The space within the illusion continued to shrink frantically, and countless phantoms were compressed into particles of light that swirled around Lin Yi, like a river of stars flowing through his fingertips.
But at the very depths of this vortex of light particles, from the open eyes of that enormous shadow, a black mist even denser than any of the previous phantoms overflowed—it was a contingency plan deliberately left behind by the Night Owl, a "shadow core" condensed using the laws of another dimension.
"Interesting." The patterns of spacetime laws in Lin Yi's pupils suddenly shone as bright as day. He flicked his finger, and a silver lightning bolt leaped from his fingertip.
This was no ordinary electric current, but a spacetime rift compressed to its limit. Wherever it passed, light particles and black mist emitted a ripping, tearing sound.
The shadow core trembled violently, and the previously solidified space suddenly began to reverse.
The previously compressed phantom materialized again from the light particles, charging forward once more with a bone knife formed from black mist.
The phantom at the head of the group had a distorted face; it was none other than the bronze-level boss "Sky-Splitter Beast" that Lin Yi had encountered in the beginner village. At this moment, its claws were wrapped in blood vessels, and its eyes shone with the same eerie blue as the night owl.
"Want to play with time reversal?" Lin Yi's lips curled into a smile, and with a flick of his left hand, he instantly adjusted the flow of time in the entire illusion.
The Sky-Splitter's claws stopped in mid-air, and even the light particles floating in the air froze into amber.
He raised his right hand, and a miniature black hole appeared in his palm—this was the "space-time devouring" technique he had just comprehended last week, specifically designed to deal with creations at the level of laws.
The moment the black hole opened, all the static illusions began to collapse.
The scales of the Sky-Splitter disappeared as if erased by an eraser, the bone knife shattered into dust, and even the black mist on the surface of the Shadow Core was torn open.
Lin Yin could clearly feel that his compatibility with the [Time and Space Dominator] profession was soaring. The time and space rift that originally took three seconds to condense could now be formed in the blink of an eye.
When the last wisp of black mist was swallowed up by the black hole, the entire illusion suddenly trembled violently.
The dome overhead cracked open with a spiderweb of golden light, and the outline of the Forgotten City emerged from the void—the once dilapidated stone walls now shone with a lapis lazuli luster, and the ancient runes on the walls lit up as if singing hymns to the victor.
"bite--"
The moment the mechanical voice rang in his mind, Lin Yi felt a surge of scalding energy rush up his spine and into his brain.
Transparent ripples of spacetime appeared on his skin. The "Spacetime Freeze" skill, which could only last for ten minutes, now operated automatically for three seconds without any cost.
What surprised him even more was that the "spatial teleportation" that originally required physical contact with the target could now lock onto coordinates from a distance of thousands of meters—meaning he could move freely on the battlefield and completely seize the initiative.
"Looks like I didn't fail in vain." Lin Yi flexed his wrists and heard a crisp cracking sound from his bones.
His attribute panel unfolded before his eyes: Strength +30%, Agility +25%, and most importantly, "Space-Time Control" jumped from 78% to 92%, just one step away from the legendary "Manifestation of Laws".
Just then, a white jade platform suddenly rose from the ground, and on the platform was a gilded treasure chest.
The surface of the treasure chest was engraved with star trails and hourglass patterns, and the keyhole shimmered with the same silver light as Lin Yi's pupils.
As soon as he reached out to touch it, the treasure chest popped open automatically with a "click," and three streams of light entered his brow, left hand, and back respectively.
"Fragment of the Origin of Time and Space (can be fused three times, currently two remaining): Increases the effect of time and space-related skills by 20%."
"Hourglass of Time (Rare): Can pause the passage of time for oneself; the duration increases with strength."
"The Secrets of Time and Space: Fragments": Records the legacy of the ancient rulers of time and space; seven volumes are required to complete the work.
Scene transition optimization points
At this point, the scene naturally transitions from Lin Yi receiving the treasure chest reward in the illusion to the related plot connecting reality and the illusion.
After describing Lin Yi's reward, the text adds a section to establish the connection between the illusion and reality: "In this illusion, every breakthrough is closely linked to the real world. And at this moment, in the real world, ripples are being stirred because of Lin Yi's achievements in the illusion."
Chu Yao's holographic projection suddenly appeared beside her, the blue light at the tips of her hair even brighter than usual, clearly due to her excitement: "Master! Your professional rating has been upgraded to Mythical Level Perfection! Now you can even fight against a third-tier extradimensional creature!" Her virtual fingers rapidly swiped across the data panel, "Also, Whitebeard-senpai just used the Tremor-Tremor Fruit to stabilize the spatial rift for you in reality, and now the spatial turbulence within five kilometers around the game pod has been dispersed by him!"
Before he finished speaking, Whitebeard stepped out of the portal.
He was still wearing the red cloak embroidered with a skull, but his originally gray beard was now gleaming with gold—clearly, he had just used his most powerful weapon.
"You brat," he patted Lin Yi's shoulder, the vibration from his palm causing ripples in the surrounding air, "the commotion you caused in the illusion just now shattered three of my lab's quantum recorders! But..." he smiled, narrowing his eyes, "that's more like the kind of apprentice I, Whitebeard, taught!"
Su Qing was standing on the other side of the white jade platform at some point.
She was still wearing that plain-colored cheongsam, but the jade hairpin in her hair had a tiny crack.
"Congratulations." Her voice was as soft as a feather, but Lin Yi noticed the silver patterns on her fingertips—the marks of the forced use of spacetime power. "The recognition from the Forgotten City came faster than I expected." She hesitated, then placed a bronze token engraved with the character "Time" in his palm. "Keep it; you might need it."
Logic and Transition Re-optimization Points
To make the appearance of the owl more logical amidst the celebrations, we could add some foreshadowing of the owl realizing that Lin Yi has passed the test.
For example: "Just as everyone was immersed in celebration, Night Owl had already sensed the fluctuations of Lin Yi passing the test in the other dimension. A sinister glint flashed in his purple mechanical eyes, and he decided to show himself and provoke him."
Just as everyone was celebrating, a semi-transparent figure floated down from the city wall.
That was Xuan Mingzi, the avatar of the game's mastermind. His usual gentle smile was nowhere to be seen: "Lin Yi, you have passed the test, but this is only the beginning." He raised his hand and drew a portal of light in the void, behind which countless floating planets could be vaguely seen. "The core of the Forgotten City holds the true reason why Earth was chosen as the 'Trial Grounds of Civilization.' In three days, the 'Ragnarok' agreement will be triggered—the ultimate means used by advanced civilizations to cleanse unqualified trial grounds."
Lin Yi's expression instantly turned cold and stern.
He gripped the fragment of the origin of time and space tightly in his hand, feeling it burning hot, as if responding to his fighting spirit: "What do you need me to do?"
"Lead all Awakened Ones to find the 'Source Point' before the protocol is activated." Xuan Mingzi's figure began to blur. "Remember, there is an even more powerful being behind Night Owl. They... do not want Earth to pass the trial."
"Whoosh—"
A dark shadow suddenly darted out from the portal and solidified into the shape of a night owl in front of everyone.
He still wore the raven mask, but a crack had appeared over his left eye, revealing a mechanical eyeball gleaming with purple light: "The master of time and space? Nothing more than a puppet of an advanced civilization." His voice was like rusty gears grinding together, "Once you find the source, I will let you witness this ridiculous training ground firsthand—" He suddenly vanished into black mist, but the last word clearly pierced everyone's ears, "Collapse!"
Lin Yi stared in the direction where the night owl had disappeared, the fragment of the spacetime origin in his palm almost crushed.
Chu Yao's projection quietly covered the back of his hand, the virtual warmth carrying a tingling, electric sensation: "Master, I've checked. Night Owl just used an interdimensional 'Shadow Escape,' and his coordinate positioning was interfered with..."
"It's alright." Lin Yi took a deep breath, and the patterns of laws flowed around his body like a galaxy.
He turned to look at the white-bearded man and Su Qing, and they both nodded at him.
Finally, his gaze fell on the blue light at the tip of Chu Yao's hair, his tone as soft as a promise: "What's meant to come will come. But this time..." He tightened his grip on Chu Yao's hand, turned and walked towards the portal, "I will make sure they never return."
Beyond the illusion, the blood moon in the real world has not yet faded.
But above the game pod, the star trail interwoven with silver and red light is slowly condensing into an hourglass-shaped array of light—a mark belonging to the ruler of spacetime, proclaiming to the entire universe: Earth has a new guardian.
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