Soul Stele, Silent Domain, Rain of Dead Consciousness

The spiritual light between heaven and earth suddenly dimmed, and a thin yet omnipresent layer of mirror mist spread from Li Huncang's palm. It was not smoke, but the "folded reality" itself slowly peeling away— Mirror Annihilation Folding Realm, Second Layer, unfolding silently.

The tens of thousands of cultivators in Spiritual Light Tower Square felt as if the sky above them had suddenly turned upside down, and they lost their sense of direction for a moment, as if the ground beneath their feet had been flipped by a mirror, and they were standing upside down on the bottom of another world. A nauseating buzzing sound came from the air, as if a million mirrors were shattering inside their souls at the same time.

Li Huncang stood in the center of the tower's shadow, his robes fluttering without wind. Dark mirror patterns spread from his feet, instantly covering the entire square. Every inch of light was distorted, reflected, and recombined, transforming into billions of silver-gray soul curves. These curves were drawn from the foreheads, eyes, and depths of consciousness of the crowd, hovering in the air, like memory threads forcibly peeled away by an invisible hand.

He raised his right hand, and a mirror of the abyss appeared in his palm. The mirror's surface was like liquid black water, yet it reflected countless fragments of souls. Countless cultivators clutched their heads in agony, their souls being torn apart, their consciousness and memories being dragged into that black mirror.

"Mirror Annihilation Folding Realm, Second Layer - Soul Retrospection." Li Huncang chanted softly, his voice echoing like a spatial rift, "Using refraction as the boundary, using soul consciousness as the key, trace back to find... that wisp of Annihilation Abyss aura—show yourself."

Instantly, the air above the plaza transformed into flowing mirror light, condensing into a gigantic, inverted eye. It rotated silently, its gaze sweeping over every cultivator. Whoever was being looked at had their memories extracted, analyzed, torn apart, and then reassembled like a mist of light.

Screams echoed throughout the room.

Ah—my memories!

"Those eyes were looking at me... no, my name... it's gone!"

"Stop! Master! I haven't seen anything!"

A black-gold halo flickered between Li Huncang's brows, his soul power surging like a tide. His will covered the entire area, and he coldly uttered:

No one can hide him.

He watched as the giant mirror-like eye spun continuously in the air, and the black storm of light tore apart the spiritual veins around the spirit tower. Countless ancient runes on the tower lit up one by one, as if resisting this invasion.

However... the result was still a blank.

Countless images were reflected within the mirror, yet none could capture the figure of the Only Book Realm. Whether it was the afterimage of the Annihilation Abyss Rending Domain, the illusory light of the Radiant Sacred Tree, or the refraction of the Nine Bridges Rainbow Realm, they all turned to ashes the moment they were detected.

"How is this possible..." A cold rage flashed in Li Huncang's eyes, his voice low and deep, "Could it be that the boy... could even erase the traces of his existence?"

The Spiritual Light Tower trembled slightly, as if an ancient power that had been dormant for a long time had been awakened by the excessive folding of the soul. Ancient patterns shone on the tower, seemingly trying to block his further investigation.

But Li Huncang did not retreat. He stared at the blank mirror and murmured:

No matter which level of Silent Abyss you hide in, I will eventually find you.

The wind howled, and the mirror mist curved and receded behind him, restoring the entire plaza to normal. However, in that brief moment, at least a third of the cultivators lost some of their memories; they stared blankly ahead, unaware of what had just happened.

At the Spiritual Light Tower, the ancient tower patterns still shimmered faintly, as if an invisible entity was watching Li Huncang's every move.

Before dusk, the sky was still pierced by the radiance of the nine rainbow bridges. The light extended in from beyond the boundary, like nine celestial veins, traversing the entire Annihilation Abyss Domain. Countless cultivators gathered in the plaza in front of the Spiritual Light Tower, all gazing up at the layers upon layers of rainbow bridges, awaiting the return of the cultivators within the nine bridges. The wind was low, the Spiritual Qi flowed, and the entire world seemed to be locked in place by a taut string.

Among the crowd, Li Huncang stood quietly. He was dressed in black, the hem of his clothes fluttering in the wind. His gray-gold eyes were as deep as a dry well, reflecting the radiance of the Nine Bridges. That light was originally holy, but a trace of repression and coldness appeared in his eyes. His aura was extremely restrained, but the spiritual pressure around him still caused the air within dozens of feet to refract and distort slightly.

"What a magnificent 'Annihilation Abyss Return Realm'..." he murmured to himself, his voice seemingly emanating from the depths of the abyss. "If that boy is truly hiding there, then I will wait for him to emerge. The spiritual veins converge here, the nine bridges unite... He must pass through this place."

He extended his right hand, and a distorted mirror-like imprint appeared in his palm. Countless phantoms flickered on the mirror's surface, seemingly reflecting countless layers of space and time. Li Huncang gently clenched his fist, and the mirror-like light shattered into powder, dissipating in the wind.

"When you come out, see how the light from beyond this boundary illuminates your burial ground."

The wind billowed his robes, his grey-gold gaze sinking into the twilight, cold and sharp as a knife. The spiritual light above the Nine Rainbow Bridge flickered, casting a long shadow behind him. The crowd gradually retreated, no one daring to approach this Third Hall Master of the Heavenly Sha Alliance. Under the shadow of the entire Spiritual Light Tower Shadow, the wind howled, the spiritual pressure churned, and the air seemed to be filled with a suffocating killing intent.

Within that endless Annihilation Abyss, Qin Yu's figure was slowly moving forward among the ruins of the abandoned city.

At opposite ends of the universe, one still and one in motion, like the two poles of fate, they are converging imperceptibly.

Deep within the Abyss of the Annihilation Abyss Return Realm, the stars have long since faded, leaving only an endless sea of clouds churning between the sky and the earth. The ruined city—"Ancient Capital of Spiritual Enclosure"—floats in the boundary between this mixed light and gray mist, like a forgotten myth, frozen in the instant of time's collapse.

Qin Yu stepped out from the fractured ripples of time and space, beneath his feet an ancient corridor extending into the depths of the sea of clouds. The corridor was constructed from countless layers of arched stone bridges, each archway engraved with lost star-shaped characters, and a faint glow flowed along the cracks, as if the remnants of this city were still breathing. Clouds surged at his feet, as if countless spirits were chanting softly.

The entire Lingyuan City is predominantly white gold and silver, exuding a magnificent yet tranquil aura. The city floats in mid-air, with layers of palaces and halls built around the central domed main hall. Above the dome, a shattered halo floats in the sky, with billions of light fragments flowing within it, like the heart of the celestial realm beating for the last time.

The sky was not the sky, but an inverted wave of clouds. The wave rolled like a god's cloak, descending from the heavens to the horizon, its inner layer churning with fluid bands of light and fragments, as if even space and time were being drawn into it. At the edge of the wave of light, lightning-like golden lines flickered, and each pulsation caused the heavens and earth to tremble slightly, as if maintaining the existence of the entire ruins.

Qin Yu in the wind, his clothes fluttering, his gaze passing through the towers and ruins eroded by time. The remaining temple peaks still shone with a faint glow, light streaming down from the cracked dome, illuminating the half-destroyed divine pillars. Each pillar was engraved with the spectral patterns of an ancient civilization, and even though they were mottled and peeling, one could still feel the distant and magnificent power of order.

He walked slowly forward, the ground beneath his feet as cold and solid as jade, with blue and white spiritual light flowing between the cracks, like veins extending towards the core of the entire city. Qin Yu raised his hand, his fingertips brushing across the stream of light, and with a slight touch, billions of fragments of information flooded into his mind—echoes of the Lingyuan civilization.

"Lingyuan was once the sacred domain of the Radiant Tribe."

"We are governed by the spirit, our bodies are made of light, and we bear the order of the beginning of heaven and earth."

"However, after the chaos of the Annihilation Abyss, order collapsed, and our race fell into the Stainless, losing its divine soul."

This sound was not spoken, but the lingering echo of Spiritual Sense. It reverberated in the air, as if telling the world its last memories.

Qin Yu withdrew his hand, remained silent for a moment, and gazed into the distance. There, a massive broken bridge spanned the entire ruined city, its surface inlaid with Starlight Crystal, their fading light still shimmering, pointing straight to the deepest part of the sea of clouds. At the end of the bridge, a collapsed palace could be vaguely seen, its doors half-open, shrouded in a misty light. That light was not like the splendor of the mortal world, but rather more like the manifestation of "consciousness."

The wind rises, stirring up fragments of dust and light.

Qin Yu murmured softly, "Lingyuan... after its fall from the Stainless..."

He slowly raised his head, and at that moment the sky of Annihilation Abyss seemed to awaken. The inverted cloud waves, like startled beasts, slowly twisted above the dome, and billions of light threads poured down along the sky, turning into a golden meteor shower that illuminated the afterimage of the entire ruined city.

The air began to vibrate, and a deep resonance came from beneath the ground, as if some ancient structure was awakening. Qin Yu's gaze locked onto the palace in front of him, and he vaguely sensed a will within the palace that "had been stripped of its existence, yet had not perished," calling to him.

He took a deep breath, his steps firm, and a spiritual light emanated from beneath his feet, ripples spreading outwards.

"It seems this city... is not completely dead yet."

The wind billowed his robes, starlight swirled, and his figure transformed into a streak of black and gold light, stepping towards the main hall in the center of the ruined city.

Deep within that ruined city, the light suddenly dimmed, and the mist in the sky seemed to be swallowed up by some force, even obscuring the radiance of the "cloud dome" in the heavens, leaving only a deathly silence without wind. Qin Yu passed through the broken dome, his footsteps falling among the rubble and ashes, and ahead lay a silent graveyard.

It was an ancient cemetery, its origins lost to time—countless obsidian tombstones jutting out into the earth, their surfaces worn smooth by the years, only the remaining runes shimmering faintly in the eerie light. Ashes and bone fragments piled up into a thin mist, and the wind whistled among the tombstones like an invisible sigh. A chilling stillness permeated the air, a silence born of forgotten concepts, not of malevolence, but of the coldness of memory itself.

Qin Yu walked slowly forward, his gaze sweeping over overlapping tombstones, the sky growing increasingly gloomy. Just as he stepped into the center of the cemetery—

"Whoosh--!"

A long sword pierced the air, drawing a cold, white arc from the mist. Qin Yu leaned slightly forward, the sword's edge brushing past his shoulder, scattering faint golden sparks. The sword's shadow dissipated in the air, and the mist surged back in.

The next moment, the entire tomb complex trembled simultaneously. Countless gray shadows rose from the ground—these figures wore tattered ancient armor, their eyes burning with eerie blue flames, and each held a longsword. The swords were not physical, but "blades of Spiritual Sense" formed from vengeful spirits. Their footsteps were silent, only the faint sound of air being cut.

Qin Yu slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the ghosts. He sensed an unusual order—these spirits were not unconscious wandering souls, but rather seemed to be guarding this graveyard following some kind of "forgotten ritual."

He slightly raised his right hand, and a flash of azure light appeared in his palm. The aura of the Azure Ring trembled gently in his sea of consciousness, but Qin Yu did not launch an attack, only quietly gazing ahead.

Ahead, a ghost clad in shattered royal armor slowly raised its head, blue flames flickering in its eyes. Suddenly, the flames split into two straight beams of light, piercing the sky. It raised its sword, the blade trembling, causing the entire tomb complex to tremble. Countless shadowy figures knelt down simultaneously, then raised their swords in unison, their movements so synchronized as to send chills down one's spine.

Then—a silent downpour began.

Countless longswords formed from spiritual light emerged from the void, hovering above the tombstone, their blades all pointing at Qin Yu. In the next instant, ten thousand swords were unleashed simultaneously, cascading down like meteors.

"Sizzle--Sizzle--Sizzle--"

A torrent of light engulfed everything, and blinding flames erupted above the graveyard, tearing the textures of space apart. Dust swirled, the ground collapsed, and spiritual pressure roared. Qin Yu's figure remained unmoved amidst the blaze of light, his fingertips slowly closing together, and a wisp of pale silver soul light rose from his palm.

"Illusory Shadows... since you are not True Soul, then let you... return to stillness of consciousness."

Qin Yu's palm suddenly trembled—"Annihilation Breath· Soul Seal Light Wheel" unfolded.

In an instant, a halo appeared behind him, swirling with five rings of runes. The halo was silent, yet it tore apart all the spirit swords in a flash. The rain of ten thousand swords turned into ashes and dust, which were absorbed into the halo. The ghosts let out low, mournful cries, as if some ancient oath had been broken. Their bodies gradually disintegrated from outline to form, turning into wisps of light that drifted into the void between the tombstones.

The halo slowly receded, and the world returned to silence.

Qin Yu in the center, the wind ruffling his robes and lifting his long hair slightly. He looked up at the still trembling sky and saw a huge stele tower bound by chains slowly rising from the deepest part of the tomb complex. A faint light seemed to flicker at the top of the stele tower, as if beckoning him to go deeper.

He murmured softly—

"This ruined city seems to be far more than just a remnant of Lingyuan... Every monument here is a tomb of annihilated memories."

With that, Qin Yu's figure flashed, transforming into a stream of light, and stepped into that deeper, darker realm.