The roaring, starlight-studded waters of the waterfall froze instantly, as if Time Splitting by an invisible hand. The water stopped in mid-air, transforming into countless shimmering threads that intertwined to form a river of destiny hanging upside down in the sky. Above the river, countless shattered stars swirled, as if the fates of countless living beings had been etched into it.
Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi suddenly felt their breath freeze, and even their shadows were forcibly pulled out and split into different forms of "death appearance"—some of Qin Yu lay in a sea of blood, some of Hong Xiuxiang were covered and annihilated by countless pages, and some of Yunyi turned into broken butterfly wings and dissipated into the void. These shadows struggled and disintegrated at their feet, as if they had already died in their place.
A hundred-foot-tall, pitch-black figure slowly emerged from the starlight river. It wore a robe composed of countless Fate Shard Crystal, each fragment containing a miniature depiction of the birth and death of all beings: the cries of children, the deaths of warriors, the weeping of mothers, the fall of emperors. Each scene revolved before its eyes, yet carried an utterly indifferent inevitability. It had no face, only a single eye that suddenly opened from beneath its dark hood, its pupil shifting between pitch black and golden light. Each flash of light caused the heavens and earth to tremble, as if judging all existence.
The clanging of chains echoed in the air as countless chains of destiny descended from the void, tightly binding Qin Yu and his companions, along with their shadows, rendering them immobile. In that instant, Hong Xiuxiang felt the Brocade Ink Soul Brush tremble within her soul consciousness, its tip uncontrollably writing the character "End," before the scroll burned to ashes before her eyes. Yunyi's dragon eyes suddenly cracked with countless fissures; for the first time, she felt the very logic of her soul's existence being stripped away bit by bit.
Qin Yu's heart sank, and the Azure Ring in his sea of consciousness vibrated softly. "Little Qinzi... this is no ordinary enemy, it is the Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator. It represents the sole judgment of destiny. Once it is completely locked on, only one of the three of you can survive..."
The Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator raised his hand, and the enormous hand covered in Fate Shard Crystal slowly opened, revealing countless Book of Fate unfolding behind it, each page depicting a different scene of death for three people. A single golden eye suddenly flashed, and its voice was not human, but a piercing, judgmental tone that reverberated in everyone's minds:
[The Only Path of Fate - Judgment].
The world suddenly darkened, and the entire fifth level of the Waterfall Heavenly Stairway was completely transformed into a judgment hall!
The next moment, the giant hand of the Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator, covered in shattered crystals, crashed down, and billions of chains of fate suddenly erupted, transforming into a grid that spanned the heavens and the earth, tightly binding Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi!
This is not a simple restraint, but [Chain Judgment: Soul Binding on Fate]. Each chain flashes with scenes of life and death: Qin Yu's bloody battle in the Annihilation Abyss Epoch, Hong Xiuxiang's painful struggle when she first awakened her martial soul in the Dawn Cloud First Hall, Yunyi's loneliness when she transformed into a dragon... All the past moments overlap in an instant, as if fate has reversed at this moment, forcibly fixing the "trajectory of the skills they once released".
Qin Yu's eyes widened in shock. He suddenly raised his hand to unleash [Silent Origin - Unborn Silent Cause], only to find that what appeared before him was the afterimage of [Silent Origin - Wheel -Wheel-Breaking Seal] that he had released a few breaths earlier—the chains forcibly bound him to his past trajectory, preventing him from freely using the skill!
Hong Xiuxiang was even more alarmed. The Brocade Ink Soul Brush trembled on its own in her palm, and the sea of ink churned, but it was fixed by the power of fate into a fragment of the scroll from when she fought against the Phantom Demonic Spirit. The page burned, and no new chapter could be written.
Yunyi spread her dragon wings, intending to sweep away the darkness with [Night Feather Azure Expansion], but in the surrounding void, only the weak dragon roar she let out when she first awoke appeared, its power far from enough to deal with the current catastrophe.
All three were suppressed simultaneously, the power of heaven and earth instantly collapsed, and the single golden eye behind the Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator flashed again, its cold and irresistible voice of judgment resounding in their minds:
[Your destiny has come to an end.]
In an instant, the void shattered, and the entire fifth level transformed into a hall of judgment of fate. The pages of the book burned into the air, shattered crystals fell, and countless chains of cause and effect simultaneously pointed at the three of them.
Qin Yu's heart trembled violently. Deep within his sea of consciousness, Azure Ring whispered urgently, "Little Qinzi! This is the power of Fate-Track Judgment. It will nail you to your 'former existence'! If you don't break this chain of logic, you have no chance to continue fighting!"
Hong Xiuxiang's face was pale. She bit her lip and gripped the Brocade Ink Soul Brush tightly, tears of ink splashing into the air. She couldn't help but whisper, "Qin Yu... what should we do..."
Yunyi's eyes were icy cold. Though suppressed, he still forced himself to stand firm, his voice low and roaring like the depths of an abyss, "If we yield, it will truly erase our future."
Just as the three were about to be completely swallowed by the trajectory of fate, Qin Yu's eyes suddenly flashed with a cold, sharp light, and he gritted his teeth in his heart:
Break!
The aura of the Silent Origin surged wildly, and the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword hummed almost to the point of exhaustion in his hand. The sword blade sliced through the void, forcibly pulling out the outline of [Silent Origin - Eternally Sever the Heavenly Balance], attempting to tear apart this Fate-Track Judgment with the Ultimate logic of "Sever Karma"!
For the first time, a true force of backlash erupted between heaven and earth!
The palm shadow of the Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator, pieced together from shattered crystals, suddenly descended, and the air fell silent as if it had been severed. The entire fifth-level Waterfall Heavenly Stairway instantly froze. Only countless shattered chains of fate danced wildly in the world, like a scene of billions of living beings being dragged to the guillotine.
Lock and Trial: Fate's Bound Soul!
In an instant, a light screen appeared around Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi, each displaying the trajectory of a skill they had released at some point in the past— Qin Yu's was [Silent Origin: Wheel- Wheel-Breaking Seal], Hong Xiuxiang's was [The Final Chapter of the Sole Book: Boundary- Realm-Severing Script], which she had not yet fully mastered, and Yunyi's was [Dark Abyss Roaring Soul]. These skills seemed to have been unearthed from the depths of time by the Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator and forcibly applied to them once again.
The three men's expressions changed simultaneously, because their souls and powers were completely frozen in that moment, unable to adjust or adapt. Even Qin Yu was forced to feel the "flaws and weaknesses" he had left behind in past battles being torn open again.
The sky suddenly collapsed, and as the Arbiter's single eye swept across, three skills were released on their own, but they were completely beyond their control. Qin Yu's [Silent Origin - Wheel-Breaking Seal] crashed into the void, but was locked back by cause and effect, striking his own shadow and almost causing his sea of consciousness to tremble; Hong Xiuxiang's [Realm-Severing Script] automatically disintegrated in its incomplete state, backfiring on her soul blood and spitting out a mouthful of scarlet blood; Yunyi's [Dark Abyss Roaring Soul] even bounced back directly, the soul sound bombarding her own chest cavity, causing the soul chains in her body to break inch by inch.
The entire battlefield transformed into a trial theater at that moment, and all skills became the executioner's blade.
Qin Yu gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with a desolate light. His voice was low and resolute. "This is—a forced Fate-Track Judgment! If we are completely trapped, we will be killed by our own past!"
Yunyi's dragon eyes suddenly blazed with Annihilation Abyss black flames. She forcefully tore open a rift in cause and effect, and uttered with difficulty, "Little Qinzi... if we don't join forces to Annihilation this [Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator], even we in the future will be wiped out one by one!"
The Brocade Ink Soul Brush in Hong Xiuxiang's hand spontaneously combusted in mid-air, causing the scrolls to flutter, yet tears welled up in her eyes—because she understood that the "self -Annihilation" she had just witnessed was not an illusion, but rather a possible writing of her true destiny.
The Executor's single eye opened again, golden light enveloping the earth, and countless destiny paths appeared, each leading to the inevitable demise of the three. A chilling, irresistible voice echoed throughout heaven and earth:
[Fate is predetermined; no one can escape it].
At that moment, the Silent Source Ring on Qin Yu's chest suddenly exploded, and the Azure Ring trembled softly in his sea of consciousness. "Little Qinzi, prepare to use the [Silent Origin - Tribulationless Chapter] in conjunction with the [Sword of Dream Silence], otherwise the three of you won't even last another breath!"
The oppressive golden curtain of judgment hung between heaven and earth like a cage, completely imprisoning Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi within the theater of "Fate's Judgment." All their skills were twisted by chains, becoming the executioner's blade, forcing them towards certain death. At that moment, Qin Yu suddenly raised his head, his eyes blazing with the Silent Source Ring, his voice booming like a deep abyss. "I, Qin Yu, will never be judged by fate!"
Boom--!
[Silent Origin - Tribulationless Chapter] unfolded suddenly, its ten forms overlapping like ten layers of the heavens descending. He first activated [Silent Track - Annihilation of Consciousness Flow], causing the time chain to collapse with a roar, attempting to sever the foundation of the past skill trajectories locked by the Arbiter; then [Silent Origin - Wheel-Breaking Seal] appeared, a black-gold wheel suppressing the void, directly smashing the golden curtain enveloping the three. At the same time, the Sword of Dream Silence in Qin Yu's sea of consciousness trembled violently, and [Dream-Severing - Illusionary Consciousness Ashes] burst forth from the blade with billions of illusory consciousness flames, burning away one by one the "illusionary skills" forcibly projected by the Arbiter. The sword's cry and the roar of Silent Origin overlapped, forming a destructive sound wave!
With her Hong Xiuxiang hands gripping the Brocade Ink Soul Brush, the ink exploded, and she cried out in a sweet voice, "[Soul Seal Script Law Severance]!" Hundreds of golden and blue seals suddenly appeared in the void, directly imprinting themselves onto the chains of light that attempted to alter their fates. The seals were like layers of decrees, forcibly writing "This law is void" in the theater of cause and effect, instantly tearing open a gap in the arbiter's binding laws. Scrolls flew, pages like knives, transforming into [Thousand Pages Sever Causality], severing the projections of fate that were about to press down on the three.
Yunyi Dragon Soul suddenly manifested, its dark wings blotting out the sky. A dragon roar seemed to tear apart eternity, "Roar--!" [Rending Domain Dragon Soul] erupted, the dragon shadow carrying earth-shattering soul power, directly shattering the river of fate woven by the Judge with incredible force. Space and time cracked inch by inch where the dragon shadow passed, and the chains of cause and effect instantly turned into shattered sparks. Then, she raised her hand again, the Black Abyss opened in her palm, and [Black Abyss Devouring Descent] spread out a pitch-black devouring domain, swallowing all the judgment phantoms that pressed in from all directions.
Boom boom boom--!
The three powers intertwined perfectly at this moment. Qin Yu's Silent Origin Sword burned away the illusionary consciousness, Hong Xiuxiang's Brush Seal Law rewrote cause and effect, and Yunyi's Dragon Soul Devouring Abyss crushed the trajectory of fate. The three powers intertwined with each other, like three giant dragons dancing wildly in the nine heavens, forcefully tearing apart the judgment domain of the Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator.
The arbiter's single eye suddenly magnified, and for the first time, a crack appeared within its golden divine light. Its unquestionable, chilling voice resounded once more. "The path of destiny—how can it be reversed!"
However, deep within the void, Qin Yu's Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword suddenly ignited with a silent light, linking with the Sword of Dream Silence. [Soul Annihilation - Silent Dream Lament] transformed into a silent torrent, pouring down, with billions of soul sounds impacting the enemy's soul. At this moment, the battlefield was completely submerged in the torrent of destruction and Dream Stillness intertwined.
The entire fifth level of the Heavenly Staircase was completely transformed into an apocalyptic scene the instant the two forces clashed—light chains shattered, spacetime fractured, and cause and effect overturned, as if the world itself could not bear the impact of the collision.
The single eye of the Fate-Trajectory Adjudicator slowly rotated amidst the shattered golden light and afterglow, as if watching the three. For the first time, cracks appeared in its once unshakeable domain of judgment. Countless shattered chains of fate twisted and twitched in the void, emitting a hissing sound of breaking, as if the spine of the universe had been forcibly snapped.
However, the next moment, an even more terrifying golden and black flame suddenly erupted from the arbiter's body. That was the power of "Fate Track Backlash", representing all the torn life lines returning to their source and reorganizing themselves. In the depths of the void, the Annihilation causal light chains were actually pieced together again, like broken bones regenerating, but with even more bizarre patterns, actually locking onto Qin Yu and the other two in reverse.
"Fate Track - Irreversible." That deep, inhuman voice boomed again, this time with rage and ferocity. Three inverted fate tracks appeared in the golden eye - they were the causal fate maps of Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi!
Instantly, the three felt an unprecedented sense of oppression. Qin Yu's sea of consciousness trembled violently, as if all the fragments of his "past battles" were being reenacted by the Executor, who wanted to rewrite them as "never having existed"; Hong Xiuxiang's sea of book souls surged, and her emotional logic was almost distorted into self-denial; while Yunyi's dragon soul was being pulled in the depths of the Silent Abyss, as if the existence of the entire dragon soul was being deleted bit by bit.
The void suddenly darkened, and the entire fifth level of the Heavenly Staircase was shrouded in a world of "Echoes of Destiny." Mirrors began to appear in the surrounding space, reflecting the possible futures of the three: Qin Yu lying beneath a mountain of corpses, Hong Xiuxiang Xiangshu's soul burning out, and Yunyi's dragon eyes extinguished. Each mirror represented a "destiny trajectory rewritten by the Arbiter."
They understood—the suppression they had just witnessed had merely shattered the outer layer of the arbiter's logic. Its true power had only just been revealed!
Qin Yu gritted his teeth, gripping the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword and the Sword of Dream Silence tightly with both hands, his voice low and firm. "This time, we can't just retaliate... we must completely eradicate its foundation!"