Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 342 The Shadow Puzzle

Li Zhao, Ling Yue, and the future Li Zhao stood inside the mist-shrouded castle, nervously staring at the enormous figure before them.

The figure moved slowly through the mist, each step accompanied by a slight tremor in the ground, and the oppressive aura emanating from it made their breathing rapid.

"Who exactly are you?" Li Zhao asked loudly, trying to make his voice sound calm.

The enormous figure let out a low laugh that echoed through the castle, making their eardrums ache.

"I am the guardian of this place, protecting the secrets of the core of spacetime, and also the barrier to stop those of you who attempt to disrupt the balance."

The voice was muffled and deep, as if it came from underground.

Li Zhao's brows furrowed tightly, and he gripped the fragment of the Yin-Yang Sphere tightly in his hand, as if it were his last straw.

His voice revealed a hint of anxiety and determination:

"We are not here to disrupt the balance here! The real culprit is the leader of the men in black. He has disrupted the order of spacetime, bringing endless chaos and disaster to this world. Our goal is to stop him and restore peace and tranquility to this world!"

The guardian, however, dismissed Li Zhao's words with a cold snort, his tone filled with disdain and skepticism:

"You think you're on the side of justice? In my opinion, you're no different from that leader of the men in black. You're both disrupting the peace here and bringing new turmoil and unrest to the world."

Lingyue couldn't help but say, "We just want to restore the stability of spacetime and get everything back on track. The actions of the leader of the men in black will lead to the destruction of countless spacetimes, and we cannot sit idly by."

The guardian was silent for a moment, then slowly said:

"It's hard to tell whether what you say is true or false, but since you've come here, you must accept the test. Only by passing the test can you get closer to the core of spacetime."

Li Zhaoshen nodded: "Okay, whatever the test, we will accept it."

As soon as they finished speaking, the surrounding fog instantly thickened, enveloping them completely.

Li Zhao discovered that he had lost contact with Ling Yue and the future Li Zhao, and could only hear his own rapid breathing.

"Li Zhao! Lingyue!" Li Zhao shouted loudly, but only his own echo answered him.

He cautiously groped his way forward, and suddenly, a dazzling light appeared ahead.

In the light, a familiar figure slowly emerged—it was the leader of the men in black!

"Li Zhao, you think you can defeat me? How naive." The leader of the men in black sneered.

Li Zhao took a step back warily, raising the Yin-Yang Sphere fragment: "Don't be so smug, I definitely won't let you succeed this time!"

The leader of the men in black suddenly disappeared, and in his place, countless illusory images flickered in the light.

Li Zhao saw his failures in various timelines, saw Ling Yue injured while protecting him, and saw the future Li Zhao fall in battle against the leader of the men in black.

These images constantly impacted his mind, causing his beliefs to begin to waver.

"Is there really nothing we can do to change all of this?" A sense of despair welled up in Li Zhao's heart.

But soon, he remembered Lingyue's determined gaze and Li Zhao's encouragement to him in the future.

"No, I can't give up!" Li Zhao clenched his fists, focused his mind, and tried to dispel these illusory images.

The Yin-Yang Sphere fragment in his hand emitted a warm light, and wherever the light reached, the illusory scene gradually dissipated.

Following the light, Li Zhao continued forward and finally emerged from the fog.

He saw Lingyue and the future Li Zhao standing beside a huge stone platform. In the center of the platform was a sphere radiating multicolored light, which was the core of spacetime.

"Li Zhao, you're finally out!" Lingyue exclaimed excitedly.

Before they could even get close to the spacetime core, a group of mechanical puppets suddenly appeared around them.

These puppets were tall, made entirely of metal, with red eyes that gleamed, and wielded various weapons as they charged towards them.

Li Zhao quickly released the power of the Yin-Yang Orb fragments, forming a shield to block the puppet's attack.

In the future, Li Zhao rushes towards the group of puppets, unleashing his powerful strength to engage in close combat with them.

Lingyue also provided assistance to them, using her abilities to interfere with the puppets' movements and create openings in their attacks.

Li Zhao seized the opportunity and transformed the light from the Yin-Yang Orb fragments into sharp blades, shooting them towards the puppets.

During the fierce battle, Li Zhao discovered that the puppets' actions seemed to be controlled by some kind of signal.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered a device on the back of the puppet that flashed blue light, which was likely the key to controlling them.

Li Zhao tells his future self about this discovery, and the two decide to sabotage the devices together.

The future Li Zhao attracts the puppets' attention, and Li Zhao takes the opportunity to go behind the puppets and use the power of the Yin-Yang Sphere fragments to destroy the devices on their backs.

As the devices were destroyed one by one, the puppets' movements gradually slowed down, and they eventually stopped attacking.

They breathed a sigh of relief, but then the castle suddenly began to shake violently.

Stones fell from above, and cracks appeared in the ground.

The mysterious guardian reappeared, its voice filled with rage: "How dare you breach my defenses! Now, you will all die!"

The guardian's enormous figure loomed over them.

Li Zhao knew he had to find a way to defeat the guardians before the castle collapsed.

He focused his mind again, trying to extract more power from the Yin-Yang Sphere fragments.

In his deep connection with the fragments, he saw a memory about the Guardians.

It turns out that the Guardians were once a force of justice protecting the balance of time and space, but over the long years, they were corrupted by the dark power of the leader of the men in black, and thus became what they are today.

“We can purify it!” Li Zhao shouted.

He shared this discovery with Lingyue and the future Li Zhao, and the three of them decided to purify the Guardians together.

Li Zhao used the power of light from the Yin-Yang Orb fragments, Ling Yue used her unique healing abilities, and the future Li Zhao used powerful energy to suppress the guardian's dark power.

With their combined efforts, the dark aura surrounding the guardian gradually dissipated, and its body became less enormous, returning to its original form—a warrior clad in silver armor.

The soldier slowly opened his eyes, which no longer held any hostility:

"Thank you for freeing me from the control of darkness. I can feel that you genuinely want to protect the balance of spacetime."

Li Zhao and his companions finally passed the guardian's test.

As they turned to approach the spacetime core, suddenly, a black figure darted out from it.

Upon closer inspection, Li Zhao realized it was another clone of the leader of the men in black!

"You think you can get the Time Core by defeating the Guardian? How naive!" the black-clad leader's clone sneered.

A black sphere appeared in his hand, radiating a powerful dark force that clashed with the light of the spacetime core.

Li Zhao realized that this clone was more powerful than the ones they had encountered before, and they had to go all out.

The leader of the men in black wielded a clone that threw a black sphere at Li Zhao and his group. The sphere split into countless smaller black balls in mid-air, which rained down on them.

Li Zhao quickly used the light from the Yin-Yang Orb fragments to form a huge shield, blocking the attack from the black orb.

However, the black sphere's power was too great, and cracks began to appear in the shield.

In the future, Li Zhao once again unleashed his immense power, charging towards the black-clad leader's clone.

He engaged in a fierce battle with his clone; their powers collided, emitting a dazzling light and a tremendous explosion.

Lingyue, meanwhile, was channeling energy into Li Zhao and the future Li Zhao, enhancing their power.

Li Zhao knew that this couldn't go on; they had to find the weakness of the leader of the men in black's clone.

He focused his mind again, using the Yin-Yang Sphere fragments to sense the energy fluctuations of his clone.

With the help of the fragments, he discovered that the black sphere in his clone's hand was connected to his own power core. If he could destroy the black sphere, he could weaken the clone's power.

Li Zhao told the future Li Zhao about this discovery, and the future Li Zhao nodded.

He deliberately created an opening to lure his clone closer. The clone fell for it, swinging the black sphere and smashing it towards the future Li Zhao.

Li Zhao unleashed the full power of the Yin-Yang Sphere fragment, and a golden light shot towards the black sphere.

The black sphere cracked under the impact of the light, and the leader of the men in black's clones changed his expression drastically.

He tried to retrieve the black sphere, but it was too late.

The black sphere exploded instantly, and the powerful impact sent the clone flying.

The clone fell to the ground, its body becoming ethereal, as if it might disappear at any moment.

Just as Li Zhao and the others thought the crisis was over and were about to approach the core of spacetime, the leader of the men in black suddenly let out a strange laugh.

His body began to swell, and dark power surged wildly once more. "You think you can defeat me like this? I have one last move!"

The clone roared, gathering all the dark power together to form a massive dark vortex.

The dark vortex rapidly expanded, engulfing Li Zhao, Ling Yue, the future Li Zhao, and the spacetime core.

Li Zhao could feel his power being constantly devoured by the vortex, and his consciousness was beginning to blur.

"Are we really going to fail?" Li Zhao was filled with resentment.

At the center of the dark vortex, Li Zhao saw the distorted face of the leader of the men in black, his eyes filled with madness and despair.

"Even if I die, I'll drag you all down with me!"

The clone roared. Just when Li Zhao thought everything was over, the spacetime core suddenly emitted a strong light, which pierced directly through the dark vortex.

A mysterious figure appeared within the light. Its face was obscured, but it exuded a powerful yet peaceful aura.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the mysterious figure caused the dark vortex to dissipate instantly, and the leader of the men in black's clone also turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared without a trace.

Li Zhao and the others stared in surprise at the mysterious figure, unsure whether it was friend or foe.

The mysterious figure slowly spoke: "You have gone through countless hardships and dangers in order to protect the balance of spacetime."

Now, the secrets of the spacetime core are about to be revealed, but this will also bring even greater challenges.

are you ready?