26: Trust me once

Pale, dead silent, boundless.

The enormous stone hall swallowed all sound; even breathing seemed grating. Uniform and indifferent light streamed from an indiscernible source, casting long, lonely shadows of Li Ao and Medusa onto the mirror-smooth floor.

The air was stagnant, devoid of any energy fluctuations, like a graveyard abandoned by the gods. The green flame lotus mark on Medusa's forehead was dim, and the immense power of her newly advanced Dou Zong realm felt as if it were mired in the deepest quicksand, obscure and difficult to control. She could even feel that the Green Lotus Core Flame, which she had initially integrated, had become unnaturally docile—or rather, dead silent—under the suppression of this space.

Li Ao's situation was equally grim. His Black Iron Hegemon Body circulated with extreme difficulty, as if every ounce of power he mobilized required several times the effort it would outside. The newly healed wound on his left arm throbbed with a dull ache, reminding him of his current weakness.

"This place... is devouring our strength," Medusa's voice was low, her multicolored gaze sweeping over the monotonous pale pillars and dome, a layer of frost covering her exquisite face. She attempted to unleash a faint multicolored energy, but it dissipated instantly like a drop of water in a desert, vanishing without a trace less than three feet from her body, failing to even stir a ripple.

Li Ao said nothing. He walked to a giant pillar, his fingers together like a blade, dark iron luster condensing at his fingertips, and slashed fiercely at the pale stone surface!

"Chhh—!"

A teeth-grinding friction sound. Only a shallow white mark was left on the stone surface, and that mark was slowly disappearing at a visible rate! The stone was incredibly hard and seemed to possess some self-healing ability.

His expression grew increasingly solemn. Unable to replenish energy, strength continuously weakened, and an unknown, exceptionally sturdy environment… This was almost an unsolvable death trap.

"We must find a way out." He turned, his gaze sharp as an eagle, and began to meticulously examine the despairingly vast hall. "Any anomaly could be a clue."

Medusa nodded, suppressing the unease in her heart, and walked beside him, her multicolored gaze also vigilantly scanning their surroundings. At this moment, the subtle ambiguity and probing between them were temporarily set aside under the pressure of survival. They were each other's only ally, and each other's only reliance.

Time lost its meaning here. They walked for an unknown duration, perhaps several hours, perhaps several days. The scenery around them remained unchanged: endless pale giant pillars, cold smooth ground, and the eternal, suffocating dead silence.

Their pace grew slower and slower. Medusa felt that her Dou Qi was almost depleted, and the mark on her forehead throbbed with a burning pain—a sign that the otherworldly flame energy was beginning to stir restlessly in its dormancy. Li Ao's steps were no longer as steady as before; his breathing was slightly heavy, and the dark iron luster of his Black Iron Hegemon Body flickered on his skin.

Despair, like a cold tide, began to quietly erode them.

"If this continues... we'll be slowly drained to death here." Medusa stopped, leaning against a giant pillar, breathing slightly. Her purple brocade robe was a bit disheveled, a few strands of hair clinging to her sweaty forehead, and her usually arrogant multicolored eyes were now shadowed.

Li Ao also stopped, his chest heaving. He glanced at Medusa, whose condition had clearly worsened, then looked at the endless paleness ahead, a fierce glint flashing in the depths of his eyes.

He couldn't just sit and wait for death!

He suddenly punched the giant pillar beside him!

"Bang!"

A dull thud echoed in the dead silent hall. The giant pillar remained motionless, but the recoil caused his already unhealed body to churn with qi and blood.

"It's useless." Medusa shook her head, her voice tinged with weariness. "This stone hall... it's like a single entity, a living prison."

Just then—

"Om..."

An extremely faint tremor, as if from the distant other side of time and space, suddenly appeared in Li Ao's perception! Not a sound, nor an energy fluctuation, but a kind of... spatial resonance?

He suddenly looked up, staring in a certain direction deep within the hall! There, something seemed to be subtly different from this dead silent space!

"That way!" he growled, grabbing Medusa's wrist without explanation, and sped towards that direction!

Medusa, pulled by him, felt the heat and determination from his palm, so unlike the dead silence of this space, and the flickering flame of hope within her, on the verge of extinguishing, seemed to rekindle slightly. She did not struggle, allowing him to lead her towards that unknown possibility.

The closer they got, the more pronounced the spatial anomaly became. It was as if the rules there had a subtle deviation from other places.

Finally, after passing countless pillars, the scene before them suddenly changed!

The end of the hall was not a wall, but an boundless, slowly swirling expanse of pale mist! Within the mist, countless fragmented, bizarre images flickered indistinctly—collapsing mountains, boiling oceans, distorted stars, and even some incomprehensible geometric structures! It was as if the remnants of all worlds after their end had converged here!

And floating directly in front of that pale mist was an object.

It was an irregular polyhedral crystal, about human height. The crystal was transparent, yet within it seemed to be sealed a miniature, continuously flowing silver river of stars! It floated there silently, emitting a soft and eternal light, forming a stark contrast with the dead silence of its surroundings!

What shocked both of them even more was that near this crystal, their almost completely suppressed power actually regained a trace of vitality! Though still faint, it was undeniably present!

"Is that... the spatial core?" Medusa's multicolored eyes burst with astonishing brilliance, her voice filled with incredulous excitement.

Li Ao stared sharply at the crystal, and the pale mist behind it, which contained the remnants of countless worlds. [System, analyze target!]

[Ding! High-concentration spatial origin condensate detected! Contains stable spatial rule fragments! Warning: This condensate is protected by an unknown force field and is closely connected to the 'breath of gui xu' (tentative name) behind it. Forcibly touching it may trigger unpredictable consequences!]

Spatial origin! Rule fragments!

Li Ao's heart pounded! This might be the key to leaving this place! But the system's warning of "breath of gui xu" and "unpredictable consequences" made him hesitant to act rashly.

Just as the two of them were fully focused on the peculiar crystal—

"Hiss hiss—!"

A chilling, hair-raising hiss, like countless pieces of sandpaper rubbing together, suddenly erupted from the pale mist in all directions!

Immediately after, the mist churned, and pale figures, like specters, slowly emerged! They had no fixed form, sometimes coalescing into human shapes, sometimes dispersing like smoke and dust. Their entire bodies were composed of the same pale material that made up the stone hall, with only two points of eerie blue flame, filled with coldness and dead silence, burning in their eye sockets!

As soon as these pale demonic shadows appeared, they simultaneously locked their eerie blue "gazes" onto Li Ao and Medusa! An extreme, pure malice and desire to devour all living things swept over them like an icy tide!

They were the guardians of this dead silent space! Or rather... scavengers!

"Watch out!" Li Ao roared, instantly pulling Medusa behind him, his refined steel long blade already unsheathed! Though the blade was covered in cracks, in his hand, it still exuded an indomitable sharpness!

Medusa also forced out what little Dou Qi she had left, her multicolored eyes cold. On her jade hand, faint multicolored energy began to condense.

The first pale demonic shadow let out a silent roar, transforming into a pale lightning bolt, and lunged directly at Li Ao! Wherever it passed, even the indifferent light seemed to be swallowed by it!

Li Ao's eyes sharpened. Without dodging, he stepped forward, his long blade carrying an indomitable resolve, and slashed out fiercely!

Furious Wind Quick Blade — Stream Severance!

"Clang!!!"

The blade clashed with the pale demonic shadow, producing a resounding clang like metal striking metal! A cold, dead silent power surged up the blade, attempting to corrode his arm! Li Ao grunted, the power of his Black Iron Hegemon Body erupted, dark iron luster flowing, forcefully dispelling the dead silent power!

The demonic shadow was cleaved apart by the blade, but the scattered pale material did not disappear; instead, it slowly re-condensed not far away!

Unkillable?!

More demonic shadows surged forward like a tide! They had no physical form, so physical attacks were largely ineffective, yet the dead silent energy they contained could corrode vitality and deplete strength!

Medusa cried out, sweeping out a faint multicolored ribbon of energy that repelled several demonic shadows, but her face instantly paled further. The green flame mark on her forehead flickered violently; the otherworldly flame energy within her, stimulated by this dead silent environment, showed signs of losing control again!

"Their core is that eerie blue flame!" Li Ao keenly discovered the key during the battle, reminding her sharply.

Upon hearing this, Medusa's multicolored eyes narrowed. Concentrating her power, a more condensed multicolored beam accurately shot towards the eye socket of a demonic shadow!

"Puff!"

The eerie blue flame was extinguished instantly! That demonic shadow let out a silent wail, completely dissipating and no longer reforming!

Effective!

But there were too many demonic shadows! And their power seemed to originate from this space itself, allowing them to thrive here, while Li Ao and Medusa's strength was continuously being consumed!

The two stood back to back, desperately resisting the demonic shadows' frantic attacks. Blade light and multicolored energy intertwined, constantly repelling and annihilating the lunging shadows. But their maneuvering space was continuously compressed, step by step, forcing them towards the direction of the floating spatial core crystal.

Li Ao's blade grew heavier and heavier, the wound on his left arm reopened, blood dripping down his arm onto the pale ground, instantly absorbed. Medusa's breathing became more rapid, her multicolored energy had dimmed to its extreme, and a trace of blood even seeped from the corner of her mouth—the backlash from forcefully suppressing the conflict of the otherworldly flame within her.

Despair, once again, enveloped them.

"If this continues... we won't last much longer..." Medusa's voice was tinged with weakness and unwillingness. She looked at the man beside her, covered in blood, yet still standing like a rock in front of her, her multicolored eyes filled with complex emotions. Was it possible that just as a glimmer of hope appeared, they were to be buried here?

Li Ao swung his blade, scattering a demonic shadow, feeling the rapidly draining power within him. He looked at the spatial core crystal, so close yet seemingly separated by an insurmountable chasm, and a hint of desperate resolve flashed in his eyes!

He couldn't die here!

He suddenly turned to Medusa, his voice hoarse and torn from exhaustion: "Trust me once!"

Medusa met his eyes, which still burned with fire even in despair, and was slightly startled.

The next moment, Li Ao made an unexpected move!

He suddenly retracted his long blade, his left hand shot out like lightning, grabbing Medusa's wrist! At the same time, his right fist clenched, and all the power of his Black Iron Hegemon Body, along with that mysterious and domineering power from the system, poured into his fist without reservation! The dark iron colored light was more blazing than ever before, even faintly overpowering the dead silence and paleness of this space!

He was actually going to abandon his defense and strike with all his might, smashing towards that spatial core crystal?!

"Are you insane?!" Medusa was terrified! The system's previous warning still echoed in her ears! Forcibly touching it, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"It's a gamble!" Li Ao roared, his punch already formed, unstoppable! "Either we get out, or... we die together!"

Before he finished speaking, that punch, which condensed all his current strength and will, tore through the sky like a falling meteor, carrying a tragic, no-retreat momentum, and slammed fiercely into the floating spatial core crystal, within which a silver river of stars flowed!

The moment he threw his punch, all the pale demonic shadows, as if receiving some command, let out even sharper, more frantic hisses, surging forward like a bursting flood from all directions simultaneously!

Medusa looked at the fist smashing towards the crystal, at the tidal wave of death engulfing them, at the determined profile of the man beside her. In her multicolored eyes, all hesitation, struggle, and pride, at that moment, turned into a blank slate.

She gripped Li Ao's hand, which held her wrist, tightly.

If they were to die, then let it be together.

"Boom!!!!!!!!"

Li Ao's fist landed squarely on the spatial core crystal!

The expected explosion did not occur.

Time, at this moment, seemed to completely freeze.

The crystal trembled slightly, and the flowing silver river of stars within it suddenly stopped.

Immediately after—

"Crack..."

A faint sound, like ice cracking, emanated from the crystal's surface.

A subtle crack quietly appeared.

Then, a second, a third... cracks spread across the entire crystal like a spiderweb in an instant!

Endless, pure, and violent silver light burst forth from the countless cracks! Instantly engulfing Li Ao's fist, engulfing his arm, engulfing his body, and also engulfing Medusa beside him!

At the same time, those pale demonic shadows that had lunged close, hissing menacingly, were also swallowed!

The entire pale stone hall, at this moment, was completely submerged by this exploding silver light!

An intense spatial tearing sensation returned, a hundred, a thousand times stronger than when they crossed the vortex before!

Li Ao felt as if his soul and body were about to be completely torn apart and disintegrated by this silver light! He gritted his teeth, relying on his Black Iron Hegemon Body and that mysterious power to protect his heart and consciousness. With his other hand, he pulled Medusa's cold, trembling body even tighter into his embrace, as if to meld her into his very bones and blood.

Medusa felt the terrifying power that almost crushed her soul, and also felt the unprecedented strength and... protection of that embrace. She closed her eyes, burying her face in his blood-stained chest, abandoning all resistance, allowing the silver light to consume her.

Just before her consciousness completely plunged into darkness, she seemed to hear a sigh, as if from ancient times, filled with endless vicissitudes and weariness, echoing from deep within the core of this silver light.

Subsequently, everything returned to nothingness.