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

The ethereal figure casually waved its hand. It didn't touch her, but Lin Qing'er felt as if she'd been slapped by an invisible hand, flying through the air and crashing into the void, spitting blood. She struggled to stand up, trying three times, but failed each time.

"Too weak," said the Void Shadow. "The fifth level of the Origin Saint Venerable? Above all realms, the weakest is the Void Ruler. You don't even have the qualifications to make me take you seriously."

Qin Yuan struggled to his feet. He picked up the Xingtian Sword; the blade was still trembling, and his hands were trembling too. But he stood firm.

He took a deep breath and poured all the remaining power of the Heavenly Dao he possessed into the Xingtian Sword. The sword glowed with a dim golden light, and he swung it, slashing at the ethereal shadow.

The golden sword energy pierced through the black mist once more. This time, the sword energy was slightly more solidified, leaving a shallow mark in the black mist. But the mark vanished instantly.

The Void Shadow looked down at its "chest," then raised its head. "Interesting. The fact that you can leave a mark in my nothingness shows that your power of existence is stronger than I imagined. But that's all."

It raised its hand again.

Qin Yuan knelt on one knee, the Xing Tian Sword resting on the ground. He was covered in blood, his hair disheveled, and his breathing rapid. Lin Qing'er lay in the distance, her fate unknown.

The ethereal hand slowly pressed down. Qin Yuan felt his existence being erased—not from pain, not from fear, but from a slow, irreversible disappearance. His fingers became translucent, his arms became translucent, and his body, like a sheet of paper soaked in water, was slowly dissolving.

He closed his eyes.

Then he remembered someone.

It wasn't Lin Qing'er. It was the Faceless King of the Void Sacred Realm. The one who tried to devour his existence was ultimately devoured by him. What did he use back then? Not power, not technique, but a single thought—I am not afraid of you.

Qin Yuan opened his eyes.

Golden light surged from his pupils. It wasn't an attack, nor a defense, but a declaration. He said to himself: I exist. I am here. I am Qin Yuan. Qin Yuan from the Xuan Yuan Sect. I will not disappear.

His body returned to solidity from its semi-transparent state. The ethereal shadow's hand could not press down, hovering in mid-air as if supported by an invisible hand.

For the first time, the Void Shadow showed a look of surprise. "You can actually resist the erosion of the power of nothingness?"

Qin Yuan stood up. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at the ethereal shadow.

"You are not nothingness," he said. "You are just afraid of the nothingness of existence."

He concentrated the essence of protecting the Heavenly Dao onto the Xing Tian Sword. This time, he didn't slash at the void, but at the space around him. The golden sword energy left its mark in the white void—not a crack, not a wound, but a mark of "existence." Like the first stroke on a blank canvas, like the first sound in a silent room.

The form of the ethereal shadow began to tremble. Black mist surged, and its blood-red eyes flashed violently. The void space it relied on for refuge was torn apart by Qin Yuan.

"You!" it roared.

Qin Yuan ignored it. He swung his sword again, this time aiming at the true form of the Void Shadow. The sword aura carried the power of "existence," no longer nothingness, but a tangible entity. The golden sword light sliced ​​through the black mist, leaving a deep gash in the Void Shadow's chest. Black mist gushed from the wound, like blood.

The Void Shadow was injured for the first time. It let out a piercing scream, and the black mist churned violently, transforming into countless black shadows that rushed towards Qin Yuan from all directions.

Qin Yuan was surrounded by shadowy figures. They tore at his body, devoured his spiritual power, and tried to drag him into nothingness. He swung his sword and shattered one, then two more appeared; he shattered two, then four more appeared. The shadowy figures were endless, and he gradually became powerless.

Just then, a sword light flew from afar and struck a dark figure behind Qin Yuan. The dark figure vanished.

Qin Yuan turned around and saw Lin Qing'er struggling to her feet. There was still blood at the corner of her mouth, and her face was pale, but her hand was gripping the sword, the tip of which was still trembling.

"I'm fine," she said. "You focus on dealing with it."

Qin Yuan looked at her and nodded. He turned to face the ethereal shadow.

The three colors of light in his eyes—golden protection, red origin, and black end—surged violently, then slowly merged into pure gold. That was the ultimate form of protecting the Heavenly Dao, a new power he awakened in dire straits.

He sheathed the Xingtian Sword and held it loosely in his right hand. Golden light gathered in his palm, slowly forming a sword of light. It was not energy, not a magic weapon, but the manifestation of "existence." Countless tiny images flowed across the sword's surface—the stream behind the Xuan Yuan Sect, the petals of the old plum tree, and Lin Qing'er's smiling face as she squatted by the stream washing spiritual herbs.

"This sword strike," Qin Yuan said, "is called 'Existence'."

He brandished his sword.

There was no sword aura, no sword energy, only a golden streak of light. The streak of light extended from the tip of the sword, like a straight golden line, piercing through the void, through the black mist, and through the body of the illusory shadow.

Where the streak of light passed, the void melted away like ice and snow meeting a raging fire. The white void transformed into normal space, with ups and downs, near and far, wind and sound.

The Void Shadow tried to hide in the depths of nothingness. It desperately contracted the black mist, wanting to escape into the familiar void space. But it discovered that nothingness no longer existed. Qin Yuan's sword strike had completely erased the concept of "nothingness" from this space.

The ethereal shadow was exposed in physical space. Its form began to collapse, black mist scattered, and its blood-red eyes lost their luster, like two extinguished lamps.

"You... what kind of monster are you..." it asked, struggling.

Qin Yuan said, "I am Qin Yuan. Qin Yuan from the Xuan Yuan Sect."

The ethereal shadow vanished completely. The black mist dissolved into tiny specks of light, drifting through the void before slowly disappearing. It left no trace, as if it had never existed.

Qin Yuan sheathed his lightsaber and turned to walk to Lin Qing'er's side. She was leaning against the void, her eyes closed, her breathing faint. He knelt down and gently patted her face.

"Qing'er."

Lin Qing'er opened her eyes. She saw Qin Yuan's face and smiled. "You won."

"Yes," Qin Yuan said, "We won."

He helped her to her feet. Lin Qing'er leaned on his shoulder, feeling utterly weak, but her eyes were bright.

[Ding! The first gatekeeper above all realms has been defeated—the Shadow of Nothingness. Reward: Unlimited Energy Points.]

[Cultivation Breakthrough: Origin Saint Venerable Level 5 → Origin Saint Venerable Level 9.]

[Lin Qing'er's advancement: Origin Saint Venerable Level 5 → Origin Saint Venerable Level 7.]

[Obtain a special item: Void Fragment (allows temporary entry into a void state, immune to physical attacks, lasting three breaths).]

[Obtained: First Heaven Pass.]

Qin Yuan felt the spiritual energy surging within his body. The ninth level of the Origin Saint Venerable—he was only one step away from becoming the Origin Saint Emperor. He clenched his fist; his power returned, and his injuries were rapidly healing.