Chapter 154: Relics

After entering the ruins, the scene before my eyes changed dramatically.

The buildings inside seem to be a creation created by forcibly combining the concepts of countless distorted polyhedrons, Möbius strips and Klein bottles, completely violating the real laws of physics.

The massive stone pillars were not vertical, but curved, intersecting, and even penetrating each other at impossible angles. The walls were covered with distorted symbols identical to those seen on shore, but on a vastly larger scale. A dark glow seemed to flow within the lines of the symbols.

The entire space presents a very surreal visual effect.

To be honest, this scene gave me a headache. I calmed down and continued to explore.

In the very center of the ruins, a huge circular altar shaped like a planet is suspended in the sea.

The space there is not normal, and there is also an illusory barrier.

In the center of the altar, there is a crystal about the size of a human head, which is constantly changing colors.

Sometimes it looks like the purest crystal, sometimes like the deep starry sky of the universe, and sometimes it reflects countless broken and flowing images.

At the same time, I could clearly feel that there was a force stirring in my body, an almost hungry resonance and call, aimed directly at that crystal!

I couldn't help but want to get closer, but the path to the altar was anything but smooth. The geometry of the ruins itself formed an ever-shifting maze, making me dizzy. It felt like I knew the altar was right there, but I couldn't reach it.

I swam forward a little further, passing by the reflective crystal pillar next to me, and headed towards where the crystal was.

At this moment, a bone-chilling murderous intent attacked from behind without any warning!

This feeling was far purer and more deadly than any polluted creature I'd ever sensed before! The hairs on my body instantly stood on end, and the illusory power of Gali within me surged wildly in response.

In horror, I turned around suddenly and used the force of the water to quickly move to the side!

A blurry figure wearing the same old diving suit almost brushed past the edge of my mask! The figure's movements were as fast as a ghost, and the water it brought with it was extremely cold.

I steadied myself, my heart pounding, my own heavy breathing echoing through my oxygen mask. Looking closely, I saw the attacker hovering a few meters in front of me, slowly turning.

Under the diving mask, I saw my own face.

But that was definitely not my expression.

There was a strange and empty smile on that face, and his eyes were like a pool of stagnant water. He looked like a fake person, and if you looked at him for a long time, you would feel a bit of the uncanny valley effect.

when?

My brain was working rapidly, trying to recall what was wrong just now, but out of the corner of my eye I suddenly caught a glimpse of several crystal pillars next to me that were as smooth as mirrors.

Just now when I passed in front of the crystal pillar, my shadow was reflected...

I didn't have time to think further, because I saw the other "me" slightly raise a hand. It was wearing the same diving gloves as me, but visible ripples of space-distortion lingered at its fingertips—it was the same power as mine, able to transform illusion and reality!

I reacted at the same time and raised my mental strength to the highest level. The power from the mutation might be able to be copied, but mental strength is the instinct and uniqueness of living things, and cannot be copied by imaginary creatures.

If I must use the same force to touch it, the mental strength from my own body is what I can truly rely on.

But it was clear that it wasn't going to let me off easily. That face with a strange smile suddenly came close to my visor, its hollow eyes locked onto me. Then, it thrust its hands forward!

There was no sound, no violent surge of water. Instead, an invisible spatial ripple, carrying terrifying cutting power, like a transparent blade, instantly tore through the seawater, silently yet incredibly swiftly slashing towards me! Wherever it passed, the seawater seemed to be momentarily "erased" by an invisible force, leaving behind a twisted path like a vacuum!

In an instant, my figure disappeared from the spot, and the next second, I walked out from a smooth mirror.

The head-on collision just now might have stirred up the sea water. I am not a good swimmer and cannot take such a risk, so I chose to dodge it with the simplest "mirror jump".

But the mirror clone's attacks didn't cease. It didn't care about the missed attack, and the hollow smile on its face didn't change in the slightest.

It raised its hands again, and this time, dim points of light shone simultaneously from the tips of all ten fingers. Countless smaller, denser, distorted, illusory points of light shot towards me like a rainstorm! At the same time, its form began to blur and flicker, like an image with a poor signal, as if it could appear in any direction beside me at any moment!

The real killer move is this attack that changes from real to virtual and is everywhere, as well as its own difficult-to-lock, ghostly displacement!

I crushed the mirror in my bag, my mind highly concentrated, and the power in my body was running at an unprecedented speed.

Under the control of my thoughts, the mirror fragments flew out of my bag, instantly splitting and reorganizing, turning into several smaller but more flexible mirror shields, which quickly rotated around me, transforming the attacks hitting them into illusions one by one.

“Ding ding ding ding ding——!”

The sound of collision, as dense as rain hitting banana leaves, was audible, and the constant switching between reality and virtuality was draining my strength bit by bit.

Although it is still bearable at present, passive defense will eventually lead to a dead end.

We must fight back!

As I manipulated the mirror fragments, my thoughts raced.

This shadow has the same strength as me, but it plays with the illusory authority more skillfully than I do. If I want to fight back, I must find its core, or... the difference between us.

At this moment, I suddenly noticed that although the shadow was almost the same as me, the Miao Dao on its body... did not have the cloud and thunder pattern!

I narrowed my eyes slightly, and an idea formed in my mind.

If I can't break the move with the same force, then I will use the simplest physical attack. What's more, my Miao Dao can be "enchanted".

Thinking of this, my mind moved freely, and I used objects to control it, and the Miao Dao was immediately unsheathed.

At the same time, Shadow drew his sword, and the two swords collided in the next second.

A metallic hum echoed underwater. Strength raced along the hilt, numbing my arm slightly. Across from me, a face identical to mine, the smile remained unwavering, like a machine.

I deliberately left a tiny flaw in my blade's momentum, luring it to strike with all its might. The illusion fell for it, and its blade stabbed at my ribs like a venomous snake! I suppressed my instinct to dodge and jerked my body to the side—

“Swish!”

The cold blade ripped through my diving suit, leaving a burning wound between my ribs. With excruciating pain, bright red blood instantly gushed out, creating a small crimson mist in the dark water.

I curled my lips slightly and took the bait.