. The butterfly wings shimmered with starlight, like the annihilation of the Milky Way, and rushed straight towards the leader of the Nightmare Disciple.
Meanwhile, the Nightmare Disciple Leader, Gray Wheel, flipped to its Ultimate, preparing to unleash a second, even more terrifying wave of causal rewriting.