I gain ten years' worth of cultivation every day, and even geniuses will only see my doorstep!

"Perhaps you're right. Perhaps there really is something above nothingness. But I don't know, because I've never been there. The will of nothingness is trapped in nothingness, like a fish trapped in water. The fish doesn't know there's air beyond the water because it has never left the water."

Qin Yuan sensed the longing in its voice. "You want to leave?"

"I want to," the thing said. "I've wanted to for billions of years. But I can't leave. Because I am the will of nothingness, if I leave nothingness, nothingness ceases to exist. And if nothingness ceases to exist, I cease to exist as well."

Qin Yuan thought for a moment and said, "I can help you."

"How can I help?"

Qin Yuan raised his hand, and a ball of golden light condensed in his palm. That was the power that guarded the Heavenly Dao, a Dao he had forged through countless battles and acts of protection since his journey from the Xuan Yuan Sect. It was neither nothingness nor existence, but something in between—it was a choice.

"I will pave a path here," Qin Yuan said. "A path from nothingness to existence. If you follow this path, you can leave nothingness without letting it disappear."

The thing's body trembled slightly. It didn't speak, but Qin Yuan could sense its excitement.

Qin Yuan pressed the light from his palm onto the ground. The golden light seeped into the gray stone slab, taking root and sprouting like a seed. The stone slab cracked, and golden vines grew from the cracks, spreading into the distance and building a golden bridge in the void.

At the end of the bridge, there is a curtain of light.

Behind the light curtain was a color Qin Yuan had never seen before—not lapis lazuli, not eternal gold, not the white of myriad realms, not the gray of chaos, but a transparent yet perceptible existence. It was "existence" itself.

"Go ahead," Qin Yuan said.

The thing stood at the bridgehead, hesitating for a long time. Then it took its first step.

Its foot landed on the golden vine with a soft "snap." It was the first time Void had made a sound. It froze, looking down at its foot, then up at Qin Yuan.

"Is that... a sound?"

Qin Yuan nodded. "Yes. The voice."

The thing took another step. Thud. Another step. Thud. It walked faster and faster, the footsteps becoming more frequent, turning from "thud" to "thud thud thud thud." It began to laugh—a hoarse, strained laugh, like a rusty iron door being pushed open, but it was definitely laughter.

It started running.

A golden bridge stretched out beneath its feet; the faster it ran, the faster the bridge grew. It reached the end of the bridge and plunged into the curtain of light.

The light screen flickered violently, then calmed down.

On the first continent of the Void Sanctuary, for the first time, there was sound, light, wind, and color. The gray stone slabs turned pale gold, the mist rising from the abyss became clear water, and riverbeds that had been dry for millions of years were moistened again.

Qin Yuan stood by the river, looking at his reflection in the water. It was a calm face, without weariness or confusion, only a faint sense of contentment.

"Brother Qin Yuan," Lin Qing'er said softly, "did what you just did count as creating a world?"

Qin Yuan thought for a moment. "No. I merely gave nothingness a choice. It chose to exist, and thus the world came into being."

Lin Qing'er leaned on his shoulder. "And you? What did you choose?"

Qin Yuan looked down at her. "I chose you."

Lin Qing'er blushed. Just as she was about to say something, a sudden roar came from afar. The golden earth trembled violently, and the water in the river splashed high into the air. Qin Yuan looked up and saw something taking shape behind the curtain of light at the end of the bridge.

It wasn't that "nothingness," but something else. Bigger, older, more silent.

The Void Holy Court.

Chapter 199 The Faceless King

The Void Sanctuary is not a palace, but a ruin.

As Qin Yuan led Lin Qing'er across the golden bridge, through the light curtain, and into the ruins, he felt not oppressive power, but desolation. The ruins were vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. Collapsed pillars, shattered walls, and weathered statues were scattered across the gray wasteland, like the skeletons of giants.

"There was once a civilization here." Qin Yuan squatted down and picked up a piece of gravel. There were carving marks on the gravel, with smooth lines and exquisite craftsmanship, but they had been worn away by time and were almost invisible.

Lin Qing'er looked around. "Who built it? Why is it now a ruin?"

Qin Yuan shook his head. "I don't know. But someone is here."

His gaze fell into the depths of the ruins. There stood a relatively intact building, a half-collapsed hall, with three characters carved on the lintel—not words, but three symbols. Qin Yuan couldn't understand them, but he could sense the will contained within the symbols: nothingness, eternity, and loneliness.

A person was sitting in the hall.

No, it wasn't human. It was an existence similar to the previous "nothingness," but more solid and more ancient. It had a human shape, facial features, expressions, and even wore clothes—a grayish-white robe with the hem trailing on the ground, covered in dust.

But it has no eyes.

The eye sockets were empty, dark and hollow, like two deep wells.

"You've come," it said, its voice hoarse, as if it hadn't spoken in a long time. "I felt the bridge tremble. The void told me that someone had given it a path."

Qin Yuan stood at the entrance of the hall, not going in. "Who are you?"

"I am the king of the Void Holy Court. Or rather, I once was." It raised its hand, pointing to the surroundings of the hall. "This place was once the Void Holy Court. For billions of years."

In the ruins of the Void Sanctuary, the Faceless King sat in a half-collapsed hall, his greyish-white robe trailing on the ground, covered in millions of years of dust. His eye sockets were empty, black holes, like two deep wells.

"The Void Holy Court was once one of the most powerful forces in all realms," the Faceless King said, his voice hoarse, like wind blowing across a dried-up riverbed. "We had a million-strong army, three thousand Void Holy Emperors, and countless resources. We thought we were the rulers of all realms."

Qin Yuan stood at the entrance of the hall, not going in. Lin Qing'er stood behind him, warily looking around.

"And then?" Qin Yuan asked.

"Then we broke the taboo." The Faceless King lowered his head. "We tried to control 'nothingness' itself. We thought nothingness could be controlled and exploited. We built this Holy Court, forged palaces with the power of nothingness, and paved the earth with crystals of nothingness. We thought we were the masters of nothingness."

Its voice grew softer and softer.

"But we were wrong. Nothingness has no master. Nothingness is just nothingness. When we tried to make it serve us, it turned on us. Overnight, a million-strong army turned to dust, three thousand Holy Emperors vanished without a trace, and the entire Holy Court became ruins. Only I survived."

Qin Yuan asked, "Why did you survive?"

The Faceless King remained silent for a long time.