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

Qin Yuan didn't explain. He wasn't speaking sweet words; he was telling the truth. In his eyes, Lin Qing'er was indeed beautiful. From the stream behind the Xuan Yuan Sect until now, she had always been beautiful. No matter what she became, no matter how many times she forgot him, she would always be the most beautiful person in his heart.

The stars receded slowly behind them, like the receding tide. The calls grew farther and farther away, weaker and weaker, until they disappeared completely.

A door appeared ahead.

The white door, not large, had two words engraved on it: "The Way Home".

Qin Yuan landed at the door, and Lin Qing'er landed beside him. He reached out and pushed the door open.

The door didn't move.

He increased his strength, but the door still didn't budge. He activated his Guardian Heavenly Dao, and golden-red light enveloped his palm as he pushed the door again. The door remained unmoved, as if welded to the void.

"It won't open." Qin Yuan frowned.

Lin Qing'er also tried, but couldn't open it either.

Behind me, the old man's voice rang out: "The door wasn't opened by brute force."

Qin Yuan turned around. The old man had appeared behind them at some point, still sitting on the shooting star, holding the fishing rod without a line in his hand.

"Then what do we use to open it?" Qin Yuan asked.

The old man said, "Use your heart. If you have a way home in your heart, the door will open. If you don't, the door will just be a wall."

Qin Yuan remained silent for a moment. Did he have a destination in his heart? What was that destination? Was it the Xuan Yuan Sect? Was it Qingzhou? Was it all the myriad worlds? Every place he had been could be considered a destination, but none of them were the final destination.

He remembered the old man's words: "The way home is in the starry sky." Every star in the starry sky is a world, and every world is a path he has walked. But those paths are not the way home, they are just paths. The way home is not a path, it is the end of the path.

What lies at the end of the road?

He suddenly laughed.

He got it.

The journey home is not a place, not a person, not a memory. The journey home is the original intention. It is the thought that he carried in his heart when he set off from the Xuan Yuan Sect—to become stronger and protect those he wanted to protect.

This thought has never changed. No matter how far he went, no matter how many people he killed, no matter how high a realm he broke through, he never forgot why he wanted to become stronger.

This is the way home.

Qin Yuan closed his eyes and placed his hand on the door. He no longer pressed hard, but gently and quietly pressed against it. The door was cold, like iron in winter. But his palm was warm, like the summer sun.

The door begins to glow where heat and cold come into contact.

It wasn't pushed open; it opened by itself. The door slid open to both sides, revealing the world beyond—a white void, utterly empty. But within this void, there was a light. That light didn't emanate from anywhere; it was existence itself. It was the source of all light, the origin of all existence.

The old man stood up from the shooting star, watching Qin Yuan's retreating figure, his eyes filled with satisfaction. "You understand."

Qin Yuan didn't turn around. "Understood."

The old man transformed into specks of light and vanished into the starry sky. His last words echoed in the void: "Go. Behind the door lies a new beginning."

Qin Yuan grasped Lin Qing'er's hand and stepped into the portal.

[Ding! You have passed the Trial of the Pinnacle of All Realms. Reward: Infinite Energy Points.]

[Cultivation Breakthrough: Origin Saint Venerable Level 1 → Origin Saint Venerable Level 5]

[Lin Qing'er's advancement: Origin Saint Venerable Level 1 → Origin Saint Venerable Level 5.]

[Obtain special item: Heart of All Realms (Allows you to sense the location of any world and never get lost).]

[Obtain a special item: Mark of Return (allows you to return to any previously visited location at any time, with no cost).]

Beyond the portal lay a completely new world. There was no sky, no earth, only endless white void. But within that void, a voice echoed.

"Qin Yuan, welcome to the Myriad Realms."

Qin Yuan looked up. In the void, a gigantic figure was slowly coalescing.

Beyond the portal lay a pure white void.

There is no up or down, no left or right, no near or far. White is not light, not fog, but a color of "nothingness"—not black, because black is also a kind of existence; white is the true nothingness, an emptiness that has not even filled the concept of "existence".

The moment Qin Yuan stepped into this void, he felt an unprecedented pressure. It didn't come from any particular direction, but from all directions, from every inch of space, and from within his own body. It was as if the void was questioning him: What gives you the right to exist?

He steadied himself and shielded Lin Qing'er behind him.

In the void, a colossal figure was coalescing. It had no fixed form, like a constantly shifting black mist, churning, expanding, and contracting, each change carrying an indescribable rhythm. Only its two eyes were clear—blood red, like two lamps burning in the darkness. Cold, indifferent, devoid of emotion.

"Billions of years." The voice surged from all directions, deep and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against metal. "Finally, someone has come here. Unfortunately, they've come to their death."

Qin Yuan gripped the Xingtian Sword tightly. "Who are you?"

"The Shadow of Nothingness. The gatekeeper of the first heaven above all realms." Within the black mist, two blood-red eyes blinked. "Nine heavens, nine gatekeepers. I am the weakest. But to kill you, that's enough."

Lin Qing'er asked, "What's above the Nine Heavens?"

The ethereal shadow laughed. The laughter was like countless people coughing simultaneously in different rooms, chaotic and jarring. "The end of the Dao. The origin of all worlds, and also the destination of all worlds. Countless people have sought it, countless people have died along the way. You will be no exception."

Qin Yuan didn't say much. He drew the Xingtian Sword, and golden sword energy slashed towards the black mist.

The sword energy pierced through the black mist as if striking thin air, encountering no resistance whatsoever. A slit was cleaved in the black mist, but it instantly closed again. The ethereal shadow remained completely still.

"Physical attacks are ineffective against me," it said. "I am nothingness, not a physical entity. No matter how sharp your sword is, it cannot cut through something that does not exist."

It raised its "hand"—a cloud of black mist condensed into the shape of a palm, its five fingers spread, aimed at Qin Yuan. There were no moves, no energy fluctuations, just a gentle press.

Qin Yuan felt the entire void pressing down on him. It wasn't power, nor laws, but the weight of "existence" itself—as if all the worlds were pressing down on his shoulders, and every star was asking him: What right do you have to live?

The protective barrier of Heaven shattered instantly. Golden fragments scattered like broken glass.

Qin Yuan was sent flying by a palm strike, spitting out blood as he crashed into the white void. He tumbled for an unknown distance before finally coming to a stop. More than a dozen bones in his body were broken, and the Xing Tian Sword flew out of his hand, embedding itself in the distant void, its blade humming and trembling.

"Brother Qin Yuan!" Lin Qing'er exclaimed, rushing forward to try and attack the Void Shadow. She drew her sword and slashed at the black mist with all her might.