Shattered Image Annihilation · First Battle in the Bone Marsh
In the deepest part of the Nether Abyss Bone Marsh, the sky formed by blood mist seemed to be completely closed off from the earth, leaving only the deathly silence of bones and blood between heaven and earth. There were no howls or curses here, but rather a terrifying quiet, as if even death dared not utter a sound here.
On a high platform formed from countless colossal beast ribs, the Abyss-Rending Desolate Prison Mystic Hou dragged its massive, broken body to its knees, causing the bone plain to tremble. Shattered scales scattered on the ground, turning into specks of gray-gold fire. Its chest heaved violently, and the black blood spilling from its mouth and nose still carried the lingering pressure of the Void Emanation Realm, but at this moment, that pressure had long since transformed into a subservient groveling.
It lowered its enormous head, its voice hoarse and trembling, filled with fear:
"My lord... the statue in the Annihilated Causality Cavern... was broken into by three outsiders... and... and they even Annihilation dozens of our subordinates. I only managed to survive by burning my life essence at the last moment and unleashing a final attack... and have returned to report."
As the words fell, an indescribable darkness slowly flowed deep within the platform. This darkness was not merely the absence of light, but rather an abyss from which even "existence" and "meaning" had been stripped away. Within the darkness, an enormous shadow seemed to lie still, not truly visible, yet giving the impression that an invisible dome capable of crushing even the stars lay before one's eyes.
After a long silence, a low, slow voice suddenly rang out from the darkness, carrying an indifference that seemed unchanged from ancient times to the present:
"A mysterious outsider... heh... interesting."
As soon as the sound was uttered, the entire swamp seemed to tremble, and billions of skeletons groaned in unison, as if in submission or fear.
As Qin Yu, Yunyi, and Hong Xiuxiang stepped into the heart of the Nether Abyss Bone Marsh, the crimson miasma grew even thicker. Low footsteps echoed between the bone mounds and skeletal ridges, like countless chains being dragged. In an instant, the ground cracked open, and hundreds upon hundreds of dark creatures crawled out from the gaps in the blood and bones. Their bodies seemed to be sculpted from shattered bone fragments and remnants of blood, their eyes hollow, flashing with a cold red light.
Holding bone blades and broken halberds, they roared in unison, their roars echoing throughout the Bone Marsh, as if the legion of the dead were making a solemn oath.
However, what truly chilled the three was the colossal shadow that emerged from the depths of the bone mound.
That was a divine beast named -- Shattered Image Flowing Qilin.
Its body was as massive as a mountain, its skin covered with mirror-like scales, each scale reflecting a different battlefield illusion: some of thousands of troops clashing, some of life annihilation, and some even the ruined figures of Qin Yu and his companions in the future. Its eyes were like two shattered ancient mirrors, their light carrying an endless confusion between falsehood and reality. When its limbs stomped on the ground, the bone-covered ground would instantly crack, scattering bursts of grayish-white light, as if the remnants of cause and effect were forcibly stripped away.
As it raised its head and roared, the first terrifying power erupted between heaven and earth—
The Mirror Image Annihilation Overturn!
The mirror scale behind the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin Scale suddenly shattered, transforming into hundreds of floating gray-black mirrors that spun in mid-air. Qin Yu had just raised his hand to activate the Annihilation Sword Light when the Sword Qi was "reflected" by these mirrors before it could even be unleashed, turning into the same annihilation sword light that rebounded back at him! Each reflected sword light carried the impact of "soul consciousness shock," causing Qin Yu to instantly feel his sea of consciousness tremble and his ears ring.
Almost simultaneously, the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin unleashed its terrifying power once more—
Illusion Shattering Layered Emanation!
Its scales flashed in unison, and a strange wave suddenly enveloped the entire area. In the depths of Qin Yu's, Hong Xiuxiang's, and even Yunyi's consciousness, the skill intentions that were not yet fully formed were forcibly dragged out and transformed into half-formed illusionary skills that self-destructed in the air.
"Boom! Boom! Boom--"
The energy from the explosion rebounded onto the three of them, causing a sharp pain in their souls. Hong Xiuxiang groaned and almost fell to the ground, while Yunyi's dragon eyes flashed with pain, and the Butterfly Tide Illusion instantly distorted. Qin Yu felt a tightness in his chest, as if the logic of his combat techniques had been torn open, making it impossible for him to smoothly construct techniques for a moment.
Upon seeing this, dozens of dark creatures roared in unison, brandishing bone blades and rushing forward. Instantly, blood-red bone dust filled the air, and killing intent surged. Qin Yu and his two companions were completely surrounded!
The whispers within the bones also transformed into a roar at this moment:
Outsiders are not qualified to set foot here.
Crimson dust swept across the land, and the bone blades and broken halberds of countless dark creatures surged like a tidal wave, their battle cries shaking the Bone Marsh. The Shattered Image Flowing Qilin Scale raised its head and roared to the sky, while the Mirror Scale shattered into countless fragments, reflecting a phantom battlefield and mottled sword light, like a living nightmare cage, completely enveloping Qin Yu and his companions.
Qin Yu took a deep breath, stomped his foot heavily, and the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword rose into the air, its blade drawing a dark light. He coldly uttered a low shout:
"Azure Ring, assist me, let's break its mirror image first!"
The Azure Ring vibrated in his sea of consciousness, and a burst of azure light suddenly erupted, pushing the sword energy within Qin Yu's body to its Limit. The instant he unleashed the sword light, the Mirror Image Annihilation Overturn again, but this time, Qin Yu directly activated [Void Source Truth Command - Cause and Effect Reshaping]!
Deconstructing causality!
The black sword light suddenly disintegrated into billions of light fragments in mid-air. Just as the lens was about to reflect, those light fragments completely severed its causal chain, and the fragments fell like dust. With a roar, Qin Yu's sword light finally tore open a gap from the front!
"Drink--!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Hong Xiuxiang leaped up, holding the Brocade Ink Soul Brush in both hands. The tip of the brush wrote countless seal characters, and the pages of the book transformed into starlight that poured down.
[Soul Seal Script Law Severance]!
In an instant, thousands of golden and blue seals appeared in the void, like barriers of celestial laws, locking down the skill chains of the dark creatures one by one. The dozens of creatures charging ahead were forcibly disintegrated before their blades could even be unleashed, their blades turning to ashes.
Yunyi's dragon eyes suddenly lit up, and her dragon wings suddenly spread out, causing a tidal wave of butterflies to surge like the Milky Way.
[Butterfly Abyss Illusory Tide]!
Countless illusory butterflies dissipated from her body, transforming into a blue-purple tide that surged into the enemy ranks. With each gentle flap of a butterfly's wing, a chain of soul consciousness was severed, and the enemy fell with screams, dissipating into shattered light.
But at that moment, Shattered Image Flowing Qilin Scale roared and activated the second move Illusion Shattering Layered Emanation!
In Qin Yu's sea of consciousness, the illusory image of [Silent Origin - Boundless Ashes], which had not yet been unleashed, was suddenly forcibly dragged out and exploded in mid-air! The backlash energy directly caused Qin Yu's chest to feel tight, and a trace of blood welled up in his throat.
"Hateful..."
He forcefully steadied his breathing, his pupils transforming into a light of Annihilation, and the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword in his hand suddenly trembled, its blade overlapping with [Sword of Dream Silence - Dream Severance - Illusionary Ashes]!
With a single sword strike, countless dream-patterned blades burned through the sea of consciousness, directly tearing apart the phantoms dragged out by the Illusion Shattering Layered Emanation. The backlash energy surged back and slammed into the Mirror Scale of the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin Scale!
"Snap--!"
The first mirror scale finally shattered, and a large amount of gray light scattered.
Hong Xiuxiang followed closely behind, wielding her pen once more to open [Thousand Pages Sever Causality]. Countless pages transformed into sharp blades, severing cause and effect, directly cutting off the second wave of dark creatures that rushed up from the root. The creatures disintegrated into blood mist and bone fragments in the rain of light.
Yunyi stepped into the void and released the [Rending Domain Dragon Soul]. The dragon shadow roared out, tearing through the sky and crushing hundreds of enemy formations!
The bone tremors and the roar was like the end of the world. The three of them worked together to finally repel the first wave of attacks from the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin!
But in the next instant, the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin roared to the sky, and half of the Mirror Scales exploded completely, with countless shattered illusions appearing in the void, preparing to unleash an even more terrifying combined attack.
The roar of the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin Scale tore apart the entire Nether Abyss Bone Marsh, and the sound waves transformed into visible gray-gold ripples that shot straight into the heavens. The Mirror Scale behind it suddenly collapsed, turning into billions of fragments that floated in the air. Each fragment reflected the figures of Qin Yu and the other two, as if their future, past, and unfinished paths had been forcibly stripped away and solidified on the mirror surface.
"Mirror Image Annihilation Overturn - Global Reflection!"
In an instant, all the lenses shattered simultaneously, and the gray-gold light converged into a monstrous torrent of light that swept down upon the three of them. Each beam of light carried the afterimage of their own skills: sword light, butterfly tides, book pages, and even Soul Seal... all attacks were reflected, as if hundreds of phantoms of "Qin Yu, Yunyi, and Hong Xiuxiang" were simultaneously attacking the main body.
In an instant, the world changed color!
Qin Yu's pupils contracted, his mind trembled, and he suddenly took a step forward, the Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword and the Sword of Dream Silence both rang out with sword sounds!
"Azure Ring, help me!"
Azure Ring glow erupted from Qinghuan's brow, spreading across the sword like a galaxy. Qin Yu let out a long roar and unleashed [Void Source Truth Command - Cause and Effect Reshaping]!
--The sword light transformed into billions of light fragments, instantly spreading into an endless field of light. The moment all the incoming "skill phantoms" touched the light fragments, their causal chains were forcibly broken, and the skill logic disintegrated into specks of dust in the air. Space was torn into countless shattered zones, and the dust fragments shimmered in the silence before falling into the void like meteors.
"Boom boom boom--!"
Two-thirds of the counterattack was instantly swallowed up!
But the remaining torrent of light still poured down.
A resolute glint flashed in Hong Xiuxiang's eyes. The Brocade Ink Soul Brush in her hand danced swiftly in the air, and in an instant, millions of pages transformed into a storm of light blades, sweeping forward rapidly.
"[Book Annihilation Ink Waves]!"
Boom! The void shattered like a tsunami, and an endless black tide surged up, turning the pages of the book overturned in the waves. Each page shimmered with golden and blue seals. Countless mirror images and phantoms were instantly submerged by the Ink Wave, broken, bound, and swallowed up, eventually turning into streams of black light that sank into the void, as if being dragged into a bottomless abyss by the Black Sea.
Immediately afterwards, Yunyi suddenly flapped her wings, the shadows of butterflies and dragons overlapping behind her, and her dragon roar shook the heavens and earth:
"[Rending Domain Dragon Soul]!"
A phantom of a dragon soul, tearing through the sky, surged forth alongside a tidal wave of butterflies! The dragon's shadow shattered the mirror image, the butterfly wings sliced through the void, the scene was like a galaxy exploding, space was torn into billions of fragments of light, and the afterimages shattered with a deafening roar!
But at that moment, the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin roared angrily, unleashing its third move in full force:
"Illusion Shattering Layered Emanation: Self-Destruction in a Chaotic World!"
The gray-gold Mirror Scale fragments suddenly returned, forcibly activating the "future skill afterimages" that Qin Yu, Hong Xiuxiang, and Yunyi had not yet used, causing them to explode in mid-air!
Boom--!
That was a million skill afterimages exploding in the same instant! The sky completely flipped, the bones turned into a gray-white raging tide, and the explosive energy flow was like an apocalyptic inferno, as if a world was collapsing and burning in an instant.
Qin Yu felt a jolt in his chest, and blood gushed out! Hong Xiuxiang was thrown away by the impact and almost fell into the abyss of bones. Fortunately, Yunyi Dragon Wings suddenly rolled up and the butterfly tide caught her, barely saving her life.
All three were forced back hundreds of feet, their feet sinking into cracked bones, dust and blood mist mixing to form an eerie sky.
Qin Yu's gaze was like a knife as he raised his sword, pointing it directly at the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin, and said in a deep voice:
"That beast... he's finally getting serious."
The Shattered Image Flowing Qilin Scale was enveloped in gray-gold flames, its eyes flashing with a cold, World Extinguisher radiance. With an arrogant and domineering air, it slowly raised its head, its deep and ferocious roar echoing between heaven and earth.
"Outsiders... may you perish here!"
The battle has reached a point of no return!
The gray-gold sky churned above the Nether Abyss Bone Marsh, and the Mirror Scale Flame of Shattered Image Flowing Qilin was like a thousand shattered worlds falling. It raised its giant claws, as if it wanted to shatter the entire law of the Primordial Echoes with its own power.
Qin Yu spat out a mouthful of blood, but his gaze was as cold as a sword. The Source-Extinguishing Divine Sword and the Sword of Dream Silence in his hands shone brightly, and the Azure Ring emitted a low hum in his sea of consciousness.
"Yunyi, Xiuxiang, follow me to suppress them!"
In the next instant, Qin Yu suddenly stepped forward, his sword slicing through the void, and countless ripples of light suddenly appeared around his body.
[Void Source Truth Command: Existence Overwriting]!
The world instantly darkened.
That was an indescribable power that directly distorted the spatial essence of the Bone Marsh. The raging mirror-like flames of the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin had just condensed when they lost their definition of existence under Qin Yu's sword, turning into ownerless dust and dissipating, as if its attack had never been conceived.
This scene was like a Hollywood blockbuster where an entire city is suddenly "deleted": skyscrapers, flames, and explosions simultaneously dissolve into light debris, Annihilation without a trace in an instant!
"Roar--!" The Shattered Image Flowing Qilin Scale roared in fury, its immense soul pressure sweeping across the heavens and earth. Its body suddenly expanded, and its gray-gold armor scales cracked open with hideous fissures, frantically releasing annihilation waves.
Just then, Yunyi's dragon eyes suddenly lit up, her dragon wings spread out, and her figure transformed into a phantom that was half dragon and half butterfly.
[Silent Abyss Single Gaze]!
Boom--!
Her right eye suddenly erupted with blinding starlight, and a chain of Annihilation pierced through space, striking directly at the core of Shattered Image Flowing Qilin's soul. Time seemed to freeze, and the entire Bone Marsh instantly transformed into a colorless, frozen world.
In this deathly silence, Hong Xiuxiang's voice echoed like a poem. Her Brocade Ink Soul Brush pierced the sky, the scrolls turned, and rune radiance descended like a meteor shower.
[Master Book Seal Severance Reconstruction: Naming Reconstruction]!
With a light touch of the pen, a "Final Chapter" rune, interwoven with gold and purple, floated in the air, directly overriding the naming logic of the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin!
The four characters "Shattered Image Flowing Qilin" instantly burned to ashes, as if erasing its definition of existence from the world.
Boom--!
Three forces converge at the same instant!
Qin Yu's Existence Overwriting, Yunyi's Silent Abyss Single Gaze was reconstructed, and Hong Xiuxiang's Naming Reconstruction. The three forces converged in the void and gathered into a destructive light core like a vast star.
The next second--
The light core exploded with a deafening roar, unleashing billions of annihilation beams that swept outwards!
The bones trembled, the sky cracked, and the Shattered Image Flowing Qilin let out a desperate roar. Its massive body was instantly shattered in the explosion of light, and the gray-gold armored scale turned into billions of light fragments that scattered and eventually turned into dust of Annihilation.
The world returned to deathly silence.
Only Qin Yu and his two companions stood on the shattered Bone Marshland, their breaths rapid yet resolute.
Qin Yu said in a deep voice, "This is not the end. The real main force... is deeper inside."
Yunyi retracted her dragon wings, but her smile carried a chill, "Little Qinzi, I can't wait to see an even more terrifying enemy."
Hong Xiuxiang pursed her lips, gripped the Brocade Ink Soul Brush tightly in both hands, and her eyes blazed with determination to stand shoulder to shoulder with Qin Yu: "No matter what, we will never retreat in this battle."