Golden Core Connection Severed · Undercurrents in the Annihilation Domain

Night sank into the depths of the Annihilation Wasteland, and a gray mist drifted across the broken canyon, the world Silent Void. Qin Yu slowly emerged from the distant rocky slope, his steps calm, yet with each step, dust and fragments of spiritual flames rose in his wake. The wind blew through the shattered mountain pass, carrying the scorched blood and the bitter metallic stench of burnt Spiritual Qi, like the last breath of a dead world.

The Dragon Abyss Association's camp—once a defensive fortress adorned with spirit arrays and shimmering with spiritual light—is now a shattered wasteland. Array flags are torn into invisible fragments of light, and hundreds of array pillars lie fallen, their surfaces riddled with cracks burned through by Annihilation. Those once proud cultivators have long since vanished into nothingness, leaving only half an inch of scorch marks and black remnants on the ground, as if their existence had been erased from the entire world.

In the center of the camp, Huo Yuan's platform had collapsed into ruins. Blackish-red blood meandered along the array's grooves, converging in the low-lying areas, reflecting a chilling light. Fragments of shattered consciousness floated in the air, whispering in the wind like the vengeful spirits of the dead questioning each other, "Damn it... we must settle this score with him..."

Qin Yu stood there quietly, his gaze sweeping across the entire valley floor, his expression indifferent yet tinged with a hint of emotion. He slightly raised his head, reflecting the lingering Extinction Trace in the air—the sky torn apart by Void Crown Final Darkness roar, retaining dark golden patterns of desolate light, like scars.

He whispered, "In the end, it was still too ruthless... But Fanfan harbored greed, and thus brought about his own destruction."

Azure Ring chuckled softly in her mind's eye, "Heh, Little Qinzi, your trick was quite cunning. It seemed like you were just using the beasts to disrupt the formation, but in reality, you used their power to weaken the Nine Alliances Gang's foundation. Now, they probably won't dare to touch you so easily anymore."

Qin Yu smiled calmly, his robes fluttering slightly, and the spiritual flames beneath his feet dissipated in the wind. With his hands behind his back, he slowly walked into the center of the broken formation, raising his eyes to look at the gray-white cracks that were still churning in the air.

"Their retribution is none of my concern." His tone was calm, yet tinged with coldness. "This Annihilation Wasteland Border will ultimately not tolerate those with wicked intentions—and I still have a long way to go."

The sky above the Annihilation Wasteland was now a patch of ashes, with scorching clouds churning in the air like molten iron pouring into the heavens and earth. Above the Dragon Abyss Association Society camp, which had been burned by demonic beasts, a solitary figure slowly appeared, his robes fluttering without wind, his aura as deep and unfathomable as an abyss. It was Qin Yu.

He gazed down at the charred ruins below, his eyes reflecting only endless ashes and silence. But before he could speak, a furious roar, like a thunderclap, ripped through the sky—

"Damn it! You little bastard, you're the one who lured the monster here! You won't leave here alive today!"

Huo Yuan was covered in blood, half of his body charred black, but he still managed to maintain the aura of the Severed Observation Realm, his eyes like those of a wild beast scorched by raging flames. He roared, his aura soaring into the sky, and the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi suddenly boiled. The ashes of the broken array were swept into the sky, turning into hundreds of crimson light ribbons that swirled around.

He stared intently at Qin Yu, his rage almost tangible. "Today, the Dragon Abyss Association pay for this blood debt! We will tear you to pieces, strip your soul, and refine your bones!"

Qin Yu's expression remained calm. He slightly raised his hand, flicked his fingers, and a faint light scattered into the void. Dust particles floated silently at his feet. The wind swept through his black hair, carrying a faint, serene glow, and his voice drifted away on the breeze—

"All of this is your own fault."

His gaze was cold, as if he saw through the cycle of cause and effect. "Forcibly seizing the canyon's resources, establishing restricted areas, driving away cultivators, and using power to oppress others. Heaven may tolerate it, and the Annihilation Abyss may not concern itself with cause and effect, but cause and effect will inevitably return. Your destruction is merely the repayment of your own fate."

Huo Yuan, enraged, laughed coldly. His spiritual pressure surged like a raging torrent, and nine crimson rings suddenly appeared in the sky and earth. "Stop spouting such nonsense! You think you can escape by killing a few of my men and luring demons into chaos? Kid, I'll show you the power of the Severed Observation Realm— "

The flames in his palm suddenly burst into flames, and a blood-red battle halberd materialized from the void, its blade trailing a dazzling light that shook the heavens and earth.

Azure Ring's voice rang in Qin Yu's mind, cold as ice. "Heh, as expected, he's only at the Severed Observation Realm · Initial Stage. Little Qinzi, if you want to test the power of the newly reborn Silent Origin Stainless Sword... you can let him try it."

Qin Yu's lips curled slightly as he said calmly, "It seems it's time to make him understand that 'observation' and 'existence' are not things he can control."

The "Silent Origin Stainless Sword" quietly appeared in his hand. The sword was translucent like a river of stars and shadows, and the lotus petals around it slowly rotated. Even time seemed to be frozen by that glint of sword light.

The sky was completely shrouded in greyish-red clouds of tribulation, with embers still churning in the air, as if the flames of countless lives burned out had not yet been extinguished. Huo Yuan's roar echoed through the valley, "Everyone from the Dragon Abyss Association Society—form the formation! Kill!!"

Instantly, hundreds of remaining spiritual lights shot into the sky, and the half-destroyed array base barely coalesced into a blood-red battle array. Nine array patterns spread across the ground, turning into flames and connecting to form a huge dragon-patterned seal. The air trembled violently, and the spiritual pressure seemed to crush everything.

Qin Yu in the air, his robes billowing without wind, the Silent Origin Stainless Sword hovering silently in his palm. At that moment, all sounds in the world seemed to be drawn away, leaving only the soft murmur of the sword's edge, like a dream.

He didn't say anything, but simply raised his eyes slightly.

A flash of sword light, and the world suddenly froze.

That is -- the Historyless Void Severance Sword.

Sword intent pierced the sky, a pure white crack starting from the tip of his sword and tearing to the horizon. The void twisted, and time, space, history, cause and effect—all the lines that recorded their existence—broke apart at this moment.

Huo Yuan's blood array had just taken shape when it suddenly shattered into billions of fragments of light. Each fragment of light flickered with traces of its existence as it vanished: roars, incantations, firelight, battle intent... Then all of them were swept into the "Silent Void Severing Boundary" formed by the sword light, like phantoms scattered by the wind.

There were no screams, no struggles, not even a trace of death was left. In the world, only that instant of white light turned into lotus petal-like dust, drifting in the wind.

Qin Yu's gaze darkened slightly, and he murmured softly—without any emotion, just a cold statement of fact:

"No history, no destiny, Wuhen."

The wind returned, and in the collapsed valley, Huo Yuan's spiritual flames flickered violently. He had not yet been annihilated, only because he was the master of the array's core and had been temporarily spared by fate.

He looked up abruptly, his eyes burning with both anger and fear.

"You... who are you! You can't possibly be Only Book Realm! This is impossible!"

Qin Yu did not answer, but slowly raised his sword. The sword was covered with layers of chaotic lotus petals, emitting a ghostly white starlight. That was the light of the "Soulless Annihilation Abyss Sword", a radiance of Eternal Silence that even the soul could not tolerate.

Huo Yuan trembled all over, but still managed to withstand the pressure of his spiritual energy. He roared and condensed his last bit of life force into a blood-red seal, which he then blasted towards Qin Yu.

Flames pierced the sky, and shockwaves surged like a galaxy flowing backward, instantly engulfing the entire valley.

The sky darkened once more, the blood-red setting sun sinking into the sea of clouds, and the entire canyon was filled with desolation and death. Qin Yu's steps moved slowly forward in the air, his robes fluttering like a wisp of silent wind pressing down on the heavens and earth. His voice was calm and ruthless, yet it pierced the hearts and minds of every living being like thunder from the heavens.

Who I am is unimportant.

He raised his sword, Silent Origin Stainless Sword emitted a colorless light. The light had no temperature and no shape, as if even the concept of "existence" had been removed.

"Today—is the day your Dragon Abyss Association perish."

In an instant, heaven and earth Annihilation.

Huo Yuan gritted his teeth and roared, his blood surging like flames. He forcefully roused his heavily injured gang members. "Everyone, charge! We must hold him at all costs!"

The remaining dozens of the Dragon Abyss Association cultivators struggled to maintain their spiritual pressure. Their auras were chaotic and their seas of consciousness were shattered, yet they still forcibly set up the array. Hundreds of broken spiritual lights intertwined on the ground to form an array net, flickering with an unstable red light. That was the final form of the Blood Soul Array.

The formation activated with a roar, and countless spiritual flames rose up, transforming into a crimson dragon shadow that rushed straight towards Qin Yu. The dragon's roar shook the sky, and the cracking sound tore through eardrums, as if it wanted to burn away all the light.

Qin Yu simply looked up at them.

In that instant, the sword's edge silently traced an arc of light.

Annihilation descends.

That was not light, but a state of "no light"—even the concept of "being seen" was erased. Time stopped, space froze, and even the shape of the dragon's shadow was frozen in mid-air.

The sword trembled slightly, and gray-white cracks spread through the void, extending along the dragon shadow's spine and throughout the entire formation.

"--The Soulless Annihilation Abyss Sword."

There was no sound, no explosion, and no shattering. The last fighting spirit was drained from the eyes of all the Dragon Abyss Association cultivators, and their souls quietly disintegrated like stardust, turning into a wisp of silent light that scattered into the void.

Huo Yuan knelt on the ground, the blood he spat out freezing into a dark red line in the air. His pupils contracted sharply as he watched Qin Yu approach step by step.

"Who... who... are you...?"

Qin Yu stopped in front of him, his eyes as cold as a dead, silent universe.

"I am merely someone who clarifies cause and effect."

A flash of sword light, and the world fell silent.

The wind from the depths of the canyon swirled up ashes, and Annihilation lotus petals drifted in the air. There were no screams, no struggles; the Dragon Abyss Association forever become a thing of the past, and even the records of Heaven's destiny would lose all trace of their existence.

Ashes floated in the wind, and the silence of heaven and earth seemed to mourn the destruction. Qin Yu before Huo Yuan's remains, the blade of the Silent Origin Stainless Sword slowly lowering, the chaotic halo gradually receding. The wind swept through both sides of the valley, carrying up blood-red dust that floated and fell in patches.

In the midst of this deathly silence, a faint light suddenly flickered from Huo Yuan's shattered body. The light was not the afterglow of his Spiritual Qi burning out, but an extremely strange golden pulse that spread from the depths of his body, as if some kind of seal had been triggered.

Qin Yu's expression hardened, his gaze sharpened, and he raised his hand to set up a barrier, isolating the surrounding spiritual pressure.

The golden light slowly rose from Huo Yuan's chest, its shape indistinct, yet emanating an extremely complex fluctuation—a fluctuation of cause and effect, a flicker of narrative logic, as if even the rules of heaven and earth instinctively avoided it.

The golden light gradually spread, transforming into an illusory array. Nine symbols emerged in the center of the array, each corresponding to a different aura and a different soul imprint. They seemed to resonate with each other, or perhaps they were connected to each other through some invisible "logical thread."

Qin Yu stared for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Is this... a kind of Spiritual Sense resonance? No... more like a cross-domain logical communication array?"

He was about to probe his divine sense to perceive it when he felt an extremely strong repulsive force—the force came from a higher level of logic, and even carried a reverse backlash of a "monitoring" nature. As soon as Qin Yu's divine sense touched the edge of the array, a sharp pain swept through his sea of consciousness.

The golden light then trembled, as if triggered by an external force, and the next moment it shattered in the void with a "bang," turning into countless streams of light that dissipated.

Peace returned to the world.

Qin Yu stood still, his gaze deep. With a flick of his fingertips, he dispelled the remaining ripples of Spiritual Qi and murmured to himself:

"This thing... cannot be formed through conventional cultivation... Could it be that there is an even larger system behind Huo Yuan?"

He slowly raised his head, his gaze fixed on the deep space of the Void Obliteration Domain, the coldness between his brows growing even stronger.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, deep within another hidden crimson mountain range in the Void Obliteration Domain, eight golden lights simultaneously shone.

The eight powerful figures, each seated cross-legged, simultaneously opened their eyes, and the same fluctuations appeared in their seas of consciousness.

"... Huo Yuan is dead."

"It's him? That kid Sole Book · Intermediate Stage?"

"Hmph, interesting..."