The Five Halls' Battle on the Bridge of Light: Prelude to an Age of Chaos

The sky above the Lotus Sacred Domain was currently bathed in a soft golden and pale pink glow, with billions of lotus petal-shaped spiritual Spiritual Qi unfurling in mid-air, like the breath of the world. Qin Yu and Extinguished Light slowly stepped onto the light bridge and into the main hall. Each jade step beneath their feet reflected a cool radiance, and the moment Extinguished Light stepped in, the previously stable spiritual pressure within the hall trembled slightly—it was as if even heaven and earth were quietly acknowledging this No Definition existence.

Immortal Venerable Jingxin sat regally on her lotus throne, her brows as white as snow, her aura as deep as chaos. The moment she raised her eyes, light and shadow reflected in her pupils like countless stars. She gazed at Qin Yu, her expression gentle yet probing. "You've returned." Her voice was soft, carrying a serene tranquility born of worldly wisdom. Then her gaze shifted to Extinguished Light, and she nodded slightly. "Presumably, this is the 'undying soul submerged in light' you once spoke of?"

Qin Yu nodded slightly, his tone solemn yet humble. "Yes, Immortal Venerable. Her name is Extinguished Light, and she is the Soul of Final Light that I sought. If it weren't for your guidance back then, I would never have been able to find those four Sacred Cores, and only now could I help her return to the world."

Immortal Venerable Jingxin smiled faintly, and with a flick of her sleeve, the lotus lanterns in the hall lit up simultaneously, illuminating the entire hall as if it were floating in a sea of light. Her voice was as gentle as flowing water. "You don't need to thank me. Heaven and earth have their own destiny; I merely followed the flow and dispelled the fog. To allow light to return to stillness and be reborn—this is your fortune, and also her destiny."

Extinguished Light slowly stepped forward, her movements as graceful as flowing moonlight, the azure mark between her brows shimmering slightly. She bowed her head in greeting, her voice clear and distant, carrying an indescribable sacred aura. "Junior Extinguished Light Immortal Venerable Jingxin. If it weren't for Qin Yu's single-minded pursuit in the past, how could the Four Saint Cores have been reunited? Now that I can once again set foot in this realm, I am grateful for both the blessings of Heaven and Earth and the grace of the Immortal Venerable. Please accept my bow."

After speaking, she gently touched her sleeves with both hands and bowed gracefully. At that moment, the Spiritual Qi of the entire Lotus Main Hall flowed spontaneously, like lotus petals in the wind responding to this respect. Immortal Venerable Jingxin's expression shifted slightly. Even with her cultivation at the Chaos Realm · Supreme, she could feel the intertwined aura of annihilation and creation contained within that bow. She raised her hand and guided the void energy like ripples on water, lifting up the Extinguished Light and preventing her from truly bowing.

"I dare not accept such a gift." Immortal Venerable Jingxin's tone carried a hint of admiration. "The aura within you... has transcended all boundaries, even causality dares not write its pages for you. This is the light bestowed by Heaven's destiny, which cannot be bound by worldly etiquette. You and Young Master Qin... this journey has truly shown me possibilities beyond fate."

Extinguished Light, and she nodded gently, turning her gaze to Qin Yu, saying softly, "Without him, there would be no me."

Immortal Venerable Jingxin's gaze swept between the two, and in that instant, it seemed as if she had witnessed the beginning of a new chapter in the world. She sighed softly, her voice tinged with a smile, "Very well, since you two have returned with light, this Lotus Immortal Hall shall naturally open its gates for you to reside temporarily. The spiritual lotus vein contract here can help you regulate your breathing and also temporarily evade the spying of the Nine Alliances Gang."

Qin Yu respectfully cupped his hands. "Many thanks to the Immortal Venerable for his generous gift."

Extinguished Light nodded in agreement, his voice like a silent melody resonating in the heart. "I will forever remember the Immortal's grace."

With a smile, Immortal Venerable Jingxin reached out, and the lotus light in the void unfolded once more. The lotus patterns on the ceiling of the palace slowly rotated, transforming into a halo that enveloped everyone. At that moment, the aura of the Lotus Immortal Hall was as tranquil as a dream, where light and silence blended, as if even heaven and earth were quietly listening to this peaceful return.

The lotus light within the hall had not yet dissipated, and Spiritual Qi flowed slowly like ripples. Qin Yu raised his head, looking at Immortal Venerable Jingxin, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. "Immortal Venerable, is Junior Sister Luo Shuangyue... in the hall? I didn't see her presence on my way back."

Immortal Venerable Jingxin sighed softly, her slender hand gently stroking her sleeve, the serene aura surrounding her gradually solidifying. "Yue'er... I sent her to the 'Lingyao Immortal Palace Ruins' in the Southern Region of the Void Obliteration Domain a few days ago."

"Lingyao Immortal Palace?" Qin Yu frowned slightly.

Immortal Venerable Jingxin nodded, his voice clear and calm. "Indeed. That immortal palace is the ancient sage's palace from billions of years ago in the Void Obliteration Domain. According to the ancient scrolls, it was originally one of the most magnificent heavenly palaces of the 'Annihilation Era'—bearing the Ultimate logic of time and radiance, a place of opportunity that all temples and sects dreamed of. However, after the collapse of that era, the immortal palace fell into the void abyss and remained hidden for eternity. Until a few days ago, the Void Abyss Rift Valley in the Southern Region suddenly surged, the spatial layer collapsed, and the aura of the immortal palace ruins reappeared."

After she finished speaking, her expression turned slightly solemn. "The opportunities here are not just simple treasures. Legend has it that the earliest Causality Pages in the Void Obliteration Domain are sealed within, allowing cultivators to 'rewrite their own destiny.' Therefore... since the day the ruins appeared, the entire Void Obliteration Domain's temples, clans, and sects have been shaken. The five great temples were the first to mobilize, jointly setting up a seal, opening only one main entrance—and each of them dispatched their five strongest core disciples to guard it."

Extinguished Light listened quietly, her eyes twinkling like silent stars in the night sky, slightly moved. "So... to enter the Immortal Palace, one must first defeat one of these five?"

"Indeed." Immortal Venerable Jingxin nodded, his voice echoing in the empty palace. "The order of the Void Obliteration Domain has long since collapsed. All forces want to seize this opportunity to rise. However, the passage to the Immortal Palace is extremely unstable, allowing only a very small number of people to enter. If the entire Void Obliteration Domain were to flood in, even the outer space of the Immortal Palace would likely collapse. Therefore, the five great temples have established a rule—whoever can defeat one of their core disciples outside the entrance will gain a place and enter the Immortal Palace with them."

Immortal Venerable Jingxin turned his gaze to the lotus light outside the palace gate, his tone low but tinged with emotion. "Although I reside in the Chaos Supreme and cannot interfere in the conflicts of the mortal realm, Yue'er has always been intelligent, so I still sent her with a dozen disciples to the outer areas of opportunity—even if they cannot enter the palace, they can still find fortune in the outer layers. The fragments of light, immortal patterns, and even fallen time crystals there can all help one's cultivation advance."

After listening, Qin Yu's expression gradually calmed down. He lightly tapped his knee with his fingertips and said in a low voice, "Immortal Venerable, the 'Lingyao Immortal Palace' has now attracted the gathering of various races from the Void Obliteration Domain, and I'm afraid it's already in a state of chaos."

Immortal Venerable Jingxin sighed softly, "Indeed. At this moment, the Southern Region has almost become a torrent of cultivators. The Five Great Divine Palaces, the Nine Alliances Gang, the Liu Yuan Practitioners, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, the Annihilation Abyss Remnant Sect... all are eager to make their move. Even I feel a sense of unease. This matter may be the beginning of a new calamity for the Void Obliteration Domain."

The brief silence in the hall was broken by the sound of the wind, and lotus petals fell one after another, swirling gently on the ground. Extinguished Light glanced at Qin Yu, her voice soft yet firm. "If the 'Causality Pages' truly exist within that immortal palace, then it will rewrite the destiny of the entire Void Obliteration Domain. Qin Yu... we must go."

Qin Yu nodded quietly, a sharp glint in his eyes. "Yes, I understand. Whether it's for the Causality Pages or for those many opportunities, I should make this trip."

Immortal Venerable Jingxin's gaze fell upon them, her seemingly calm eyes concealing profound ripples. She slowly rose, lotus light cascading down, reflecting the moon-like radiance of her robes. "Go. Your arrival may well be the turning point in this 'Great Upheaval of the Immortal Palace'."

At the edge of the Southern Region Abyss, heaven and earth overlapped to form a spiral of rifts in the sky. Countless specks of light and annihilation flowed and intertwined, as if time itself had turned back. When Qin Yu and Extinguished Light appeared from the void rift, the magnificent celestial palace in front of them came into view—it was the Lingyao Immortal Palace, a sacred site that had returned to the Annihilation Void World after countless epochs.

Beneath their feet lay a fractured, floating mountain range, with distant clouds swirling like ocean tides. Lightning crackled and shone across the sky, illuminating the golden and white temple complex. The celestial palace, suspended atop a waterfall of clouds, resembled an eternal celestial realm forged from light and divine metal. Thousands of towering pagodas stood atop the mountain, their domes covered in shimmering golden patterns. Waterfalls cascaded from the temple bases like ten-thousand-foot-long silver ribbons pouring into the void. Heavenly light streamed down through cracks in the clouds, passing through layers of domes and mirror-like walls, transforming into countless streams of holy radiance, making the entire celestial palace appear as if it had been divinely replicated in reality.

Qin Yu looked up, his eyes reflecting the golden light and the rifting sky, and murmured, "This is... the legendary Lingyao Immortal Palace of the Void Obliteration Domain."

Extinguished Light stood beside him, her long, silvery-white hair fluttering slightly in the wind, a shimmering azure star mark between her brows. Her voice, like starlight spreading through the night, said, "The light here is the afterglow of an era's annihilation... Every inch of golden radiance contains the imprint of the final flame of cause and effect."

As far as their eyes could see, the outer perimeter of the Immortal Palace had already gathered countless cultivators and beings. Between the valleys, on the suspended stone bridges, and beside the altars at the cloud waterfalls, densely packed figures surged like waves. Cultivators of various races, divine beasts, and demonic spirits were gathered here—humanoid cultivators clad in armor and wielding halberds, their bodies shimmering with various magical arrays; Golden-Winged Flame Eagle tens of feet long circled in the sky, their wings stirring up the sounds of wind and thunder; below, in the ethereal mist, an Ancient Abyss Beast covered in bone armor lay prostrate and roared, shaking the entire cloud domain.

Furthermore, female cultivators clad in spirit armor, elders wielding divine mirrors, and powerful clan members levitating on magical artifacts stood on cloud platforms, their auras intertwining like a net woven with lightning. Under the banners of each faction, symbols flickering with spiritual flames burned, indicating the sect or temple they came from— Annihilation Wind Hall, Liu Yuan Sect, Extreme Radiance Gate, Flame Dust Valley... Various banners fluttered in the spiritual wind.

At the very center, the Sky Bridge of Light leading to the main steps of the Lingyao Immortal Palace is like a river of light composed of shattered stars, crossing the sea of clouds and reaching the depths of the sky. At the end of the Sky Bridge are five floating golden lotus platforms, upon which stand five youths, clad in battle robes with different radiant flames. They are the core disciples sent by the five great temples—each representing the strongest power of the five great temples.

Behind them, each floated a temple imprint, with five layers of divine radiance interwoven from annihilation light, lightning flames, soul patterns, starlight, and destiny wheels. At this moment, they stood silently, yet they were enough to instill a sense of oppression in countless cultivators.

Amidst the crowd, murmurs rose and fell, "That's the main gate of the Lingyao Immortal Palace? I've heard that those who enter either obtain an eternal divine seal or are reduced to ashes!"

"That's Nan Yao from the Chaos Return to Oneness Palace? He's a peak inheritor of the Annihilation Dawn Mirror, and he's already among the core disciples!"

"Look over there, those are the Nine Alliances Gang members. They actually dare to come here..."

Qin Yu and Extinguished Light stood in the wind, overlooking the entire celestial palace and the surging beings below. Golden light from the sky flowed through Extinguished Light's hair as she quietly said, "All the destinies and causes and effects of the Void Obliteration Domain... converge before this palace."

Qin Yu smiled slightly, a flash of azure sword intent appearing at his fingertips. "Perhaps, this is the next test fate has given us."

Their figures were reflected in the cracked light, like two lifelines moving against the light. The wind howled, golden waterfalls cascaded, and shimmering brilliance rippled.

At that moment, the light and darkness of the entire Southern Region of Annihilation Void were welcoming the newcomers of the new era.

The roar of the cascading cloud waterfall became the heartbeat of heaven and earth. The battlefield of the light bridge outside the Lingyao Immortal Palace was now shrouded in countless rays of light. The core disciples of the five great temples stood at the end of the sky bridge, the temple imprints on their backs slowly rotating. They were the true pinnacle of the Void Obliteration Domain—existence that countless cultivators looked up to.

Above the sky, the wind and clouds surged, and the light cracked like knives; five figures stood atop the divine monument—

At the forefront stood a man in a grey-gold Daoist robe, his eyes lifeless and his expression indifferent. Behind him floated a "Silent Nothingness Divine Ring," within which seemed to echo the wailing of countless dead figures, or the stillness of all living beings. He was Feng Fanxin, a core disciple of the Silent Nothingness Divine Hall — Annihilation Dawn Realm · Supreme, renowned for his "Silent Life Wheel Realm." He had once annihilated the souls of twelve cultivators of the same level with a single finger during a trial in the Divine Realm.

To his left, a white-haired youth, his clothes flowing like light, stood behind a suspended Annihilation Sun Mirror Wheel, its surface reflecting the heavens and earth, within which countless illusions burned—

Wen Hongyi, a core disciple of the Fallen Dawn Divine Hall, Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme and cultivated the "Sunfall Mirror Domain," which can devour all rays of light and reflect and annihilate the enemy's techniques and intentions.

On the right side of the bridge of light, a blood-robed, ferocious figure slowly rose, his aura surging like a raging sea. This person wore crimson-gold battle armor, his eyes like flames of purgatory, Asura blood mark flowing between his brows, and as his divine sense spread, it seemed as if countless vengeful spirits were howling—

Zhan Xiao, a core disciple of the Asura Immortal Hall, Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme and cultivated the "Asura Blood Heaven." He uses blood as his boundary and his soul as his weapon, and every strike contains the killing intent of a thousand Asura. He is the most bloodthirsty among the five, having once slaughtered an entire clan, just to test himself.

On the higher side, a woman in black stood with her hands behind her back. Her aura was chaotic yet harmonious, as if the beginning and end of all things resided within her. Her long hair fell down, and her clothes swirled with chaotic golden light. Her eyes were devoid of emotion, yet they reflected the endless flow of the universe.

Nan Yao, a core disciple of the Chaos Return to Oneness Palace, Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme and cultivates the "Chaos Single Thought Art." This method can dissolve the opposition between heaven and earth and reorganize the attributes of all things in a single thought. Every move she makes affects the qi, and if it were not for the restrictions of the Immortal Palace's rules, this place would probably have already become invisible dust.

The last person stood at the highest point in the center of the light bridge, his body flowing with pure azure patterns, his skin like glass, and in his hand he held a "Wuji Divine Brush" that wrote life-law characters interwoven with starlight and lightning.

Gan Hongyuan, a core disciple of the Heavenly Emanation Limitless Hall, Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme and mastered the "Heavenly Emanation · Wuji Chapter." Using his pen as a boundary and destiny as his writing, he can forcibly rewrite the laws of the battlefield. It was once rumored that a single word he wrote could seal three thousand laws, and a single chapter he wrote could suppress the causes of ten realms.

The five people stood silently, their silence creating an atmosphere of immense pressure on the heavens and earth.

Below the sky bridge, dozens of powerful figures from various sects had already stepped forward. Among them were many cultivators at the Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme, or even those approaching the Void Emanation Realm · Initial Stage. At this moment, their eyes were burning with desire—not only for the opportunity, but also for the qualification to enter the "Ascension Palace".

The first to challenge was a cultivator at the Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme from the "Wind Prison Sect," possessing six wings on his back and an aura as powerful as a storm. He roared to the sky, his Spiritual Qi transforming into a wind dragon that Feng Fanxin like a celestial waterfall. "The Silent Nothingness Divine Hall, nothing but a name! Let me test your so-called 'Silent Life Wheel Realm'!"

Feng Fanxin slightly raised his eyes, his voice low and cold as iron. "Silent Fate—neither born nor destroyed."

He raised his hand and pointed a finger down. The wind dragon instantly froze, broke, and shattered. The light in the eyes of the Wind Prison Sect cultivator vanished in an instant, and his soul was directly extracted from his body and turned to dust. The entire battlefield was as silent as death.

Then the second challenger appeared—a Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme and wielding a fire wheel blade, pointing directly at Wen Hongyi. Flames soared into the sky, cracking the heavens, and he roared, "Testing my skills with fire!"

Wen Hongyi simply raised his hand, and the "Fallen Sun Mirror Wheel" slowly rotated, causing all the flames to flow back to their origin and turn to ashes in the mirror.

What you see is an illusion of fire, not fire itself.

As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Xiu's physical body turned into particles of light and was absorbed into the mirror, becoming invisible.

The third battle erupted beneath Shura Zhan Xiao's feet. Three cultivators joined forces, their swords flashing and soul flames exploding. Zhan Xiao grinned, his eyes suddenly bursting with bloodlust. "Well done."

With a single punch, ten thousand souls wailed in unison, and the sky transformed into Asura inferno. The three figures were instantly annihilated, and a blood-red shockwave swept across a width of three hundred feet, turning even the air into a crimson stream of light.

Meanwhile, Nan Yao's battlefield was eerily silent. A myriad arrays of void-locking techniques released by a talisman cultivator spread around her. She sighed softly and pointed a slender finger at the void. In that instant, all arrays, runes, and even the flow of energy in heaven and earth simultaneously returned to zero. The talisman cultivator's eyes were filled with terror, but before he could understand, his body had already turned into dust and dissipated. She whispered, "Mixed Return to One, without birth or death."

Gan Hongyuan of the Heavenly Emanation Limitless Hall made the final move. He was facing a cultivator at the Annihilation Dawn Mirror · Supreme who was attempting to tear apart space. The latter was using the "Realm-Rending Art" to forcibly create a spatial rift in an attempt to launch a sneak attack.

Qian Hongyuan calmly wrote one word - "ding".

Space fracturing solidified, time frozen, and the world ceased to flow. The cultivator didn't even have time to tremble with his divine sense before he was eternally sealed within a page of the Wuji Scroll, turning into nothingness.

A moment later, the entire battlefield fell silent. The wind ceased and the clouds dispersed, and the five remained standing in their original positions, without moving an inch.

Qin Yu and Extinguished Light stood on a suspended stone platform in the distance, their gazes calm. Extinguished Light spoke slowly, his tone even, yet revealing a serene understanding of the mortal world. "These five... truly deserve to be chosen by the Five Halls of the Annihilation Void."

Qin Yu put his hands behind his back, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. "The Void Obliteration Domain has indeed been rife with undercurrents for some time."

As the Annihilation Wind rose, the golden light of the sky bridge flickered once more. After several rounds, the cultivators below shook their heads and sighed, "Alas, we should just honestly seek opportunities on the outskirts; those five are all exceptionally strong."