Chapter 1363: Empty Silence

The Shattered Star Abyss, like a massive mouth of the earth, is bottomless.

Standing at the edge of the circular abyss and looking down, what is seen is not darkness but a more twisted sight. Countless shattered star fragments, space shards, even streams of time flow float, collide, and recombine within the abyss, forming an immense, slowly rotating vortex of chaos. At the vortex's center, faintly visible are countless intersecting massive array patterns composed of pure energy and rule lines; they are not static but constantly collapsing, recombining, and shifting, emitting the Return to the Void's primordial intent that makes the entire wasteland shudder.

The core of the Ancient Void Array drifts within the vortex's heart. It is not a physical structure; rather, it resembles a living, ever‑evolving "wound" or "spectacle" woven from spacetime laws and the Dao rhythm of Return to the Void.

The fragment of the Fixed Void Pearl now burns hot, its direction unmistakably clear. The crescent‑shaped jade pendant in the Moonlit Fairy's hand also emits an unprecedented radiance, trembling slightly, pointing toward a spot deep within the vortex—perhaps the region where the Taiyin Source Soul may exist.

The two exchange a glance, each seeing the other's solemnity. Having arrived here, there is no retreat, and no words are needed.

"Enter the formation," Yan Buji says succinctly, leaping first into the chaotic vortex. The Moonlit Fairy follows closely behind.

Upon entering the vortex, it feels as if one has fallen into a turbulence of rules. Time becomes erratic, sometimes rushing by so fast that life seems to burn in an instant; other times it halts completely, thoughts nearly freezing. Space shatters further, losing any sense of up, down, left, or right; each step may land in an entirely different position, even simultaneously existing in several overlapping spatial layers. The raging Dao rhythm of Return to the Void assaults everything Existence like countless fine needles, penetrating without a gap.

Yan Buji channels the Chaos Force to its fullest, his gray aura turning into a thin membrane that constantly births and dies, simulating the creation of heaven and earth, struggling to resist the spacetime turbulence and Return to the Void's erosion while striving to sense the stable anchor point sent by the Fixed Void Pearl fragment. The Moonlit Fairy transforms into a condensed ribbon of moonlight, clinging tightly behind Yan Buji's Chaos membrane, using his Chaos Force as a shield to lessen her own consumption.

The two are like a lone boat in a raging sea, laboriously navigating the violent rule vortex toward the direction indicated by the Fixed Void Pearl—toward the vortex's center, where the array patterns are most dense.

It's unclear how long passes—perhaps an instant, perhaps a hundred years. The surrounding spacetime turbulence suddenly intensifies, and the scene ahead abruptly changes.

They break into a relatively "stable" zone. Here there is no raging vortex, only an endless, gray‑hued void. Within the void float countless "mirrors" of varying sizes and forms. These mirrors are not solid objects but condensations of pure spatial laws, fragments of time, and even shards of living beings' memories and emotions. They reflect bizarre, fragmented scenes: the mountains and cities of the Qionghua Realm, the destruction and birth of an unknown star region, ancient battles of gods and demons, and countless mortals' joys and sorrows… All images whirl, intertwine, and shatter at high speed, ultimately converging on a single outcome: Silence Extinction, void, Return to the Void.

And at the center of these countless mirrors, in the deepest part of the void, a figure sits cross‑legged.

A middle‑aged man in a plain blue robe, his long hair loose, his face so ordinary it cannot be remembered. He sits with his eyes closed, a sheathless long sword of crystal‑clear blade laid across his knees. No aura emanates from him, as if he has merged with the gray void and the endless Return to the Void mirrors surrounding him. He sits there silently, as if he has been seated for eons and will continue until the end of the universe.

But when Yan Buji and the Moonlit Fairy step into this void and their gazes meet his, both are suddenly shaken to the core! Not by pressure, but by an extreme sense of "emptiness" and "silence." It is as if they see not a "person" but a personification of the concept of Return to the Void! The transparent long sword appears more like the embodiment of the "ending" of rules!

The man in the plain blue robe slowly opened his eyes.

What kind of eyes are they?

Hollow, indifferent, as if having endured countless cosmic cycles, seeing through all splendor and decay, leaving only a "emptiness" devoid of sorrow or joy, accepting everything.

His gaze sweeps over the Moonlit Fairy; she feels her own Taiyin Path, even the meaning of her Existence, fade and dim under that stare, nearly dissolving on the spot, returning to the void. She lets out a low hum, silver light specks seep from her seven orifices, her moonlight contracts sharply, and her form wavers as if about to fall.

Yan Buji steps forward, the Chaos membrane expands, shielding the Moonlit Fairy behind him, while he himself bears the bulk of that gaze's "scrutiny."

The gaze lands on Yan Buji; within his hollow indifference, a faint, almost nonexistent ripple seems to arise, like a slight ripple on stagnant water.

"Chaos… origin… anomaly…" The man in the plain blue robe's voice rings out directly in the void, flat and unruffled, yet each word triggers violent shifts in the scenes reflected by the surrounding mirrors, accelerating countless Silence Extinction images. "You have disturbed the order of Return to the Void. Now… correct it."

He makes no extra move; the transparent long sword on his knee emits a soft hum, lifts on its own, and its tip points toward Yan Buji.

There is no sword aura, no murderous intent. Yet Yan Buji feels that his connection to this void, to the outside world, even his own perception of Existence, is being slowly stripped and denied by this "point." It is not an attack but a "definition"—defining him as a "thing that should not exist," defining his existence as "erroneous," intending to "erase" his Existence from this void ruled by Return to the Void's laws.

More terrifying and fundamental than the erasure by the Return to the Void envoy! It is a negation at the rule level!

Yan Buji only feels the Chaos membrane violently convulsing, his internal Chaos core emitting a strained wail; his form, his magical power, his spirit all begin to blur and become transparent, as if to merge into this gray void, becoming yet another fragment in the countless mirrors pointing toward Silence Extinction.

"No! My Existence cannot be defined by you!" Yan Buji roars within, his will to survive and the Chaos's pioneering nature erupting fully! He ceases passive defense, sinking all his mind into the deepest part of the Chaos core to touch and awaken that more primordial thing glimpsed when confronting the Return to the Void envoy—a struggle not just of "life" against "annihilation," but Existence itself declaring against the void!

"Chaos is neither beginning nor end; Existence is eternity! My heart is Chaos, my thought is Existence! Return to the Void also lies within Chaos—Chaos Return to the Void; my body is indestructible!"

He no longer attempts to counter or dissolve that "definition" and "erasure" power; instead, he turns his very Existence into a part of the Chaos law! His body, magical power, and spirit begin resonating with the Chaos core at an arcane frequency, emitting an absolute will of "I am Existence, I am justified, I am Chaos." This will is not brute force but the ultimate affirmation and steadfastness of his own essential Existence.

The transparent "definition" force falls upon this "Existence will" like water striking a reef—able to cover but unable to dissolve the rock itself! Yan Buji's vague, transparent form reconsolidates; though he still bears immense pressure, as if shouldering the weight of the entire Return to the Void void, his Existence steadies!

In the hollow eyes of the man in the plain blue robe, that faint ripple becomes slightly noticeable. He seems a bit surprised that this "anomaly" can resist his "Return to the Void definition" in this manner.

The hovering transparent long sword, for the first time, moves forward of its own accord, thrusting outward.

This thrust is slow, clear, as if following the universe's most fundamental "ending" trajectory. Where the blade passes, the void reveals countless scenes of things reaching their end: stars extinguish, civilizations wither, deities fall, laws collapse… Ultimately, all images converge at a single point on the sword tip—a point of pure, absolute "nothingness."