The remnants of Night Owl's forces are determined to forcibly activate the final stage of "Project Shadow Eclipse" at any cost, preparing for an even larger-scale sacrifice!
This news was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up huge waves in everyone's hearts.
The atmosphere, which had just eased slightly due to Su Qing's display of strength, instantly became extremely tense again!
Lin Yi frowned, and Xuan Mingzi's profound words involuntarily echoed in his mind: "The real boss is often hidden at the end."
The Night Owl's death throes, the chilling "Shadow Erosion Project," and the potentially even larger "Ragnarok" behind it all weigh heavily on one's shoulders, making it hard to breathe.
"Hoo—" Lin Yi took a deep breath, his eyes sharp as a hawk's. "It seems that before the final battle, we must find a way to raise everyone's strength to the next level."
His gaze swept over the crowd, his tone unwavering: "Since Night Owl is going to play big, we'll play along to the end! But before that, we must have the means to crush him!"
“Master,” Chu Yao’s virtual projection flickered, her voice clear and crisp, “Based on a deep analysis of the scattered clues you obtained from Xuan Mingzi, I have deduced a possible path to rapid advancement—the trial in the ‘Forgotten City’.”
“The Forgotten Capital?” Long Wu was taken aback, scratching his flamboyant short hair. “What kind of place is that? It doesn’t sound like a good place.”
Chu Yao explained, "'The Forgotten City' is a special high-risk area left over from the early days of the game 'Infinite'. Legend has it that it was a trial ground for an ancient civilization, full of unknown dangers and opportunities. Xuan Mingzi once hinted that the key to breaking through the current level shackles is sealed there. However, due to its instability and extremely high mortality rate, it has long been forgotten by most job changers."
Lin Yi's eyes lit up: "Instability and high mortality rate often mean high rewards! Chu Yao, locate the entrance to the 'Forgotten City,' let's set off immediately!"
"Yes, Master!"
Guided by Chu Yao, the group soon arrived at a dilapidated altar hidden by a dense forest.
At the center of the altar, a distorted portal of light emitted chilling energy fluctuations, resembling the gaping maw of a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey.
"Is this the entrance to the 'Forgotten City'?" Su Qing sensed the desolate and ancient aura, and a solemn expression appeared on her pretty face.
Lin Yi took the first step forward, his body swirling with the power of spacetime, forming an invisible barrier: "Keep your spirits up, the situation inside is probably more complicated than we imagine."
Before he finished speaking, he had already stepped into the portal.
Long Wu followed closely behind, and Su Qing also took a deep breath and followed.
Light and shadow shift, stars and constellations move.
When everyone finally set foot on solid ground again, they found themselves in a desolate wasteland.
Broken walls and ruins, sandstorms raging, the air thick with the smell of decay and desolation.
The sky was an eerie dark red, like congealed blood.
"Waaah—"
A sharp, piercing sound suddenly rang out!
Dozens of distorted beams of light burst forth from the shadows in all directions. They were of various shapes, some as fleeting as ghosts, others as ferocious as beasts. What they had in common was that they all emitted eerie energy fluctuations that made people uneasy.
"Phantom Demon!" Long Wu roared, his whole body flashing with golden light. "True Dragon Qi!" He threw a punch, and the violent dragon-shaped energy roared as it rushed towards the nearest few lights and shadows.
However, the dragon-shaped energy pierced through the light and shadow as if hitting thin air. The phantom demons were completely unharmed and instead emitted a series of piercing screams. Invisible mental shockwaves pierced everyone's minds!
"Ugh!" Long Wu cried out, clutching his head in pain, feeling as if countless steel needles were stabbing him in the head.
Su Qing's face also turned pale, and she hurriedly tried to activate her energy to resist, but to little avail.
These phantom demons are immune to physical attacks, but their mental attacks are exceptionally powerful!
"【Time Freeze - Local】!" Lin Yi shouted, his eyes gleaming with silver light.
In an instant, the flow of time within a radius of tens of meters around him suddenly slowed down!
The movements of those phantom demons that pounced on became like a slow-motion replay; the trajectory of the energy flow on their bodies and the faint light at their cores were clearly visible to Lin Yi!
"Their weakness is in the core light spot, attack with energy!" Lin Yi calmly commanded. "Long Wu, concentrate, use your Dragon Flame! Su Qing, Ice Cone, lock onto those light spots!"
Despite his headache, Long Wu obeyed and spat out a burst of blazing dragon flame.
Su Qing also quickly condensed several ice cones that shimmered with cold light.
With the aid of Lin Yi's spacetime power, their attacks accurately hit the core light spots of those phantom demons.
"squeak--"
The Phantom Demon let out a shrill scream, and the distorted light and shadow instantly dissipated, turning into specks of starlight that vanished into the air.
After the first wave of crisis was averted, Long Wu wiped away a cold sweat with lingering fear: "Damn it, these things are too eerie! I almost fell for their tricks!"
Lin Yi said calmly, "This is just an appetizer. Chu Yao, analyze the route forward."
"Yes, Master." Data streams flashed rapidly in Chu Yao's projected eyes. "A high-intensity energy maze reaction has been detected 300 meters ahead. The internal structure is complex and filled with various energy traps and spatial distortion points."
No one dared to be negligent, and they followed Lin Yi carefully deeper into the area.
Soon, a massive maze composed of countless dark blue energy walls appeared before them.
The maze-like passages are winding and twisting, with deadly energy beams sweeping across the area from time to time, and various trigger traps hidden on the ground.
"This godforsaken place, one wrong step and you'll be smashed to pieces!" Long Wu exclaimed in astonishment.
"Master, based on the structural scan and energy flow analysis, I have planned three relatively safe paths, but all of them have unknown risks." Chu Yao quickly provided the solutions.
Lin Yi nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the depths of the maze: "There's no need to force our way in." He stretched out his hand, his palm gathering the power of spacetime, "[Spatial Marker]!"
A barely perceptible spatial fluctuation was imprinted on the entrance to the maze.
"Stay close to me." Lin Yi took a step forward, his figure directly passing through an energy barrier!
"Holy crap! Boss is awesome!" Long Wu's eyes widened in disbelief.
Lin Yi was using an advanced application of [Void Walking], which allowed him to ignore physical and energy barriers over short distances.
He led the group, sometimes passing through walls, sometimes using [Time Slowing] to avoid high-speed energy traps, and sometimes using [Space Jump] to directly cross broken paths.
Chu Yao continuously reported the type and energy intensity of the traps ahead, providing Lin Yi with accurate data support for his judgment.
Su Qing was also on high alert at all times to prevent any unexpected situations.
The energy maze, which was originally enough to trap a team of top experts, was rendered useless in the face of Lin Yi's almost cheating spacetime divine skill.
In less than ten minutes, they had safely traversed this labyrinth of death.
Cool!
That was awesome!
Long Wu exclaimed inwardly, "Following a captain like Lin Yi is like having a cheat code!"
At the end of the maze stood an even more magnificent circular hall.
In the center of the main hall, a giant humanoid creature, more than ten meters tall, stands silently.
Its entire body is composed of flowing spacetime energy, radiating a suffocating and terrifying pressure, as if it were the final guardian of this forgotten city.
"Challenger, pay homage to the [Guardian of Time and Space]. Only by passing my trials can you gain the chance for advancement." The guardian spoke in a grand and ancient voice, devoid of any emotion.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the guardian waved his giant hand, and a terrifying energy blade that combined time delay and spatial cutting arrived in an instant!
"Watch out!" Lin Yi's pupils shrank, and the [Space-Time Barrier] instantly opened, barely blocking the attack, but he was still shaken and his blood and qi surged.
So powerful! This guardian's attack almost pushed the laws of space and time to their absolute limit!
Long Wu roared and charged forward, pushing his true dragon bloodline to its limit. His fists and feet echoed with dragon roars, but the guardian easily neutralized them one by one. He was even whipped away by a time-accelerating energy whip, leaving him in a sorry state.
Su Qing's ranged energy attacks were all swallowed up by the distorted space around the guardian.
In an instant, the three of them were completely at a disadvantage!
Lin Yi took a deep breath, his eyes becoming incredibly focused.
He constantly dodged the guardian's attacks, his mind racing, analyzing every move the opponent made and every application of the laws of space and time.
“No… its attack seems perfect, but it still follows some kind of rule… the combination of time and space shouldn’t just be a simple superposition…” A flash of inspiration struck Lin Yi, as if he had grasped something key.
"If... the disorder of time flow were completely merged with the explosion of spatial points, forming a chaotic and unpredictable destructive force..."
His eyes grew brighter and brighter, and the spacetime power surging around him began to undergo a qualitative change, no longer just silver-white, but with a deep, chaotic color.
"【Secret Technique: Spacetime Storm】!"
Lin Yi suddenly roared and pushed forward with both hands!
In an instant, the space in front of him twisted and collapsed violently, and countless tiny spatial rifts emerged wildly, each rift wrapped with chaotic time flows!
These cleavage blades did not attack in a straight line. Instead, they were swept up by the chaotic flow of time, forming a visible, destructive gray-black tornado that roared towards the Time Guardian!
"Roar—!" The Time Guardian seemed to sense an unprecedented threat, letting out a roar as its energy surged as it attempted to resist.
But wherever the [Space-Time Storm] passed, all laws were thrown into chaos!
The guardians' proud spacetime defenses were easily torn apart like paper in the face of this extreme chaos!
"Boom—!"
The devastating energy storm completely engulfed the Time Guardians.
When everything settled down, the guardian's massive body had vanished, leaving only a ball of primordial energy radiating a soft light suspended in mid-air.
The primordial energy split into four parts, which were then absorbed into the bodies of Lin Yi, Long Wu, Su Qing, and Chu Yao (through her link with Lin Yi).
An unprecedented and immense power surged within the four of them!
Lin Yi clearly felt that his understanding and control of the laws of spacetime had suddenly broken through to a new level!
The level bottleneck has been broken instantly!
Long Wu roared excitedly, "Wow! I feel like I could smash an asteroid with one punch! Power, power is surging up!"
Su Qing also closed her eyes and felt the surging energy within her body. She was becoming more adept at controlling her own superpowers, and there were faint signs of a breakthrough.
Trial successful! Strength has increased dramatically!
Just as everyone was immersed in the joy of their increased strength and preparing to leave this "Forgotten City", a mocking yet cold voice suddenly rang out at the entrance of the hall, carrying a chilling aura.
"Hehehe... This is truly a pleasant surprise, Lin Yi. Your growth rate has indeed exceeded my expectations."
Everyone turned around abruptly and saw a tall and sinister figure standing there silently—it was Night Owl!
His scarlet eyes swept over Lin Yi and the others, whose strength had greatly increased. A barely perceptible look of surprise flashed across his face, but it was quickly replaced by a deeper cruelty and madness.
He licked his lips, a strange smile spreading across his face, as if he had already prepared a new "surprise" for them.
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