The darkness surged like boiling asphalt, and countless shadowy tentacles, accompanied by shrieks, rushed through the wind. The closest one grazed Long Wu's left shoulder, leaving a charred mark on his battle suit.
Long Wu cursed and swung his fist, the dragon-scaled fist slamming into the tentacle, but only a few sparks flew—this thing was more than three times harder than before.
"Chu Yao! How many protective fields are left?" The white-bearded man brandished his greatsword, severing three tentacles, but a layer of black mist condensed on the blade, sizzling and corroding the edge.
The wrinkles around his eyes were taut like iron wires; this was the first time his "Mysterious Iron Slash," which had been with him for twenty years, had suffered such a great loss.
"89%! The Shadow Erosion rate has climbed to 0.8%!" Chu Yao's voice carried the coldness unique to electronic voices. The holographic projection protective field above everyone's heads was glowing dark red, like a blood membrane punctured with countless holes.
Lin Yi stood in the very center, his black hair and black eyes shimmering with light like the Milky Way.
He could clearly sense the primal fluctuations of the Night Owl—that shadow hidden deep in the darkness was now frantically absorbing some kind of energy, with even the air filled with tiny black particles, like "nourishment" from some unknown dimension.
"It's coming," he whispered, his right hand pressed against his chest.
The "Time-Space Imprint," unique to mythical-level professions, appeared between his brows, and silver-white patterns crawled all over his arms like living things. "All of you, come closer to me! Don't open your eyes for three seconds!"
Just as Long Wu was about to ask, "What the hell is going on?", he was pulled to the side by Whitebeard.
The veteran's intuition told him that this kid's "tricks" were always lifesavers.
Three seconds was too short. It was so short that Long Wu barely had time to clench his fist before he felt the air around him suddenly become viscous.
When he opened his eyes again, the scene before him had completely changed—those shadow tentacles that were originally as fast as lightning were now as if they had been slowed down, the barbs on each tentacle were clearly visible, and even the shrieking sound had become muffled, like the static of an old television.
"This is..." Whitebeard's Xuan Tie Zhan automatically unsheathed, the blade humming and vibrating.
He tried swinging his sword, and the wind from the blade tore through three tentacles, with wisps of blue smoke rising from the cut. "I feel like I could shatter an entire mountain!"
"Space-Time Amplification Domain." Lin Yi's voice was mixed with a metallic tremor. Silver light surged from his fingertips, drawing a silver light array with a diameter of ten meters under everyone's feet. "In this domain, your strength, speed, and reaction speed will be amplified three times. The flow of time will be under my control."
Long Wu tried jumping. What used to take half a second now took him two meters as soon as he bent his knees.
He looked down at his dragon scales, which were originally dark gold but were now dazzlingly bright, and even the dragon patterns on his palms were glowing with a golden-red light: "I can now take down a rhinoceros with one punch!"
"Host activated [Space-Time Resonance], current domain coverage efficiency 92%." Chu Yao's projection suddenly materialized, transforming into a girl in a silver battle suit.
Her fingertips brushed the edge of the light array. "I suggest Whitebeard attack the left side, Long Wu hold the right side back, and I'll be responsible for calculating the attack gaps—Night Owl's Shadow Tentacles have a 0.7-second attack vacuum."
"Understood!" The white-bearded man stood on end, and the Xuan Tie Zhan unleashed a blade of light as bright as a full moon.
He originally needed half a second to gather his strength for this strike, but he unleashed it in the blink of an eye. Wherever the blade passed, all ten tentacles were severed. "That was exhilarating!"
With a roar, Long Wu charged forward, his dragon claws transforming into half-meter-long dragon breath blades that pierced directly into a cluster of shadows.
With a crisp "crack," the shadow was torn open, revealing the blurry figure of Night Owl—he was shrouded in black mist, with only a pair of eyes gleaming with an eerie blue light visible. "Good lad, you've been hiding well!"
"You think you can break my Shadow Realm with such a small trick?" Night Owl's voice was no longer ethereal, but had a harsh, sandpaper-like quality.
He raised his hand and grabbed, instantly closing the torn opening, but a few drops of dark red liquid splashed onto Long Wu's face.
Long Wu licked his lips, his eyes suddenly widening: "Blood! This bastard's injured!"
Lin Yi's pupils contracted slightly.
He could sense that the owl's primal power was diminishing—subtle, but undeniably diminishing.
This indicates that the spacetime amplification not only strengthened teammates but also interfered with Night Owl's control over shadow energy.
With a light tap of his fingertip, the silver patterns at the edge of the light array suddenly shot into the night sky, weaving a large silver net above everyone's heads. "Chu Yao, locate the core of the origin!"
"Locked! Coordinates (x - 7, Y - 12), energy concentration is 47 times that of the surrounding area!" Chu Yao's voice was filled with rare excitement. "That's Night Owl's Shadow Core. Destroying it will break the Shadow Realm!"
Whitebeard's sword light instantly changed direction, the Xuan Tie Slash wrapped in silver light, slashing straight towards that coordinate.
Long Wu's Dragon Breath Blade followed closely behind, and the two attacks collided in mid-air, creating a dazzling golden-red light.
With a muffled "boom," the black mist was torn open, creating a three-meter-wide hole that revealed the Night Owl's true form—he was wearing a dark-patterned black robe, with a palm-sized black crystal embedded in his chest, from which black mist was being emitted.
"You're courting death!" Night Owl finally showed his impatience. He formed a hand seal, and the surrounding shadows suddenly swirled back, forming a black vortex with a diameter of five meters.
A terrifying suction force erupted from the center of the vortex, causing Whitebeard's sword to tremble violently, Long Wu's Dragon Breath Blade to begin to crack, and even Lin Yi's spacetime light array to ripple.
"Not good! This is a Shadow Vortex, draining our power!" Chu Yao's projection suddenly flickered, "The protective field strength has plummeted to 61%, immediate action recommended..."
"Mute," Lin Yi whispered, his left hand suddenly pressing against his heart.
The "Origin of Time and Space," unique to mythical professions, was boiling within him. He could clearly feel that every drop of blood was resonating with some ancient rhythm.
"Time Reversal - Three-Second Rewind".
The air suddenly froze.
The scene from three seconds ago replayed before everyone's eyes—the owl had just raised his hand, and the shadow vortex had not yet formed.
"Now!" Lin Yi pressed his right hand to the ground, and the silver light array instantly expanded to twenty meters. "Uncle Bai will cut off the core, Long Wu will block his retreat, and Chu Yao will interfere with his hand seals!"
Whitebeard's sword light was faster than lightning, and the Xuan Tie Slash, carrying the aftereffects of time-space amplification, struck the black crystal directly.
With a "clang!", spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface of the crystal.
Long Wu's dragon claws gripped Night Owl's ankle, his dragon breath scorching his black robe, the smell of burning flesh mixed with the stench of blood filling his nostrils.
Chu Yao unleashed three blue light blades from her fingertips, precisely striking Night Owl's acupoints—an AI attack technique she had modified based on human meridian diagrams.
The owl let out a heart-wrenching scream.
The crystal cracks on his chest spread throughout his body, and the black mist leaked out wildly like a deflated balloon.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Yi pressed his left hand against Night Owl's brow, while his right hand condensed into a spacetime blade. "This is the interest for all the civilizations you have devoured."
The moment the spacetime blade pierced through the black mist, the Night Owl's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpoints.
A strange smile spread across his lips as he spoke in a voice only Lin Yi could hear: "You think... that's all?"
A surge of shadow energy, ten times stronger than before, suddenly erupted.
The owl's body began to swell, and countless wriggling black tentacles emerged from beneath his skin. Even the crystal on his chest emitted an eerie purple light.
The severed shadow tentacles sprouted anew like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. This time, the tentacles were covered with barbs, each tip dripping green venom that corroded the ground, creating smoky pits.
"Lin boy! Watch out!" The white-bearded man's knife was corroded by the venom and chipped. He pushed Lin Yi away with all his might, but a tentacle pierced his left shoulder.
Long Wu's dragon scales were scorched by the venom, and he gritted his teeth and endured it, but his dragon breath became thin due to the exhaustion of his power.
Chu Yao's projection shattered completely, leaving only a broken warning: "Detected... interdimensional energy fluctuations... exceeding..."
Lin Yi knelt on one knee, blood seeping from his forehead.
He could sense that the Night Owl's primal power was not only not diminishing, but was actually increasing at a terrifying rate—this was not an ordinary counterattack, but some kind of "unsealing".
"Why do you think I dared to come to Earth alone?" Night Owl's voice became hoarse. His body had been completely mutated, with six bone wings extending from his back, each shrouded in shadow. "This body is merely a 'seed' I left in a lower-dimensional universe. Now..."
His bone wings suddenly unfolded, and the entire space abruptly twisted into the shape of a Möbius strip.
The scenes before Lin Yi's eyes began to overlap—the white-bearded man was bleeding, Long Wu was roaring, and in the distance, a small crack appeared in the sky, revealing a starry sky beyond the crack that did not belong to Earth.
"The real game has only just begun." Night Owl's distorted face forced a sinister smile as he pointed to the crack. "Go and see if your 'Time and Space Dominator' can hold it off..."
Before the words were finished, a blinding white light suddenly burst out from the gap.
Lin Yi narrowed his eyes.
He couldn't see what was behind the crack, but he could sense a more powerful presence approaching—an aura that was more than an order of magnitude stronger than Night Owl's.
"Protect them." He gritted his teeth and activated the spacetime light array, the silver light almost scorching his body.
Whitebeard and Ryuu's wounds began to heal, and Chu Yao's projection re-condensed, but the gap grew larger and larger, and one could even hear a rumbling sound like mechanical gears turning coming from behind the gap.
Night Owl's mutated body began to dissipate. He glanced at Lin Yi one last time, a meaningful smile playing on his lips: "Remember... the core of origin is..."
Before he could finish speaking, his figure was completely engulfed by the white light.
The surrounding shadow tentacles disappeared like the receding tide, and the red light of the protective field gradually turned into a normal blue.
The white-bearded man clutched his left shoulder, his breath coming in sharp pain: "That bastard ran away?"
Long Wu kicked at the remaining shadow fragments on the ground, which instantly turned into black mist upon contact with the earth: "Run? I think he called for help. The thing in that crevice..."
He didn't finish speaking because Lin Yi was staring intently at the sky.
Although the gap had closed, a chilling fluctuation still lingered in the air—like a "mark" of some advanced civilization.
Chu Yao's projection materialized again, her gaze unusually serious: "Residual coordinates from another dimension detected, located at..."
"Don't say it." Lin Yi interrupted her, his fingertips still trembling, but his tone was unusually calm. "Prepare all the Time Stones and contact all the job changers you can reach."
He looked up at the already pale sky, where the echo of the owl's last words still lingered: "The core of origin, is..."
And further away, some unknown entity is casting a cold gaze across dimensions.
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