Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 378 The Origin of Chaos

Darkness, like a surging tide, swept towards Lingyue with overwhelming force, instantly submerging her ankles.

The biting cold, like thousands of ice needles, rushed up her spine and straight to the top of her head, causing her body to tremble involuntarily.

Lingyue's legs seemed to suddenly lose all feeling, collapsing to the ground without warning, her knees hitting the gravel-strewn ground heavily.

The sharp pain, like an electric current, instantly spread throughout her body, but compared to the despair in her heart, it was just a negligible sting.

She gritted her teeth, used the last bit of strength in her body, and lunged forward, her fingers stretching out desperately as if trying to grab something.

Just as her fingertips were about to touch the hem of Li Zhao's clothes, the figure vanished before her eyes like a phantom bubble, leaving only emptiness.

Lingyue's hand grasped at empty air, and the despair in her heart overwhelmed her like a flood bursting its banks.

She watched helplessly as Li Zhao's figure was completely swallowed up by the dark disc, along with the giant, scale-covered hand, disappearing into the bottomless abyss in the center of the altar.

As Li Zhao disappeared, space seemed to collapse at that moment, and a huge vortex spun rapidly above the abyss, emitting a deafening roar.

The vortex was like a bottomless black hole, sucking in all the surrounding rubble and debris, which disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The broken stones, like bullets, sped past Lingyue's ears at an astonishing speed, making a sharp whistling sound.

They crashed violently against the rock face, instantly creating deep craters and sending up countless tiny pebbles and dust.

Wenli's fragments danced helplessly in the raging storm, their mournful cries echoing in Lingyue's ears.

The sound was both a desperate cry and a defiant shout, evoking pity in the listener.

None of this could change the fate of the fragments, which eventually dissipated into the darkness, turning into faint starlight, like candles flickering in the wind, gradually disappearing from Lingyue's sight.

Lingyue stared wide-eyed at the direction the fragment had disappeared, tears streaming down her face like a burst dam.

Her vision was blurred by tears, and the world before her became hazy and unreal.

"No!"

Lingyue's roar sounded so small and powerless in this chaotic space, as if it had been easily torn to pieces by the turbulent flow of time and space.

Her voice echoed in the endless darkness, but received no response.

At this moment, Lingyue suddenly felt as if the dark patterns on her wrist had been ignited, and a sudden burning pain erupted.

The feeling was like a raging fire burning under her skin, almost unbearable for her.

She looked down and saw that the originally still dark lines had begun to move across her skin as if they were alive.

They quickly intertwined and entwined, outlining strange and mysterious patterns that resonated with the runes remaining on the distant altar, emitting a peculiar light.

Even more terrifying, she saw her own image distorted and deformed in the reflection of the broken rock wall, with the black robe, scepter, and indifferent face gradually becoming clearer, while the real her felt some strange power awakening within her, like a sleeping demon being awakened.

The laughter of the shadowy figure surged from all directions, the sound like countless whispers intertwined, full of mockery and smugness.

Twelve pairs of bone wings appeared and disappeared in the void, each flap creating ripples in spacetime, distorting space like a shattered mirror.

"Congratulations, little container. When the twin mirror images become one, the origin of the dark will will soon return."

As soon as he finished speaking, an altar made of fragmented time and space rose from the abyss. The altar was covered with cracks and exuded an ancient and evil aura.

Li Zhao hovered in the center of the altar, his body wrapped in black and white intertwined chains. A dark disc was deeply embedded in his chest, and the yin-yang fish pattern that originally symbolized balance was completely replaced by dark purple. That eerie color seemed to declare that he had been completely corrupted by darkness.

Lingyue's body floated up uncontrollably and slowly moved towards the altar.

She struggled desperately, flailing her limbs wildly in the air, but she could not change the fate that had led her.

She tried to harness the power of the fragments, but the source of light within her body was being rapidly absorbed by the dark patterns on her wrist, as if being swallowed by a black hole.

At that moment, the figure of Mirror Spirit Moon suddenly appeared in front of her, her hand reaching out from under the black robe and interlocking with hers, that hand as cold as a corpse.

"Stop struggling, we are two sides of the same coin. When you see those mirrors in the Star Abyss, you should understand that all resistance is just a script written by fate."

Mirror Spirit Moon's voice was cold and hollow, as if devoid of any emotion.

"Impossible!" Lingyue bit her tongue, the taste of blood filling her mouth, the stinging pain briefly restoring her clarity.

She recalled the blood-written words on Wenli's fragments and suddenly realized that the so-called "awakening of the power of origin" was not about becoming a puppet of darkness.

The last glimmer of light from the fragment shone in her palm; though faint, it was like a flame of hope in the darkness.

She infused the light into the dark lines on her wrist, and a sharp pain shot through her body like an electric current, as if her body was being torn apart and reassembled.

The dark patterns began to rotate in reverse, turning back all the dark power they had absorbed, and even wisps of blue smoke rose from the surface of their skin.

Li Zhao on the altar suddenly let out a painful roar, a sound that tore at the heart and was full of struggle and resentment.

The black and white chains shattered inch by inch under his force, and fragments shot out in all directions like meteors.

A crack appeared in the dark disc on his chest, and instead of an evil aura, a pure white light emanated from it.

That was the source of light sealed deep within the darkness, like the dawn breaking, bringing a glimmer of hope.

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Lingyue mobilized all her strength and rushed towards the altar. The fragments and the source of light merged in her hand into an arrow, which shimmered with dazzling light and pointed directly at the heart of the shadow.

"Naive!" The black shadow flapped its bone wings, unleashing a spacetime storm that was like a world-ending torrent. Wherever it went, space was completely torn apart, revealing a pitch-black void.

The storm crushed the arrows that Lingyue had shot, and the light vanished into darkness.

At this moment, a glimmer of clarity flashed in Li Zhao's shattered pupils. He mustered his last strength and forcibly manipulated the yin-yang fish pattern to open a spacetime rift behind the black shadow.

What emerged from the rift was not darkness, but the phantoms of countless guardians, clad in armor, wielding weapons, and with resolute expressions.

They held the fragments aloft, forming an ancient sealing array. The light emanating from the array countered the dark power of the shadowy figures.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lingyue shot the fused arrow at the rift again. The light and darkness collided and produced a violent explosion, causing the entire space to tremble.

A bright light illuminated the chaotic area, and shockwaves spread outwards like ocean waves.

The entire altar began to crumble, with stones falling one after another with a deafening sound.

Li Zhao's body swayed precariously in the energy storm, like a fallen leaf that could be swept away by a gale at any moment.

Cracks also appeared on Mirror Spirit Moon's body. She stared in horror at her hands, which were gradually becoming transparent, her eyes filled with fear and resentment: "No! I am the true vessel..."

Before he could finish speaking, he turned into specks of light and vanished into the radiance.