Cracks spread across the spacetime barrier like a spider web, and the outermost crystal walls began to peel away, shattering into stardust-like specks of light.
Each strike of the shadow creature's claws sent tremors through the entire ruins, as if even the stone bricks were shaking in fear.
"Barrier strength remaining at 17%!" Chu Yao's voice came through Lin Yi's earpiece. A blue stream of holographic data danced at her fingertips. "Attack frequency increased by 300%. They... are calculating our defense vulnerabilities." Her virtual pupils suddenly contracted. "Look into their eyes!"
The dark purple light spots are flashing in sync—it's some kind of mental link!
Lin Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth; it was from the force of the shockwave that had torn the barrier when it trembled.
He had a brief exchange with Whitebeard and Chu Yao and found that the existing defensive measures were no longer sufficient and they needed to come up with a new solution.
He gazed at the shadowy creatures—their originally distorted bodies now displayed an eerie symmetry, with seven of them forming a diamond-shaped array, their attack angles perfectly aligned.
The Shadow Wolves at the front bared their sharp teeth and managed to dodge the talisman fire net unleashed by the white-bearded creature; the Shadow Ravens at the back flapped their wings, and the airflow just happened to cancel out the electromagnetic interference released by Chu Yao.
"Old man, you're running out of talismans!" Whitebeard cleaved the third Shadow Bear that pounced at him with his short blade, but he only had three talismans left in his palm.
With a flick of his wrist, the yellow talisman burst into crimson flames. Suddenly, the three shadow leopards stopped in their tracks, their front paws carving deep furrows in the ground. They used the corpses of their companions as stepping stones to leap into the air.
Whitebeard's pupils contracted sharply as he swung his blade to block, but he was still slashed on the left shoulder by the tail spike of one of the talismans. Blood splattered onto the talisman and was instantly absorbed, turning into eerie purple spots.
"Uncle Bai!" Lin Yi shouted, and the power of spacetime condensed at his fingertips.
He intended to use spacetime collapse, but as soon as he touched the bodies of those shadow creatures, he felt a sticky force resisting him—their bodies were wrapped in a dark purple membrane, as if it were devouring his spacetime energy.
"This isn't right..." Cold sweat beaded on Lin Yi's forehead.
He recalled the words of the mysterious figure in the system space: "When darkness descends, you will understand that some awakenings are destined to be ended." At this moment, the dark purple light in the pupils of those shadow creatures grew stronger, as if some slumbering being was awakening through their eyes.
"Shadow Core Frequency Detected!" Chu Yao suddenly raised her voice, and a set of fluctuating curves appeared in the holographic projection. "Their attack pattern completely overlaps with the star trail diagram on the mural in the ruins!"
This is no ordinary beast tide, it's... some kind of ritual!
Before the words were finished, the shadow creature in the very center suddenly let out a shriek, and all the shadows froze for 0.3 seconds—it was this extremely short gap that caused the crack in the spacetime barrier to widen by another two inches.
Lin Yi looked at the protected ancient books not far away. The edges of the parchment scrolls had begun to turn black, a sign of the corrosion from shadow energy.
His nails dug deeply into his palms: "I can't let these documents be destroyed... and I absolutely can't let Uncle Bai and Chu Yao get hurt!"
My consciousness suddenly sank into the depths of my memories.
Three months ago in the newbie village, when he first comprehended the Time-Space Storm, he was in a similar desperate situation—besieged by seven elite monsters, his teammates were seriously injured, and in the moment of death, he grasped the "folds" of time flow and injected the storm into them.
As he recalled the events, Lin Yi kept thinking about the present and the past. He realized that the shadow creatures were parasitizing the space, and that the spacetime power he had previously comprehended might have a new use.
"If spacetime collapse is about crushing time, then... since they depend on space, what if I incorporate the 'fragments' of space into it as well?" He thought to himself, and a new idea gradually formed in his mind.
He recalled Chu Yao's previous analysis that the bodies of shadow creatures were composed of negative energy, had no physical form, and needed to rely on spatial rifts to exist.
Since they live parasitically in space, then let space itself destroy them!
"Chu Yao, locate the spatial coordinates of all shadows!" Lin Yi's voice was as steady as a bell. "Uncle Bai, try to stall for three seconds!"
Whitebeard bit his tongue, spitting blood onto the last three talismans. The talismans instantly expanded into three giant fire apes, crashing into the nearest shadow array: "Three seconds?"
"I'll give you five seconds!" The Flame Giant Ape's fist collided with the Shadow Claws, and the shockwave from the explosion caused everyone to stagger, but it also successfully drew all the Shadows' attention temporarily.
Chu Yao's fingertips tapped rapidly in the void, and a blue data stream poured down like a galaxy: "Coordinates locked!"
A total of 1372 shadow units, with spatial anchor points marked!
Lin Yi took a deep breath and channeled the power of spacetime from his dantian throughout his body.
As he guided his power, he imagined in his mind how to integrate the "fragments" of space into it, as if he could see those fragments of space gradually taking shape under the protection of the power of spacetime.
He could clearly feel every inch of his skin burning hot, a sign of power overload, but he couldn't care less about that at the moment—what he needed was a "space-time vortex" powerful enough to annihilate everything.
"Time and Space Annihilation - First Unveiling!"
As he uttered the low shout, Lin Yi's pupils transformed into two swirling star charts.
Centered on him, within a radius of twenty meters, space suddenly began to distort, the surrounding light dimmed, and the wind howled, as if the entire space was trembling in the face of this annihilation.
The bodies of those shadow creatures first blurred, then seemed to be kneaded by an invisible hand, and finally began to shatter into pieces—not from being attacked, but from being "digested" by the space itself.
A shadow eagle that was pouncing on the white-bearded man disintegrated in mid-air. Its left wing remained pouncing forward, while its right wing turned into purple light spots and was swallowed by the vortex. The three shadow wolves that were stacked on top of each other to attack the barrier fared even worse. The bottom one was directly compressed into a thin sheet by space, the middle one was torn in half, and the top one was sucked into the center of the vortex in terror, without even having time to roar.
"This...this is spatial devouring?" The white-bearded man stared in disbelief. He wiped the blood from his face, then suddenly grinned. "Good lad!"
This is way more powerful than those old-fashioned talismans!
Chu Yao's virtual projection trembled slightly, a sign of her emotional fluctuations: "Detected a 400% increase in the purity of spacetime power!"
The annihilation zone is currently expanding... the number of shadow creatures has decreased to 213!
Veins bulged on Lin Yi's forehead; he could feel his soul burning. The energy expenditure from this move far exceeded his expectations.
But when he saw the last shadow leopard dissipate in the vortex, he gritted his teeth and held on for another three seconds—until all the fragments of the shadow creatures were swallowed up, and even the dark purple pupil light traces disappeared completely.
"Pfft—" Lin Yi suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood and knelt on one knee.
The spacetime annihilation he just experienced depleted 70% of his mental energy, and even a wisp of the spacetime essence in the system space was drawn away.
But when he looked up, he saw that the cracks in the spacetime barrier were healing automatically, the protected books were intact, the white-bearded man was using a talisman to stop the bleeding from his shoulder wound, and Chu Yao's projection was gently landing on his shoulder.
"Boss, the way you looked just now..." Chu Yao's voice was as light as a feather, "...just like the god of time and space in mythology."
The white-bearded man walked over and patted Lin Yi on the back: "Kid, that was ruthless, but remember to hold back some trump cards next time." He pointed to the depths of the ruins, "When the shadow creatures were attacking most fiercely, I heard some movement inside—like the sound of some kind of mechanism activating."
Lin Yi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up.
He gazed at the half-open bronze door deep within the ruins. In the mist wafting from behind the door, he could vaguely see the stars on the murals moving, exactly like the star trail diagram of the attack pattern that Chu Yao had previously analyzed.
"Looks like we were right." Lin Yi's gaze sharpened. "These shadow creatures are just an appetizer. The real secret..." He pointed to the darkness behind the bronze door, "is deeper inside."
The wind in the ruins suddenly changed direction, making the bronze doors creak.
A deep rumble came from inside the door, like a sleeping giant turning over.
The group exchanged glances and gripped their weapons tightly.
This time, they will uncover the truth behind that door themselves.
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