The wind in the Silent Abyss suddenly stopped.
The blue light in Qin Yu's palm had dissipated, and he staggered to his knees, his right arm losing its strength, his shoulder dislocated, and blood flowing continuously.
That strike not only severed the Soul Blade, but also his Limit.
But he still gritted his teeth and stood up, his left knee slightly bent, like a broken spear still defying the heavens.
Just as he was about to face the second round of attacks, a figure, like a lone star falling in the silent night, slowly descended from the sky.
Before she even landed, the entire Remnant God Soul Hunting Army trembled, as if a part of their souls had been frozen by an invisible force.
She parted her lips slightly, her voice as soft as frost, and uttered a single word:
"Roll."
There was no sword sound.
There was no fluctuation of elemental energy.
There wasn't even any murderous intent.
But at that moment, the entire world seemed to resonate in unison.
"Ah!!!"
The leader of the Remnant God Soul Hunting Army patrol was the first to be hit; his eye sockets exploded, his head burst open, and his soul core was shattered!
The remaining dozen or so people screamed and fell to the ground; their bodies hadn't even touched the ground before their souls were shattered.
All the structures of the soul were wiped out by that single word, as if by a single finger.
Qin Yu was stunned.
He had seen those who were both ruthless and exceptionally talented.
He had witnessed the divine power of the Divine Abyss Realm and the wrath of its ancestor.
But he had never seen it so easily wiped out.
It didn't seem like murder.
Instead, they erased the stroke that "shouldn't exist" from the painting.
Her gaze then fell upon Qin Yu, and she gazed at him quietly.
Qin Yu took a deep breath, coughed up blood, and forced himself to stand. "You... are?"
She did not answer immediately.
He simply stood with his hands behind his back, looking down, and said:
You are not quite dead yet.
"He can still stand up."
Her tone was flat, yet it was as if she were commenting on an ant; there was no mockery in her eyes, but rather a hint of... interest beneath a cold, scrutinizing gaze.
She turned around, her white dress as white as snow, motionless in the wind.
"Come with me."
Qin Yu gritted his teeth. "Why?"
She stopped and turned her head to look at him.
"If you die and remain in this desolate area, the Soul Guardian will sense your presence within half an hour."
"By then, you won't even have a trace of regret left."
"I don't want to see interesting things wasted by those idiots."
"So, I saved you."
She paused, then said softly, "But you must remember."
"Saving you doesn't mean I trust you."
Qian Ruishan said no more, turned around and took a step. A pale moon imprint followed her toes as she lightly stepped into the air, tearing a pale silver boundary mark between heaven and earth.
That was the boundary passage she activated—used only by her and the people being taken away.
Qin Yu stood there, gazing at the ground where the Remnant God Soul Hunting Army had turned to dust, his chest heaving with rage, but he remained silent.
He finally sensed it when the lingering spiritual pressure had not yet dissipated.
The "malice" of the Spirit Firmament Realm.
It wasn't just the hunting order from the Remnant God Army.
It's not just the Soul Official system that's wanted.
Rather, it is the world itself that is rejecting him.
With each breath he took, a barely perceptible "backflow" would explode within his body.
Every time he concentrated, it was as if an invisible wave of energy was preventing him from entering the depths of his consciousness.
It's like someone trying to walk into a swamp, and the swamp itself is alive; it doesn't want you to exist.
"This is... the essence of the Spirit Firmament?"
"This world does not allow me to exist."
He looked down at his palm, where a faint blue glow shimmered.
[Azure Ring... are you still there?]
He thought to himself.
There was no response.
But in the next instant, deep within the sea of consciousness, the slumbering Azure Ring suddenly trembled slightly.
Like a sigh, like a heartbeat.
A wisp of blue light quietly flowed between the veins in his palm, extremely light and faint, yet it seemed to be saying:
"I am here."
At the same time, the suppression from the Spirit Firmament Realm receded like a tide. Although it did not completely dissipate, it could no longer penetrate the bloodline within him that inch of azure light.
Qin Yu took a deep breath, his gaze calming down.
"Understood."
Non-Self too weak, it's that this world won't allow me to be strong.
"But as long as you're still here."
"I am not a enslaved soul, but... a master who defies the world."
At that moment, he truly understood for the first time:
The existence of the Azure Ring is not an aid, an external force, or a weapon.
It is the only permission for his own "existence" in this Spirit Firmament Great Realm.
Without Azure Ring, he would have no way to cultivate or fight in this world; he would barely be alive.
I can't rely on you.
But... at least for now, I still need you.
A faint glimmer of light flashed again, almost imperceptible, yet it seemed to echo his resolve.
Just then, Qian Ruishan turned around and glanced at him, saying calmly:
"If you don't keep up, the boundary will close in three breaths."
"At that time, you will be completely swallowed by this Silent Abyss."
Qin Yu looked up, his expression calm.
I can walk.
But not because you saved me.
"It's because I still have things to do."
He took a step forward, his figure staggering, yet his resolve was unwavering.
Qian Ruishan didn't turn her head; a faint, almost imperceptible smile played on her lips.
"... interesting."
The gate to the Boundary Ship slowly closed.
Behind them, the entire Silent Abyss once again fell into deathly silence.
Only from the ashes of those lingering souls, a wisp of the fading will of the realm's soul slowly coalesced into a blood-red talisman—
She, Qian Ruishan, is a core bloodline of the "Thousand Realms Sect," one of the Five Sects of Spirit Firmament. She is the master of Twin Souls and Aberrant Bones, born with "Law-Defying Perception" and controls the Soul Karma Wheel Position.
From the moment she was born, she was destined to be an existence that no mortal could bear.
The moment she turned to look at Qin Yu, the world fell silent, except for the slight movement of her clothes.
She wasn't stunningly beautiful.
She's not stunningly beautiful.
Rather, she was someone who was "so ashamed that even celestial beings would not dare to stand alongside her."
Her features were extremely calm and composed, her lips were like a knife, her eyebrows were like broken snow, but her eyes held a cold and aloof soul light that did not belong to this era.
It was a beauty that transcended human perception, devoid of any emotion, yet powerful enough to shatter all conventional aesthetic frameworks.
She does not exist to please the world.
She is a "judgmental commentary" on the existence of this world.
Qin Yu stared at her blankly, when suddenly he felt a certain wisp of a mark in his sea of consciousness, which had been as still as death, tremble slightly.
Is the Azure Ring resonating?
No, it's about -- hiding.
Her presence caused Ring Master sink deeper into her sea of consciousness, as if it were an instinctive reaction to avoid higher-dimensional power.
At this moment, he truly understood:
The strong in this world are not the group of prodigies from the Great Yan Continent, nor the supreme elders of sects, nor the top ten on the battle rankings.
Rather, it is someone like her—whose very existence transcends even the word "celestial being."
Qin Yu also vaguely sensed that the cultivation system of this world was completely different from that of the Great Yan Continent, but he was still completely unaware of what it was.