When Qin Yu returned from the Firmament Vault Heavenly City, the night fog had just dissipated, and the golden sun shone on the Nine Thousand Realms Peaks. Amidst the misty haze, the outer disciples of the Thousand Realms Sect had already begun a new round of mission scheduling.
At this moment, Qin Yu before the main steps of the sect, his face calm and his eyes fearless.
He is ready to take on his fourth phase mission – [The Origin Abyss Judgment and Enforcement].
⸻
Myriad Phenomena Mission Hall, the Boundary Pattern Array floated, and the Elder in charge of the token glanced at the token in Qin Yu's hand, his expression slightly hesitant.
"This task involves clearing the soul core from the 'Ancient Abyss Soul Lock' ruins, the third level of the Origin Abyss- level dungeon."
"Logically, it should only be given to cultivators at the Initial Origin Fourth Stage or above..."
Qin Yu didn't say much, only staring at him intently.
The elder was slightly shaken, feeling that although the young man was only at the Initial Origin First Stage, there was an unusual pressure emanating from him, as if his soul was deep and difficult to fathom.
Finally, he raised his hand and stamped the seal.
"Approved, execution period seven days, Jie Xun's preliminary estimate is seventy points."
"Just a reminder, remnants of ancient species of Boundary Souls may occasionally appear in Origin Abyss- level missions. Be careful to conceal your presence and do not launch any rash attacks."
Qin Yu accepted the seal and gave a slight bow.
Remember this.
He turned around, his back as sharp as a sword, without uttering a word.
⸻
Hundreds of miles away from the sect, the Great Boundary Rift appeared ahead.
"Ancient Abyss Soul Lock..."
Qin Yu atop the broken boundary, his gaze falling upon the soul-locking rift that had sunk a thousand feet. Within it, the energy was turbulent and chaotic, and faint soul howls could be heard.
He took a deep breath.
The Azure Ring remained still.
This is a test for myself.
Qin Yu slowly drew the black gun from his back.
Pursuit of the Unseen, Revealing.
The black hook spearhead was silent, yet it carried Dao Abyss patterns, like a ray of dark light piercing through the night as if tearing through the void.
He stepped into the rift valley.
After descending no more than a hundred feet, the pressure on the soul suddenly surged, and the energy of the realm reversed, as if the heavens and earth themselves were repelling external objects.
Qin Yu's brow remained unmoved. His right hand pressed firmly against Pursuit of the Unseen, while his left palm slowly condensed the first battle technique he had cultivated from the "Silent Origin: Tribulationless Chapter"—[Sealing and Annihilation Form].
This combat technique was not taught by Azure Ring, but rather it was a unique seal-breaking technique he developed himself after fusing the Gray Ring with the Spirit Firmament Realm Qi. It can compress soul energy and then explode it, severing the soul without leaving a trace.
He stepped into the Abyss of Soul Locks.
Within the Soul Realm, shadows surged.
⸻
Just as Qin Yu approached the deepest part of the Soul Lock Domain, the boundary wall suddenly trembled.
Boom--!!
A strange, beastly aura emanated from the depths of the Ghost Abyss!
Immediately afterwards, a black and gold shadow suddenly pounced out from the crack in the sea of mist!
It was a strange beast with two eyes, four claws, and bone wings trailing traces of a thousand souls' fire. It was three zhang long, its scales were like meteor flames, and its claws were covered with fragments of fire from the remnants of the world.
This beast is not one of the five divine beasts, but its violent aura has already surpassed that of any other divine beast in the Divine Abyss!
Its name is: [Rending Flame Soul-Devouring Zheng].
"Good heavens..."
Qin Yu's eyes darkened, and before he could even finish speaking, the Pursuit of the Unseen Spear was already held horizontally in front of him.
The next instant, the Soul Zheng roared and arrived, its four claws tearing through the void, creating four soul-exploding cracks, which actually forced him back dozens of feet!
His robes ripped apart, blood trickled from his mouth, and his mind trembled violently.
If Azure Ring hadn't released a wisp of "Soul Consciousness Stabilizing Pattern" at the most critical moment to protect the foundation of his sea of consciousness, his soul root would probably have been directly gnawed apart by the Soul Zheng.
"Azure Ring... thank you."
He spat out a mist of blood, but still failed to summon any external manifestation of the ring seal.
He will kill this divine beast on his own!
The battle lasted for nearly a hundred breaths. The Soul Zheng attacked at an extremely high frequency, and each impact was accompanied by a Soul-Exploding Melting effect.
Qin Yu was thrown back several times, but each time he managed to temporarily stop the damage by using the "Silent Sealing Art" from the "Tribulationless Chapter" and then counterattack with the "Sealing and Annihilation Form".
Just as Qin Yu stood with his spear held high, forcibly stabilizing his breathing, the Soul Zheng suddenly roared to the sky!
Buzz--!!
A jet-black soul flame erupted from his sternum, causing the surrounding energy to tremble and the Soul Lock Ruins to shake violently. Beneath the sky, the image of ten thousand soul chains churning appeared!
In the next instant, Soul Zheng's eyes shone brightly, its scales cracked open automatically, and soul flames surged from within its body like a tide.
[Burning Abyss: Devouring Spirit Realm Tide]!
The entire Soul Lock Ruins was instantly enveloped by a surge of souls like a black flame wave!
Within each black flame lay the remnant souls of those who had perished. They wailed and howled, coalescing in the void into countless ghostly figures, all swooping down upon Qin Yu!
"What a cunning and ruthless combat technique!"
Qin Yu's expression hardened. He felt the surrounding soul pressure almost solidify into a tangible form. The ground beneath his feet was no longer the earth, but a soul abyss where countless souls surged like a tide!
Every inch of the void has been transformed into a "Soul-Devouring Purgatory." Any living being that steps into it is as if its will has been erased by the "World Soul Engraving"!
The Soul Zheng sat atop it, seemingly becoming the enforcer of this "Soul Abyss Refining Tide".
"Is even the heavens trembling?"
Qin Yu's gaze burned fiercely, and he did not retreat an inch.
His figure stood firm as a mountain amidst the overwhelming pressure of countless souls, while the Pursuit of the Unseen -Chasing Spear grew ever colder and more frosty.
He knew that if he couldn't even contend with such a divine beast before reaching the level of the Five Gods, then how could he possibly stand in this Spirit Firmament Great Realm?
Finally, after the ninth strike of the standoff, Qin Yu roared and Pursuit of the Unseen -Chasing Spear, his soul consciousness becoming one!
Qin Yu held his spear horizontally in front of him, his figure trembling slightly, but his back remained as straight as a pillar. He closed his eyes slightly, his mind sinking into his sea of consciousness.
That instant—
The Azure Ring remained silent, the Gray Ring remained subdued, and only his own Spiritual Sense and physical body were engraved with the Soul Rend Mark of the Battle of No Tribulation.
He uttered a sentence:
" --Silent Origin: Wheel-Breaking Seal!"
Boom!!
As the incantation was unleashed, the entire space suddenly shattered!
With him at its core, the cosmic energy rapidly rotated into an octagonal ancient seal ring, like a black sun reflecting the world, with one hundred and eight sealing and annihilation cracks appearing on its surface!
At this moment, the entire Soul Lock Severed Domain seemed to be dragged into an abyss of silence by the ancient magic seal he summoned.
The void collapsed, and the boundary walls distorted!
"What... what kind of technique is this?!"
The Rending Flame Soul-Devouring Zheng felt a strange fear and instinctively tried to retreat, but it was too late.
The seal wheel slowly descended, as if not striking, but rather—in the deepest recesses of the world's laws, declaring the end of a soul's position.
As the wheel imprint landed, the entire Soul Lock Land was cleaved into three layers!
The first layer, the soul tide collapses;
On the second level, all afterimages vanished;
The third layer: the monstrous body was pierced through, the soul core shattered, and the sea of consciousness annihilated!
The sky collapsed like a drumbeat, and the earth cracked like the shattering of a boundary marker.
In an instant—even the "Heavenly Seal Soul-Monitoring Formation" of the Spirit Firmament trembled slightly, and an ancient bell rang out from the top of the distant Realm Tower!
Qin Yu stood motionless in the center of the Eight Directions Ancient Seal, his long hair fluttering wildly, his spear tip stained with soul ash.
Pursuit of the Unseen, as if acknowledging this master wielding the spear for the first time.
A boundary mark ignited within his body, merging with the Edge of the Pursuit of the Unseen —piercing directly through the chest of the Soul Zheng and tearing out from its back!
With a deafening howl, the Soul Zheng collapsed!
The corpses burned to ashes, and deathly silence returned to the surroundings.
He stood there, half-kneeling and spitting blood, a soul pattern had already Pursuit of the Unseen in his hand, the Zhu You—the first sign of the awakening of the World Soul.
He knew—he had won.
It was his own level of understanding and willpower that made him successful.
After refining and sealing the soul core into the boundary seal, Qin Yu left the Soul Lock Severance Domain, his figure disappearing into the afterglow.
No one knows what he encountered, nor does anyone know that he did not use the ring seal.
And he knew—this was his first step into the true path of the Spirit Firmament.
This also serves as proof of the "war without rings".
He whispered:
"It's still early— Shang Kui, Sang Yan, and the top ten in the entire Soul Stele Inscription Record... will eventually be surpassed one by one."