The moment the stone wall of the passage shattered, rubble rained down like a storm.
Lin Yi's pupils contracted to pinpoints. He could clearly see the seven purple lights flowing in the Night Owl's eyes—that was not ordinary energy, but the resonating of the seven remnant souls.
"Dragon Five!"
"Take Chu Yao back to the center of the star array!" His voice was extremely low, and the power of spacetime condensed into a thin stream at his fingertips, drilling into his limbs and bones along his blood vessels.
The "Space-Time Overlap" technique I comprehended in the Void Battlefield last time, and the "Causal Regression" technique I just awakened three days ago, are now churning into a vortex in my sea of consciousness.
The owl's aura is three times stronger than the intelligence indicated; a fusion technique is necessary.
Long Wu's dragon scales vibrated and buzzed in the shockwave of the explosion. He scooped up Chu Yao and hoisted her onto his shoulder, slamming his dragon tail heavily to the ground.
The moment the ground cracked open with spiderweb-like patterns, he had already leaped ten meters away with Chu Yao—that was the "Big Dipper Soul-Locking Array" set up by Xuan Mingzi with his last breath of vital energy, and the seven star lamps at the array's core were flickering with his coughing up blood.
"You brat..." Xuan Mingzi wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth, his withered fingers drawing the last star trail in the void. "This formation can trap him for three breaths."
Three breaths...that's enough for you to do a lot.
Three breaths.
Lin Yi counted silently in his mind.
In the first breath, Night Owl's purplish-black energy blade was already slashing towards him.
He didn't dodge. The spacetime domain suddenly expanded, and when the blade struck the transparent barrier, it was as if it had been cut into a quagmire—the flow of time had been slowed down to one-tenth.
In the second breath, he saw the Night Owl's pupils contract, and seized the opportunity to stab the Space-Time Blade into the gap in the Energy Blade.
In the third breath, the star lamps of the Big Dipper Soul-Locking Array suddenly exploded into fragments, and Night Owl's right hand pierced through the space-time domain, directly grabbing his throat.
"Is that all you've got?" Night Owl's voice was like a rusty gear, and the force from his fingertips made Lin Yi's sternum crack.
He could feel the remnants of the Seven Keys' souls drilling into his body along the other person's fingertips, cold and sticky, like a swarm of snakes swimming in his blood vessels.
"Chu Yao!" he hissed through gritted teeth.
Chu Yao, who was perched on Long Wu's shoulder, suddenly looked up. Nanobots emerged from behind her ear and formed a miniature optical brain in mid-air.
Her nails dug deep into her palms, and strings of code flickered on her retina—the firewall of the nest defense system was collapsing, but only one node was missing.
The owl's energy fluctuations interfered with the signal, reducing the nanobots' transmission rate to 30%.
"Wait a little longer..." Cold sweat dripped from her forehead onto Long Wu's neck, "Just one more thing..."
"Snap!"
Lin Yi's throat made a dangerous sound.
He could hear his heart pounding like a drum, and the power of spacetime was spinning wildly in his dantian, almost bursting his meridians.
This was the first time he had been forced to merge skills without preparation—"Time-Space Overlap" required precise control of time slices, and "Causal Reversal" required grasping the thread of fate. The opposing energies of the two surged wildly within his body, like two knives grinding meat.
"Fuck you." He suddenly laughed, blood splattering on Night Owl's face.
With his left hand forming a hand seal, the spacetime blade in his right hand suddenly split into nine afterimages.
This is the limit of "spacetime overlay," with nine time slices unfolding simultaneously.
The owl's pupils finally cracked—he hadn't expected this human to dare trade his life for his.
"Open it for me!"
The moment the nine blades pierced Night Owl's chest simultaneously, Lin Yi's sea of consciousness exploded with white light.
That was the "Cause Reversal" triggered—he seized the fate line when Night Owl released the energy blade three seconds ago, reversing all the damage back to that moment.
The moment the purplish-black blood mist splattered, Night Owl loosened his grip on her throat.
"Crack complete!" Chu Yao's scream rang out amidst the alarm.
Her nanobots suddenly turned all gold, and the nest's defense system shattered into snowflakes on the light screen.
The laser cannon array overhead began firing wildly, and the previously sealed security doors burst open one after another, even spewing flames from the air circulation system.
"A great opportunity!" Long Wu's roar shook the passageway.
He gently placed Chu Yao on the ground, and his dragon claw condensed into a dragon flame ball with a diameter of half a meter in his palm.
Dragon Flame is the natal fire of the ancient dragon, specifically designed to counter extradimensional energy.
The owl's wound was oozing a purplish-black liquid, which was the remnant soul of the Seven Keys escaping. As soon as the dragon flames approached, the liquid made a "sizzling" sound.
"Go to hell!"
The Dragonfire Ball struck Night Owl precisely in the chest.
The blast wave threw everyone against the wall. Lin Yi coughed up blood but managed to stand up.
In the smoke, the figure of Night Owl was dissipating, a non-human whimper escaping his throat. He took one last look at the seven bronze keys floating in the core area before turning into a pile of black ash.
"Success?" Chu Yao stood up, leaning against the wall. The nanobots were still flashing a victorious green light around her.
"No." Xuanmingzi suddenly spoke.
He had picked up half a fragment of the star chart without realizing it. "The core of the Seven Keys... is inside the key."
Lin Yi followed his gaze.
Where the seven keys were originally suspended, a palm-sized bronze box is now slowly emerging.
The box is engraved with the same patterns as the Seven Keys, and the purple light flowing on its surface is purer than what the owl sees.
"Is this the key part?" Long Wu leaned closer, his dragon claw about to touch it, when Lin Yi stopped him.
"Don't touch it." Lin Yi's Time-Space Blade gently grazed the box, the blade humming. "There's something alive inside." He could feel a faint heartbeat inside the box, like some ancient creature that had been sealed away.
"Put it away first." Chu Yao brought up the screen. "The main brain of the Mother Nest is already paralyzed, but..." Her face suddenly turned pale, "...the self-destruct program has been activated."
"What?" Long Wu's dragon scales instantly stood on end.
"After the defense system was breached, the ultimate safeguard was triggered." Chu Yao's fingers tapped frantically on the screen. "Countdown... ten minutes."
Suddenly, a metallic rumble echoed from the end of the passage. At the entrance to the first level, which had been blocked by a dark shadow, large chunks of stone were crumbling away.
Lin Yi turned to look at the dark figure, only to find that the figure had faded to almost transparent, and the light of the tattoo had become faint.
"Go." The shadowy figure's voice was as soft as a sigh. "I can't hold on any longer... Take it with you."
"No time!" Long Wu hoisted Chu Yao onto his shoulder. "Old Lin, grab that thing and head through the spacetime rift!"
Lin Yi put the bronze box into the space-time rift and grabbed Xuan Mingzi's wrist with his other hand.
The power of spacetime condensed into a vortex beneath his feet, and he could feel the self-destructive energy of the mother nest seeping in, like molten lava flowing through his veins.
\"pay close attention!\"
As the blue light from the space-time rift enveloped everyone, a deafening roar came from behind.
The moment Lin Yi turned around, he saw the black figure's body completely dissipate, and the last tattoo turned into particles of light, merging into the bronze box.
Above them, red warning lights began flashing wildly, and a piercing self-destruct alarm tore through the air—
"The nest self-destruct program has been initiated. Time remaining: 9 minutes and 50 seconds..."
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