After obtaining the giant beast's crystal core, Su Yao and her parents rested briefly before continuing their exploration deeper into the dark rift. The further they went, the more distorted the space became, as if each step was crossing a different dimension. From time to time, eerie green lights flickered in the darkness, revealing small, mutated creatures lurking in the shadows.

Suddenly, the surrounding space began to tremble violently, and spatial rifts crisscrossed like lightning. Su Yao reacted quickly, activating the system's spatial stabilization function and simultaneously directing her parents to move closer to her. "Everyone be careful, this spatial turbulence might sweep us into an unknown place."

However, danger followed immediately. A group of ghost-like mutants emerged from the rift; their forms were ethereal, yet they could unleash sharp mental attacks. Su Yao's mental abilities instantly activated a defensive shield, while simultaneously attempting a counterattack. But these ghostly mutants were extremely troublesome; they constantly darted between the spatial rifts, remaining elusive and difficult to predict.

Seeing this, Su Yao's father compressed his power shield to its limit and then released it suddenly. The powerful energy wave spread outwards, temporarily dispelling some of the ghostly mutants. Her mother used her life reversal ability to stabilize Su Yao and her father's mental state and resist the erosion of their mental impact.

“We can’t just sit here passively taking hits. I’ll try using the power of the crystal cores.” Su Yao said, taking out some of the crystal cores she had collected earlier and channeling their energy into her special ability. Instantly, the power of her ice-type ability increased greatly, and the ice domain rapidly expanded, trapping the ghost mutants within. In the absolute zero ice domain, the ghost mutants’ movements became sluggish, and Su Yao seized the opportunity to launch an attack, eliminating them one by one.

As the ghostly mutants dissipated, an ancient ruin appeared ahead. The ruin exuded a mysterious aura, its walls covered with strange runes and patterns. Su Yao approached curiously, but the system suddenly issued a warning: "Powerful energy fluctuations and unknown dangers exist within the ruins. Please proceed with caution."

But Su Yao knew this might be the key clue to closing the dark rift. "Mom and Dad, let's go in and take a look, but we have to be vigilant at all times." After entering the ruins, they found that there were traps and mechanisms everywhere. If you stepped on the wrong stone slab, it would shoot out poison arrows or trigger a flamethrower.

Using the system's detection capabilities, Su Yao carefully led her parents away from the traps. Deep within the ruins, they discovered a massive energy core, radiating a dazzling light that contrasted sharply with the surrounding darkness. However, guarding this core was an even more powerful mutated creature—the Flame Demon Beast.

The Fiery Demon Beast was engulfed in raging flames, leaving charred footprints with every step. Upon spotting Su Yao and the others, it immediately attacked, spewing forth massive pillars of fire. Su Yao quickly erected an ice shield to block the flames, while her father charged towards the beast, using his power shield to engage it in close combat. Her mother, standing by, cast buffs on her father, increasing his defense and attack power.

During the fierce battle, Su Yao discovered that the Flame Demon Beast's flames seemed to have some kind of connection with the ruins' energy core. "If I can disrupt its connection with the core, perhaps I can defeat it," Su Yao thought, activating her mental abilities to try and interfere with the energy transmission between the Flame Demon Beast and the core.

After a fierce battle, Su Yao finally found an opportunity. She fused her wind and fire elemental abilities, creating a powerful vortex of fiery wind that surged towards the connection point between the Flame Demon Beast and its energy core. The impact of the vortex successfully destroyed the connection point, instantly weakening the Flame Demon Beast's power. Su Yao's father seized the opportunity to launch a fatal blow, completely defeating the Flame Demon Beast.

Su Yao approached the energy core, and the system prompted: "This energy core can be absorbed and transformed to enhance your ability level or repair spatial rifts." After a moment's thought, Su Yao decided to absorb some energy to improve her abilities first, and then use the remaining energy to try to repair the dark rift. During the energy absorption process, Su Yao's abilities underwent a qualitative leap. Her control over ice, mental, wind, and fire abilities became more proficient, and she was able to fuse them more perfectly.

Subsequently, Su Yao used the system's guidance to direct the energy from the energy core towards the dark rift. Under the influence of this powerful energy, the dark rift began to slowly close. However, just as the rift was about to completely close, a mysterious force surged from its depths, halting the closing process.

"This power is extraordinary; it seems we need to investigate further," Su Yao said solemnly. So, they stepped into the dark rift once more, heading towards the source of that mysterious power. This time, however, they would face even greater challenges and unknown dangers.