Qin Yu's eyes narrowed, and the aura of the Silent Origin within his body surged violently. He raised his right hand, starlight flowing in his palm, and a point of light, resembling a star core, suddenly bloomed in the void.
[Heavenly Cause Judgment Sequence, Six Severances Seal, Fate Cause Sealing Mirror, Logic Abyss Core]!
Instantly, the entire Annihilated Cause Grotto roared and trembled, the void collapsing into countless shattered mirrors, as if the world itself had transformed into an endless sea of mirrors. In each mirror, what was reflected was not the three people, but the ten Temporal Sequence Puppet —their reversed movements, their reversed pointers, and even the life trajectories within their bodies were all frozen in the mirror.
With a deep, resonant sound, a profound blue-white star core appeared in the center of the mirror, radiating an extremely cold light. That light seemed to freeze the root of cause and effect, causing the time reversal chain of the ten puppets to freeze abruptly.
The puppets roared in unison, their hands trembling wildly, yet they could no longer reverse the seconds. They tried to break free, but countless chains of causal light flew out from the mirror sea, piercing their bodies like chains and fixing them firmly within the mirror image.
Hong Xiuxiang felt the pressure on her soul ease, and the Ink Wave reappeared before her eyes. She gasped and murmured, "This is... the power of the Six Severances Seal?"
Yunyi spread her wings, her dragon eyes cold and sharp as she stared at the sealed puppets. She whispered, "Little Qinzi... how terrifying... you even froze the 'starting point' of their skills!"
The next instant, the mirror shattered! Countless fragments transformed into ripples of light, pouring down and directly crushing the puppets' reverse logic. Their bodies gradually became transparent, the timeline collapsed piece by piece, and finally turned into silent ashes that drifted into the darkness of the cave.
The world returned to deathly silence, with only the sounds of swords and bells echoing in the air.
As the three ventured deeper into the Annihilated Cause Grotto, the space gradually became unbelievable, as if even the air itself had been stripped of its presence. There was no wind, no sound; only the sound of footsteps causing the black ground to ripple and crack like water before slowly closing again.
After passing through a narrow passageway made up of cracks, the view suddenly opened up. Before them lay a deep, abyssal palace that seemed to belong to another world.
The dome, formless and colorless, is adorned with countless "causal cracks," each shimmering with faint fragments of light, like the afterglow of a dead star, sometimes intertwining, sometimes separating. The walls of the hall are not stone, but flowing "curtains of time," reflecting countless afterimages: their past, future, and even fictional fragments that never happened appear and shatter in the light, blurring the lines between reality and illusion. The ground is crisscrossed with cracks, from which black flames occasionally erupt, but they have no warmth, only a suffocating sense of "erasure."
In the very center of the hall stood a colossal statue, hundreds of feet tall. It was not a stone sculpture, but rather a condensation of three layers of energy:
The chain of cause and effect entwined its body, riddled with cracks, emitting a light that shone in alternating gold and black;
The torrent of time converges into a long robe, cascading down from the shoulders like a waterfall, flowing upstream;
The fragments of existence coalesce into a face, its outline clear yet impossible to look at directly, as if looking directly at it would make one forget its existence.
The statue's hands are outstretched, holding a translucent black and white sphere in its palms. Three forces flow within the sphere: light fragments that deconstruct cause and effect, water shadows that reverse the flow of time, and illusory light that erases existence.
As Qin Yu approached, a tremendous tremor shook the depths of his consciousness—
The Three Forms of Fate Construction — Cause and Effect Deconstruction, Time Flow Reversal, and Existence Erasure —operated spontaneously at the same moment, resonating with the sphere in the palm of the statue.
His life seal shone brightly on his chest, and countless chains of light within his body trembled wildly, as if about to burst forth from his flesh. Azure Ring trembled violently as she murmured, "Little Qinzi, this statue... it's not an inanimate object... it's like a will frozen in time! The Three Forms of Fate Construction within you are merely an extension of it!"
Yunyi and Hong Xiuxiang also felt a terrifying pressure, almost suffocating them. Cold sweat dripped from Hong Xiuxiang's forehead as she whispered, "Is this... the source of the resonance you felt?"
The entire hall roared at this moment, and chains of cause and effect descended from the dome, connecting with the body of the statue, as if the entire Annihilated Cause Grotto was tied to His body.
The atmosphere inside the hall was already so heavy that it was hard to breathe. Just as Qin Yu, Yunyi, and Hong Xiuxiang were about to approach the statue that resonated with the Three Forms of Fate Construction, the entire space suddenly trembled violently!
Boom--!
Behind the statue, the void seemed to be torn apart, a crack descending from the dome, bursting forth with billions of gray-gold flames. The next instant, a colossal beast that blotted out the sky slowly stepped out.
[Divine Beast - Abyss-Rending Desolate Prison Mystic Hou]
Its entire body was covered with thick, gray-gold scales, each scale resembling a fragment of an era shattered when heaven and earth collapsed, shimmering with the light of destruction and hellfire. Its size was so enormous that it almost supported half a palace, its back like a collapsed mountain range, and when its four hooves landed, the earth instantly split open into a chasm, seemingly shattering even the chain of cause and effect.
Its eyes were as deep and dark as two withered suns and moons, burning with gray-gold flames, devoid of any emotion, only the coldness of "judgment and imprisonment." The breath it exhaled from its mouth and nose transformed the air into streams of black fire, drying up the flowing curtain of time on the four walls of the hall.
As it took its first step, the void suddenly collapsed, as if the entire space was being dragged into the abyss of annihilation by the "desolate prison" it carried.
With each breath, the air resounded with the tearing sound of countless chains, as if billions of souls were being dragged into the abyss of purgatory.
Its grey-gold scales reflected in the three people's eyes were like the collapse of the ancient sky, even their memories were suppressed and blurred.
As soon as the Mystic Hou stepped out, it was followed by a dense swarm of dark creatures. They were of various shapes, some resembling corpses clad in tattered armor, others dragging fragmented chains of cause and effect. Dozens of them scattered in an instant, emitting low roars in unison, and black waves surged, turning the entire hall into an absolute Asura realm.
Hong Xiuxiang's expression changed drastically, and she exclaimed in shock, "This... this is what Mengxin was talking about—the divine beast legion of the Realm of Primordial Echoes! I never thought it would actually exist! But this... this Abyss-Rending Desolate Prison Mystic Hou, is it the main force... or... just one of the legions?"
Her voice trembled, and what welled up in her heart was not just simple fear, but a sense of oppression as if the whole world had denied her.
Yunyi bit her red lips, her eyes cold. The butterfly shadows and dragon soul aura around her were already silently surging, yet she couldn't help but whisper, "Little Qinzi... this battle is probably more terrifying than all the enemies we encountered at the Waterfall Heavenly Stairway combined."
The statue in the hall trembled the moment Mystic Hou stepped out, and the black and white sphere in its palm rotated slightly, seemingly watching Qin Yu, or perhaps watching the divine beast, forming some indescribable connection.
The gray-gold flames in the void of the hall suddenly froze at that moment, as if time itself in the entire space held its breath.
The enormous head of the [Abyss-Rending Desolate Prison Mystic Hou] slowly lowered, its deep, dark eyes, like two grey-gold dead suns, locking onto Qin Yu and the other two. With the thumping of its chest, a booming sound like thousands of war drums sounding at once, grey-gold hellfire churned and roared between its fangs, as if it could swallow the entire world in one gulp.
Its voice finally rang out--
That wasn't human language, yet it was forcibly transformed into spiritual consciousness, striking directly into the hearts of Qin Yu and the other two, causing their sea of consciousness to churn and their minds to nearly suffocate.
"You... intruders... are not worthy to approach the statue... leave your treasures behind... retreat immediately... or... die!"
Every word uttered was accompanied by a tremor throughout the entire hall. The crystalline causal chains on the walls snapped and fell in countless fragments of light; the black mirror on the ground suddenly rippled violently, as if beneath one's feet lay an abyss leading to the bottom of hell; the air was filled with a deathly groan, as if countless souls were wailing.
Hong Xiuxiang's face was pale, her pretty lips were pursed tightly, and the [Brocade Ink Soul Brush] she had just obtained was trembling slightly in her hand, but she still held it tightly, and her eyes flashed with an unyielding light.
Yunyi narrowed her dragon eyes slightly, butterfly shadows and dragon souls appearing around her. She breathed softly, yet with a chilling fighting spirit. "Little Qinzi, the aura of this Mystic Hou... is even heavier than the avatar we saw in the Star Abyss Life Marrow."
Qin Yu's eyes were like an abyss, his fingers lightly caressing the sword intent of the [Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword] deep within his sea of consciousness, a cold, sharp light flashing in his pupils. He did not immediately respond to Mystic Hou, but the aura of the Azure Ring was already quietly vibrating in his sea of consciousness, as if it were ready to unleash supreme silence at any moment.
The void was so oppressive it was almost suffocating. When the [Abyss-Rending Desolate Prison Mystic Hou] took a step out from the depths of the hall, the earth collapsed as if the entire Annihilated Cause Grotto could not withstand its presence. The gray-gold hellfire dripped down its fangs, each drop shattering the void and creating fragments of cause and effect, as if even the origin of the world was about to be melted away.
Qin Yu's expression was cold and stern as he slowly drew the [Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword] from his consciousness. As soon as the sword appeared, countless patterns of Annihilation Pattern emanated from its blade, illuminating the entire cave and bringing with them a chilling and resolute sword intent. The sword's cry did not resound in all directions, but rather was low and restrained, like some kind of absolute severance from the deepest part of the world, causing all the causal chains in the air to freeze.
Without shifting his gaze, he transmitted his voice to Yunyi and Hong Xiuxiang, his voice steady yet incredibly cold:
"This beast's cultivation is already comparable to the Void Emanation Realm · Initial Stage —neither existence nor non-existence, reality and illusion intertwined, the flow of existence ceasing at the formless. All things return to the Beginningless beginning, thoughts severed in the Abyss of No Thought. In this realm, the formless can be found, the intentionless can be observed, only the Flow of Void Emanation penetrates the Wuji."
Then, his gaze swept over the dozens of dark creatures standing in neat rows behind Mystic Hou, his eyes growing even colder:
"And the dark creatures behind it... are mostly Severed Observation Realm · High Stage —unobservable to anyone, their consciousness unmeasurable. This is the extreme of 'Nonexistence Form,' the source of conceptual disturbance. Be extremely careful."
Before the words were even finished, Yunyi's figure trembled slightly, and countless butterfly shadows and Soul Rend dragon shadows appeared deep within her dragon eyes. The fluctuations of the Soul of the Illusory Dragon suddenly spread, and the aura of the Black Abyss surged like a tide, making her slender figure appear like a dragon god in an illusion. She slowly raised her hand, star butterflies fluttering around her, and the phantom of dragon wings unfurled, her gaze resolute. "I will suppress its soul fluctuations, Little Qinzi, you can act with confidence."
Hong Xiuxiang gripped the [Brocade Ink Soul Brush] tightly in one hand, while the other touched her brow. As the Spirit Brocade Book Realm materialized, she bit her red lips, her gentle gaze transforming into a chilling coldness. The pages of the scroll unfurled, countless runes swirling in the void, locking onto the Severed Observation Realm · High Stage. She murmured softly, her voice trembling with a sharp edge. "Even if I am shattered to pieces, I will stand shoulder to shoulder with you."
Qin Yu didn't say anything more. He knew that in this situation, any retreat would only lead to death. Even if he knelt down and offered up his treasures, they would never let him go. Rather than prolong his life in vain, he had no choice but to fight to the death.
More importantly, the resonance Three Forms of Fate Construction was not a mere illusion. It might be related to his future path, an opportunity he absolutely could not give up.
He took a deep breath, Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword in his hand suddenly pointed straight ahead, its Annihilation sword light illuminating the endless darkness. The light deep within his pupils and the sword intent transformed into a cold, resolute vow:
"Since there's no way to retreat, let's fight to the ends of the earth!"
The massive body of the Abyss-Rending Desolate Prison Mystic Hou slowly lowered, its gray-gold prison scales instantly rising up, like billions of sharp blades rubbing against each other in the void, shooting out dazzling and low-pitched streams of sparks. Its pupils suddenly opened, and two pillars of prison fire, more terrifying than waterfalls, shot straight into the sky.
The next second, a low roar that shattered everything came from its throat, the sound like the drums of a primordial war. The entire Annihilated Cause Grotto began to collapse, and the walls turned into shattered causal mirrors floating in mid-air.
With a roar, it unleashed its first attack—[Prison Abyss Space-Shattering Tribulation]!
The sky suddenly collapsed, and gray-gold flames spewed from between the fangs of the Mystic Hou. The flames did not burn, but rather "incinerated" the air, light, and the chain of cause and effect. The flames spread along the ground, transforming into endless fissures, each leading to the unknown void. The flames rose, and the void twisted and cracked, as if an entire world had been ignited in an instant!
The air exploded, and the light broke into fragments that floated and collapsed.
The massive torrent of flames seemed to be composed of billions of gray-gold quicksand; wherever the shockwave passed, everything was instantly swallowed up and turned to ashes.
The sky exploded with a deafening roar, the flames tearing the heavens apart like a falling star crashing into the earth, shattering light raining down.
Qin Yu and his two companions were immediately engulfed in the flames!
Yunyi roared, and the Shadow of the Illusory Dragon suddenly opened up, unfurling the Black Abyss Dragon Wings. Billions of butterflies and the Soul Rend Dragon Breath erupted together, forcibly forming a "Black Abyss Tide" that devoured the flames. The star butterflies burned to ashes in the raging flames, but were constantly reborn, illuminating the dark sea of fire.
Hong Xiuxiang's expression turned cold. With a sudden flick of her Brocade Ink Soul Brush, countless pages materialized, converging into a long river of words. The seal runes shimmered with golden and blue light, like a canopy shielding the raging flames. The river of words was scorched and cracked repeatedly, but under the drive of the brush, it was reassembled again, as if writing a chapter to resist the raging flames.
Qin Yu stepped into the void, sweeping the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword horizontally. The sword light tore open a crack, and the sword intent seemed to "divide" the raging flames, forming a channel. Azure Ring faintly appeared behind him, and the sword and the ring intertwined. The Annihilation sword light swallowed the oncoming flames like a vortex.
However, this is just the beginning.
The shockwave of the gray-gold flames continued to spread, turning the entire cave into a fiery hell, as if the heavens and earth were about to collapse!