Chapter 414: Weird Demon Spirit, Silent Corridor

Chapter 414: Eerie Phantoms, The Silent Corridor

Deep within the second layer of the Spirit Realm, the Chosen Battlefield.

Passing through the gloomy spiral staircase, Qin Feng arrived at the Silent Corridor.

It was a colossal library suspended in the void. There was no ceiling, only shelves stretching into infinity, laden with ancient tomes that emitted varying hues of light. Countless translucent books hovered in the air like birds in flight.

There was no sound here. All noise had been forcibly stripped away by the laws of the realm.

As Qin Feng stepped inside, a system prompt echoed in his mind:

[Current Area Rule: Silence.]

[Penalty for Violation: Erasure of tongue and vocal cords.]

[Communication Method: Text or manifestation of divine intent only.]

Qin Feng raised an eyebrow.

Not far ahead, near a bookshelf, floated several creatures with massive eyeballs and bodies that flowed like ink.

Eerie Phantoms.

They possessed no physical form, surviving by devouring knowledge and souls.

Seeing Qin Feng enter, the phantoms swarmed him. They did not attack, but instead, lines of blood-red text shimmered in the air:

"Mortal, answer the riddle, or become fodder for the books."

"Riddle one: What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and..."

"Boring."

Qin Feng did not speak; instead, he carved two golden characters into the air with his divine intent.

He was not answering the riddle.

He was grading it.

As a Sovereign of the Universe, his knowledge was as vast as the sea. Such Sphinx-like riddles were beneath even a kindergartner to him.

But he couldn't be bothered to answer.

He invoked the power of "Rule Modification." Though restricted on the Chosen Battlefield, in this domain of pure logic, his spiritual power was the highest authority.

As the characters "Grading" descended, the phantoms began to tremble violently. They were shocked to discover that the riddle they had posed was marked as a "low-level error."

Qin Feng’s fingers slashed through the void, and red correction marks pierced the phantoms' bodies like swords.

"Illogical."

"Cliché."

"Lacks originality."

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The three phantoms exploded instantly, dissolving into puddles of black ink.

They were not killed; they were "humiliated" to death. Their logical cores could not withstand the dimensionality reduction strike from such a high-dimensional perspective.

The audience in the livestream was stunned.

"...What is he doing? Is he grading the monster's homework?"

"And he graded it to death?"

"Is this the crushing dominance of a top-tier scholar?"

Passing through the outer shelves, Qin Feng reached the library's core.

It was a vast circular plaza. Suspended in the center was a massive black book bound in chains—the mission objective, *The Original Sin*.

But standing before the book was a figure.

It was a giant composed of countless complex runes and formulas. It had no face, only a gaping mouth.

Guardian of Truth: Logic.

Seeing Qin Feng, the Guardian let out a deafening roar of divine intent:

"Halt! Ignorant seeker."

"Beyond lies the forbidden realm. Only those who pass the 'Game of Truth' may proceed."

"The rules are as follows: We shall take turns stating a proposition. If the opponent cannot refute or prove it false, they are judged the loser. The loser shall be erased by the rules."

This was a classic "logical deadlock."

Because the Guardian was connected to the library's entire database, it possessed all the truths of this dimension. Debating it was akin to arguing with an encyclopedia.

Qin Feng stopped and looked at the giant made of runes.

He smiled.

A cold, sharp smile.

"A Game of Truth? Interesting."

"To save time, I'll let you go first."

The Guardian did not hesitate; the runes on its body surged as it threw out its first killing blow:

"Proposition: The final destination of life is death. This is an irreversible process of thermodynamic entropy."

This was an iron law of physics, nearly impossible to refute.

In the livestream, countless scientists shook their heads in despair.

"It's over; this is an absolute truth. How can Qin Feng refute it? Unless he can overturn the Second Law of Thermodynamics."

Yet, Qin Feng merely lifted his eyelids languidly.

He wrote a line in the air:

"Refutation: That applies only to a closed system. But the universe is not closed, and—I am anti-entropy."

Boom!

A majestic surge of life force erupted from Qin Feng. It was not ordinary vitality, but the rule-defying power of the "Hunyuan Dao Body," endless and cyclical.

The air around him began to flow in reverse; the shattered floor tiles mended themselves.

He was using reality to slap physics in the face.

The Guardian’s runic body flickered violently.

"Warning... Logical conflict... High-dimensional variable detected... Verdict: Refutation valid."

Though it was a boss, it had to obey the laws of logic. Qin Feng’s very existence was a violation of conventional physical laws.

"My turn."

Qin Feng took a step forward.

He looked at the Guardian, his eyes as deep as an abyss.

"Listen closely."

He traced a sentence in the air, seemingly simple, yet utterly insoluble:

"This statement is a lie."

Silence.

A silence as profound as the grave.

The Guardian’s massive, rune-etched form suddenly seized.

Its core processor whirred into a frenzy, struggling to parse the truth of the claim.

"Analyzing..."

"If the statement is true, then it claims to be a lie, therefore it is false."

"If the statement is false, then the claim 'it is a lie' is false, therefore it is true."

"True equals false? False equals true?"

It was the classic Liar's Paradox.

To a human, it was merely an amusing mental exercise. But to a creature of rule-based existence, tethered to the rigid laws of mechanical logic, it was a lethal virus.

"Error... Error... Logical infinite loop..."

The Guardian’s body began to convulse violently; the runes upon its skin scrambled, shifting from the cool blue of reason to a frantic, burning red.

"Unable to parse! Unable to parse!"

"Requesting database support... Database overflow..."

Qin Feng stood with his hands behind his back, watching the spectacle in silence.

"What you call omniscience is often your greatest shackle."

"Your underlying code is far too brittle."

"Aaaaaaah—!!!"

The Guardian let out one final, piercing shriek of psychic agony.

Unable to process the infinite recursion of the paradox, its logic core surged past critical temperature.

Boom—!!!

The giant, woven from ancient runes, disintegrated before the eyes of all.

Countless fragments of light exploded like fireworks—dazzling, yet fatal.

It had not been felled by a blade, but burned alive by a logical trap.

Qin Feng waved away the lingering smoke and walked straight to the black book.

He reached out, snapping the chains.

He took the book. [Mission complete.]

[Method of termination: Logical collapse.]

[Rating: SSS (Intellectual annihilation).]

[Global Announcement: Human Chosen One Qin Feng has terminated the Guardian of Truth using a "Logical Paradox."]

"..."

"I don't understand. What kind of lethality did that sentence have?"

"I'm of the Mechanical Race... My own processor nearly fried just now. This human is too insidious! He exploited the fundamental vulnerabilities of a rule-based entity!"

"This is more terrifying than a brute-force blow... It means he stands at the pinnacle of dimensions, even in terms of pure intellect."

"Who dares play mind games with the Human race now? They wouldn't even know how they died."

Qin Feng opened the book, *The Original Sin*.

It contained no record of wickedness, but rather the ultimate research of the previous epoch regarding "language" and "rules."

"So that is it. The so-called sin was breaking the gods' monopoly on knowledge."

Qin Feng closed the book and converted it into a mission item for submission.

[Congratulations to Human Chosen One Qin Feng for completing the mission "Sighs in the Mist."]

[Rewards granted:]

Civilization Artifact: [Tower of Universal Knowledge (Blueprint)]—Capable of automatically parsing and translating 99% of languages and scripts in the universe.

Special Ability: [Eye of Truth (Fragment)]—Can see through illusions and disguises below A-rank (stacks with the Eye of Return to Nothingness).

National Fortune Feedback:

[Civilization Synchronization]: The language-learning capacity of all humans increases by 1000%. Acquired the "Universal Galactic Language" base pack.

[Thought Overclocking]: Human brain development increases by 5%. Inspiration burst rate significantly increased during creative work.

[Mental Resilience]: Mental resistance +30% for all citizens, significantly reducing the incidence of psychological disorders.

As golden light bathed the physical universe, human civilization took an epic leap in the realms of "culture" and "communication."

This was not merely learning a foreign tongue; this was the rebuilding of the Tower of Babel.

Human border, diplomatic space station.

Across the negotiation table sat an envoy from the "Black Scale Race." The creature spoke in harsh, garbled syllables, its expression ferocious, seemingly issuing a declaration of war.

The translation device struggled to parse the obscure dialect, outputting only fragmented words like "destroy" and "attack."

The atmosphere turned volatile; the guards' fingers tightened on their triggers.

"I can't understand... communication is impossible," Wang Xiu said, sweat beading on his forehead. "A misjudgment here means interstellar war."

Just then.

[Civilization Synchronization] descended.

Wang Xiu’s mind suddenly cleared. Those harsh syllables automatically dismantled and reassembled in his consciousness, transforming into clear semantic meaning.

He was astonished to find that the envoy was not threatening them, but rather... complaining?

Black Scale Envoy: "...Your patrol ships are too bright! You're blinding our females during their spawning season! If you don't dim the lights, we'll ram you!"

It wasn't a declaration of war; it was a complaint about light pollution.

Wang Xiu exhaled, his tension vanishing. He opened his mouth and responded in fluent Black Scale dialect:

"My deepest apologies, honorable envoy. We shall adjust our light wavelengths immediately and compensate your noble race with two tons of high-energy nutrient fluid."

The Black Scale envoy froze. Its ferocious face softened instantly:

"You speak our tongue? Oh, why didn't you say so! If we can communicate, then this is hardly an issue!"

A war that could have claimed millions of lives was dissolved into nothingness by the simple flow of language.

Art Academy, top-floor studio.

Claire stared blankly at her canvas. She wanted to paint the "rhythm of the universe," but no matter how she tried, her work felt pale and hollow.

"My mind feels as if it has been clogged..."

The very instant [Thought Overclocking] took effect.

Boom!

It was as if a firework had detonated within her mind.

Countless inspirations cascaded down like a meteor shower. She heard the sound of colors and saw the shape of melodies.

She snatched up her brush, painting with a frenzied, sweeping motion.

There was no need for thought; her hand moved in perfect harmony with her heart.

Three hours later.

A painting titled "Echoes of the God-Chosen" was born.

The canvas held no figurative objects, only twisted lines and blocks of light. Yet, anyone who gazed upon it could feel the "silent shock" and the "razor-sharp logic" that Qin Feng had experienced in the Silent Corridor.

This painting would later be hailed as the dawn of humanity's "New Renaissance."

Scene Three: The Song of the Silent

Location: Special Education School, Autism Rehabilitation Center.

Character: Xiao Ming, a child with severe autism.

Xiao Ming lived in a world of his own, having not spoken a single word in ten years. He could neither comprehend the expressions of others nor articulate his own needs.

But under the dual influence of [Mental Resilience] and [Thought Overclocking].

The world in Xiao Ming’s eyes, once a chaotic mess of information, suddenly became orderly.

He understood the anxiety in his mother’s eyes and the expectation in his teacher’s gaze.

He parted his lips, his vocal cords dry from years of disuse.

"Mo... ther..."

His mother, who was tidying up toys, shuddered, and the blocks in her hands clattered to the floor.

She spun around to see her son looking at her, his eyes no longer hollow, but filled with light.

"I am here," Xiao Ming said clearly.

It was the soul’s first response to the world after the connection of thought.

...

The human race was becoming smarter, more sensitive, and more inclusive.

The strength of a civilization lies not only in its fists, but in its mind and soul.

The God-Chosen Battlefield.

Qin Feng stowed away "The Original Sin" and stepped out of the Silent Corridor.

Yet, he was granted no respite.

As he delved deeper into the second layer of the Spirit Realm, the surrounding mist did not dissipate; instead, it grew thicker.

It was a colorful, hallucinogenic fog.

The system prompt chimed once more, carrying an eerie resonance.

[Warning: Extreme stability in the God-Chosen’s mental fluctuations detected.]

[Trial Mission Triggered: Self-Game.]

[Mission Description: The entrance to the third layer of the Spirit Realm has been sealed by the "Law of Mirrors." Anyone attempting to enter must confront the reflection deep within their own heart.]

[Mission Objective: Enter the "Mirror of True Suchness" and defeat your mirror image.]

[Special Note: The mirror image possesses 100% of your attributes, skills, memories, and even your subconscious dark side.]

[Time Limit: 6 hours.]

Qin Feng halted.

Before him, the mist parted to reveal a colossal mirror standing in the wilderness.

Inside the glass stood a man.

He looked exactly like him, wore the same black attire, and held the same God-Slaying Spear.

The only difference was that the Qin Feng in the mirror had pitch-black eyes and a wicked, arrogant smirk playing on his lips.

"Defeat myself?"

Qin Feng looked at his reflection, his expression peculiar.

"Does this system have some misunderstanding about my strength?"

"Throughout this journey, the person I’ve most wanted to kill has often been myself."

The Qin Feng in the mirror spoke, his voice raspy:

"A guardian? How hypocritical."

"Slaughter them all, and we can become gods. What are you hesitating for?"

Qin Feng did not answer.

He simply raised his spear calmly, the tip pressing against the surface of the glass.

"Too much talk."

"Come out and take a beating."

(End of chapter)