The owl's voice, like a viper's hiss, scraped against everyone's eardrums like a rusty file, making them feel uncomfortable all over.
His scarlet eyes flickered like will-o'-the-wisps in the churning black mist, as if trying to suck in one's soul.
"I am Night Owl." He slowly raised his hand, a hand as withered as old tree bark, yet his nails were sharp as blades, gleaming with an eerie light. "It seems I underestimated you before, but..."
Before the words were even finished, the black mist seemed to come alive, surging wildly, and countless arms with distinct joints reached out from it, each tightly gripping a pulsating ball of dark-attribute source energy, exuding a suffocatingly evil aura.
Those energy orbs were like ticking time bombs that could explode at any moment, sending chills down one's spine.
Long Wu spat and cursed, "Damn, this old bastard's serious!" He held his long sword horizontally, and the power of his true dragon bloodline erupted instantly. Golden scales appeared and disappeared on his skin, and a powerful pressure spread out.
Lin Yi's eyes narrowed, and the power of the origin of spacetime surged within his body like a volcano.
He could sense that the real battle had only just begun!
"Chu Yao, scan Night Owl's data and analyze its weaknesses!" Lin Yi quickly gave the order in his mind.
Chu Yao's voice quickly responded: "Master, the scan is complete. Night Owl's dark attribute source power is extremely pure, but its mental defense is weak. It is recommended to prioritize attacking its mental level."
Lin Yi took a deep breath. Weak mental defenses? Very well, then let's start there!
He took a sudden step forward, his body radiating a burst of silver light, and the power of spacetime surged forth like a tide.
"Time and space imprisonment!"
In an instant, the space around the owl seemed to freeze, the surging of the black mist slowed down, and the outstretched arms froze in mid-air.
“Interesting.” A hint of surprise flashed in Night Owl’s crimson eyes, but it quickly turned to disdain. “A mere trick, yet you dare to show off in front of me?”
He struggled violently, unleashing a powerful burst of dark-attribute source energy that forcefully broke through the spacetime confinement.
However, his body paused briefly due to the exertion.
But at that moment, Lin Yi had already closed in, his silver light blade slicing through the void and pointing straight at Night Owl's brow.
Time travel!
Lin Yi's figure vanished instantly, and when he reappeared, he was already behind Night Owl.
The light blade, accompanied by a piercing whistling sound, slashed fiercely towards the back of his neck.
Night Owl reacted extremely quickly; his black robe trembled violently, and a black barrier instantly appeared behind him.
"clang!"
The light blade struck the barrier, producing a piercing metallic clang.
The barrier shook violently, but ultimately managed to block Lin Yi's attack.
Lin Yi swayed slightly from the blow, feeling the drain on his spacetime power leaving him feeling weak.
"Hmph, naive." Night Owl sneered and slapped Lin Yi with his backhand.
This seemingly ordinary palm strike contains terrifying dark attribute source power. Once it hits, it is enough to instantly corrode a person into a pile of bones.
Lin Yi dared not take the attack head-on, and once again used his time-space travel ability to narrowly avoid it.
However, this time travel made him break out in a cold sweat, and he knew he couldn't use this skill too often anymore.
Just as the two were locked in fierce combat, a figure suddenly rushed into the battlefield.
"Dad's here!" Whitebeard roared, unleashing the full power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit in his hands, making the air seem as if he were about to crush it.
"Concussion Fist!"
Whitebeard unleashed a punch, instantly creating countless twisted cracks in the air, which, carrying earth-shattering power, hurtled towards Night Owl's subordinates.
The Night Owl's men were no match for Whitebeard's terrifying power and were all blasted away, screaming in agony.
"Dad, are you alright?" Long Wu asked worriedly as he swung his sword to kill the Shadow Devouring Beast.
"Don't worry, I'm not so old that I can't walk!" The white-bearded man laughed loudly, his voice booming so loud it hurt people's eardrums.
However, the Night Owl's strength was simply too great.
He simply waved his hand casually, and the shockwave from Whitebeard vanished without a trace.
"You ignorant old fool, how dare you get in my way!" Night Owl
Whitebeard's pupils contracted sharply as he tried to dodge, but it was too late.
"No!" Long Wu roared in despair.
Just at this critical moment, a figure stood in front of Whitebeard.
Su Qing was going through a fierce internal struggle. She knew that once her identity was exposed, it could bring a lot of trouble, but seeing that Whitebeard was about to be harmed, she finally made up her mind.
"Su Qing!?" Lin Yi exclaimed in surprise.
The black beam of light struck Su Qing's body, and she let out a muffled groan as a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of her mouth.
Su Qing slowly turned around, looked at Lin Yi, her eyes filled with complex emotions.
Her eyes held both guilt and determination.
"Lin Yi, I'm sorry, I..." she began with difficulty, her voice hoarse, "Actually, I am..."
Night Owl seemed to sense what Su Qing was about to say and suddenly roared, "Enough! Su Qing, shut up!"
He suddenly activated the dark attribute source power within his body, trying to stop Su Qing from continuing.
But it was too late.
Su Qing took a deep breath, mustered all her strength, and shouted, "I was sent by an advanced civilization to stop the 'Ragnarok' plan! Night Owl, everything you've done is destroying this world!"
These words shocked everyone present.
Lin Yi was stunned, Long Wu was stunned, and even the Shadow Erosion Beasts that were fighting seemed to stop moving.
"You... what did you say?" Lin Yi looked at Su Qing in disbelief.
Su Qing gave a bitter laugh and slowly closed her eyes.
"Lin Yi, trust your choice... This world needs you to save it..."
After saying this, her body slowly collapsed.
"Su Qing!" Lin Yi let out a grief-stricken roar, and the power of the origin of time and space erupted instantly, knocking Night Owl back several steps.
However, this outburst left his body teetering on the brink of collapse, and his spacetime power was nearly exhausted.
He suddenly hugged Su Qing tightly, feeling her increasingly weak breathing, his heart filled with anger and sorrow.
"Night Owl! I want you dead!" Lin Yi's eyes were bloodshot, like a wounded beast.
He slowly lowered Su Qing's body, stood up, and faced the night owl.
"I will make you pay for what you've done!"
Lin Yi took a deep breath, enduring his physical discomfort, and transformed all his sorrow and anger into strength.
He unleashed the secrets of space and time once more, and this time, his power was even greater and more terrifying than before.
But he also knew that this might be the last time he used this skill.
"Time reversal!"
Lin Yi roared, and the surrounding space began to distort violently, as if time were flowing backward.
The owl's attacks slowed down, and his speed decreased.
Lin Yi seized the opportunity and threw a punch, which struck Night Owl hard in the chest.
"puff!"
The owl spat out a mouthful of blood, its body flying backward and crashing heavily to the ground.
He struggled to stand up, only to find his strength rapidly draining away.
"What...what did you do?" Night Owl looked at Lin Yi in horror.
Lin Yi slowly walked up to him, looking down at him.
"I told you, I'll make you pay the price."
He raised his hand, and the power of the origin of spacetime condensed into a silver sphere of light in his palm, radiating a chilling aura.
"it's over."
Just as Lin Yi was about to kill Night Owl, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.
Let's stop here.
At the same time, the surrounding air suddenly turned cold, and the black mist began to rotate rhythmically, as if welcoming someone's arrival.
Lin Yi suddenly turned his head and saw a familiar figure slowly emerging from the black mist.
He was an elderly man in a gray robe, with a kind face and deep eyes.
"Xuanmingzi!?" Lin Yi exclaimed in surprise.
Xuanmingzi looked at Lin Yi, smiled slightly, and said, "Lin Yi, you've done enough. Now, it's my turn to tell you some things..."
Just as Lin Yi was about to use his spacetime power to completely obliterate Night Owl, Xuan Mingzi's voice, like the tolling of a temple bell, slowly rang out, carrying an unfathomable Zen-like quality.
Lin Yi turned around abruptly and saw that Xuan Mingzi had been standing at the edge of the battlefield at some point, still with that otherworldly and dignified appearance, as if everything was under his control.
The air was filled with the smell of blood and burning, but Xuan Mingzi's appearance was like pressing the pause button, silencing the tragic battlefield for a moment.
"Xuan Mingzi!? What are you doing?" Lin Yi frowned, the power of spacetime surging around him, but it was clearly much weaker than before, and it hadn't diminished at all because of Xuan Mingzi's appearance. "This guy is the culprit, and instead of stopping him, you're jumping out to play the good guy?"
Xuanmingzi stroked his beard and smiled slightly, but that smile sent a chill down Lin Yi's spine.
"Lin Yi, you've done enough. You're just like a hardworking client. Leave the rest to the client." He paused, his gaze sweeping over Su Qing lying in a pool of blood. "High-energy content ahead, please prepare."
After speaking, Xuanmingzi's figure gradually became ethereal and eventually disappeared into the air, leaving only his last meaningful words echoing in the sky above the battlefield: "Remember, the real boss is often hidden at the very end."
Lin Yi stared at the spot where Xuan Mingzi had disappeared, his fist slowly clenching and then slowly relaxing.
Only the owl's feeble moans and the whitebeard's gradually cooling body remained in the air.
"Ragnarok...?" Lin Yi murmured to himself, looking up at the sky shrouded in black mist, feeling that something even more terrifying was about to happen.
He turned around and looked at Long Wu and Chu Yao.
"It seems the real challenge has only just begun."
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