Deep within the Annihilated Cause Grotto, all was silent, with only the shattered void collapsing in the stillness.
After the beam of annihilating black light dissipated, the statue still stood in the center of the abyss, dim and silent. However, a faint black mark remained between its brows, like a rune forged from countless chains of cause and effect, appearing and disappearing in the void.
Qin Yu's gaze sharpened, and in that instant, the breath in his chest suddenly trembled violently—
The Three Forms of Fate Construction — Cause and Effect Deconstruction, Time Flow Reversal, Existence Erasure —resonate simultaneously in the sea of consciousness.
Each resonance transformed into annihilating ripples, spreading from his sea of consciousness, causing him excruciating pain and his blood to boil, as if he were about to burn to ashes at any moment.
Boom!
The statue's eyes suddenly flashed, and a stream of black light poured down like a waterfall, enveloping Qin Yu directly.
"Qin Yu!"
Yunyi and Hong Xiuxiang exclaimed in surprise at the same time, rushing forward, but only managed to see Qin Yu's figure completely disappear.
The black light was not energy, but a kind of existence that transcended the laws of the three realms. Qin Yu's whole body trembled, and in the next instant, his figure disappeared directly into the Annihilated Cause Grotto, leaving the two women dumbfounded and standing there in shock.
When Qin Yu opened his eyes again, the world was completely different.
This is a completely unfamiliar space.
In the boundless void float broken fate tracks, shattered clocks, and distorted chains of causality, each fragment carrying the aura of reconstruction and collapse. Beneath one's feet is not land, but a black mirror that is constantly fracturing and reshaping.
There is no wind, no sound, only a constant sense of oppression. Every breath feels like being stripped of one's very being.
Yet, in the depths of that boundless darkness, a magnificent monument stood, inscribed with ancient runes:
"The Land of Void Source Reshaping."
Qin Yu was startled, realizing that this was a place the statue had deliberately transported him to.
Within her sea of consciousness, Azure Ring trembled slightly, her voice low and solemn:
"Little Qinzi... this place is probably a primordial forbidden zone that surpasses Source of Epochless. Only those who truly resonate with destiny are qualified to be sent here."
The surrounding fragments of void gradually converged, forming a magnificent wheel, like an altar that judges time and cause and effect, and Qin Yu's figure was being pushed towards the center of that wheel.
The Three Forms of Fate Construction resonated more intensely than ever before, each ripple transforming into real power that surged forth from his body, causing the void to hum incessantly.
At this moment, Qin Yu seemed to be standing on the edge of reconstructing the logic of the universe.
The Land of Void Source Reshaping was silent.
Qin Yu stood alone on the Void Mirror Plate, surrounded by floating chains of cause and effect and fragments of time that intertwined to form an invisible cage, as if trying to compress his existence into nothingness. Black light fragments scattered from the statue fell like raindrops without making a sound, turning into black holes of nothingness upon hitting the ground, swallowing even light.
Azure Ring's voice echoed softly in his mind, "Little Qinzi... this is not a simple trial, but an ancient inheritance of the Void Source Bloodline. Only those whose will is approved by the Primordial Walker can truly pass. You must be prepared; this is not just a battle, but a test of the very essence of your soul."
Suddenly, the void trembled violently.
An ancient voice resounded throughout the heavens and earth, neither male nor female, like the whisper of a storm from millions of years ago:
"The Void Source Clan, of Primordial Bloodline... Tracing cause and effect, severing the flow of time, overturning existence. Descendants, are you willing to bear the responsibility of reshaping?"
Before he could finish speaking, the mirror plate beneath Qin Yu's feet suddenly shattered, and his figure was instantly pulled into a sea of chaos.
First Trial: Void Realm Contemplation.
There is no up or down, no near or far, only endless fragments of light and ripples in the void. Every fragment of light reflects Qin Yu's past experiences: Entering Stillness Origin, stepping into the Eternal Extreme Sacred Hall, standing shoulder to shoulder with Yan Yue, the awakening of Azure Ring, the tears of Hong Xiuxiang... everything is reflected and floats around him.
However, these images began to be torn apart and devoured by a force, and Qin Yu saw his own image gradually disintegrate, turning into ashes-like fragments. The voice echoed once more:
"If you can't even preserve your own existence, how can you talk about reshaping the universe?"
Qin Yu was shaken to his core. In that instant, he felt an unprecedented fear—as if his history was being denied, and even the name "Qin Yu" was disappearing.
He gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with a destructive light, and let out a low growl:
"I am who I am! No matter if cause and effect are severed, time is reversed, or existence is erased! Qin Yu will never perish!"
Boom--
The void trembled suddenly, and the Three Forms of Fate Construction within Qin Yu's body erupted: the Cause and Effect Deconstruction transformed into a star ring, the Time Flow Reversal transformed into a river, Existence Erasure transformed into black flames. The three forces surrounded him, protecting his gradually fading figure.
The light particles stopped.
The next moment, a glimmer of chaotic light appeared in his eyes, and a heavy pulse came from his chest.
Azure Ring whispered, "This is... the initial awakening of the Void Source Bloodline. You've taken the first step, Little Qinzi."
However, the chaos ahead did not dissipate.
In the deeper void, a staircase forged from Cause Splitting chains slowly emerged, its end echoing with deafening whispers:
Trial Two: The Causal Severance.
The void beneath Qin Yu's feet transformed into a shattered staircase, each step a broken chain of cause and effect, shimmering with fragments of light interwoven with crimson and silver radiance. With each step, a cracking sound rang out, as if the causal world beneath his feet was collapsing layer by layer.
When he reached the end, a huge mirror of cause and effect appeared before him.
The mirror reflects not an illusion, but the reality of the past: the scene of Yan Yue fighting alongside him, the hunt of ten dark creatures—the surge of blood, Yan Yue coughing up blood and falling, the moment Huayan took her away.
The mirror suddenly cracked, and a deep, booming sound rang out:
"Inheritor, by your own will, sever your cause and effect. Will you preserve this memory, or rewrite this cause?"
In an instant, the mirror split in two.
The image on the left shows Yan Yue severely injured, taken away, and falling into a deep, unawakened sleep.
The image on the right shows Yan Yue unharmed, still beside Qin Yu, her eyes clear and gentle.
Qin Yu's pupils contracted, and his heart clenched tightly.
The voice carried a hint of indifference and probing:
"If you choose the right side, Yan Yue will never be hurt, your past will be rewritten, and you and she will continue to stand side by side—at the cost, your true memories will be erased, and you will forget that she once saved you in a desperate battle."
If you choose the left side, everything will remain the same. You will suffer, she will remain in a deep sleep, but your memories and the true cause and effect will be preserved intact.
The void trembled, and the causal chain surged like a tidal wave, almost tearing Qin Yu's figure apart.
He closed his eyes, his chest heaving with intense emotions: pain, resentment, and longing. Azure Ring trembled slightly in her mind, but remained silent; she knew that this trial had to be completed by Qin Yu alone.
Qin Yu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze as resolute as if he were annihilating stars.
"Yan Yue's wounds are the price she paid to protect me and this world. If I erase them, her sacrifice will have lost its meaning."
His voice was resolute:
"Cause and effect cannot be escaped! I must bear her scars, bear her slumber—this is my choice!"
Boom--!
As soon as he finished speaking, the image on the left shattered, and countless blood-red causal chains erupted, encircling Qin Yu's body.
The illusion on the right gradually dimmed, turned to ashes, and vanished.
The Mirror of Cause and Effect suddenly collapsed, and a boundless sea of causal light surged toward Qin Yu, crashing heavily into his body.
In an instant, the [Cause and Effect Deconstruction] within him resonated with a roar, as if it had been infused with new life.
Two causal cracks appeared in his eyes, and ripples of causal light surrounded his body, as if he had grasped the pulse of the world's origin.
The voice rang out again, deep and resonant as if the world had just begun:
"Second Trial, Causal Severance... Passed."
The void trembled, the sea of cause and effect receded, and a river composed of fragments of time slowly emerged before his eyes, with a waterfall cascading upside down, and countless images of his past and future shimmering in the water droplets.
Azure Ring whispered in her mind:
"Little Qinzi... the next trial is the third one: Time Confrontation."
The Land of the Void Source flipped once more, the causal staircase beneath his feet dissipated, and Qin Yu was swept into an endless vortex of time flow.
The world before him suddenly shattered, transforming into countless fragments of time flowing upstream—each fragment reflecting a segment of his life:
The loneliness he felt upon first entering the Silent Source Realm, the faint light that Azure Ring first appeared in his sea of consciousness, the figure of Yan Yue falling into the sea of blood, Hong Xiuxiang's tearful eyes amidst the sea of flowers, the shock Yunyi felt when she first opened her dragon eyes...
These fragments, like millions of mirrors, surrounded him, rotating and overlapping, eventually coalescing into a river of time rifts.
Boom--!
Two figures emerged from the middle of the river.
The first challenge is "Qin Yu of the Future".
He was enveloped in annihilating starlight, his eyes lifeless, and he gripped the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword in his hand, though the blade was covered in cracks. His voice was hollow when he spoke:
"I... am what you were in the future. In the end, you lost everything— Azure Ring, Yunyi, Hong Xiuxiang... Alone, swallowed by Annihilation, even your name was erased."
The second one is "Qin Yu, who never existed".
He was completely transparent, swaying like a phantom, his eyes calm yet filled with despair.
"I am who you were before you stepped into the Source of Epochless. Without Azure Ring, without Yan Yue, without Hong Xiuxiang... just an insignificant speck of dust. Your journey to where you are today is nothing but an illusion, destined to be erased."
The void roared, the river of time suddenly surged, forming a gigantic clockwork phantom, its hands reversing direction and emitting a deafening chime:
"Trial participant—do you dare deny the future? Do you dare erase the past? Do you dare face a self that never existed?"
Qin Yu's chest tightened, and his blood seemed to run backward. Countless images rushed into his mind: he saw his "future self" lonely and lifeless, and his "non-existent self" completely annihilated.
Azure Ring's voice trembled slightly in her mind's eye:
"Little Qinzi... this is the most terrifying trial in the Land of the Void Source... if your will is not firm enough, you will be completely swallowed up by the flow of time and never be able to get out."
Qin Yu closed his eyes, letting the torrent of time crush his flesh and blood, yet his voice remained as heavy as steel:
"The future is not predetermined. I will rewrite my destiny with my sword, my Azure Ring, and my companions!"
"And the self that never existed... It is precisely because I chose to move forward that I am who I am today! I will not deny the past, nor will I erase myself!"
Boom--!
He gripped the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword with both hands and suddenly swung it out.
The sword's edge cleaved through the void, striking towards both the "future self" and the "non-existent self."
This sword strike is not meant to destroy, but to sever the boundary between illusion and reality!
Countless fragments of time exploded instantly, transforming into starlight and flowing into Qin Yu's body.
Three layers of light appeared around his body: fragments of light from a broken causal chain, ripples from reversed time, and a phantom of the Existence Erasure.
Boom!
A low hum, like the dawn of creation, echoed through the void:
"The third trial— the Time Confrontation —has been passed."
Everything before him collapsed, Qin Yu slowly floated in the center of the void, surrounded by the radiance of the three great laws.
At this moment, a magnificent figure appeared—it was the afterimage of the Primordial Walker, like a colossal god supporting the sky, his eyes filled with billions of years of Annihilation and majesty.
A deep voice fell:
"The final trial— Existence Sublimation. Do you dare to face the will of the Primordial Walker?"
The void collapsed completely, Qin Yu was swept into an endless Annihilation Abyss. Here, there was no time, no space, no cause and effect, only a chaotic mist that devoured everything.
Suddenly--
A colossal hand, capable of blotting out the sky, emerged from the chaos. Its fingertips resembled the beginning of the universe. With a gentle grasp, the void, along with Qin Yu's body, twisted violently.
Deep within the desolate mist, a towering, boundless afterimage emerged— the Primordial Walker.
His body was pieced together from countless fragments of galaxies, with endless Fate-Path Star rings rotating above his head, and his eyes were so deep that they were immeasurable, as if any gaze would be sucked in and annihilated.
His voice is not a voice, but the will of the universe itself:
"Descendant, do you dare to covet the power of the primordial? If you are not qualified, your existence will be completely erased."
Boom--!
The afterimage raised a finger, and the void trembled violently. Countless chains of cause and effect transformed into giant golden locks, striking from all directions and binding Qin Yu in the center of the void.
The chains burned with the marks of time; every touch caused Qin Yu's flesh to peel away and his soul to shatter.
Blood gushed from Qin Yu's throat, and annihilation light spilled from the cracks in his body.
But his gaze did not waver in the slightest; instead, it ignited with an even more resolute flame.
"If you want to erase me—then I will exist, defying the very origin!"
Boom!
Qin Yu activated the power deep within his sea of consciousness, causing the Azure Ring and the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword to vibrate simultaneously, and the figures of Yunyi and Hong Xiuxiang emerged from the depths of his memory.
At this moment, the Three Forms of Fate Construction erupted completely:
Cause and Effect Deconstruction: Qin Yu roared, and all the binding chains in the void instantly collapsed, turning into light fragments!
Time Flow Reversal: He took a step forward, and countless time mirrors cracked around him, overlapping the future and the past, forcibly reversing the movements of the afterimage.
Existence Erasure: Qin Yu's sword trembled, and his figure appeared and disappeared, transforming into a "Does Not Exist existence," completely rendering the afterimage's locking mechanism ineffective.
Boom----!
Qin Yu unleashed a sword strike, its light as intense as the first rays of dawn, aimed at the Primordial Walker's chest!
The shadowy figure's deep voice sounded again:
"Not bad... you're qualified."
The next second, the afterimage's body transformed into countless chaotic light fragments, which surged into Qin Yu's body.
His blood burned, his consciousness exploded, and his entire body seemed to be disassembled and reassembled.
The heavens and earth roared, and the sounds of the Land of the Void Source echoed in his ears:
"The Void Source Bloodline has been reconstructed."
Boom--!
Qin Yu's eyes suddenly burst forth with chaotic light, and three rings appeared within his pupils, symbolizing the supreme runes of cause and effect, time, and existence.
He was surrounded by endless ripples of light, and with every gesture he made, the void would automatically crack and heal.
This is -- Void Source Reshaping!