In the darkness, Lin Yi's consciousness was torn into countless fragments, yet he remained strangely lucid.
He could clearly sense that every inch of his flesh and blood was being shredded and reassembled by the turbulent currents in the vortex, his spine was making a teeth-grinding cracking sound, and the origin of time and space was churning in his sea of consciousness, as if it were being forcibly taken away.
"Time-space flow speed, adjust by one-thousandth!" He bit his tongue, and a metallic sweetness instantly filled the air. The intense pain, however, cleared his mind.
He made a profound hand seal with his right hand, and suddenly a dark blue mist rose around his body—that was the manifestation of the power of spacetime. The turbulent current that was about to tear him into particles was slowed down for a moment.
"Core energy frequency of the vortex detected!" Chu Yao's voice boomed in her mind, her mechanical tone unusually tense. "It's the dimensional cutting technique of an advanced civilization!"
Lin Yi, you must compress the thickness of the spacetime membrane to... within 0.3 seconds.
Lin Yi exerted all his strength and completed the compression of the spacetime membrane thickness within 0.3 seconds. The pulling force of the turbulence weakened instantly, creating conditions for subsequent breakthroughs.
Before the words were finished, a deafening dragon roar pierced the darkness.
Long Wu's figure emerged from the turbulent currents. His casual clothes had been torn to shreds, and his body was covered with dark gold scales. Blood-red light patterns flowed around the dragon pattern on his forehead.
He clenched his fists, and a semi-transparent dragon claw phantom materialized at the tips of his fists, which he slammed down hard towards the most violent part of the vortex in front of him: "Damn it!"
Brother Lin saved my life, and today I'll use dragon blood to pave the way for you!
Golden blood beads seeped from the gaps in Long Wu's scales, condensing into tiny dragon shapes in the void.
These small dragons let out sharp hisses, actually smashing through several spatial turbulences.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Long Wu grabbed the white-bearded old man by the back of his collar and threw him toward Lin Yi: "Old man!"
Use your lousy shield to protect yourself!
With a "hum," the white-bearded old man's peach wood sword shone brightly, and the cracked light shield was repaired by the dragon's blood.
He flicked out three yellow talismans, which transformed into three ancient bronze beasts in mid-air, opening their massive mouths to devour the approaching turbulence.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Yi imported all of Chu Yao's data streams into the Origin of Time and Space.
He could feel his timeline being forcibly stretched—three seconds felt like three minutes to him.
Countless golden stars emerged from the azure mist; these were the coordinates he had marked with the power of spacetime.
"Now!" Chu Yao's notification sound almost overlapped with Long Wu's roar.
Lin Yi pointed his fingertip at the void, and all the star points instantly connected into a silver light chain.
He grabbed the light chain and pulled hard, his whole body shooting out of the turbulent current like an arrow.
Long Wu's dragon claw just managed to tear open the last layer of spatial barrier, and the white-bearded old man's light shield shattered with a "bang." With the help of Long Wu and the white-bearded old man, the three of them finally broke through the turbulent currents and stumbled into this damp space.
Before they could recover from the intense battle, their eyes were drawn to the scene before them.
The first thing you see is a bluestone-paved floor and bronze lampstands embedded in the walls, with a pale blue flame dancing on the wick.
The stone table in the very center was piled with scrolls and bronze boxes. The top scroll of bamboo slips was opened, and the ancient characters with the ink still wet gleamed with a faint light: "Ragnarok, the key to resetting the cosmic order of advanced civilizations."
When the interdimensional invaders set foot in the Thirty-Seventh Realm, we must use the entire civilization as a catalyst to ignite...
"This is..." The white-bearded old man staggered and grabbed the stone table, his fingertips trembling as he stroked the bamboo slips. "This is a lost fragment of the Nine Heavens Strategy from my sect's classic texts!"
My master once said that this scroll was destroyed by war at the end of the Tang Dynasty...
Long Wu tore off a dragon scale to use as a dagger and slashed open the nearest bronze box.
Inside the box lay half a piece of mutton-fat jade, its surface engraved with intricate star patterns, gleaming with an eerie red light under the ghostly blue flames. "Damn, the patterns on this jade pendant... it looks just like the half Su Qing is wearing around her neck?" he suddenly raised his voice.
Lin Yi's pupils suddenly contracted.
He remembered that three days ago at the tavern in the newbie village, when Su Qing bent down to pick up some food, the jade pendant around her neck flashed a faint light—at the time he thought it was an illusion, but now, looking at the broken edge of the jade pendant in the box, it was clear that it could fit perfectly with Su Qing's half.
"The more crucial part is here." Chu Yao's projection suddenly appeared above the stone table. She traced a line in the air with her fingertips, and a holographic image appeared: The image showed a woman in a moon-white dress, her face bearing a striking resemblance to Su Qing, placing half a jade pendant into a bronze box. "According to ancient records, this woman is a descendant of the 'Dimensional Guardians' from three thousand years ago, responsible for guarding the 'Eye of the Gods,' which connects to other dimensions."
"That Su Qing..." The white-bearded old man's peach wood sword suddenly emitted a clear sound, its tip pointing directly at the stone wall.
Following the sword's tip, everyone saw a line of blood-red characters appear on the previously blank stone wall: "When the bloodlines of the guardian and the intruder merge, the Eye of the Gods will open."
"Plop."
It was the soft sound of a jade pendant hitting the ground.
Lin Yi turned his head and saw Su Qing standing at the door.
Her skirt was covered with stardust-like particles of light, and the jade pendant around her neck had disappeared at some point. In her left hand, she clutched half a piece of blood-stained mutton-fat jade—the very half that was missing from the box.
"You've finally found it." Her voice was soft, yet it was like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, stirring up ripples in everyone's hearts.
"Su Qing!" Long Wu instinctively stepped in front of Lin Yi, dragon scales appearing on his back. "Who exactly are you?"
Before, in the vortex, were you deliberately...?
"That's enough."
An aged voice came from the void.
Xuan Mingzi emerged from the flames of the bronze lampstand. He was still dressed in a blue robe, but the whisk in his hand now had a few more strands of silver. "They're getting close to the truth, aren't they?" He looked at Su Qing, then turned to Lin Yi, "But the truth is never a gift, but a rose with thorns."
The road ahead will be more difficult than any of the challenges you've faced before.
"What do you know?" Lin Yi pressed his hand on the Time Blade at his waist. He could feel that the weapon that had accompanied him from the beginner village to where he was now was getting slightly hot.
Xuanmingzi laughed.
He lightly swept his whisk, and the ancient book on the stone table suddenly turned its pages automatically, finally stopping on a certain page: "Go to the Northern Ice Plains, where the core of the 'Ragnarok' plan is located."
As for the identities of certain people…” He gave Su Qing a meaningful look, “She will speak when the time is right.”
Before he finished speaking, his figure had already disappeared into the lamplight.
The stone chamber fell into a deathly silence.
The dragon scales on Long Wu slowly receded, and the white-bearded old man picked up the jade pendant from the ground and examined it carefully under the light.
Su Qing stood still, her gaze fixed on the Time Blade at Lin Yi's waist, her eyes swirling with emotions he had never seen before—a mixture of guilt, struggle, and a kind of resolute determination.
Lin Yi looked into her eyes.
Three days ago in the starting village, when she shielded him from a fatal blow, her eyes held only pure determination; seven days ago in the ruins labyrinth, when she solved the puzzles, her eyes gleamed with intelligence; but now...
He reached up and pressed his hand to his chest.
There, the very essence of spacetime is pulsating violently, as if responding to some kind of call.
"Su Qing." He spoke, his voice calmer than expected, "After we've dealt with the matters in the Northern Border, we need to have a proper talk."
Su Qing's eyelashes trembled.
She looked down at the jade pendant in her hand, where drops of blood were dripping from between her fingers, blooming like red plum blossoms on the bluestone slab.
"Okay," she said softly. "I'll tell you everything then."
Lin Yi turned and walked to the stone table, his fingertips tracing the scroll "Nine Heavens Strategy".
He could sense that something was stirring in the shadows—perhaps an intruder from another dimension, perhaps the so-called "Ragnarok" plan, or perhaps... the secret hidden in Su Qing's eyes.
But this time, he will not wait passively.
Outside the stone chamber, a cold wind howled, seemingly out of nowhere.
The wind carried the scent of ice and snow, mixed with a faint dragon's roar, as if reminding them: the real test had only just begun.
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