Dark Chess in the Demon Realm, Mirror World
The shimmering light on the River of Rebirth gradually faded, and the boiling water returned to its lifeless, dark silver. The remains of the ancient scorpion turned into pale powder and merged into the river; the Shadow Cultists couldn't even leave behind a remnant soul. Only the Star Key "Rebirth," radiating a warm white light and shaped like a twin lotus, floated quietly before Yun Zhiyu, exuding a boundless vitality that nourished all things and stabilized the soul's source.
But Yun Zhiyu felt no warmth at all.
He stiffly reached out and caught the Star Key. Its warmth still lingered in his hand, as if the touch of that pure tear still held its warmth. From the jade pendant in his bosom, the icy sword intent emitted a silent lament, its violent tremors nearly shattering the pendant. Xie Yunzhi's consciousness surged through his sea of thought, a despair and deathly stillness deeper than when his soul had been scattered.
Su Xiaolou opened her mouth, looking at Yun Zhiyu's profile, which seemed to have lost all its vitality, but in the end, she said nothing. She only sighed heavily and warily observed her surroundings. The ferryman had disappeared at some point.
"ah--!!!"
A suppressed growl, like that of a dying beast, finally escaped from Yun Zhiyu's throat. His eyes were bloodshot, and the power of annihilation in his left arm went completely out of control due to his intense emotional fluctuations. The ashen color spread wildly like a living thing, instantly engulfing his entire left shoulder and eroding his heart meridian! The flesh beneath his skin seemed to be melting away, revealing the void of darkness below.
"Kid! Calm down!" Su Xiaolou was shocked and was about to step forward to help suppress him.
Just then, the Rebirth Key seemed to sense the host's condition. A bright white light shone, and warm, pure life force, like sweet rain, actively flowed into Yun Zhiyu's body, especially into his out-of-control left arm.
Sizzle—!
Like cold water dripping into hot oil, two completely opposite forces, life and death, clashed violently within his body! Yun Zhiyu's body trembled violently, his face drained of color, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of dark red blood, which even contained some fragments of internal organs!
But it was precisely this extreme pain that brought a sliver of clarity to his nearly collapsed consciousness. He gritted his teeth and, with unwavering willpower, guided the life force of the Rebirth Star Key, in conjunction with the icy sword intent forcibly condensed by Xie Yunzhi in his sea of consciousness, gradually forcing the rampaging power of annihilation back into his left arm.
The process was slow and painful; his breath visibly weakened, but his eyes regained a near-mad obsession.
He must survive! He must gather all the Star Keys! Only by completely ending "Silence" can he truly resurrect Little Fish! This is an opportunity she earned by burning her soul twice; he cannot let it down!
Just as Su Xiaolou breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that Yun Zhiyu had temporarily stabilized the situation, another unexpected change occurred!
The ancient path to the underworld beneath their feet, the surrounding gray mist, and even the entire River of Rebirth began to violently twist and deform! Space seemed to have become a shattered mirror, with countless bizarre fragments spinning and reassembling!
"Not good! It's spatial displacement! Someone is forcibly interfering with the rules of the Yellow Springs Ancient Path from the outside!" Su Xiaolou's expression changed drastically. He unleashed his Dream Weaving Technique at full power, trying to stabilize the surrounding space, but it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
The next moment, the world spun around.
When Yun Zhiyu and Su Xiaolou regained their footing, they found themselves no longer on the Yellow Springs Ancient Road, but in an extremely strange place.
This appeared to be the interior of a magnificent temple, but everything possessed an unreal quality. The architecture was translucent, like crystal, yet it refracted distorted light. Most chillingly, standing opposite them were another "Yun Zhiyu" and another "Su Xiaolou"!
Not only were their appearances and clothing exactly the same, but even their auras and eyes were identical! The left arm of "Yun Zhiyu" was also wrapped in a gray, desolate power of annihilation, and the jade pendant in his bosom emitted a faint light; the "Su Xiaolou" also carried a wine gourd, and his eyes were filled with doubt and uncertainty.
“A mirror world…” Su Xiaolou gasped, recognizing the place. “It’s a forbidden technique recorded in the ‘Myriad Manifestations Netherworld Map’! It can drag people into a mirror space that is completely symmetrical to reality. Here… all attacks will be reflected back at the user!”
As if to prove his words, "Su Xiaolou" on the other side suddenly hurled his wine gourd at him! Su Xiaolou on this side instinctively raised his hand to block it.
Bang!
The gourd phantom disappeared the moment it made contact, but Su Xiaolou himself felt as if he had been struck in the chest by an invisible hammer, letting out a muffled groan and a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth!
"See? Don't attack! Any attack will affect yourself!" Su Xiaolou wiped away the blood, her face grim.
The "Yun Zhiyu" opposite him also moved, his fingers forming a sword shape, unleashing a sharp sword aura! Yun Zhiyu dared not take it head-on, and used his movement technique to dodge. The sword aura struck the crystal wall behind him, leaving the wall undamaged, but Yun Zhiyu felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, as if he had been cut by the sword aura!
Unable to attack, only able to dodge! But in this perfectly symmetrical world where there is nowhere to hide, how long can dodging last?
"Useless struggle." A chilling voice echoed through the hall. At the far end of the temple, a figure slowly emerged from the distorted light. It was Xuan Chengzi!
But Xuan Chengzi at this moment was completely different from the sanctimonious Tianji Pavilion Master of the past! Half of his face still retained its human form, while the other half was covered with strange purple demonic patterns. Dark purple flames danced in his eye sockets, and his aura was a mixture of pure Taoist spiritual energy and a deeper, more evil demonic energy, making him appear extremely strange and powerful.
"Xuan Chengzi! You have indeed sided with the Demon Realm!" Su Xiaolou shouted sternly.
"To surrender? No, to merge!" Xuan Chengzi spread his arms wide, his face contorted with a mixture of fanaticism and agony. "To pursue the supreme truth of 'Silence,' to transcend this ant-like body, merging with the consciousness of the great 'Lord of Silent Shadows' is the only way! The 'Myriad Manifestations Netherworld Map'... is the bridge!"
He pointed at Yun Zhiyu, especially at the power of annihilation in his left arm and the jade pendant in his arms, his eyes filled with greed: "Do you see that? This is the proof! The power of 'Silence' is not only about destruction, but also about bringing new life and transcendence! Hand over the Star Key and these two special souls to me, and once I have completely mastered the rules of 'Silence,' perhaps... I can grant you eternity!"
"Wishful thinking!" Yun Zhiyu's voice was icy, filled with overwhelming killing intent. Mo Xiaoyu's sacrifice made him hate Xuan Chengzi and the forces behind him to the core.
"Then... let us be forever trapped in this mirror image!" Xuan Chengzi (demonized) grinned maliciously, forming hand seals.
The light in the entire mirror world became even more distorted, and the pressure increased dramatically. The attacks from the two mirror images opposite them became more frequent and fierce! Yun Zhiyu and Su Xiaolou could only dodge desperately, their "wounds" increasing and becoming more severe. If this continued, they would either be killed or exhausted to death!
"We must find the 'asymmetry' of this world!" Su Xiaolou thought rapidly while dodging. "No mirror image can be absolutely perfect! Dream weaving... Yes, dreams have no mirror images!"
He suddenly looked at Yun Zhiyu: "Kid, trust me this once! Lower your mental defenses and temporarily surrender your consciousness to me! We'll use dreams to invade reality and find a weakness!"
Yun Zhiyu hesitated only slightly before nodding emphatically. At this moment, he had no other choice.
He relaxed his mind, and a dreamlike light shone brightly in Su Xiaolou's eyes, an invisible dream bridge connecting their consciousnesses. At the same time, in Yun Zhiyu's sea of consciousness, Xie Yunzhi's remnant soul also unreservedly merged its power into it.
The three consciousnesses coordinated like never before!
"Found it!" Su Xiaolou suddenly opened her eyes and pointed to a crystal prism on the dome of the main hall that seemed no different from the rest. "There! There's a tiny delay in the flow of energy! It's one of the core nodes supporting this mirror world!"
Almost the instant Su Xiaolou pointed, the mirror image of "Yun Zhiyu" opposite him had already condensed a terrifying sword aura containing the aura of annihilation and the power of stars, and slashed down with a roar! If this attack were to be deflected, Yun Zhiyu would surely die!
At that crucial moment that determined life and death—
Yun Zhiyu (whose body was controlled by Yun Zhiyu, but whose combat consciousness was completely taken over by Xie Yunzhi) moved!
He neither dodged nor blocked.
He closed his eyes.
Within his body, the life force of the Rebirth Star Key, the purification power of the Morning Star Key, his own Snow Owl demon power, Xie Yunzhi's icy sword intent, and even the restless power of annihilation in his left arm—all these forces no longer clashed or repelled each other at this moment. Instead, they were forcibly unified in an incomparably profound way by an incredibly powerful will that transcended life and death and was solely focused on himself and the sword!
The Realm of Sword Without Thought!
The ice crystal longsword in his hand vanished, or rather, his entire being transformed into a sword! A sword without form or substance, possessing only the ultimate sword intent!
The sword intent was not aimed at the mirror image, nor at that node, but rather... at the "logic" of the existence of this mirror world itself!
"break."
A soft rebuke, as if words had become law.
That sword aura, powerful enough to deflect a fatal attack, dissolved on its own the instant it touched this invisible sword intent, like ice and snow under the sun! It wasn't that it was blocked, but rather that the very "foundation" of its existence was fundamentally negated!
Immediately afterwards, the entire mirror world began to shake violently, and countless cracks appeared on the crystal walls and the mirror image on the other side, like a shattered mirror!
"No! This is impossible!" Xuan Chengzi (in demon form) roared in shock and anger.
Snap—Boom!
The mirror world has utterly collapsed!
Yun Zhiyu and Su Xiaolou returned to the vicinity of the entrance to the Yellow Springs Ancient Road. Both of them were pale and their breathing was disordered. Yun Zhiyu, in particular, had forcibly used the "No Thought Sword Realm" which was far beyond his own level, resulting in a great backlash and more serious injuries.
Meanwhile, Xuan Chengzi (in his demonic form) appeared not far away, the demonic markings on half of his face flashing violently, clearly indicating that he had also suffered a significant backlash. He glared venomously at Yun Zhiyu, then glanced warily at the Rebirth Star Key clutched tightly in Yun Zhiyu's hand. With a flicker, he merged into the shadows and vanished.
"He got away!" Su Xiaolou said unwillingly.
Yun Zhiyu didn't speak, but tightly gripped the Rebirth Star Key and the jade pendant in his arms, looking in the direction where Mo Xiaoyu's spirit dissipated, his eyes filled with unyielding sorrow and an even more resolute determination.
With two star keys in hand, hope remains.
But the enemy also revealed even more ferocious fangs.
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