The passage behind the bronze door was more spacious than expected. As people went deeper, the luminous pearls embedded in the stone walls lit up one by one, illuminating the murals in every detail.
Lin Yi noticed that the originally static star patterns were slowly moving along their orbits, completely overlapping with the star orbits of the shadow creature attacks that Chu Yao had previously deciphered—this was not a coincidence at all, but some kind of precise energy guiding array.
"Boss, the dark energy concentration in the air is skyrocketing." Chu Yao's projection suddenly rippled with pale blue light. She lightly tapped the air with her fingertip, and a holographic screen unfolded before everyone. "Scanning detected spatial folds twenty meters ahead, like a deliberately hidden independent dimension."
The white-bearded man's broadsword hummed and vibrated, its blade emanating a ghostly blue aura: "My old intuition tells me that something more deadly than the shadow creature lurks in those folds." He glanced at Lin Yi, "Kid, it's not too late to retreat."
"Retreat?" Lin Yi wiped the lingering blood from the corner of his lips, his gaze intense. "We came here to overturn all the lids." He raised his hand and pressed it against the stone wall, silver light patterns rising from his palm. The patterns, like nimble silver snakes, swirled and coiled within his palm, their light growing ever more dazzling. "Space-Time Resonance—Activate."
Amidst the roar, the star trails on the stone wall suddenly exploded into thousands of points of light. These points of light streaked across the dark passage like meteors, accompanied by sharp whistling sounds, and coalesced into a rotating gate of light in front of everyone.
The portal spun rapidly, forming a huge vortex that shimmered with multicolored light, as if distorting the surrounding space into a magnificent painting.
Behind the door was a space filled with countless rhomboid crystals, each crystal flowing with energy from different dimensions: some were a deep, inky black, like a dark hole in the universe, seemingly capable of swallowing all light; others shimmered with the brilliance of a galaxy, their light flowing and sparkling like the Milky Way, as if about to overflow from the crystal.
On the giant crystal at the very center was engraved a dark moon totem that was exactly the same as the emblem on the chest of the Night Owl.
"This is... an interdimensional energy storage facility?" Chu Yao's voice trembled for the first time. Her projection transformed into a data stream that seeped into the crystal. The data stream, like nimble blue threads, weaved through the crystal. "A large number of interdimensional coordinates have been detected. Night Owl's Shadow Force portal, the previously destroyed energy tower... all the nodes point here!"
Suddenly, countless garbled characters popped up on the holographic screen, which then instantly reassembled into an image: In the image, Night Owl knelt on one knee in front of the Dark Moon Totem, with a figure shrouded in black mist floating above him, only revealing a section of an arm wrapped in chains.
"Your progress is too slow." The voice was like metal scraping against metal, the harsh sound like a sharp blade cutting through glass. "The Earth's origin has seventy-two hours left to complete its transformation. If these ants ruin things again..."
A bony finger emerged from the black mist, and blood immediately bloomed on Night Owl's back. Yet, he laughed even more maniacally: "Rest assured, my lord, I have planted an anchor point in their timeline."
Once we get our hands on the origin, even if that kid is the master of spacetime...
The image suddenly shattered, and when Chu Yao's projection reformed, a crimson-gold warning flickered in her pupils: "Analysis complete!"
Behind Night Owl is the 'Dark Abyss Council,' a raider alliance spanning thirty-seven dimensions that devours the source by manipulating the 'trial games' of various civilizations.
"And 'Infinite'... " She paused, "is a culture dish they specially customized for Earth."
At this moment, the space began to fluctuate slightly. Chu Yao frowned and said, "Boss, the spatial fluctuations are a bit abnormal. It seems that a powerful being is about to appear." Before she finished speaking, the space suddenly twisted into a black vortex. The vortex was like a huge black beast opening its bloody maw, and Night Owl's figure stepped out from it.
His skin was a deathly gray, his left eye had turned into a dark moon totem, and a translucent bone wing floated on his right shoulder. Every step he took left a charred mark on the ground, the mark blooming like black flowers of death: "As expected of the master of time and space, you guessed it so quickly?" He licked his lips, "But what if I know?"
Lord Dark Abyss has already granted me 'Dimensional Immunity,' your spacetime skills...
"The Prison of the End of Time and Space!"
Lin Yi's response was to simply raise his hand.
Silver light blades shot out from his palms like sharp longswords, tearing through the air and emitting a sharp whistling sound.
Six rotating spacetime cages coalesced around the night owl, their surfaces shimmering with mysterious runes that emitted a ghostly blue light, like a mysterious force guarding the order of spacetime.
This was a profound technique he had just mastered last week, which he used to instantly kill a Tier 3 Shadow Lord in the beginner village.
But the next second, Night Owl stepped out of the cage as if passing through a phantom, his left fingernails growing three inches long, like black daggers, flashing with an evil light, and directly pierced Lin Yi's left shoulder!
"Does it hurt?" Night Owl leaned close to Lin Yi's ear, his breath carrying a putrid, fishy smell, like the stench of a rotting corpse. "Lord Dark Abyss's power can erase all dimensional rules."
"Your so-called manipulation of space and time is no match for true dimensional crushing..." He suddenly swung his fist, the force of which was like a powerful storm, slamming Lin Yi into the suspended crystal.
"Boss!" Chu Yao's projection flickered wildly as she moved her hands rapidly, sending beams of energy like streaks of blue lightning from her fingertips in an attempt to disrupt Night Owl.
However, with a gentle flap of its bone wings, the black aura emanating from the wings acted as a dark barrier, instantly swallowing the energy beam. The data stream shattered, turning into specks of blue starlight that dissipated into the air.
Whitebeard roared, and his sword slashed through space.
The blade shimmered with starlight, and its energy surged like a massive wall of light, pressing down on the night owl with overwhelming force.
Night Owl gripped the blade with his other hand, his palm as hard as steel, crushing the precious sword, tempered with star iron, into scrap metal. The sound of shattering metal was like a desperate wail: "Old man, you should be glad you didn't survive tonight."
Lin Yi crashed into the crystal, his blood splattering onto the Dark Moon Totem, which suddenly triggered some kind of mechanism.
The central crystal emitted a blinding blue light, as dazzling as a solar eruption. Countless chains emerged from the spatial rift, their dark purple light shimmering like venomous snakes, instantly coiling around the Night Owl's limbs. But then, the chains turned as if alive, wrapping around the Whitebeard's waist, Chu Yao's projection, and finally strangling Lin Yi's neck!
"This is... Lord Dark Abyss's 'Dimensional Lock'!" Night Owl's laughter was filled with ecstasy, like the howl of a demon. "They knew you would find your way here. This chain can extract the essence of all dimensional beings!"
"Wait until your strength is completely drained..." He suddenly frowned, "Wait, why are there only three of you?"
What about that old charlatan?
Lin Yi was almost suffocating from being strangled by the chains when he suddenly recalled Xuan Mingzi's words before he left and the mysterious talisman.
He gazed at the dark purple patterns flowing on the chains, his left hand quietly pressed against his chest—where the talisman Zhang Xuanmingzi had given him before leaving was still hidden, with star trails drawn on it that were exactly the same as those in the murals of the ruins.
It turns out that Xuanmingzi already knew part of the Dark Abyss Council's plans. He created this talisman using his own abilities, which could interfere with the Dark Abyss Council's rules.
"Night Owl," Lin Yi's voice was laced with blood, "Guess... who tampered with our trajectory before the 'Dimensional Lock' was activated?"
Suddenly, a metallic tearing sound echoed through the space, a sound as deafening as thunder. The dark patterns on the chains began to crumble, breaking apart like strands of black silk.
Night Owl's expression finally changed. Just as he was about to retreat, the central crystal burst forth with a light even more dazzling than the sun.
It turns out that the Dark Abyss Council's plan was not perfect. The rules of the Civilization Trial itself came into play at a critical moment, and the interference of the talisman caused the energy flow of the "Dimensional Lock" to change.
The light, enveloped in boundless dimensional energy, surged into everyone's bodies like a living thing. The energy was like a raging torrent, carrying a powerful impact and intense heat.
"This is impossible!" Night Owl screamed as he retreated, his cry like a desperate plea, "Lord Dark Abyss's plan..."
The light drowned out his voice.
Lin Yi felt something awakening deep within his consciousness—a power more ancient than the ruler of time and space, a true inheritance belonging to the "Trial of Civilization."
Golden light shimmered around his body, flickering like flames, making him appear like a god of war.
He looked at the white-bearded man, whose shock turned into ecstasy; then he looked at Chu Yao, whose projection was reforming, her hair shimmering with starlight, and surrounded by a blue halo, like a mysterious elf.
Above their heads, the crystals that were originally engraved with the Dark Moon Totem are slowly revealing new patterns—twelve encircling star rings, with the light gate of the Infinite game's initial interface at the center.
The chains suddenly snapped, making a piercing snapping sound, like the tolling of a doomsday bell.
"Get ready." Lin Yi snapped the chain around his neck, blood dripping onto the ground, instantly transforming into silver particles of light that danced on the ground like shimmering stars. "The real game... has only just begun."
Before he could finish speaking, the entire space suddenly shook violently.
Countless black cracks spread out from the crystal, like hideous scars. From each crack emerged bony arms, like withered branches. And at the deepest part of all the cracks, a figure a hundred times stronger than the Night Owl slowly raised his head. His left eye was a black hole deeper than the Dark Moon.
Chu Yao's physical form grasped Lin Yi's hand, a warm sensation emanating from her palm: "Overload of extradimensional energy detected. Space will collapse in three seconds..."
"Two seconds." Whitebeard raised his newly formed sword, its blade shimmering with starlight, the light of which resembled a flowing dream. "This old man has never been afraid of collapse in his life."
"One second." Lin Yi stared at the figure in the crack, a wild smile spreading across his lips. "The Dark Abyss Council?"
Perfect timing, I also have a calculation to make, one that needs to be done down to the very end of all dimensions.
Space shattered amidst a deafening roar.
At the last moment, Lin Yi saw the black figure's pupils suddenly contract—he finally saw clearly that the mark on the other person's forehead was exactly the same as the emblem on Xuan Mingzi's Daoist robe.
Just before everyone was swept into the spatial turbulence, a hoarse voice echoed in their minds: "Kid, remember to use the talisman I gave you."
It is Xuanmingzi.
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