bayedsolid Chapter 364 Fragment Resonance
Chapter 364 Fragment Resonance
Li Zhao's hands trembled slightly from the excessive force as he gripped the three constantly vibrating fragments of time and space tightly, his knuckles turning white as frost.
The golden patterns flowing across the fragment seemed alive, meandering through his palm, sending a subtle burning sensation wherever they touched, like countless tiny fire ants gnawing at his skin. The star map flickered in his palm, its light sometimes strong and sometimes weak, illuminating his tense face.
Lingyue's cries were torn apart by the violent spatial turbulence, becoming sharp and urgent.
At this moment, she was being entangled by a purple energy vortex around her ankle, dragged around like a withered leaf in the wind, her skirt torn to shreds, and her hair sticking messily to her sweaty forehead.
Wenli's body was already semi-transparent, her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes burned with a determined light.
With her last ounce of strength, she clasped her hands together, and a gentle, holy aura of purification emanated from her body, attempting to slow the vortex's engulfing speed.
Where the halo collided with the purple vortex, intense sparks erupted, accompanied by a hissing sound.
"Here you go!" The future Li Zhao appeared like a black lightning bolt, suddenly appearing from the side.
The energy blade in his hand, imbued with a fierce aura, precisely severed the dark purple tentacles that were wrapping around Lingyue.
The moment the tentacles were severed, a foul-smelling black liquid gushed out, turning into wisps of blue smoke in the air.
Without hesitation, the future Li Zhao threw a fragment at Li Zhao. The fragment sliced through the air, leaving a golden afterimage.
The moment the three fragments collided in mid-air, a dazzling light, like a new sun rising, illuminated the entire chaotic space.
The light outlined a complete star map in the void, dazzling and mysterious.
A thunderbolt seemed to explode in Li Zhao's mind, and countless images surged forth—the solemn and majestic altars of ancient civilizations, upon which were placed artifacts radiating strange light.
The dark heart, suspended in the vast universe, pulsates with a chilling pressure.
And the face faintly visible beneath the black-robed mask, its angles and contours strikingly similar to his own!
"This is impossible……"
Li Zhao stared wide-eyed, his face filled with astonishment and disbelief. He muttered to himself, as if he couldn't accept what he was seeing.
His body seemed to have lost control, and his steps involuntarily staggered backward, as if pulled by a powerful force.
Every step seemed so difficult; his legs seemed to have lost their will and he had completely lost his balance.
Suddenly, his back slammed into a rapidly spinning boulder.
The boulder, like a ferocious beast, charged toward him at an astonishing speed.
At the moment of impact, Li Zhao felt a tremendous force coming from his back, as if it were about to tear his body apart.
A wave of excruciating pain washed over him, blurring his consciousness for a moment.
The sharp pain was like a bucket of cold water, jolting him out of his shock.
He struggled to lift his head, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding space.
The entire space was being twisted wildly, as if it had been caught in a giant vortex, centered on the star map coordinates.
The stars shattered in this distorted space, and time and space were completely disrupted, blurring the lines between reality and illusion, making it difficult to distinguish between them.
Wenli's body became increasingly transparent, as if it could dissipate at any moment, like morning mist.
She clung to her last breath, her voice weak yet resolute: "The coordinates the fragments point to... are a 'virtual realm' in the cracks of time and space. Perhaps the key to balancing the darkness lies there, but..."
Before she could finish speaking, her figure completely dissipated in the soft light, leaving only a faint yet warm purifying power that slowly merged into the fragment in Li Zhao's hand. That power carried a familiar aura, as if silently encouraging Li Zhao.
Lingyue cried out in alarm, "Watch out behind you!"
Li Zhao instinctively rolled to the side, a black chain grazing his shoulder with a sharp whistling sound. Wherever the chain passed, distant rocks were instantly pulverized, the fragments scattering like raindrops.
The man in black robes walked slowly through the shattered space, each step seemingly treading on the heartbeats of everyone present.
At the tip of the scepter in his hand, a black gemstone oozed a viscous black liquid, which condensed in the air to form the phantom of a three-headed giant wolf.
The giant wolf bared its teeth and let out a low growl, sending a stench through the air.
"Do you really think you can turn the tide just by getting the fragment?"
The black-robed man's voice was cold and grating, like the scraping of metal, "The Void Realm is a cage set up by the dark will, and you are nothing but prey that have walked into its trap."
His words were full of sarcasm and disdain, as if he had already seen through everyone's fate.
The future Li Zhao roared and charged at the man in black robes, brandishing his sharp blade.
His body suddenly froze the moment he approached the man in black.
The man in black robes gently raised his hand, and an invisible force enveloped the future Li Zhao. His body began to become transparent, as if it had been detached from its physical form, becoming illusory and fragile.
"You don't have much time to begin with."
The man in black robes sneered, his voice carrying a hint of cruelty, "Forcibly traversing the chaotic flow of time and space has long since depleted the life force."
Li Zhao's pupils contracted sharply as he stared in horror at his future self.
Fine cracks appeared beneath Li Zhao's skin in the future, like shattered glass, each crack seemingly telling the story of life slipping away.
A faint blue light emanated from those cracks, as if life energy was leaking out.
"No!" Li Zhao's eyes reddened, and he roared as he threw the Source of Light and the fragment into the air at the same time.
The three forces merged in the void, forming a huge shield of light that emitted a dazzling glow and blocked the black-robed man's attack.
The light shield collided with the dark power of the black-robed man, unleashing a deafening roar. A powerful energy shockwave spread outwards, stirring up a strong storm.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lingyue activated an energy ripple, rapidly moving her hands to create a distorted spacetime trap beneath the black-robed man's feet.
Within the spacetime trap, space constantly folds and twists, forming bizarre vortexes.
Caught off guard, the man in black was sucked into the trap. In that instant, Li Zhao clearly saw the dark red pattern on the man's neck—the same pattern that had appeared in his own body due to the excessive use of the Yin-Yang Orb fragments!
This discovery sent shockwaves through Li Zhao's mind, leaving countless questions swirling in his head.
In the chaos, the fragment of spacetime suddenly broke free from Li Zhao's control, as if drawn by some mysterious force, and flew towards the center of the star map.
Li Zhao and the others were forced to follow the fragments into a crack that emitted a ghostly blue light.
Within the rift, the forces of time and space were tearing at their bodies, as if trying to rip them to pieces.
When the blinding light finally dissipated, Li Zhao and the others found themselves in an ancient city floating above a sea of clouds.
The city's buildings are made of translucent crystal, and every brick flows with a starlight-like light, dreamlike and breathtakingly beautiful.
A suffocating silence filled the air, devoid of any sign of life, like a ghost town forgotten by time.
"Is this the Void Realm?" Lingyue cautiously reached out and gently touched the city wall. The moment her fingertips touched it, a bone-chilling coldness ran up her arm, making her shiver involuntarily.
The next second, crimson runes suddenly appeared on the surface of the city wall. The runes twisted and turned into countless tiny snake-like creatures, baring their fangs and claws as they pounced on the crowd.
Li Zhao hurriedly waved the Yin-Yang Orb fragments, chanting incantations, and the power of light surged forth from the fragments. Wherever the light touched, the serpentine creatures let out shrieks and vanished in the intense light. However, the blood-red runes, like tenacious weeds, quickly regenerated, reforming into serpentine creatures and launching an attack.
Suddenly, Li Zhao from the future clutched his chest, his face turning deathly pale, and he knelt heavily on one knee.
Cracks began to appear on his transparent body, and each crack was widening, as if it would shatter completely at any moment.
"My time is running out... Li Zhao, remember, the man in black..."
His voice grew weaker and weaker until it abruptly stopped. His entire body transformed into countless specks of light, dissipating in the wind, leaving only a single fragment that fell at Li Zhao's feet.
The fragment lay quietly on the ground, as if telling Li Zhao's unfinished words for the future.
The moment the fragments hit the ground, the entire city began to tremble violently, cracks appeared in the ground, and a low, terrifying roar came from the clouds.
Immediately afterwards, nine jet-black chains burst forth from the ground, carrying immense pressure, and directly bound Li Zhao's limbs and neck.
The chains were cold and hard, tightening more and more, making it difficult for Li Zhao to breathe.
The figure in black robes appeared at the top of the city's tallest tower. He slowly removed his hood, revealing a face that was almost identical to Li Zhao's!
This scene stirred up a storm in Li Zhao's heart, with shock, doubt, and fear all intertwined.
"Welcome to my inner world, my 'shadow'."
The man in black robes curled into a strange smile. "The moment you stepped into the Void Realm, you had already lost."
As he spoke, the same fragment as the one in Li Zhao's hand appeared in his palm. Deep within the city, a beating black heart resonated with the man in black robes, and with each beat of the heart, the entire space trembled.
"What the Dark Will has always wanted is simply you as a whole."
The man in black robes raised his scepter, his eyes flashing with madness. "Now, it's time to settle things..."
Suddenly, the nine chains burst forth with a blinding red light, their power surging instantly. Li Zhao felt his consciousness gradually being swallowed by darkness.
Before his last shred of consciousness, he mustered all his strength to stuff the last fragment into Lingyue's hand, and cried out with difficulty:
"Don't trust... anyone..." Before the words were finished, the entire city was plunged into darkness.
In the darkness, only Lingyue remained, clutching the fragments, aimlessly searching for direction in the void.
All around was silent, with only her rapid breathing echoing in my ears.
On the surface of the fragment, a line of tiny text slowly emerged: "Only by breaking the mirror image can one be reborn."
The words shimmered faintly in the darkness, like a glimmer of hope, yet also shrouded in endless mystery and the unknown…